From limbo!taylor@decwrl.dec.com Thu Feb 27 23:17:14 1992 Received: by csd4.csd.uwm.edu; id AA00877; Thu, 27 Feb 92 23:16:49 -0600 Received: by uucp-gw-1.pa.dec.com; id AA09239; Thu, 27 Feb 92 17:53:47 -0800 Received: by limbo; Thu, 27 Feb 92 17:23:40 pst Message-Id: <9202280123.AA02228@limbo.intuitive.com> From: taylor@limbo.intuitive.com (The Moderator) Date: Thu, 27 Feb 92 17:23:37 PST Subject: Digital Games Review Digest, #40 Reply-To: digital-games@dgrd.Intuitive.Com (Digital Games Review) To: digital-games@Pa.dec.com (Digital Games Review Digest) X-Mailer: fastmail [version 2.02] Status: OR Digital Games Review, Number 40 Thursday, February 27th 1992 This issue we look at: Lynx: S.T.U.N. Runner SNES: Super Baseball Simulator 1.0 RPM Racing Super OffRoad Genesis: Mario Lemuix Hockey Amiga: James Pond II - Robocod Wolfchild PC: JMadden 92 review Laptop Getaway ** Top Ten Games ** [This month we're glad to see the Usenet games survey results return, showing notonly the ten most popular games according to a poll of many hundred gamers, but also some of the real dogs too! Don't miss it at the end of this issue. Also check out the new FTP archive for Digital Games Review, compliments of the University of Kentucky. Look at the closing information in this issue for more details! -- Dave] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: RD Francis Subject: Lynx: S.T.U.N. Runner I had neither the advantage nor disadvantage of playing STUN Runner before, except for one quarter's worth to see if I'd like the Lynx version. I thought I would, and I have. The concept is fairly simple. You are the pilot of a small, car-like vehicle. You must try to drive through several "race courses" in a certain amount of time. These courses are combinations of fairly ordinary track, and tunnels. There are obstacles you must either eliminate (using lasers mounted on your vehicle) or avoid. There are items you *want* to hit, like "boost pads", which speed up your vehicle, or stars (which, when you have driven over enough of them, reward you with a special weapon that zaps everything on the screen). It is a single player game. Historically, I have been interested in role-playing games, rather than action of simulation ones. I don;t know what made this game sound so interesting to me. Whatever it was, i'm glad I got this; in spite of my normal inclinations, I find it addicting. Although it takes me a while to master the more action-oriented games, I am not bored. I haven't mastered the lower levels completely, so I normally start from the Level 1 "Cakewalk" course. While level 1 has gotten boring, level 2 is still fun, and level 3 is where I still tend to get stuck (although I may have gotten past that now). The primary goal of each level differs. For the earliest ones, it's obvious (like "follow the red stars, which chart the fastest path" and "hti boost pads to get through the level in time"). On later courses, the goal (and thus the best strategy to use to complete the course) is less obvious. For those who find the lower levels boring, you can start at level 1, level 6, or level 11. I also understand that there are warps on some of the higher levels. Graphics: the graphics are nice, although mildly less so than the arcade version, as best as I can recall from my short experience with it. When other vehicles are too close to you, things can get a bit confusing, and the objects get scaled to the point where they are rather ugly. Sound: Don't pay that much attention to it, frankly. After the first few times, the warnings ("The outside wall of the tunnels is faster in turns", "Stay off the rails", etc.) get a bit annoying, although that's more because you freeze up when it happens. Control: I expected this to be not up to par, simply because the steering-wheel-style controller on the arcade version seemed so natural; however, I haven't had any complaints. People who've played the arcade version and have very physical styles may not find it up to what they'd like. If you like driving-simulation games, buy this. If you don't usually, try it anyway if you can. As I said, it's the sort of game I'd usually ignore, and I *love* it. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it an 8 (10 would mean I lose touch with reality when I play it; 8 is excellent. My scales tend to be bell-curvish...) S.T.U.N. Runner, for the Atari Lynx. ------------------------------ From: nugget%genesis.uucp@gte.com (Ralph Barbagallo) Subject: SNES: Super Baseball Simulator 1.0 On the NES, Cuture Brain's Baseball Simulator 1.000 was a great game. Perhaps, it was my favorite sports game of all time, but now, Culture Brain has ported Super Baseball Simulator 1.000 to the SNES! However, Culture Brain forgot one thing, THE 16 BIT MICROPROCESSOR! This 16 bit incarnation really comes off looking and playing like the 8 bit version, but still is a decent baseball challenge. In Super Baseball Simulator 1.000 there are several modes of play. There is the typical 1 player or 2 player exhibition mode, the League Mode, or the Edit Mode. In the 1 or 2 player Exhibition Mode a standard baseball game can be played over a selectable amount of innings with several teams from several leagues. In League Mode, 0 to 6 players can take turns at competing in a league of adjustable innings and games. Each player can select computer control, manual control, or the managerial option which allows the player to assume the role of the manager in the game. The same controls (managerial etc.) can be used in the Exhibition Mode as well. In EDIT mode the user can edit the statistics of teams and players to make customized leagues of teams. 432 players can be altered to have a new set of players involved. These all can be saved with the battery backed RAM for a decent period of time. The thing that makes this game different than other baseball contests is the Ultra League. Out of the 4 baseball leagues the Ultra League consists of 6 teams with supernatural abilities. Pitchers can toss flaming balls, earthquakes, and lighting powered pitches! The batter can make the entire playfield spin around, send exploding balls out into the outfield, and more amazing feats. Also, when fielding, the players can make jumps hundreds of feet into the air, slide all the way across the field and more! Each of these plays takes up Ultra Points. But the point limits can be selected via the menu where they can go from the miniscule limits to unlimited for an entire game of ultra play! The graphics are okay, but nothing great. The visuals are sort of cartoonish, but there are some scaling and rotation effects to boot. The sound is okay, but the tunes are not that varied and they aren't really a powerful display of the Super Nintendo sound chip. Graphics....6 Sound.......6 Gameplay....6 Overall.....6 Super Baseball Simulator 1.000/Cuture Brain for the SNES ------------------------------ From: nugget%genesis.uucp@gte.com (Ralph Barbagallo) Subject: SNES: RPM Racing R.P.M. Racing is a Super Nintendo conversion of the Commodore 64 hit, Racing Destruction Set. I used to love Electronic Art's Racing Destruction Set, building tracks, customizing cars, and going after the computer player in a heated auto duel to the death! However, Interplay's 16 bit adaption of this 8 bit home computer classic looses a lot in the translation, and the result is an average racing game, with no real excitment, and a few annoying bugs. In R.P.M. racing, spectator attendance of racing contests have been dwindiling for quite awhile. The audience wanted to see a racer get wiped all over the track than watch a bunch of cars zoom around in a circle. So, they added off-road terrain, and allowed weapons placed on ultra-customized cars in the racing arena. This sets the stage for a blah auto racing game with a combat twist. There are several modes in RPM. 1 Player mode consists of 1 player racing on over 120 tracks against computer players that will throw mines, oil slicks, and their own automobiles against you! In 2 player, it is almost the same thing, but with 2 players simultaneous via the spilt-screen (the split screen is used in 1-player but the second half shows a computer opponent's view). Also, there is a construction mode which allows the player to build customized tracks with ramps, jumps, bumps, ice, dirt, and more obstacles etc. When racing in one player mode, there are multiple tracks on each level. When a race is won or the player comes in 2nd place a small purse is awarded, which gets consistently larger on higher levels. This money can be used to buy extra parts for the cars that can build up handling, suspension, or weapons like mines and oil slicks. Also, this dough can be used to up a level, or enter a new race, which costs a fee. But, when a new level is entered, there are more tracks to race on, and the difficulty level is higher. There is one GIGANTIC bug in this game. Througout 1 and 2 player mode the game can be saved at any point and the customized tracks can be saved in several slots due to the battery backed RAM. However, these save slots ALWAYS get mysteriously erased after a short period of time! Definitley annoying to no end when after progressing halfway through all the levels the game gets erased for no apparent reason other then a faulty battery or RAM in first run carts. The graphics in RPM run average to below average. For a system of this caliber, I expect a little more than some small cars and a sparsley detailed background. The vehicles animate smoothly, and are fairly well-drawn, but one of the sprites has a frame of animation where the window is not colored in, which gets annoying when doing jumps and the window constantly disappears. Also, the sound in RPM is strangley muffled. Probably due to all the digital samples in the music. However, this makes the sound quality very poor. The sound effects consist of some explosions and digital sampled skidding noises...but that's about it. Nothing special. The gameplay is pretty boring also. The difficulty level never really gets that hard, and the AI involved isn't very complex. After awhile, the whole thing becomes pretty monotnous. Overall, RPM racing is, at its best, an average game. With its easy gameplay, dull graphics, poor sound, and fequent cases of data loss, RPM is a not-too excellent racing game. In the manual under the "No Thanks" section, they gave a special no thanks to the Commdore 64...hmm..maybe they could have learned a lesson or two from it, considering the c64 version is a lot better than this SNES port. Graphics....6 Sound.......5 Gameplay....5 Overall.....5 R.P.M. Racing/Interplay for the SNES. ------------------------------ From: craig@sae.com (Craig H. Heartwell) Subject: SNES: Super OffRoad Super OffRoad for the SNES is (I am told) like the arcade version. It has no save features, no defined "end" except when you lose too many times, and is 2-player simultaneous. There are 4 4-wheeling Toyota trucks (Red, Blue, Silver, and Yellow). The Red and Blue trucks can be optionally controlled by a player. Any truck which is not controlled by a player will be driven by the "computer" (At least one truck must be driven by a player). It would be really neat to be able to have all the trucks be automatic so that you could just watch for tactics and have more time to examine each track). Each time a truck places, it receives an amount of money and the opportunity to use that money to purchase additional "equipment" to improve the truck's performance. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place are worth $150,000 $100,000 and $50,000 respectively. 4th place is a loss. When a player loses, he/she is given the opportunity to continue if there are any continues left. Continues are accrued to a maximum of 3 based on either the number of completed races or the amount of your winnings (I can't remember). The possible improvements which can be purchased are nitro (for short speed bursts), better tires (for traction), better shocks (for better handling), increased acceleration, and increased maximum speed. There are some optimal paths to take to a better truck, but it will be much more fun if I don't spoil it here. Unspent money is only carried over if you place first in the next race (this gives an even greater. advantage to the consistent winner). After continuing, a truck is allowed to keep all of the purchased nitro, but the other improvements will be degraded to some extent. The Red and Blue trucks are always the front two trucks at the start of the race (trucks line up 2 by 2 at the start). No matter how wildly you drive, trucks cannot be damaged, cannot wreck, and cannot leave the track by jumping the barriers. Despite the lack of "freedoms", it is possible to go the wrong direction and also possible to have another truck bump you off course causing you to lose valuable time (this can also happen to the. computer trucks, which is interesting to watch). In each race nitro and/or money will be randomly appear on the track to be picked up. Nitro quantity starts at 1 and increases to 4 as each one is picked up; money starts at $10,000 and increases to $40,000. There are 16 different tracks each of which has multiple configurations (bales of straw, change of direction, etc) totaling 64 different racing "environments". It does not take very long to learn an effective strategy for each track, however the variability and your own mistakes can maintain player interest for a very long time. Better than 90% of the time, the race will come down to you versus the Silver truck. IMO, this shows some sort of predetermined skill level, purchase algorithm, or outright bias for each of the computer trucks. All-in-all, Super OffRoad is one FUN game. If you have a friend of comparable skill, it is an even more fun 2-player game. Overall Criticisms : Too few tracks, probably too easy, should allow more configuration (number of competing trucks, truck color, maybe build your own tracks), not enough music, cannot examine the configuration of the computer trucks to see what you are competing against. Overall Complements : 2-player simulataneous, loads of fun, the graphic depiction of the tracks is excellent. Ratings summary: Sound 7.0 Graphics 9.0 Play Control 9.5 Play Interest 9.5 Documentation 9.0 Start-up Demo 8.0 Comprehension 10.0 Overall Rating: 8.5 (if based only on fun, it would score higher) Super OffRoad, for the Super NES, 59.99, from Toys R Us. ------------------------------ From: gordon.cheung@dsp.analog.com (gordon.cheung@dsp.analog.com) Subject: Genesis: Mario Lemuix Hockey I own NHL hockey and love it. In summary of comparing NHL and MLH, I would say MLH is better in options, programmability and (maybe)graphics. NHL is better in game play and sound. Here're the reasons: In MLH you can select single game, tournament, shootout pratices (instead of OT, MLH uses shootout to break ties), and fighting practices. Shootout is a one on one, closeup, corner guessing, shooting game. Fighting is a bit more involved in MLH, where you can uppercut,jab,roundhouse,bodyblow,duck, and block in closeup. During the game, unlike NHL, winning a fight counts. Only the losser sits in the box. You may say it's not realistic, but I think it give you more incentive to win a fight. The ability of the teams can be rated in 3 different systems. Realistic(lopesided), even (ex. a fast team is not as stronge and a stronge team don't have good shooters), and programmable systems of rating basic skills. More importantly, there is a skill level selection from easy to hard. The ref can be tough, fair, or blind. And you have the option of always playing the puck holder (auto) or any player (manuel),where you can set up plays and ask for passes. With all these options, you may think MLH is a sure winner. But wait, the game play is disappointing. The skaters don't skate, they respone to joystick movement instantly and they can turn on a dime. You just don't get the skating feeling. The puck doesn't glide, it shoots like a bullet. Stealing is too easy and checking is not satisflying. You don't have those spare seconds to check the opponants's scorer after a goal. These are just opinions after one days worth of playing. The game could be more fun after one masters shooting and setting up games plays. During the game, MLH is relatively quiet. No slamming body or crowd cheering sound effects. Lastly, the stats in MLH is increditable. 14 pages of stat about the game after each period. 14 PAGES!! Any stat you can think of is in there. If you are looking for a arcade style hockey game get MLH, if you are looking for a hockey simulation game, get NHL. If I were to choose between the two, it a close call, but I'll get NHL (a biased opinion, because I already own NHL). MLH NHL game play: 7 9 sound: 6 8 graphics: 7 7 Overall: rent keep ------------------------------ From: Michael Richards Subject: Amiga: James Pond II - Robocod Well Nintendo owners have Mario, the adventures of an Italian plumber, Sega owners have the escapades of a supersonic hedgehog. Now Amiga owners have the silliest game of all time Robocod!!!!! Those of you who remember JAMES POND will remember a reasonable game let down by rather poor implementation. Well the sequel is MUCH MUCH better. Those of you who don't remember JAMES POND start here. James Pond is the top agent of the intelligence service F.I.5.H. (No I don't know what it means), who is on the trail of the evil Dr. Maybe. Maybe has gone to the North Pole and kidnapped Santa Claus and taken over the toy factory there. He is threatening to disperse explosive penguin bombs throughout the world unless his demands are met. James Pond is dispatched.... Now we've got rid of all the serious users I can confide that Robocod is SILLY, honest it makes LLAMATRON look sane. After all when was the last time you saw a fish in titanium armour? Stretching titanium armour at that!!! Robocod must bounce through a series of increasingly fiendish levels tackling the nasties on each trying to find the explosive penguin bombs. Only then can he go to the exit (a flashing barbers beacon) and onto the next level. To give some idea of the flavour of Robocod the first few levels are : Sports, where Robocod must leap over dumbells and tennis balls avoiding snakes and walking gloves. Sweets, where all the world's candy is manufactured, guarded by liquorice men. Cuddly toys - speaks for itself really, and toy trains. As in Mario and Sonic (spit spit), Robocod offers bonuses galour in the for of extra chances (you get up to 5 chances per life) and extra lives, wings (to reach those all important high up penguin bombs), plus dozens of point bonuses. There are hidden rooms and levels (found by experimentation and good luck), and some devious false exits that send you back to the beginning of the level. Technically, Robocod is marvellous. The sprites are mostly small (but perfectly formed and coloured), although the end of level meanies are HUGE. The animation is nothing new but entirely adequate. Everything is set against brightly coloured `copper listed' backdrops, some of which are animated. Scrolling is in 8 directions, parallaxed and very smooth at normal speeds. Occassional glitches can be seen, but only when the screen is VERY busy. Sound? Well it won't win any awards, a lot of jolly tunes that will have you waking up in the middle of the night screaming - as you would expect from a game of this type. Suitable blips and blops for scoring, but again nothing earthshattering - but who needs it? All in all, Robocod is a game of which Millenium can be proud of. Its MUCH better than Mario, technically and graphically. Perhaps not as astounding as Sonic the Hedgehog, but the gameplay is better. Personally I think it is a game that the Amiga owner can show to his or her console owning friends. Is it the best platform game on the Amiga? Well at the moment I think 'yes' is the only answer. Roll on JAMES POND III ..... Graphics : 8 Cute, cuddly and colourful. Sound : 7 Sounds like a Nintendo game. Ease of Use : 9 C'mon its a platform game!!!! Challenge : 9 It's cute but LETHAL!!!!! Overall : 8 1/2 A superb arcade romp. James Pond II - Robocod - Millenium Software. 25.99 Pounds, 1 Disk. Copy Protected. Not HD Installable. Contents: Disk, manual and registration card. AmigaDOS 2.0 compatible, 512K + Needed. ------------------------------ From: Michael Richards Subject: Amiga: Wolfchild Remember STRIDER? No, not the title from US Gold, the arcade game. Superb wasn't it? Well if I was damning WOLFCHILD with faint praise I'd say it was a STRIDER clone, if I was being truthful I'd say it was the best platform game cum shoot 'em up ever. The plot? What you want an arcade game with a plot. Well, you are Saul Morrow ( a kind of Albert Einstein, Jason Donovan and Dolph Lundgren clone (work out for yourselves who donated what)), whose father has been dabbling in genetics to produce human/animal hybrids. He has been kidnapped by the evil minions of CHIMERA and is being forced to aid them in their plans for World Domination. Racked by grief (oh yeah, I forgot - your mother and brother have been shot - life's a bitch), you are sitting at home when you spy the Transmutation Pod, `No, not the transmutation pod!' you cry,'What's a transmutation pod?' you then ask. Well the pod allows you to become THE WOLFCHILD!!!!! (Cue Music) Why do I explain this? I'm not sure really since its all displayed in one of Core's increasingly impressive intro animations. This is SLICK, it looks like a Japanese comic come to life, and sets the scene beautifully. Psygnosis should be worried, intros used to be THEIR forte. What about the game? Well do you get interested when I say, 8 directional parallax scrolling with 64 colours onscreen? If not, what about superbly animated and coloured sprites? devious traps? BIG levels? OKAY THEN - ITS A MEGABLAST!!!!! CARNAGE CITY!!!!!! (Getting my drift yet?) Saul, despite being excitingly chunky has only a punch to make his way through the slaughter, but as be goes along breaking open crates he finds energy pods. And when his energy gets to a certain level - AAARRROOOOOO!!!!! he becomes THE WOLFCHILD. Now as you all know Wolfchildren all come with psychic powers - in other words he can shoot!!!! Starting off with a puny single shot it soon can be upgraded to three way shots, homing shots and boomerang shots - serious destruction. Not forgetting your limited supply of smartbombs ...... Level One is a great taster of what's to come, it is set on a flying ship of some kind. The detail on this level is magnificent, showing that bas relief ain't dead yet, the clouds whip past at a fair old rate, as Saul battles bird men of all descriptions. (A nice touch is the way they are swept away by the wind after being killed). This level is tiny compared to the next lot of levels, and gives you a chance to get used to the controls. It also isn't too tough, so you feel that you are making progress with the game. Level Two on the other hand is BIG, it is set in a forest, where you must battle reptile men amoungst the branches. There are many more obstacles to deal with including the problem of becoming lost. There are some nasty touches including collapsing branches and flying platforms that give up the ghost at the worst moment.... Level Three, well to be honest I've seen about 10 seconds of level three and it is an insect level .... and it is VERY TOUGH!!!! There are 5 levels in total, getting bigger and harder with each level. That may be WOLFCHILDs only real flaw, 5 levels aren't going to last forever. It'll take a LONG time to get there though. To sum up, WOLFCHILD is the best platform game shoot em' up EVER. Perhaps a sweeping statement, but it stands head and hairy shoulders above SWITCHBLADE II, which is generally thought of as the benchmark. It takes the player by the hand into Level 1, builds up a nice sense of security, and then puts them into Level 2..... The werewolf idea adds a new twist to the genre and offers the chance for Core to sample `An American Werewolf in London' for fx (yes I did notice!) As I said, it will eventually be solved, but perhaps by that time Core will have made a sequel? If so I'll be there!!!!! AAAAARRROOOO!!!!!! GRAPHICS : 10 : I can't fault them, it looks every inch an arcade game. Eat this Sega!!!!!! SOUND : 9 : Brooding theme music and a terrific sampled howl. EASE OF USE : 8 : A bit fiddly to start with, but when you get used to it... CHALLENGE : 9 : A game for the STRIDER fan, its big, mean and great fun. OVERALL : 10 : Already my candidate for the arcade game of 1992. Definitely one to show console owners that there is still life in the Amiga, and American software developers that there are still some things the PC can't do!!!!! WOLFCHILD : CORE DESIGN : 25:99 Pounds UK, 2 Disks, copy protected. Not HD installable. All Amigas with 512K + AmigaDOS 2.0 compatible, Contents: 2 Disks and manual. ------------------------------ From: jer@menu.visus.com (Jerry Jantz) Subject: PC: JMadden 92 review I suppose I should start this off by saying that I enjoyed playing the first John Madden Football. That said, JMadden '92 IMHO didn't change the good, but added to the positive. Case in point, they kept the passing windows. When I played Joe Montana 2, I was dissapointed to learn that they had abandond(sp) the windows and made the play side to side instead of up and down. In doing this, the gamer loses the ability to determine which reciever is open and which one is triple teamed, thus resulting in alot of interceptions and alot of frustration. As for graphics, the opening and closing shots of the stadium are very impressive, especially when playing in inclement weather. The game itself stays fairly close to the original when it comes to graphics. The exeption is the windows that appear when the home team makes a good play, or when the sticks are needed. The graphics in these windows are very good. However, I think the "talking" John Madden is a bit poor(graphics-wise). While we're on the subject of John Madden, let me say that while he may have been a great football mind when coaching or commentating, he falls far short of the mark when his stratigies are incorporated into a video game. The manual says push "C" three times to pick what play John would pick. So I thought, what the heck, he must know more about this game than I do. 3rd and 17 and he calls halfback sweep??? This isn't an isolated call, either. For some reason, some of the time, he calls a decent play, and other times, he's off his rocker. Also, on one particular play, the halfback toss to the left, the TE goes in motion and is supposed to block the LB (I think). Anyway, on the seven times I have run this play, with different teams, the TE *ALWAYS* misses his block and I get stuck for a 2 yard loss. I have learned my lesson. Lastly, a few minor gripes. I would really like to have seen a sixteen game season culminating in a playoffs for the championship (ala JMontana 2) instead of just a playoff series. Second, when playing the computer, it seems to take an awfully long time in choosing a play, but I guess, this makes the elapsed time seem more reasonable. If you like to run, I have found that Detroit is probably the best team to be, although I have only played it for a little over a week. Oakland also seems to be a good overall team (I wonder why??). In summary, when compared to all other football games on the market, I would without question recommend this one above all others. Graphics 8 Sound 8 Playability 9 Fun 9 Overall 8 John Madden '92 by Electronic Arts ($52.00). ------------------------------ From: mmarkowi@pepvax.pepperdine.edu (Mike Markowitz) Subject: PC: Laptop Getaway Most games are disappointing on laptop computers, because color graphics simply don't look right on LCD displays, or because they require a joystick, too much CPU performance, or too much disk space. To meet the entertainment needs of laptop users, Epyx has produced Getaway, a collection of six little games that can be played in a five or ten minute break between Lotus worksheets. All the games have been optimized for monochrome laptop graphics, and mouse or keyboard control. For users with no hard drives, all the games will perform acceptably when run from a floppy disk. All the necessary documentation is provided on the disk label or in online Help, since laptop users don't need another manual to lug around. CASCADE is a dice game that reminds me of Yahtzee. You play dice rolls onto a 5 x 6 grid to create high-scoring patterns like straights and 4 of a kind. STUFFIN THE BRIEFCASE is a puzzle that requires you to pack sets of objects into a briefcase as efficiently as possible. There are 63 levels, and they can be fiendishly difficult. TOTEM is a logic puzzle based on creating stacks of totem pole faces. It is based on the same idea as Master Mind, a guessing game played with colored pegs that was popular many years ago. WORD SALAD requires you to find the words hidden in a grid of letters The package also includes two implementations of Solitaire (Klondike and Las Vegas) and a version of Dominoes with multiple computer opponents. These little games are well crafted and enjoyable enough to play on a desktop computer. I hope Epyx can be persuaded to do a Macintosh version for PowerBook users. As befits a program that may be used on airplanes or other public settings, the sound effects can be "muted" or turned off completely. As a little bonus, the program disk also includes a utility that provides a"system profile" report on technical characteristics of your computer. Graphics and animation: 7 User interface: 8 Overall play value: 8 Laptop Getaway, by Epyx, For MS-DOS (512K RAM, 3.5" floppy drive, CGA, DCGA, Hercules, EGA or VGA graphics). List: $39.95 ------------------------------ From: erc@plitvice.berkeley.edu (Eric Ng) Subject: Top Ten Games TOP TEN VIDEO GAMES Ranking Title ( platform ) ------- ------------------------------ 9.5 John Madden Football '92 (Sega Genesis) 9.5 N.H.L. Hockey (Sega Genesis) 9.2 Super Mario Land (Nintendo GameBoy) 9.2 Super Mario Brothers 3 (Nintendo Entertainment System) 9.2 Devil's Crush (Sega Genesis) 9.1 Sonic The Hedgehog (Sega Genesis) 9.0 Checkered Flag (Atari Lynx) 8.9 Road Rash (Sega Genesis) 8.9 Streets Of Rage (Sega Genesis) 8.9 Super Mario World (Super NES) ... AND BOTTOM SIX 4.5 Turbo Sub (Atari Lynx) 4.2 Altered Beast (Sega Genesis) 3.7 Tournament Cyberball (Atari Lynx) 3.4 Robo-Squash (Atari Lynx) 3.0 D.J. Boy (Sega Genesis) 2.4 Sword Of Sodan (Sega Genesis) [ For information on the list format and on submitting your ratings, consult the article entitled `ABOUT THE VIDEO GAME RATINGS REPORT' in the newsgroup rec.games.video. ] ------------------------------------- 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@Intuitive.Com We welcome reviews of games for any computer system, including the PC, MPC, Macintosh, Amiga, Nintendo Entertainment System, Super NES, Atari Lynx, Sega Genesis, Nintendo GameBoy, NEC TurboGrafix, CDTV and more! 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". To obtain them via anonymous FTP, please connect to the machine "f.ms.uky.edu" [128.163.128.6] and look in directory "pub/misc/digital-games". The files are organized therein by digest number. The views expressed in Digital Games Review 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" are stated here. DGR is also registered with the Library of Congress: ISSN 1059-5457. ********************* End of Digital Games Review *********************