No021Jul97

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WIPEOUT 2097 Full·on detailage on one of the hottest PlayStationconversions:Psygnosis'rathersmartWipEollt2097!lfyollwere disappointed with the first game, expect mllch better things from this show·stopping seQlIel! It's really cool indeed and we'll have the first REVIEW nextisslIe!

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_ BIG IN JAPAN • • • •_ 58 KING OF SPIRITS 2 What's the cllrrent hot game in the Land of the Rising SlIn? This month we check Ollt a new racing game that's cllrrently doing bigbllsiness in the Far East, and that's Ihe Oddly titled King The Spirils 2!

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YOll want it and only SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE has it! What are we talking abollt? FlIlI-on details and exclllsive screen· shots oftheSatllm rendition of Resident Evil,ofcollrse!TlIm 10 page 20 and prepare to be amazed!

24 MARVEL SUPER HEROES What? Armlher incredible exclusive? YOll betcha! Thanks to OIJr lInrivalled contacts with Capcom, SEGA SATURN MAGA· ZINE isprolldtopresentexclllsivecoverageofthehcttest 20 fighting game in the world ever!

Convert all of them per fectlytoSalllm.

Then add in an amazing 30 sec· lion with some oflhe beslgraphicsEVER! That's Sonic Jam and it's comingtotheUK soon!

48 JONAH LOMU RUGBY COde masters strike back on the Satllrn with a conversion of their mllch-fancied sports simlllation, We reckoni!'S hotstllfT, andthisace fOllrpage feature is where we clarify that sen· limenl and tell yOll why. WHY!

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SUBSCRIPTION RATES UK .£33.00 A.lmIaiI Europe £46.00 Ainnaillone 1 £73.00 Eire £46.00. These raIn IncltJdl postage and paeklng..

SUBSCRIPTION / BACK ISSUES ENQUIRIES SegaSatumSubscriptlons,SovereignPark, Leicester LE874PA. lEt69EE Phone (Q18SS) 435350

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_ PREVIEWS 28 DARKLlGHT CDNFLlCT 30 WARCRAFT 2

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REVIEWS _ _ _ _ __

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JOUH LOMU RUGBY BATTLESTATIONS INDEPENDENCE DAY ACTUA SOCCER CLUB EDITION 70 THE CROW: CITY OF ANGELS _

REGULARS _ _ _ __

NEWS VIRTUA WRITER Q+A SUBSCRIPTIONS SMALL TIPS COIN路OPERATED: HOUSE OF THE DEAD 96 OUT NOW 98 INTRODUCING ...

06 32 34 35 72 92

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76 SHINING THE HOLY ARK, PARTl 82 FIGHTERS MEGAMIX, PART 3 86 HUEN PART 2

A ~;;~t~~n,":i:~:::~: i~Y~~~;SS~~;;~~tg;~~:~t~ ~f ~~aS~~:n;; ::::~~j~~~: ~::~~'i~~et~~3~~t: of thei , development cycle s. But Sf' g .. ne ed to do more to boost the Saturn's image. We need a £99 prke po in t fora standalone mach i ne. And th en w e need a fu II -on ad campa ign

In the nat ional and games p.ess lote li everyo ne of th e stunning game syou can get eXCLUSIV ELV fo. th e Salu rn, along with the hot li ce ns ed titl es that are SUPERIOR on the Seg .. mach i ne. Whdher w e li ke it or not. it 's

~IEWS

a fa ct that the Saturn 's re putati on is n't as strong as the PlaySta l ion's in the ma ss market. Th e re's still a chanc e for the Saturn to boost its Instalied base to hu ge leve ls and the mach i ne has eVf' ry chance

of do ins so judging by the game s I've see n in develop me nt du ring the last couple of months . But it 's goingt o need a big pu sh f.a m the Saturn 's m a rket ee rs ... And w e re a lly need tos ee it now.

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SUMMER LINE-UP TAKES SHAPE!

AWESOME SATURN TITLES TO LOOK FORWARD TO ontlnuing the Saturn', dominance of qllallty ga m i ng, SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE can r eveal f1na1 UK plans for the shipment of same incredIble g;unes ove r the n ext few months .•• w:ith the promise of even more brilliant titles eorning l oon afte r.

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ARCADE ACTlON KICKS OfF TIE ASSAIIIJ Sega's ace summer line-up of games has already begun with the release of the AM2 wondergame. Fighters MegaMix. AM2 havedone it again with the BIGGEST 3D fight Ing game in the whole history of the world ever. a marvellous treat with stunning gameplay. il received. a deserving 95% in the last issue and Is Gameofthe Month over In Out Now (see page 96).

Continuing the arcade action we have thelranslation ofSkyTarget which has moved up to a June 5 release. Now the vast majority afthe Sega arcade conversions are frankly superh. hut SkyTarget Isn't so cool Still. for a more detalled analysis. check out the next issue afSSM Rounding off the arcade conversions. King of Fight ers 95 finaUy arrives in AUgust. As 2Dfighting games go. SN K's brawler is revered with the best amongst die· hard arcadesters and received. a high 89% in our reviews section

PLAYSTAT10N CONVERSIONS ARE GO! Theexcellent news is that we can confirm a release date far the !XlI:entially amazing Resident Evil. You can read all about the Saturn version oONs game on page 20. but basicallyCapcomhaveconfirrnedthatthebackgroundswillbesuperiortothe PlayStation original AND there is the potential for more enhancement s to the game· play in the form of the "BioHazard Dash" spedal edition addit ions that Capcom are promising to add to the Satum t ranslation lust as this issue went to press. SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE leamed that the conversion has been signed up exdusively by Sega themselves. inching out the more traditional UK publisher ofCapcom produ~, Virgin Interactive. All those who've seen it reckon that the Saturn version of ReSident Evil Is bloody excellent and apparently the enhancements made over the original are verycoolindeed·andnowe aren"tgoingtoteUyouwhattheyare.Suffi~tosaythat

next month we'll .eveal all - and we guarantee that you will be surprised.

Staying with the P1ayStation conversions. SEGA SATIJRN MAGAZINE can now reveal t hat Sega have indeed scooped up the rights to WipEout 2097. as featured an page 12 of this fine issue. Whilst there are some small deficiendes w hen compared with the P1ayStationoriginaL there's no denying that the speed. fluidity and fuII-on gameplayofthe SOny game have made it across fully intact on the Saturn transla. tion.nus could well make it one of the premiere road ra~ games for the Sega machine. Expect this ace game to make an appearance in July.

SONIC JAM DETAI.S CONFIRMED! The star of this month's mammoth showcase. SOnic the Hedgehog. is fully confirmed for a UK outing in the form of the super retro pad: SOnic Jam. There has been some discussion on the !ntemet withregardstoa possible delay on the European release until AmR the launch of the new 3D SOnic game this winter SEGA SATIJRN MAGAZINE can quash all rumours. SOnic Jam IS heading for S~Tartet (top) ... _ SOni; Jtm (lboH) lA two OfSI8&'1 blS itolMl1 flN'lI. SUIIIIII, r .. o.t~ •. ih'1 .... II,tltllr lln. -.pDfSllt.... tJttulalltsolutll1 l l11lllngl

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ENTER••• THUNDERFORCE V!

The magic's back as the original ThunderForce programmers. Technosoft. take

the franchise to the nelrt level as ThunderForce hits the Saturnl As far as we ca n tell. the basic side·scrolling shoot 'ern up formula remains very similar indeed to what we've seen on the Megadrive versions of the game. However. the diffe rt,: nce is that the enemy sprites you face off against are fuU 3D polygon construc-

tions. allowing for some spectacular effects as they zoom onto the screen or get blown up· whatever. The ThunderForce game s afC known for their hugely taxing difficulty level and ifs thought that once again this will come to the forefront in the new game. The inside word Is that Technosoft w e re ve ry impressed with Talto's Raystarm game on the PlayStatlon (which is also set to hit the Saturn, incidentlY),butreckonedthattheycoulddoevenbetterwithSaturn ThunderForce, Well,the game is set for a July release, so expect to see something more concrete In this fine magazine in the next couple of Issues,

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PANDEMONIUM APOLOGIES As readers oflhe 10151 issue will know, SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE in association wilh Sega and Woolworths offered you lot the opportunity 10 get five quid off the retaU price of the rat her excellent Saturn rendition of Pandemonium, However, by the time the game reached the shelves, the coupon was out of datel The relea se was put back be<:ause of a bug, so here's another couponl

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08SEGASATURNMAG.I.lINE

SEGA BUY INTO 3DFX! UlJIMAIT 3DnCHNOlDGY FOR TliE NEXT SEGA MACHINE! t was r~ntty announced that Sega Enterprises have bought a vast amount of

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:;~:: f~~~:a;;; developer 3DFX. responsible for the cutting edge 3D technol· 3DFX's "voodoo" chipset is regarded by the PC fraternity as the most powerful

renderingarchitectureonthemassmarlc.etatthemomenland5ega"srecenlpUf· chase of3DFX stock allows them eJ<dusive rights to all curre nt and future 30FX technology. Ina slnglestroke,Segahaveguaranteedthat theirnext machine will have 3D far in advance of the competition whilst at the same time locking out this technology from its rivals.

In re<:ent legal documents disclosed by 3DFX,!fs revealed that Sega has acquired 7oo.0000flhe .poo.ooo shares available giving it a 16% overall holding oftheoom-

pany.ln these documents, 3DFX reveals in black and white terms that t heir technologyhas been reserved by SegawhocontroJ a1lrightsastothetechnology'lsdistribu· tion in home games consoles. The documents also reveal that sega reserve the right to go elsewhere should they so choose should they wish to create their own machine as they did with the Megadrive and Satum.

Sowhal's the big deal with 3DFX technology? Why did Sega choose it and just

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10 SEGASATUIINM,\GAZINE

With 30FX II the con of Ihl ntw Sep conwln , ports Ilk, O.ake 2 should bt IlUpe .... tuy!

how good Is it? The answer is pretty obvious to any PC owner who owns a 3DFX card The syslem is incredibly powerful even In its first generation form and currently boasls some ofthe most spectacular 3D games for any home system 3DFX·enhanced QualeI' boasts all the 3D features whIch make the N64 games look so cool. but Imp.ovesonitsignificantlythankstothefarhigherresolution.Thespeedofthe game is also frankly amazing with a near rock solid 30 frames per second on any decent l'entium. Other stunning 3DFX games indudeTomb Raider (again full30fps action with stunning mip-mappinS and supreme resolution) and Psygnosis's excel· lent Formula One Buylng into 3DFX is a very. very smart move for Sega. Not only is the rompany the best there Is at what they do. but the technology is also weD liked by the develop· ing community. Saturn development has been dogged by claims that the system is incrediblytoughtogettogripswith. With;DFXtechn01ogyintheir next machin e. lt should make ports from pc . as weD as original development · very. very simple Additionally, ;DFX is also being used in many new arcade games and these should be able to reach the new machine with no problem at all. SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE should stressthal Sega Itself has made no announcement about its next gene ration system. despite the huge amount of "BlackBelt'" rumours currently circulatin g t he Internet (BlackBelt was a codename for the new machine). However. with 3DFX now

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WJaN'S IT otm At the mome nt. althouJh the colWenion Is nigh-on complel<~ there Cl still a gre2t deal of work to be done behind the KCnes in getting the game from development onto the shelves For dartefi no one 1el'm5 to be entirely lure who 1 publishing the game It could well be the caM" that Psygnosis release the games themselves as I1 happening with Kruy lvan. Adldas Powe. 5oÂŤer and Assault Rigs How""e'. dis.;unlons with Sega .re culTently t.ldn. plat<!

~d It cou ld ~them who do all the PR and publishing for Wip!out 2091 In fact. Just who e~ Is in the ruruungl Er no-one as fu as we know Still regaroless of who does the dHd, the chances are that WipEout 2097 should hit European stores some Ume In August 0' ~plember I!xped a full ",view of this top same somNime soon _ maybe next Issue Uthe time is nJhIl Regazdless. expect some cool stuff on this "cat pme nm month..:

Here's the range of tighters available In Fighting Fon;:e. They're all skilled martial artlstl,althoughbyow reckoning, kalfofthem anactuaUycleverer than Albert Ein, teln or Indeed Ca rol Vodermanl You can bet th ey wan t be uling their grey matterto get the job done though , uruetlI Co re's programmerthave Included the odd

Eyu: 81ue IQ: 187

The lud character.

Hawk Is a tough, street ,wi,e fighterwho p acks enough muscle to get the job done. He want, Zengout of his city and aims toddeat the madman with his

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IQ: 200

AballlY female private eye,MaeeOaniel, has been on the trail of Zeng fo r a number of yea rs and always sus路 peded that the crazy Doe had blgse r pl ans fo r humanity.

18 SEGASATUIIMM.t.GAZIME

Eyel: Blue IQ:t4o H IMng on the meets: of New York ha5 laught young Alana MdCendrlc:k iUlything It'. that you need to be tough to survtve.Quic:k-tempered. iUldswifl-footed,this nimble Utile minx looks

Eye.: Grey IQ:~oo

Pla}"l!B won 'l be able to seledlengbutlet's face it, who really wants to be apgwoer~~l

leng repreHnts the ulIi路 mate challenge for the herOH and failure to stop hlspan.willr~uItinthe

destrurtion of the planet.

SEQAUTUANMAIlAlIN( 19

I wish to subscribe to Se&il Saturn and I endose a cheque I postal order, Inte rnational money order or by Mastefcud l Visa payme nt and made payable to EMAP 1mage. Lld for £.••• Mastercard I Vl$ano: Address:

Expires: Signature: Postcode: Telephone: Annual Subscription "Rates: £33 UK 12 months Air Eu rope £46 Airmail Zones I&l £73 Sou rce Code: IIIC

Offer Code: 113 Signed: (parent or guardian's signature if unde r 18 yrs

All subscriptions will be processed as quickly as possible. but you s hould allow l8 days for the order to be processed a nd expect to rece ive the first available Issue ahe r t l1 a t .

I would like to receive (please tick box) ","~I«>M

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SfGASATUIINMA(lAlINE 23

TBIHI.onl Which champioN of the Marvel Unlvtl'H have you sot to d I _ hom In MaJVel Supe.

Heronl Well, Just about everyone YOll'd want bartheSUve.Swfer and the f antastic Pow, bulcallyl

SPID••· MAN Well, h e can dedse bulleh and 11ft ten tonl ln the comics, but In MSH Spide Y'1of averase pace but with a lup remelyunlqu e flShtlnS l tyle. HII pote ntial for comblnationl on both sround and air II.tasserlns ...

The world'l sreatHt hero, Captain America beUevn his faith and

p atrlotlt mcanover. come any foe. For MSH, Cap'l a Idnd of enhanced Ryu figure, nvappml fifeballl for .hield sUnBinlactlonl Th1,1Jn\tsllp,soldlerl

mORMAN The solden avenlt'" armour is packed with weapoN of just about every dHCrlptlon.~",

bomW, repulso. rays, you name It, Iron Man" sot It. And jun walt UIItU)'O\IlethhProton cannon Suptr FInUhI

TlUHUJ.X The . tronlHt mortal creatwe on the face of the planet, the Hulk'. strength il Immeasurable,uslnl It to leap up and brinl&Jterolds crashinl onto the headJi of his fon. And jwt look at the .be of himl

WOlVIlUJfI Put Wolverine mto any Capcom fiShtinS same and h e'. bound to win.

WhylWell, Wolverine '. just plain nasty and hi. move. ue really,really ea.y to p1.llloff. Can you 5ay ~Ch eesy"1

PSYJ.OCXll Pl ylocke's.uper-fast and excelle nt for com· bos. Pe rhapstoostronl.

26 S£GASlTURIIMAGAZIII[

The selection of vtllabu lnMSHbablthUor

strength, lpeedand mau.Julsernaut'. bee n toned down from his b Oil-level p erformance in X-Men. JUlt lOI w ell...

IDARKLIGHT CONFLICT Considering the success of inter-stellar shoot 'em ups on the PC with X-Wing, Tie Fighter and so forth, it's perhaps odd that none have filtered through to the Saturn. Enter Oarklight Conflict ... the first of many? _

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Wing Commander, bab! Wbo 31edl It wban we hi" tbll,

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THE PASSAGE OF TIME Once playe" have alighted from the mother ship, It become-. nece-.sary to locate and pass tluough the space porta) device, lJnldng t ogether the clIHerent pl ay areas of the game, Rather than being Just a cut sequence between leveb however, the space porta) device allows playe" to replenish thelI ailing energy bar by .:ollectlnggold orb$ whllit avoiding the energy sapping blue orbs, Oh yeh, and It looks quite spectacular al well.

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Saturnownersofa decent conversion of one of the greatest videogames ever created,Thelr half· baked rendition of id software's dassic Doom is one of the worst ever seen. A crime for which they ought never to be forgiven, Bywayofredeemingthemselves some· what. I!age's latest offering is a distant relative of the dassic Elite and could welt turn out to be a very fine blaster indeed.

Oarklight Conflict features a plot worthyofa place in the X·Files with referencestothe Rosweli Incident, AreaSl, and alien ONA. But that'salt by the by,as Oarklight Conflict is essentially a straightforward shoot 'em up. Players are required to pilot a variety of hi-tech space crafts through so or SO mission·based levels. Each of these crafts are looled up with an array of weaponry, ranging from laser cannons to tractor beams, missiles and smart bombs. Space crafts also come equipped with a shleld,surroundingthem in a glowing aura to protect the craft from incoming enemy fire, though excessive use of the shield drains the ener8Ygenerator rendering the defences and weapons inoperable,

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Tobeginwjth.playe~undergoaperiodoftraining

whereby they becoml:' familiar with controls of the craft

and encounte. various simulated scenarios li kely to «op up when the missions begin proper, Therein prospective pilots are taught the finer points of landing a mulll·mil· lion pound space craft and the t3rgeting and annihila·

lion of others pace craft. Once players have completed their tough training regime, the game really gets going.

From hereon in Ihe action is similar to Elite o. x· Wing.withpla)'('~localinglhespaceportalandtravel.

ting through the time·space continuum which tinksthe V3riousmissionstogether.Whenptayersemergeina new gatary, various mission objectives await them rang· ing from deansing sectors of space pirates to the more bizarre tasks of mining ore flom the asteroid belts, Oarklight Conflict is runn ing on a most Impressive engine withde.:ent speed,sotid 30 space craft and some spectacular tighting effects, atbeit not quite on par with the PlayStation version, When combined with the invotv· ing mission based gameptayandthe uniqueness of this \itie on the Saturn, EA could welt have a winner on the hands with Oarklight Conflict, Butyou'lt have to wait until the ne>ct issue to know for sure

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USING O UR UN IQUE SYSTEM IT IS POSS IBLE TO PLAY UP TO TEN DIFI-'E RE NT GA MES FOR TilE PRICE OF ONE 8 0UG UT OFF HIE tIIG" STREET!!! !

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IIARCRAFT 2: TH EDARK SAGA The struggle of good versus evil resurfaces once again this month, this time with Electronic Arts' Mediaeval real-time war si m, Warcraft Z: The Dark Saga_ I ELECTRONIC

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popularatthemomentonthePC,fOit's mherdlS.llppolntlngthatontythell!ll(ellent Command andConquerhnthusfllr .. ri~n

ontheSatum.~ntoseizeonthea pparentnlchelnthe

p.-bltmarket,EAarereadyingforrelease Wlln:lritz: 1'he D<lrk Sagil. B41sed on the popular PC game, the Siltum mldltlon isaconverslono{Warcraftzandthe Portal Ex~nsionPack,ando:ouldwellproY'l!toglvethe seem­

Ingly untouchable Ca.C a good run for Its money.

Warcraft~setstheplilyer ; narul-time

Mediaeval fantasy world where a ruthless clash

is underway belween the human ilnd Or, dvilisations bat1lingforsupremacy. Players are able to lake command of either of the two opposing forces in an attempt tocon · struct ilnd rul e their mediaeval empire In th",land,seaandalr.However,neltherof the two opposing factions are able to sim_ ply march over tothe other's base and giVl': them a brutal kltklng. after all. Warcraft isa strat· egy game. Srutalitycomes later.

To begin with it·sacaseoffofWard planning. priori· tising tasks and effediVl': management of the limited resources. Forexample,to amass a sizable army capable of1aklngonanyaggressors, players should begin by training the local peasanh. Training costs money which in turn means that gold needseJCtractingfromthemines by the few available men. Once the peasants are trained they need feeding. food comes from the farms, the farms are built by the peasants after harvesting the forests and so forth. Whilst this may sound quite complex requiring hoursofploughingthrougha lengthy instruction manu· al,the game is actually Vl':ry simple to gel to grips with

IT'S WAR OUT THERE! Similar 10 Westwood Studios' immensely popuiat Command and Conquer, EA's Wazcraft 2 allows players the opportunity 10 play a5 either of the two warring factions. Take comma nd of the evil Orc population and walch In honor as they brutally murder your fellow humans. Or take command of the human civilisation and

and acc<!Ssible even to new<:omers.

EVI':ntually players will haVl':amassed a fofCewith which toad""",e into enemy territory and ex~utewith rnreme prejudice their battle plan.

Therein players are abletocommandtheirtroopswith the familiar point 'n click control method allowing orders to be changed at a moments notice.

ThealphaVl':rsionofWarcrafl1we·vejusttaken delivery of is shaping up eX\remely well a nd could pose a serious threat to Command and Conquer's domination overlhis genre. Over 51 levels are promised for the finished version, with different mission campaigns and objectiVl':s set "cross over 100 customisable maps W"tch out for the ,eviewin a forthcoming issue of SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE

e l"es

Yo

e

Mothers playing games, A severely disturbed Aussie, dodgy release dates and more Sony paranOia. That's the best of a bad bunch this month I':m afraid, so let's gel so:me more Intereshng letters, eh~ Not ones that start "This i s the fll'sl h:me I've writ ten 10 a games mag before . so please print:my letter." And no more oversees letters begging for dento discs either, they wouldn't even work on your bloody Saturns. Send your letters to: VIRTUA WRITER, SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE, 37 39 Mdlharbour. The Isle of Dogs, London, EI4 9TZ. Who knows, you may even win a much sought after VF3 book l

DOOM DEBACLE ••• AGAIN.

r--aociiiwi.NER---r------------l

can't wait to get hold ofa copy. Howevef, would· n't itbee~tremelyniceforach a ngeifS<!ga got

theirch.que books out and bought the rights to it1 Of.ven an injunction to stop a ll those PI~yStationpervertsffomhavingavefsion.l'm

sure this game would ma ke the Saturn even mOfe desirable and give Sega the chance to actua lly flog iI few units a nd also ma k<! a few custom<!rs ha ppy. 50ny do it aU the time. so why can'tSe gal Icouldn'tfindSega's addre sssol thought I'd hassle you lot instead. AI! I wa nt to say is "We want King of Fighters '96111" Pfef. fablythe cart/CDcombinationatafeasona bleprice. And ifSeg3want proof that us Europeans a re worthy ofsuchagamelcangetalistof atleastten n ~ m<!s from my Saturn owning mates. Actually that inc1udes me mum'cos she's playi ng Exhumed at the minute.Andthat'sJustthe startll So let's see some action Segal

Iwasneve r oncedderredorremorsedbymypurchas<! (ofSaturn Doom). Yes. Ih<! almighty Exhumed has shown t he pretenders athingortwo. bul l<!t'sfac<! it.the kill count (In tha t game) was well b<!low pa r. At lea st Doom delivered,albeit ina gfoggystupor.

Astothepitif ul ratingsaffofd<!d to Saturn Doom in both SSM a nd th<! dea rlydepart<!d Mean Machines Sega. how C3n yo u possibly justify S6% and 39% fesp<!ctiv<! lywh<!nyourownh<! aftyr<!commendations (for Alien Tri'ogy) are utlerARSE7 I hought this limp. wheezing <!xcus<! fOfa gam<!on th<! basis of many favoura bl<! reviews (yours includ e d).8ut.duetoabrok en contfolschemeand the worst sprites I have ever seen in ANV GAME (16-bitincluded).limmediatelyr<!placed wilhvigour.

Unfortunatelylhe har sh. virulent words that have been heaped upon Doom byoutstandlngJournos li ke Angus Swa n a nd Rithard Leadbettercannotbe replaced. nor redeemed and we the Saturn·loving community must bear the scars forever. Shame gentl e m<!n,shamel Steven Wrongell, Austfol/o

Worst s pdtnln a ny Sa m . , eh1 Ptn um ably you' ve n . ver play. d Da rk Ca.tle on the M. ga drive1 I lIand by my word s: Sa turn Doom truly is.n a bo m ln. Uon a nd yn I would rather pl. y Alie n Trilogy. Additiona Uy, why don't you l et . ' Ub fCriptiOn . 0 you ca n ta k e p a rt in mor .... contempora ry d . b at .d alCH

!

M atth ~w,

10 ~sk wh at date th<!y said It was set for a summe f releas e. Please get YOUf facts straight in t he futu re l Tom FOJter

tt'. a w . lI known fa ct that r. l .... d a tn of ga m • • are notorious ly unr. ll abl . . . th. y inevit ably d ip b a ck for reasons unknown to Ut .

How. ver, th.y are complet. ly a ccur. te at the tlm. of Wl' IUng . n d It iJ not our int. ntlon 10 d . c. lv. r.ad ellln any w ay. For a mllre d.t a U. d a ccount of why . p. clfic g. m e • • re . lipping b a ck why not rinS up the , "ftwa re compa ny in qu •• tlon In. t.a d of I.ttlng . n work. d up and han lingusl LIIE

Du,hllm

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GBT YOUR PACTS STRAIGHTI

l ,amnotgoing,osaythatyourmagiscoo,and

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GAMBS SBNSATIONI

~rf<!ctHatredp<!rf<!ctlycursingth<!curseofR a ge.

::i:h:o;.:e: ; • ment. m . de by cunent BMAl' EcUtor aichard l.e.elbe tl er, wh.n I d<!lIver with vllour . quote from the out. tandinS afor . m . ntion.d journo tak.n from a pr. vlou s UK periodical. ~ aamp.nt . tupldlty is rUe the world over. I won't r •• t until . uch foolt are unm ask.d .... nel e Umln at . d.~ B.a r the . ea n of tha t, St. v •. LEE

1

MOTHERPlAYS

ThiS lette r may seem to bedredgin8 upthe past by centfing on spiked comments made by previous EMAP editors (Mean Ma chi nes Sega. a nyone~) but. in the land of bated brea th (ie Austra lia) where UK pefiodicals are summarily delayed ... by MO NTHS. it is quite timely. Almost.

Hence. the collective "kicking" cum murderous a ssault exacted upon Satu rn Doom. As one of th<! slav<!fin8.DoomdepfivedSaturnfaithful.lwas <!ag<!r a s anyone to give Doom a "fair sha ke". It's obvious that Rage Software have st umbled badly with this conversion but. Doom bein8 Doom I refused to accept that its playa bilitywas neu lered Even as I gfappled with th<! "gfidlock" that is

t

!t

v.nlon. of Quak. and. Duke Nuk. m:iD are going to be .u~rior to the PlayStat10n ver· lion •. After all, th.yr. beinl programm.d by the people . ..ponsible for the am&1in1 Exhumed. Ukewise both of the.. gam • • will be avalla bl. on the Satw'n . om. tim e befllre the PS v. ,.llIns arriv •. As fllr your •• cond. point, Ko' 95 CD/cart p a d< will be . vailable I<XIn (ch.ck out the ,.vlew this very Issu.).

Ho doubt S. ga are waiting to gaule the t uc_ cess of !hi. before r.l.asinl Ko' ' 96, but hopefully 11 . houldn't be too 10nl'l.El!

: WillIam. ar. all. S. dly doing PS Quak., but 1 th. y only ...m t o want to talk abou t Quak. : 64, whlcll hal lot m e thinldng whether t th. y'r. doinglt atalLB.dd • • , the f. cttha t : Quak. wilI ap~ar on Saturn flnt a nd the [ fa ct that It will be sud> a monume ntal t.d>.

I ruca1 a clUevem. nt b much bett. r than lock· : inloutallth....... PI.yStatlonpervert.~. : B. d d •• t own . PlayStation and I'm n ot that : mud> of a perv.rt. Tru.lhaven 't actually : pow.rl!d It up . inc. I flnb h . d WipEout 2097,

L_b~~~.~~~.~~.~~~~

_______________ _

THE SATURN J:lX BMULATOR Why doesn' t Sega (ora t hi rd party) produce a ca r· tridge adapl<!rsothatMegadfive a nd32Xcaftsfit int o the Saturn and produce a CD t hat inst rucls the Satufn to act as either of these ma ch ines I I don't knowlfit'spossiblebutrdpufchase one forthwith. I think. If they were cheap that Is. Mlchoei Tie rnon, Ne wclIJtie

:~::~~:t ~::!:::::O~I:I~:::S:::~I::e

., by now. B.tldn, the cr.am of the ,.ho lamn crop a lway. t . nd to e m e rge on the Saturn any· wa y, t uch al the excelle nt Se l a Ag es p a ck a g. a nd the f. nta . tic forthcoming Sonic Ja m . o forl.t your . xtr. pl astl~ . dd·on bit • . The Saturn'. lilt It a lii LEE

SATURN '4: PACT OR PICTION? Ou.aSSM landmanyofmyfriendswanttogetsomethlng dear sopleasecanyou helpusout.lnlssuenl wrote to you asking about the posslbllityofa Saturn 64and back then you said 'No~. Since then there have been many reports especially one about OVO making a Saturn 64 coming from all over the place. Then in other magazi nes of PlayStation and Nint endo 64 they say the Saturn will be de ad by the end of the year and you say it won't. I know the Saturn has a ges left yet but is Ihere a ny truth in the 64-bit rumours or will there ever be one. Oon't gel mewrong,lthinktheSaturnisabrilliantmachine wit h theli kesofVF3,Street Fighter vs X-Men, Resident Evil and Marvel Super Heroes on the way.

The Saturn will be the greatest console of the year, but will Sega ever match the power of the Nin tendo'

night wh en my friend came round and prised me off with a crowbar.

Could you please tell Sega to issu e a health warningon their games so that lean have a good night's sleep JomeJ 81lker, 8righton PS Is Red Alert eomingto Ihe Saturnl ,.Q: I , ympathh e with youz friend, al l ofte n ~ have to tie my girlfriend up with dre ..Ins sown cord. when I he'l pla yins with my equip m ent, which also prevents me from hav_ Ins a good night" sleep. A, for Red Alert ... well , no ne_ yet we 're afraid. LIIE

to the dilemma Sony ue faced with. The astoundinS Duke Nukem~, Qualte, 'Ighting'oree, Tomb Ra..lder 2, Marvel Super Heron, X-Men ... Stree-I 'Ighter, Grandia and loads of SNK riuff shOWl the awesome quality of third party HUes to be released this year,allofthemSaturnfirsb..LI!1I

4; :;;:u~:~~::~eh::!~!:::~~!thez

S.M SPECIALIST WRITIS ••• Ou.eSSM last August I w3Ssavlng upfora Ninlend064and IwascontinuallyslaggingofftheSaturn.Qhdear Thenl played it ilnd played it and played it.

Eventually my friend had totle me up wilh dressing gown cords to keep me off Guardian Heroes but he could not restrain me. Yes, Iwasaddicled.

After burning my way through several Nintendo magazines I scrapped my plans foril N64.

Ch.istmasOaycameandmySaturnilrrived.Surely you say this letterisa bit late.Thisisduetome not being abletogel off the Saturn until last

I have been a 10)'iI1 Segafan for mil nyyears now but feel disillusioned with Sega and their powerhouse console, the Saturn. Why is itthal third party support is decliningl Shinny Entertainment are no longer bringing out Wild Nines and Bullfrog are no longer committed to the platform. Am I righttofeeldisillusionedwiththeeurrent Saturn scene?

Pou/Couon,Kent .I!!:. In a wont, "no~. It is true that some - - third party developen have withdrawn their support, but whal we're left with is quallty over qu.anHty,the wmplet:e opposite

Kirrono Tomang, London

publication. aI if they were fact, However, it would be • safe bet to say that $ega, Sony and even Nintendo are looking towuds producing a new con.ole to k ee p up with rapidly advancin g technology. As to the Saturn being d ea d by the end of the yeu, this is pwely a . cue t.ctic to clbcourage people from buying a Satun\.

Compared with SeSa', a wesome softwue Uneup this year (check out this month's ne_ pas es for starlen) Sony look .et to h a ve their weakest yea r thu I fa r a nd slmUarly with Nintendo experiencinga severe software drought . LEE

BRIEI'J.Y•••

WWP·OPPI What the hell was Alex Gladwin going on about when he said WWF wasn't outdated and the PlayStation is betterthantheSaturn.lthinkhe's talking oul of his arse first of all why a.e you buying and writing intoSSM if you have a PlayStation and think thal il's better than Ihe Saturn I Hmm ... very slrange WWF Isasou tdatedastanktops. How old are you anyway, by the look of your letter I'd say about six· teen and when WWF wasn't outdated it mainly attracted kidsofaboutl0 ·12. Ithink I'd better tell you that the wrestlers aren't rnlly hitting nch other and it's just pretend. I would rilther see a Polaroid of Riehard leadbetler naked than fat, halry, swnty men running about In leotards.

I'm also an noyed with whilt Alex Charles and Oilvid Metealf wrote about Nights and Christmas Nights beingcrap.WeUlthinkgg.g%ofthepeop!ethat have played NiGHTS would disagree with you. They also silid when would Sega get their ilet together because when you look al your Out Now section most oflhe games are rubbish. I'd havetoagreewilh you on thal. I mean there's only over thirty games with go% and overilnd lO gilmes with 80% or over.

Who wants 50 e ~cellent Saturn games when you can have five good PlayStation titles or three good N64games?

John/IA erneof,LoncoJhlre

.. :~~:::~I-:.e~:~~:o~;:r~gf::::",r

nude photo, of RJch to be pubUshed. However owbashful Ed.itorln,ist. that ... long ... he's at the h elm of the good l hip SSM that no l udl freak I how will arise. However, he', about to buuer off to the other tide of the pond for a hoLIday SO keep yow eyes peeled for ow very next iflue, Ho promise. mind. LIIE

Why has Sega not got around to releasing a link cable yeti I own Sega Rally and was most disappointed to learn there was no link-up option. The split-screen mode is good but iI little confusing.

Now if it was full screen it could have been less confusing, more detailed and probably a bit faster.

I think this isthe reason Sony's machine sold well was because they hadil link·cableilvil ilable straight from its relnse.

ChriJJohnJon,Uocl ~ The link-up cable hasn't been released for two reaso .... PhItly there', not enough sames with link-up capabUlties to justify its release. Secondly you need to have two televidolU, two Satums, two copies of the game Ilnd the link-up cable to be able to play in link-up mode. Whilst this may be great for games map like oun, it'l luJely W\prac:tlcal for yow averase Saturn own.....

Sony themselves have zeallsed this Ilnd have now dzopped the link-up cable for the PlayStation Ilnd are actively encouragins developen HOT to use it in the future ,

Intdguinj:.LI!1I

I ilm writing to you 10 talk about VF3 and the accelerator cartridge. When people buy games Ihey want the best quality and when I was read · InglssuelSYOu said that VF3would need an aceelerator cartridSe to cope with the power of the game. So what I'd like to know is whether this is true, how much will it be and when will VF3 come out Slmon80rdwrll,lpnvich

t#; ::~::::~!:!:~o~~e:':ho Ht! fit to lI'Iterrupt ourbusy work schedule, there', no offidal word on whether the accelerator cartridse even exilts. Therefore to tell you any sped.£lcatiolU, price or release dates would be pure . pecul.ation. However, if 11', rumoun you'ze after, fust buy Saturn Power, He, he. LI!1I L _______ __ ____________________ _

SI( A ~AIIJRH MAl

MINI 3J

Another month, another super'exciting edition of O-A. Actually, I have to admit that your questions were a lot more interesting this month. However, I've still got missives from the last O-A to help me should I have any more prob' lems sleeping. Here we go then: more hardcore responses from the Master, Richard Leadbetter, and Sega Europe Overfiend Mark Maslowicz. Send your questions (be interesting) 10 INSOMNIA·CURING O-A, SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE, 37·39 Millharbour, London E14 9TZ. Gel scribbling!

Pl'YOIlArrnmOI

UYIiIOIIIEWS?

Since your magazine is t he I)f,st intheworld,l was hop, ingyoucould answer a few questIons, ,. I've got SWWS '97, Virtua Cop 2, Sega Rally, Oaytona USAVF2 and FIFA'97 for my Sat urn. What should I gelne "l? ~. When is swws '98 coming oull 3- Any chance of some SWWS '97 cheats?

4.i've saved up f70sodoyouthink I should get the VirtuaGunoranewgamel S. What's best out of Die Hard Arcade and Die Ha rd Trilogy?

6.Whodoyouthmkis l hel)f,stfighle.rnVF21 KarlSkott,Huntingdon.

I've been feadingyour mag since it cameoul so I Ihoughl it wa~ l Ime 10 w.it~ in. Please could you answer my ques·

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October.). We've p rinted them already. TwIce. 4. You $hould h~ve a gun. And NIGHTS lU\d the ~nalogue controller. S. DKA I. cooler tKhniCally, but DHT has more lastabllity. 6. Alelra by a huge margin. although he Is difficult to master. Unless you ARE the Mute,l

lI ..... es have flashier visuals, bullhere has never bun • IIraphlcal effect. on PS that h • • not bun done on the S.turn. fACT. Besldu, S.mepl.y Is more import.nt. If you w.nt the be.t same., .tlck with the Saluzn.

IHElTlIEHW.1!?

Should I swapVF2 fo. fighte.s MegaMI,,1 2. Will House of the Dead come out fo.Saturnl

1.

lAnymo.enewsonR~sidentEvill

4

Whichisbette.inte'msoflastabihty.ThemeP~.ko.

You. mag is lolally cool and this is th~ fi.st time r~ wfltten

so please ansW<'. rny questIons 1.

When the hell Is that wonderful

g~me

Scud Race commg

5. What On Ea,th is Vi.tual Hydlide as I saw it for flo and wasthinklngofbuyingi!l 6. Will Micro Machines V3 come 10 Saturn?

LioydS;ovi(ul,B.lltol

•

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pla ns h . vebtenmenlionedyet.). If there Is, It·U be in them·II·ShouldbebeforeChrlstmas though·4· 1 refuse to comp.n two totally different lI.mes. U'. pomtles •. S. It's it borlng RPG, not Te. Uy worth £10.

S.ve your c.sh for Shlnlnll the Ho!y Ark. 6. Yes,.t the

2.WjlltheSaturn~rsionofLastB.on"be asgoodas it

looks in you. Sega fl~sh COl lAnyde<:ent platfo.me.s coming out soonl Adam Lee, Lee ds •. There has been no announce ment from AM2 ... yet .

2. Yes .nd expect SOme huse sm-prlsu with th.ls.me. ). The new So n ic lI.me will .maze you. tn the me.ntime try oul Pa nde monium. It',cool.

Th. 'lllut:loa.s that come up time and time _lain ... e answered in this Uckle NC-

DIEHAlDTlUOC'ffIT1SHlST DU'Q+A Igetyourmageveryweek{soyou~uythesameissue

four times? Rich)

~nd

think il is wicked.

Ple~se

p"nt my

lette.aslwouldlovetos~itinamaglikeyou.s I.Whkhisl)f,sl.theSegaVirtu~Guno.theP.edalo.Ught

2.lamlook ingatDieHardTfllogyformyne"tpurchase.IS il l .ueitisth.eegamesononediscICanyouplayitwlth. outagunl

titluare , uffidentlydlffere n l 10 warr.nt pur· ch ..... Theywillbothbe . wtsomebutatthlsstase 1I"lmpon ible to recommend one ove r the other.

3.lsthereili~rarywhe'eyoucanbo"owSatufngamesl

4 . I get

£p a W<'ek and I will gel f30 a W<'ek from Oc:tol)f,.

onwa.ds.lhavethesegames o WipEout.SegaRally.VF2, Man" TT. Tom~ Ralde •. Ha.dcofe 4X4. What should I get after DIe Hafdl S,Haveyoupla)"'dTombRaide.2andisitanygoodl 6. Which willl)f, I)f,s\. Vf3 o. fIghters MegaMi"l HaVIng VF2 which would you advise me to 8etl 7· Is it t.ueyou'.edolngd emodiscsw lth every issue fromnowonl Malt Thompton, We,t Su"t><.

~ol:=:,::~~:~~,~ :~t~:,V::::.~:~~'

.. a nswer to your question., yes It has three different lIameplay type. and yes you c.n play It with .lIun.).

It',called Blockbuster Video. 4. You should lIel Exhumed, NIGHTS, Virtua Cop, Virtu. Cop 2, Streel Flllhler Alpha 2, Flshten MegaMlx and ~g. worldWide Soccer '97 BEfORE you 110 .nywhere near Die H.rd Trilogy,S. No. Can'tteU yet. 6. I refu ... to comp.re.lI.meth.t'. out 10 one that no-one h •• ... en outside of AMz. 1. We will do demo dlK. when we h.ve qu.lIty ones to pu t on the cover.

" .... lamconside"ngsellingmySegaSalurnandgettm8 a PlayStationl)f,causeSaturndocsn·tb.ingoutenough gamesandwhentheydotheya.en·thalf~sgoodasthe

PlayStationones All my mates at school say PlayStationis I)f,tterandcanhandlealotmo.eg.aphicaleffects.

Please help mel TonyC,.mplon, Burnley

•

::~~:;:r:h;:::::~;~fll::;~:r;~~t~~urn

Point two: the most excltlnss. m es come to S.turn first : Exhumed, Tomb R.ider, Quake, Duke Nukem]D .nd loa d s mOre. Point three, m . ny S.turn version, are,uperlortothe PS one. like St reet flshterAlpha (lU\d A1ph. 2), Exhumed, Hexen, NlllhI Warrlo ..... and plenlymore! Point four: the be.t coin .... ps Inthe world come from Sesa lU\d they're all SATURN EXCLUSIVEI Polnl five: yes,lIenerallyPI.ySl.tlon

2.

Is it wo.th gettingflFA'971

.,

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team, .re In there. Look,thell.me I. b.rely aver· .lIe and WorldWide Is far, far superior, WorldWide 'g8, due In October, will have Premiers hip team. and will be ACEI 3· Will the.e I)f, a Vi.tua Cop 11

=::;,I~~:~:::t:~~:~:~:~s~ud

., Ra ce . boul'S month, .so did mention. COP).

SlmlIllfly, it·. unllkelyth.t AM2wouldbrlns.n endtooneofthelrmosl.ucctufulfr.nchl.es.

4 Any news on the VF3 upgfadel

. . N o. When we know .nythlng, we'll p u llt m the news section. Not Q+A.

~@~~[~m[RJ 4]@)=rnnlr ~UD

If '

he Sonic Team has produced some of the finest video games the world has ever seen. Ca5e5 in point: Sonic the Hedgehog. which sold over 14 million copies worldwide, and the utterly incredible NiGHTS. The latter surpassed all previous expectations of Sonic Team, being hailed as one of the most visually splendid and cunningly c:rafted video games of all time. However as good as NiGHTS was. legions of Sonic fanatics around the globe have grown restless waiting for their speedy hero to appear on Satwn. Sonic 3D Blast was m erely an upgraded 16路bit stopgap and was never even released in Japan. So upon completion of NiGHTS Sonic Team began work on what has since become mown as Project Sonic. Now to quash any rumours you may have read else路 where, Project Sonic is not the nameof the new 32-bit Sonic title to be released later in the year. Instead the mysterious title is actuallySega of Japan's new initiative to reintroduce Sonic to the gaming community. Many Saturn owners may ha"" missed out on the Sonic phe路 nomenon the fir.rt time around as they ~re too old, too young or out sniffing glue or somethins. So phase one ofSega's twQ.pronged attack on the gaming public is the imminent release of Sonic Jam.

T

-.....

If SGr*WorI6l5l11JlndbtIon ollMngltoCOlM,theftl'Allln u.llllyjustinedll ..ttlng

拢ssentially a compilation disc featuring theMegaDrive hits Sonic the HedSehog 1-3 and Sonic and Knuckles, Sonic Jam is intended to tickstart the Sonic licence which has been languishing in gaminS limbo for the past few years. ru great as this is,the main focus has not been on the classic l6-bit games but on the all-new front end entitled Sonic World. Acting as an interactive manual with 8J'lPhics rivalling thoseof Marlo 64 this Is possibly the best indicationofwhat to expect from phase two of Project Sonic later this year (THE blS Sonic title). In the meantime. ~ have one ofthefewcopiesofSonic Jamoutside of Japan and are now about toexciusmiy reveal it in all its splendour.

MOVIE THEATRE

guM.lft_ani",,Jt,y\8eartoonfA~.trt颅

ump/lantSolllc:andhllpalTalII.

By far th<! most impr<!ssiv<! of th<! mus<!ums to visit, th<! Movi<!

Th<!atr<! futur<!s r<!<!ls of high quality FMV movi<!s to watch. In fact, th<!r<!'s so much footag<! cramm<!d into this mini cin<!ma It malc.<!s us wond<!r how th<! h<!lIlh<!y manag<!d to fit it all onto on<! disc! To begin with visitors to th<! movi<! thntr<! ar<! abl<! to vi<!w th<! op<!ning and <!nding anim<!-styi<! movi<!S 10 Sonic CD, accompani<!d by th<! ch<!<!sy tun<!s of "Sonic Warrior" and "fleli<!V<! In VouIS<!lf". Judging by th<! unpopularity of th<! M<!ga CD It's fair to say that most Saturn own<!rs won't have s<!<!n th<!s<! cartoons b(!for<! so th<!y d <!finil<! ly malc.<! a w<!\com<! addition 10 th<! pack.

Alas, th<! full Sonic CD gam<! isn't indud<!d.

Following on from that ar<! a coupl<! of cartoons f<!aturing Sonic battling it out with Or Robotnik which conc\ud<!s with th<! myst<!rious m<!ssag<!: "To B<! Contlnu<!d..." Mak<! of that what you will. oth<!r cool stuff In th<! movi<! th<!atr<! indud<! an uc<!U<!nt first person perspectiv<! vi<!w of Sonic I<!arlng round a CG r<!ndition of th<! Gre-<!n Hill Zon<!, d<!stroytng Badniks and sh<!dding his rings along th<! way. P<!rhaps th<! most <!nt<! rtaining of all th<! movi<!s how<!v<!r ar<! th<! bizarr<! s<!ri<!s of Japan<!s<! t<!ioevision corn路 mUclals produc<!d to promot<! th<! Sonic gam<!s. Th<! Sonic 3 corn路 muclaI still r<!duc<!s th<! SSM I<!am to fits of uncontrollabl<! laught <!r as various m<!mbers of th<! Japan<!s<! public ar<! poss<!ss<!d by Sonic and <!nd up running around Ih<! str<!<!ts of Tokyo Sonic-styl<!.

Also indud<!d aI<! comm<!rcials for some of the Game Gear Sonic Htl<!s, Sonic CD, Sonic 2 and a whole host of oth<!rs.

.I.boftIlfl:Y.... .--tht&arnlGtarSankCDllllllll"dall .... lnhenl.1li&M:5oIIic1osa

1rIIs_.n... ... encounterwltllIBadnltlnthtCGnnioIlltIIe~IIiIIZOIIL

HALL OF FAME Visit th<! Hall of fame and playus may luf through a massive calalogu<! of Sonic gam<!s with their respective worldwld<! release dates around the world and a wealth of other important Sonic facts. From the original concept ion of Sonic the Hedgehog in April 1990, through the Sega/Cherry Coke Tour In 1993 to the recent release of the SoniC and Knuckles Collection on the PC. In fact,jusl about every single Sonic game and related <!Vent ever Is to be found in herel

CHARACTER HOUSE The Character Hous<! is quite Similar to th e Art Gallery as it futures some of the original sketches and other pieces of artwork featuring Or 1I.0botnlk and his menacing Badnik creations. Every single Badnik from uch ofth<! four MegaDrive Sonic games Is included in this museum In one form o r anothe r. From the pesky Calerklll<!rs ofthe original Sonic th e Hedgehog to the havoc-wreaking Mushmeanies of Sonic and Knuckles, they're all In there for you to peruse at your leisure. Add to tMs a zoom feature allowing players to view all the artwork up close and what you have is a comprehensive gallery of all Sonic's diabolical opponents.

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2 Anticipation for the sequel to the Immensely popular Sonic fe~ r pitch by Nove mber '9] Or "Sonic as i t had been dubbed In the UK. The pressure on the Sonic Team 10 deliver a game that was superlor to orlglnal was immense and they didn't disappoint. The graphics were much Improv<!d OVer the original with chunkier more detailed sprites and backgrounds and a more va rlely !>elweenl"vels. It wasn'\ the same sort of leap that was late r made with Sonic 3 but this was a worthy addition 10 the Sonic ,eries nevertheless. The game play was also a lot futu than the original and a damn sight tougher too, making Sonic 2 a more lasting experience

rh" Hedgehog reachlNl. Tuesday~

than Ih predectS50r.

Sonic Mmself benefited from the addltion of a brand new Spin Dash attack whl(h allowed him to attain full spefli with-

oul a run-up, thereby evading any Im~ndlng danger. He was also joinf!d by one of his woodland chums, Miles "Tails" Prower, a flying fox no le5S who cowd bf! controlled by a Sf!(:ond player to assist Sonic throughout the game.

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3

A n ew spedal sUge had also been added in place of the flat, rotating s pecial stage fro m the fir$t Sonic. The all-new special stage had Sonic running through a roller. coast er.\l ke sectio n of tubing, col路 lectlng rings and avoiding bombs until eventually collecting each of the seven Chaos Eme ralds. The same

Upon Its release, Sonic 1 was heralded.s the best game in the Sonic trilogy and it" easy to see why. The sequel used a whole new g raphical engine which meant that the game's vt.suals were more polished than ever bf!fore with legions of Badniks and the largest le .... els witnessed in any Sonic game. These leve ls we re incredibly varied and detailed with each Zone's scenery improving on previous outings with mOre colour, textures and settings. The level designs were also quite diffe rent to previous Sonic games, with each Zone bf!nefiting from inc reased height as well as widt h. This greatly increa sed th e sco~ for exploration, with multiple routes available, and m a de the third instalment less li nea r t han previous efforts.

However, whilst Sega ensured that Sonic 3 looked ama~ing. they also managf!d to retaln the playa.billtyofthe first two games and even Improved upon it.

A wealth of bonus stages were added which p ushed the boundaries of the MegaOrlve's tecltn010gy even fwther. The Chaos Zon e special stage has Sonic running across the sutfaCf' of a huge spherical planet colled:ing blue avoiding red spheres in order to bf! rewarded with a Chaos Emerald.

Sonic 3 also debuted anothe r supporting chanocter In the form of KnucltJ.es the Ech idna whom Sonic has to contend with whilst battling Or Robot nit.. New power.ups have bf!en included which sunound Sonic In an aura. each of which has diffe rent capabilities a Uowing him to breath underwater, walk through fire and act as a magnet fo r rings.

The break-neck speeds of the previous two games have bf!en retained and some of the most amali ng set-pieces ever seen a re In abundance th roughout. Add 10 Ihls the awesome two- playe r s plit -scree n mode firsl see n In Sonic 1. which allowing Iwo pl ayers to com~te head-to-head in one of six diffe rent lones, and what you have is an Inc redible addition to the serles_ Sim ply put, Sonic 3 Is a breatht aking game where there's neve r a dull moment and is o nly surpassed when combined with Sonic and Knuckles.

SEGASATUH NIUGAlI NE Cl

GBTHYPBRI

~the.tno""""'"

InlllddenwlthilthllllriDusln"-

.1Iecorn-...-t:rplayln wishin!lbI~theJIIIII.

The Sonic series of gam es are certainly unique in that th ey cate r for th e varying degree of the p layers' gaming ability.

Newcomers to th e Sonic phenome non are able to simply run through each of the levels in a time trlal路lIke way and safely reach the e xit. More experienced Sonic game rs are able to colle ct all the Chaos Emeialds and rings to finish the game properly. When! as the most talented playe rs will strive to become Super Sonic and then Hyper Sonic by collecting Chaos Eme ralds and Super Chaos Eme ralds l

The fourth gripping Instalm ent of th e Sonic se ri es saw the return of Knucklu the Echidna in a starring role alongside Sonic himself. Th e cause of much nuisance in Sonic 3 had now become a playable characte r, adding a whole new dimension to the usual Sonic gam eplay through his increased varie ty of moves. Knuckle s has the ability to glid e, climb walls and smash through thicker walls and stone blocks allowing him to reach are as previously inaccessible to Sonic alon e.

The game engine of Sonic and Knuckle s is actually an evolution of the Sonic 3 engine which is apparent in th e similarities between the two titles_A lot of the bosses and set -pl芦 es were re~ated from Sonic 3 and indeed th e

'

1\I~;.ilrr,

game pretty much looks like an enhanced version of Son!c's third outing. As a result Sonic and Knuckles alon e is possibly the w eakest of the Sonic se ries_That said , whe n use d in conjunction with any ofthe previous Sonic games, via th e "Lock-On System", whole n ew avenues are ope ned up and this is where Sonic and Knuckles really excels.

The Loc:k-On System was unique at the tim e and the same Is true today. Basically th e game arrived as a plug路through cartridge with two e nds, one of which Is slotled Into th e MegaOrive and the other end allows previous MO Sonic titles to be added. The two cartridges combined add a number of features to previous Sonic games and eve n creates all -new games as follows:

-~~,.--,...::::::~~~

42 SEGASATURHMA(lAZINE

ISM How lup b u... coft"moa t.am an4 how b ia tenas of oledpen, prop'&mIILUW an4 utUta. madtet m June of '96, and we immediately .tarted receiving many requests for a Satllm conversion. This Is the major reuon for the decision. The originaJ arcade development ~aff are m chuge of thb conver. ion, in order to achieve the quallty that all thoJefan, u e expectmg.

u... t_IJIUt

AA Unfortunately, we ca nnot a nswer this question, at thl.

SSM Did. yoa. ......

_,.wom..

aIoov.t the u.pabWU.. oftha

Sahu:a aa_puH to the

...........

Mod.allucaUItoud1~theSahmll.aa'lqIllt. . .

SSM Wll.a oIU yo.1tut u..amaftldoa an4 what -J'O'U alJu1 AA The official announceme nt of Last Bronx on the Saturn wu made on 8 November 1996 and that Is the e xact date when thl. project wa • • tuted. The ke y e lement ofthl. conversion Is to

rep roduce the pl ay feel of the original arcade game. Howeve r. at the same time. we wUlaccompllsh both ~qu allty of graphlc. w and "real 3D ba ttle fle ld. w at the h ighest level.een unong. t Saturn polygon Hghtmsgame •.

lLi.lI..I,. popular . . . . .

ISM Virt.a PI,lI.tn h oltrio...I,. a What _ak.. ta.t .JOJUI .4Ufn•• t

..... 1 AA m Last Bronx, characters h ave more unique motion. by utUlling different weapons. A11JO. all the stages m the s.ame are a ctual locations in Tokyo, characten' fashion s are based on real tHnagers clothes and characters are tied together In a verycompl\ca ted mumallelatlon.hlp.

SSIIhittna.tll..attheoripaal arca.4et_NlI.buI .......0 . . . . .

AA As you can undentand. La~ Bronx wu made with the hardw;ue capability of Model z fim of all. Model 2 b a hlsh·end where a . the Satum Is a general purpo.e gam" machine. We have to admit, we have had some arudety...

CG board,

ISM W.. then _,. polat ia the coza..m.... procaa .11..... you lookH at u... ucaU,1UIUI an4 tho.pt " this j1ut: aa't ..... 401U1 oathah1UDltleSah&n."1lflO, lI.owolUyoa.maaapto4o _reo. . the pnltlem yoa. fa_1

AA There are hidden characte n called Grey and Metal. An Invented technique · pseudo-envlronmental texture mapping· Is being utilifed, which w .. created through th e effort. of highly s killed programmen. "Environmental texture mapplns ~ b used fo r mirror -lik e effects, such .. Vlrtua "ghter)'.

Dural, wherfl' surface. reflect their . urroundlng ICfl'nfl'ry. This dfu! b s upported by Model "but nol Mode l 2. However, our programmer. managfl'd to achie ve It with the Model z board by booltln, thfl' capability of the hardware 10 It. maximum. It SfI'fI'ml likfl' lfl'produc· In, . uch fl'ffe cts on the Saturn I. extrfl'mfl'ly touSh. Also. motion captured charactfl'rt' c1olh fl'l (and female chuacten' bouncing chull) will bfl' Vfl'ry tough to convert onto the Saturn.

SEGAUTURNIIWltlIN( ~

SSM W1o.aI is 1lI.. proeMS fon ItriJocbtI aaaa a daanct.r &om u..

TIle chancI.r cJOII-UPS II t~1 .Id or "t~ ro~rtd th, Iml)Unt of hi-rei d.llll ln th.lllllrflllt!&hllrs.

"'ow

MoclaI a arcade board. 1o 1lI.. Sabanl?

AA We InltlaUy Uled the utade verllon', polygon models and started adJultlng the number of polygonl, texture rel olution and colour of textures, to create all new models for the Saturn.

SSM How clo)'Oa 'bM, u.. m _ _.t ofu.. chaJactan auon fra ... arcade to Sabanll otrricnulJ Uaar. is 1_ _ ...., to ... withu..Satua.

AA Yes , the amount of motion data for the .rcade game is enormou., but the key point of Last Brome Is It I IInlque

gameplay feeling. Almost no dab. was removed from this part.

SSM Don I.ut~ ....... 1lI.. Satara's h1P-~latio. moda, Uke Vlmu Piptu a, OIlow·nsola.ti.oa, Uke ~tlat: Vi....?

AA Neithe r are exactly topifd. Just like I mentioned earlier, we used diffe rent methods to achieve both better graphics .nd speed.

SSM Th. b.c",ro ••d.. I. Virh•• 'J,htar. 0. S.t •••• r ••D. Wh.t ••• ),0 •• pl&1l.. for Lasl Bro.:d Ca. 'a. . . . .p.p n •• Ip •• d. with polnoa bac",roaad..?

AA We used polygons for objects in the foreground and several 'ID images for backgrounds. As a result, we believe the depth represented in thU title b better tha.n any other ID fighting

game for the Saturn. You can see the difference when the winning replay M<luence Is shown from different camera angles.

SSM Soma arcHe nm..n:lcnu ..... lowu &.Du _t.. anapuool to 1lI.. oripaal-,.t I.ut BralUl appoan to nul at 60 ham.. pa MCOJUI Uk. tha arcaI.. pm•. W1o.at 4lf:f:Inaltin.tU th1s r - I 10 lb. arcHe team?

AA When the project was started, we made up our minds 10 quit development of Lut Bronx unless 60 fps could be achieved. It Is quite obvious that the fast movement of weapons Is the key to the fun facto r of the game and cannot be reproduced without the hiSh frame rate. However, because of thOle weapons, wc believe the Lalt Bronx ch aracters hit detection routines are much h eavier than those of Vlrtua fighter. Additionally, we have thOle graphic dlfflcwties to overcome. No single part of ihllconverslon has been easy s.o flI.

SSMn..bluoflll.._apcnu'monmuatwuimpnuhrolAtha arcade ......._WIaat 4lfflnaltia .... Uds)lQMllt with 1lI.. Satv.za nmftrlloa?

AA Since we received very good reaction from arcade playen, the motion bluned weapons wlU remain In the Salllm version.

However, lame an. nsemenl$ will have to be made, as the res.olution of Saturn Is different. $$M Althoap I.ut Bra.... hN muuu.al paphla, It also

hat_.

ftI'J' Iabtcat.llUIlOplay Ind....u.al. "l'J'pnciH collldoa d..toctIo.~_ - howwuUdsbro.pt !IQ_totha .... tv.za1 AA As we keep mentioning. reproducing the same game play fHI

of the arcade version I1 OIU highest priority and accurate hit detection of weapons will also be one of the main f.cton. We st:r.rted 01U programming from this point, as we cannot proceed further wlthOllt t's!.bUshinS the base of this pros ram. pla,ule f _ at 1lI.. rftUlI Tokyo G.... Show. WUt.-ctloa.tU)'01l ~hom 1lI.. pla,..nl

$$M I.ut Bra.... appouod.lA a

AA Fortun.tely, we received a very positive reaction from users at the show. We'll try our best to con s;der their comments as much al possible. Por example, the Game Show version ROM did not have the motion blurred weapon effectl and we did receive a huge amount of requests for them. especially from fans of the ucade vert Ion. It was then that we decided to .dd the effect (knowing some technic.1 difficulties lay ahead). User. who played the ROM at the show comme nted that the ~characters are larger tha n thOH of prevlous)D polygon fighting g.mes, ~ that the ~ textur es of facel and clothing looks far mOre detailed th.an expeded, ~ and that the ~ motlon of the characten 11 almost

48SE(lASATUANIIIAGlZINE

Identlnl10 thal of the. rea de venlon. It

now (whereas only four wer e av,til.ble al the I how), with an additional five I lalel (with a ll new Improvedlraphlcs), and motion blur eHenl. But adJultment. will be mad e until the ve ry lalt moment of th .. lame'l d evelopment.

We' ve abo Itarted worklnl on Saturn otlglnalfeatururecently.

AA We have recently launched a ~ Medla Mix" promotional pbn for la.t BroN<.

The video lame Is the core produrt but there will also be. novel, ra dio dram., mulic/drama CD, com.k., and a llve .rtlonLa.1 8.onxvldeo.

~d-.th.ToIrJoG .... floowlAft tbua aay _jot dlffialltI.. ftW. fadaa: :rnl AA .... w e mentioned before, aU eilht ch;o.n.rteu are available now, with aU the motion da ta Implemented. We are cunenUy working with CPU allorithmi, which Is one key point of the

convenlon.

.I.a.a.ala,

SSIIl Aft pa to •• 000c•• CO latnt f .. th. Satu. . . . .,WlLalcaa_upHtlo_latlutfiaal,...., AA Yn, we will h.il.ve an opeft1ng movie. Fan. wW def1n.ltel, love It of coune, built wW be .omething which can introduce new pla~1I

to Ihe world of la.t Bronx.

SSM How l.po.ta.t" tJr. • •"tl.ctl....... Iw •••• Jr.. . . . . . .

••• u ••• , __ 01 WIo.t .. th •• I.hu• • xt ••• c •• , .. . c.. &lb. at thb tim.'

AA The tuget user is the biggest difference. While ucad.e pLa~n ue relattvdy limited (thOM who have a knowledge of video games ill ,eneraIl, we need. 10 aim the Saturn version at a much wider variety ofpeople. This is something which we had in mind. from the very beginning, but we wW make the lame something which c;an be enjoyed. not only by hard ·core fans but bybeginneh as well.

SSMWlI.alpluuazetbareforiatnotacbaf_, .... s.w-.. ___..... latotlut ..

I.&.t·_

hvIl~l

AA We do not have any plan. to . dd. new char.rter, as It m llht atfert the conel.tlon. of existilll charartell.

Mea nwhil e, w e'll put In a hidden "Joke weapon l" mode which wal very w ell received In the .rc.de venl.. n (for ex.mple , Zalmoku'. , Iedleh.mmer will turn Into a honll tuna, Yusaku'l Sansetsukon Into model train and Ku rosawa's wooden .wo rd Inlo liant fan)

w".

SSM Ar. tJr. ••• aa, . . . .ct • • f tJr. •• u ••• , ..... " ... ...h.pl ...t 1...." h ••• y wUh . . . an cbaa,fll, f ... tb.

S.t1lDl ....d ...l AA It would be alle If we laid we were 100" happy with the ucade venlon. However, we ue It ill considering any changes:

LaItBrol.on,nlw"dcllA

npu".cUHtbt ...lt'" ·lJIItJ Yf2w1llbtUnl-

...,......u t. . .tc~!

from the eJdrtillg game.

ISMWIoat....,..:tofU..S.tazacora..a....aze,.. ...... la.oppy with.ttbe .......n

AA Fo r Saturn fightlnglamel, lt'l always been a choice between ~re'olutlon" or ~rea1 3D background l.~ However, for thb title, we haveathievedboth.

ISM fiaaJly, wkat - . . . _ p1I ..... fcn tIut maay hropIaa tut ...... faasl AA Of cou ne, thU will be a faithful conversion from the ucade, but we a re planning to add m. ny origll\;o.l fu.turn tor the Saturn venlon. Our aim I. 10 cre.te a game, not ju.1 for hard· Care game .. but for Satu rn own en. We'll neve, let you downl SEGASATURNM,I,GlZIN(41

The r"'lyofficiclrsdlgitsweteliter.. lty .. foot In front of me ..s he counted us down_ Three. TO/\/I). One_ And soddenly~'~ Kceleratong. We'~ REAlLY KceleroJt'ng.Rightuptosomph .. ndtheur'sbilrely bt"e.. king .. swe.. t. Oddly enough we'~ still KceieroJt,ng mildly ..s we powershde into the first corner, Bruce expertly nandling the steeting. counter·stee"ng us back on course. This mitdness continues on every corner · I swear tnat I'Yrfl on the t'ghtest bends we'~ st,lI man .. g· ing 30mph. the rear of the vehicle swinging out around the corners I know I should probably be In fear of my life ilt this poinlbutBruceNewieisiustsod.. mnrelil~ed.u'rying out .. n everydily converSiltion with me c:Ner the Intercom thatl~allsethatthissukid"'drivingis~ondniltu,eto

him. Solc.. n .. ffordtorel .. ~alittle. Justalittle

Thec:Ne,all impression of t he drive Istnat 5ega Rilllydoes

LUY:RIGHT MAYBlf 50 wnat does the Co--driver do in the Rally call WrlI typI. CilIIy he spends his time WIth hisno5e bur!ed in the m .. p giving directions to the drivel. warning him ofwhat's com,ng up. Just IIkeSega RoiIllytheneh/ Well. no. For .. st .. rt a real r.. 11y ro-dliver could never gct away wrth saying "E..sy right maybe" befofe IiIk'ng on a mammoth chiane! On oil stoilge like the one wewere on... nything other t han pinpoont <l(cur.. cy WOIJld result in us flying off the side of the mountain!

BluceNewiepointedoutthattherealplorallydrl· vels-lIke the guys who take on the RAC· use .. kind of points system rating the severityofacorner on a scale from one to si~. So no crappy "Long medium light" .. dvlce like 5ega Rally's co-driver regul .. rlycomes up

agreiltjobof~pliutingareal,allyd'ivewithlnitsllml ·

with.lnsteadyou'dgetasinglenumbertellingth~dri­

t<rtions.TheCNerslee,ontheu,th .. tAme,ic .. njourn .. 'ists in p;lrticularhave mo.med .. bout is eKilctly as it Is In re .. 1life. However. the sheer flOIseoflhe engine. the dUi! and stones ricocheting offlhe windscreen, the sound of ty<esdespe<<ltelytryingtosticktothedustytrKLthat's kind ofmisslng. ..s is thefe.. r th .. t)Ol.l could well bedeild In the next few minutes.

Broce's foght to keepcOlltrol of the re .......t.ed dr.ve

ver all he needs 10 know about how to handle the upcomingcorner in the stage

venicleisvery~min'scentofthesortofthing)Ol.lnave

to put up with wl'!en driving the Unci;J St... tos InSeg..

11.:I11y(theonly rwo.wheeI drivevetlicle In the g .. me~ so I guess th .. t in terms of driving mech .. nics.AM3 did .. splendidjobonSegaR..11): One thing lnat is ent'~lyd,fte<ent in real life is how thejumps(OI'wate.troughs) .. re h.. ndled In real life.

We're quite hilppytobesent flying intothe .. irinthegilme,but tobehoneslwhenwe ilppro.Khediljumpinthe car.thisw..sjustaboutthe only time that BruceNewie applfedthe bra~es.Obviously the suspension on the real cal isjustabitmoredelicat~thanills

intl\evideogamel

HOW CI.OD IS DGA:RAI.I.Y? Thedynamicsofrallydrivinghavebeentransferredfrom leal tife to v;deogame e>tt/emely well InSega Rally Championship. but ldofeel that a lot of the experience is miss,"gYouCilnlilkeonthecoursesinSegabllylikea m .. d-man. bilsiully beouseyour ur is indestructlblel Not so in ~ ..I life. wl'!eredrivers a~ever-awa~of how much punishment they're putting therrurs through.

Dayton .. USA had "b<Jttle damage" so why not Seg.. Rally (or indeedSega TouringOror Manx TT SuperB,~e)1 Additionally, the stages in blly. iI!though great for a videogame, seem to lack the Wildness and the danger of the rul thing. ThaI's perhaps the greatest shortcoming ofSega R.. llycomp.. red 10 the real thing: It'sJust too safe,a pre<:ision e~ercise In driv;ng as opposed to the conslant improvisationI saw going on. As ilmallng asSegaRallyls,lreckonthe~'sa

huge .. mountof imprc:Nefllent AM Anne~ could do. especial.

Iyiftheydid a sequ~1 based on Model 3technology._

Top: Mr Hiu o Oguchl, Genen.1 Manager 'M A&ODept #3.

klow: Mrhqjillnno, Plannln8&DINlctkln$lCtlDll 'M R&O Ot pt #3 .

Ml ny Ilwlkl 10 MrShuRluke hto(lIOtplct'Nld), Pll nnlng & OI NlctloR $ectloR MO Dept #3

'M

SSMWhat bupirH. yoa..lo prooIace Aa ucada pme tlLat dmalam th. ~ of skateboardiaJl AM! Well, as a matter of fact. It's not actually a simulation game What we wanted to express In this game ~re the images of skateboarding. [fTop Skate r was a true simulation game )'Ou wouldn't be able to do any ofthooetrkks at aU.ln real skate boarding the movements aren't particularly showy or impres路 sive. What ~ wanted to do most was to express the cool images we had about skateboarding. The images we have might differ from other people but for us. skateboarding has always been one of coolest things around sln~ we ~re stu路 dents. We've practised skateboarding and snowboarding. We wanted to express the images we had, so it's not a simulation game. Ofcourse it contains the taste of skateboarding.

Thetricks that the skateboarders use are actually reflected In the game, but the movements are exaggerated. I think that if the tricks were the same as the actual ones then they would look much worse than the ones the top skateboarders do. So I wanted to put some ama..dngtrlcks Into the game that you wouldn't expect. so that the skateboarding a ppean really cooL I'm nol saying that it is a SWrealistic simulation but mOre an emphatic

,....aIIIE' s:~~:~elf:ue!:to~:n,;es:~a-

skateboarding ls so difficult that the average person can't do anyofthe tricks. We also tried skateboarding but it was more difficult than we thought so we gave It up. But. if you want 10 be cool In a game, you can do It easily with Top Skater. It's great fun being able to quickly do cool things In a game. I think the game is more accessible because you can skateboard easily and you can do tricks that are even more difficult ihan ones In real skateboarding.

SSM Wueyoa...t allbdlaenced. by &DJ oftlLa ...:"'~ . . . . .1 AM! No, ~ we ren't particularly influenced. We studied them ofcow5e. We always study other companies' prod-

ucts. However. a certain "N" company has already made a game using snow therefore we chose skateboarding as the theme of this game. Top Skater is completely different.

AM! Basically they are the same because snowboarding was

Invented by the same people who used to go skateboarding fashionwise, we'd say that you need warm clothes for the snow and light clothes for the rtreet (laughs). Both are comwith each other In terms of cool fashion. That's one

InJust the same way as real skateboarding. It bebettertogoskateboardingfor~a1.The

most exciting thing about Top Skater is that you can enjoy unrealistic tricks. If the game only had the same tricks as actual skateboarding it it wouldn't be very exciting because

cool t rlcb and lIlany 1110....

S4S拢IlI.SATlIRNIIIJ.GJ.ZIN E

Just Dfll oftht two t ricky eoUrHl to be ti ckled In 'M3 '1 Top Skater.

SSM WJsat kbuI ofplayu cUd yoa.. aeate TopSbtu for?

AM) We like to attract new use ts by making something new.

I think the core gam e players are almost always th e sam e so it's no use making ordinary games. We have to try something new.

That's the policy of AM 3. What should we do nowr We should attract young people firstlH-cause the numlH-r of young people playingvideogamesisd ecreasing.Whatare theyintere stedinr MUSic and fashion_These re ally catch the attention of young peo. pIe. So to attract them we chose to use skateboa rding. We did loca tion tests several times and we found that eve n people who rarely played video games enjoyed playing Top Skater very much. Of course. we have to keep the core players as well sowe lnc1uded a game system that they can also e njoy. We think we can attra ct people who ar e Inte rested in street fashion as new users . There aren't any complicated rule s a re therel We'd like the use rs to e nJoy the game in the ir own way. Re.::ently, the re have bee n a lot of complicated games where you have to play such games seriously and in a tense way. Against the background of that we've created Top Skater so that iI Can be enjoyed easily a nd free ly. Some of the ways to enjoy it are to satisfy yourself by ae<:omplishing vari-

OU$ hid, s Or by showing others how cool you look. Another way is Just to go around the course In your own way. Actually, it's not a racing game. The goall'n't to race as fast as possible. Of course it's an arcade game, 50 there are some condillons attached. but we think there are various ways to enjoy t he game

Juror-

SSM SkatHoaraiq _ _ to be _re popWar ID and. Am~ than ID J.pan. Would. J01' apM wtth tllU DuI if .cl 4W. J01' cre.t. Top Skatll" espedaUJ for theM

--,

Definltetyl We had this plan from the very beginning.

Weexpec\ that Top Skater w1.ll sell very well In the US. That's why we included the Images of America on purpose

AM)

SSM W1lat UoGI :I1&ro,.l AM) We're not sure beeause we're not familiar with Europe. It depends on thecountry. American and French cultures won't blend at all French people won't even speak English. Even American and British cultures are a little different although their roots are the same. Speaking of European music. punk rock ortg1nally came from Germany.

We think that punk rock w1.ll appeal to BritaIn and the other European countries. We C1J\catch their attention. not Ihrough vIewpolnts. but by mus\c. We're not really swe as we'w never been to Europe, but the m\Uicwe usedl$aldndofrockmuskwhichwecall"Me!ody Core" in Japan-It comes from rock music and it's iI sort of punk rock. There are a lot of punk rock arttsu in Ewope, esped.ally In Britain and Germany. Come to think ofit. we're sure punk rock 1$ popular in Europe.

SSMIn.nly_ ""plIo ....t.~. How

popa1ub ....t.~.iaJ.,....l AM) Nowadays. w e seldom see skateboarders either. Most of the people who used to go skate路 boarding are now fascinated wlthsnowboard-

ofspace. $$M An th.r. &DJ ~ ....t.board. pula iD J.,....l AM) There

are some. here and there Tguess. but not enough.

TherefOfe,skateboardersare for~t05kateboardlnthestreet.l

used to skatebo1lrd more than ten years ago. I did It on the street, especially in Hanjuku. Skateboarding was a fad at that time. Rolle rskating was also popular at that time as well.

However. rollerskating has now been replaced by rollerblading.lcanstWrecallthosememoriesclearty.

Although rm not so young any more, rm still young at heart. The th1n8$1 used to admire haven't changed..

SlMWlI.atNdetf~4W.,....40_~,....

tt.am4Wspi'OjKtf When we considered what we needed most to express the Images. in Top Skater, we fClUIld that the technology to express the characler motion wasthe most important. We used the most advanced technolGgypo$$Tbletoexpressthechanocter'Smo\lflT\ents smoothly. At AM 1 we've worbd on Last Bro"", and Decathlete before, so we have a lot of know how. In QUI team we have somebody who developed some of the characler ITIQtion In l.ast Bronx. He w.i$ in charge of the motion InTopSkater. He dld a very 8QCIdjobof joining the varlous motJons together smoothly. Last Broru: and Decathlete used 20 technTques to represent IT\OV'tment in a flat screen, but this time Top Skater U5eS 30technlquts. Fortheftrsttlmewe triedtoexprt$scompllcatedlT\OV'tmenl$, smoothly in a 3D envirorunent. For example, when you do tricb the dlstance-s you can Jump diffe r from situation to sltualion. We had to develop new software and design

AM)

SEG'

SATUR ~

MAGAZINE 55

hrfonnlng ~1 1rk:kll. 1II0re Imporl. AI than sI",~1y finlshI", the tIMIl"U In record 111111.

techniques acoordingly to handle the smoothness of the movements.

We had to develop them all in a different way. When the skater is in mid·air his position on the horizontal and vertical axis changes several times. We had a hard time adjusting each movement to match it. We made a great effort to get that right. We also had difficulty deciding on the camera angles as well In fighting games the fighters are usually depicted from the side. In recent fighting games they are sometimes shown from above when Iheywin a round. In Top Skater the camera is always changing its position. For example, when a character leaps off thetrackhemightbe~nfromabove, behind, infrontorfromany

side. We needed to make sme that the camera's viewpoint made the movements of characters look cool from no matter where the camera was placed. That took a lot of time. However. even though the camera keeps moving from place to place il doesn'l get in the way. We·re proud that although the camera is often moving it doesn't mab Top Skaterdifficulttoplay. WeresearchedthataspectcarefuUy.

No, they didn·t. Of comse, in order to create this game we should've experienced in advance the actual feelingsofskate· boarding. For enmple. if you make a rally ear racing game you shou.ld ride in a real rally car. However, in thecase of skateboarding, none of the team could skaleboard. Ifs really difficult. I prac· tised skaleboording for only fiVf' homs, but I quit in case I got hurt If I"d had 10 go 10 hospital then the development wouldn't haVl!: been able locontinue (laughs). I think it wou.ld ptobablytake more than a year for US to be able to skateboard well. instead. we went to a lot of places and watched professional skateboarders perform. We did a 101 ofresearch. We watched many videos of skateboarding and snowboarding. Some of them we bought while the others we took ourselve5 when we went to see skateboarding and snowboarding competitions. We also talked with professional skateboarders several times as well AM)

SSM W. . tU oripDallzateation to prochce • .tn.Ipt for· wui sam-? DIct tU trlcka: _ _ latn?

racm,

No It wasn't. We kept on discussing which was better. tricks or racing, right up until the final stage. Some people thought that racing was better becaU$e It's easier for the users to under· stand. However. from the beginning. I wanted to adopt tricks It wou.ldn·t make any sense to make a skateboard racing game. Voudon't need to skateboard as fast as you can I JUst wanted to mue the game cool and fashionable. If the game were a racing game you wouldn't want to do any tricks as you'd be absorbed intrylng to race as fast as possible.

AM)

Whoa, check out th, Ihorts on Ktllh Frehly! Thl, dude', a 1III1IIw Penn)'WIH fl n.

SSM WIlat lza,..t olid YOUIKeive from. Ha! ut. dulteboar4en 41ariar th. dllftlopment of Top Skat.. and cUd it o:ll.aDp J01II

orlpnaI u... for tU JUne? AM) Not really. We·ve completed the game with the same Image we originally had. We met upwith professional skateboarders when the game was nearly finished, when we·d finally reached an agreement on what kind of game it should be Then we asked them what they thought abouI the unrealistic lricks. adding that we had induded all the main tricks as well. They were pleased with the idea. They said that the unrealistic tricks wouldn·' ruin the game and that on the contrary it sounded exctting. They liked it. They said that the realistic tricksinthegamelookedjustliketherealones. Forexarnple,theKick Flip or some\hing like that. I think that reflects the considerable efforts the development team made to get the character motion right.

They even suggested some new tricks they wanted us to include. We enjoyed discussing it with them. At one time we joined a snowboard event and offered Top Skater forthem to play with. I heard a profes· siona! snowboarder was playing the game for quite a while and s~medto be pleasedwithlt.

SSM T1dt tba.e J'01l cl.Ldn't _ any motion capture for Top Skatn_ Why wu tJu.?

AM) Because some of the tricks in the game are so unreal that there is nobody who could do them. That's the simple reason why. To do such showy tricks would require a vast studio and we'd need to U$e some kind of trampoline or something. [t would be imposSible even foratopskateboardersowecreated all the characters'moveme nls with om own hands.

SSM How clicI. you a_le such.-tlt chu&ctu motion?

AM) I think om designers have a good sense for this. We·re sure that they"re amongst the best in the indu$lry. I certainly think that AM3 is the best development group for this kind of game. We made l.ast Bronx and Decathlete before, so we'VI!: got a lot of know·how. We have many excellent motion designers who are unique. They really are talented. Even if there was a skateboarder who was capable of doing the unrealistiC tricks and we were able to use motion capture. the game still wouldn·t be any more exciting than Top Skater is ~ady.

_n

Polnll lra IWlrd" for lpad l cular Jumps, trlckllnd Ituntl. TIle filming wheellIndicaleI p.[lYer'l top IPHd. 58 SEGA SATUANIllAGAZINE

SSMIn Top n.ter YOUCUl di4e alollJ the raillnp with J01II dullet.0u4. How nadly clicI. you. manace tllat k1n4 of difficultcolllsiondetection?

AM! We can't tell you that precisely because ifs a secTet. Handling this kind of3D collision detection has never been accomplished before. We really had a lot of difficulty with this. The CPU is under a heavy bmden of having tocalculale all the collision detection algorithms. Actually. it took a lot of time in the early stages to get the characters moving. We had to focus all om attention on this area.

After alI.thert: are all kinds of terrain along the comse. such as banks, ramps and raised areas. where the users can freely move. So we n eed

ed a lot of new and advanced teclutiques to be able to handle all of the various kinds of collisions that are possible. Both the visual tech· niques and the collision detection are really new.

SSM Campared. to atll... pm... the callidan d.tKtian iD Tap Sllat.,uan ..Mntial.lemenllsn'lit1 AM) That·s right. It really feels great when you·re skating along the banks. I'm not criticising other companies. but only we have the t«hniques to do that paugh). It was very dlfflcult and it took a lot of time for the programmers to create the programs that could handle the collision detection within a 3D environment. After we got that work· ing It didn·t take us much time because all we had to do next was add the various character movements. The collision detection was the most time consuming ele ment.

SSM Did you MU_ &om the WUJ"beJinn.ln1 that il was posdble to er.al. such. diffk1&It pme1 AM) Of cowsel Of coursel paugh) SSM WlLaI JdD.d of re&rence matuial did J'G1l 1lM ta cnat. the

trido' AM) We referred to videos and magazines. We also had advice from professional skateboarders. However, for inventing the new tricks we mainly used our Imagination. If we had an inte resting idea for a trick we·d give it a go and see how it turned out. We kept the main core of basic tricks from beginning to end. After that we tried to develop the urueallstic tricks. We kept rerombining a mixture ofdifferent kinds of tricks. We had to use our Imagination because these tricks don't exlst. liI<e Our concept. the word MCOO)"· is the most important idea.

We failed several times trying to make new tricks simply because they weren't cool at all. By the way. several months ago when we were developing the game, Michael lackson came 10 lapan and saw Top Skater. He only said one thing. "CooII"

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ISM Which tridtt tha mod diffk1&It to clewelop1 AM) Creating the 3D movement for when you jumped of a bank or ramp and then span around, was the most tcoublesome. More than just creating the t ricks It was also difficult trying 10 use our Imagina· tlon. Using the real tricks as a referen~. we researched how we could deform their motion to creale new tricks. I think the designers really had to work hard trying to think up the unrealistic tricks. It took the designers' feelings. courage and se nse.

SSM H_ ma.ay t:ricb.s-.ach chuact... baYe1 AM) Each character has mOre than 100 tricks. They all have the same easy tricks in common. For example, the tricks where the user only

has to kick the rear end of the board. However. depending on the complexity of the board input they can do dlfferent types of tricks These differ for each character. Users who are good at inputting can create their character's own tricks ISM Aput &om tha scan, wllat othu nwu.u are th .... far ptlriarmlna:camplntridtt1 AM) Other than the score you can go faster. if you increase your speed, you can take advantage of this when you try to do your next trick. The difficulty of a trick ranges from ··S" to "En. The more difficult the trick you do. the fasteryoUl" speed gets. In the bottom left corner of the SCreen isa spinning wheel. When you travel fast enough, flames start coming off it. $$M It: it potdble 10 ir..:q.... you.r qeed by swaybI.s &om left tariptl AM) Yes. but only a little bit. lust by looking you can·t reaUy tell.lfit was possible to generate an extreme speed. it wouldn't be possible to maintain the technical balance. You can only get a little hlgher speed and you can·t tell the differen~ in speed because the speed changes little by little. However. you can·t keep it up very long because you·lI soon encounter an obstacle or jump ramp SSM~clUYOUIO .bout~thecouna?

ISM W.... the couna"baMd. OD...utiD.J: .ut. pub ar cIU you CHat. you.r own ideal CCl1U"MS1 Not at all. We constructed the courses so that they would be enjoyable to play. If we had used real courses the game would have probably been boring. I'm Sure we reflected the con~pt of fun in the game. Actually. real skateboarders skate in confined areas. It would cost a fortune totry and build a real course as long as ours. Maybe if you were an Arabianoil billiOnaire? [I sounds like alotoffunthoughlpaughs} AM)

ISM Can J'G1l maintain you.rqeed.wen OD the 1lppu route?

AM) It is possible, if you don·' fail. As I mentioned before, you can get a higher speed when you do difficult tricks. Of course there is a limit As you get faste r it becomes mOle and more dlfficu1t for you to maintain your balance. [f you fail to do a trick then youlls1ow down, but if you succeed then you'l1 be able to continue movinS quickly even when jumpins from drum to drum. If you go fast enough the fire wheeis appear on-screen.

ARTWORt( ~ SEGA

1997

beglnller COIItM bul haw, you

up.erttr""lCk?

AM) The courses in Top Skater have a 101 of freedom for the players to move around. We thought a lot about how we were going to contlgure the arrangement of the pipe slides, banks and jump ramps etc We wanted to create dramatiC courses. It feels good to have suc~ss­ fully passed thorough an area which required a lot of skill. In particu· lar. we took a lot of trouble In positioning the ramps and straight sections of the courses. This is because atter you make a jump, you have to move straight ahead for a while and we were worried about making the COW5eS full of straight sections, whlch would be boring. We hadtodoalotof researchandkeepadjustingthecoursesbearin g this in mind. After that, there were also the corners to conSider and then the course line as well. The most difficult thing was to realise OUl" idea of allowing the player to be able to move around freely. That was hard to do

SSM The u.. of _do ccnuM b ~ t. an 1lppu and. lowu I_te_ ~ exactly are they ~ntl AM) We just wanled the users to be able to enjoychOO$ing thell" own way through the courses. Imagine there·s a jump ramp at th e top and oil drums at the bottom. Those who want to be cool and slalom through the drums. can chOO$e the lower rout e. Those who·d like to move straight ahead easily by jumping. can choose the upper route. There are different ways to enjoy play· ing. As the hard core gamers are better players, they can choose the routes which are more favourable for getting a higher score. On the other hand, those who·d prefer to just move freely and look cool can take another route instead. As ifs not a ra~. we·d like the users to enjoy themselves in their own way.

ALL

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SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE 51

SSM WbI "'tQlJffuaee,*-u..~_ ad tluI-,ut C01UHt AMl Thc biggest differen~ is that the f~linss of thrill differ. For In$tance.ln the beginner course you can move freely and easily. It feels great after you·ve made a blSJump Into a wide open spa~. HO\">'eVer. the expert course has an underground feel to It ilr\d you feel younelf being cramped In. I assodate skateboarding with such a space. We wanted to make the course like that. There Me a lot of closely ;ur.o.nged oildrums and buildlngli around theexpert coww. There Isn't a stnisht and easy route through the course. There ue a lot of obstacles $Uch as IlIlIirIgli and cones that you misht hit arpinst.ln the beginner course It·s moll! open and therellH' jump ramps and low fences. We·d like everyone tochoose their favourite cow-se.

YU_,&r!lIdtlloMlkatlbNnl

whHIsltomtbo)'!

SSM Aq Ut. triclu 10. ua do oa Ut. Mp-....d • .pert co.... Ut. . . . .l AMI Vu they are

SSMco.pu.dtoa.ct.al . .t.bou\tJ.aa~r...u..tkanu.. bkk. fa Top Skat.d AM) Well. thO$t' hicks that are based on actual tricks are very .eal When you skateboard for real there·s a lot of sliding, especially when you·re tuminB- With this as a base. when you Input the Jumps. the Nollie and Olile motions are Incredibly real as ue the real tricks as well Accordinstothe professional skateboarders we talked 10. this wasveryll!allstIcaIIysimulated.

SSM Howdlffkalf: . . . it to balaJan tluI nallaIlad plaplrili-

tyotu...pat.el AM) Each member of the development staff actually had a SO at trying todothetrlclts.ToleUthetruth,noneofthemhadeverskateboarded before. Actually. most of the playen haven't either. sobeilItl1S in mind that the game is fer the users wedeveloped a same which they can play euily. We attached more Importan~ to the lmases than to the easiness. We maintained a balance between them.

PM What ..-t of fM4bacII: dl4 ' " ' let &om the pia,.. at the locatIoB.t..ts~

ISMno.tllat _ _ it_'t~to ... MotlelJfor tllUtypeof . . . .t AM) Thlst1me_attachedthemostimpa~totheideaofn..n.

l

So _ preferred to Il!alisethis concept r.ather than simply imprcwing graphJeal techniques. We have a Iotofknow-how about Model 1,

so we wanted to create some new en.foyment u.sInS the Model 1. not Model). Sega has only just started to make useofthe Model]. AM] has also begun to form a Model) project. However. wedon·t yet have all the alsonthm$ we would need to do a same LilceTop Skate •.

Model t Is a board we can still use weU and which has a 1000dli of soft·

SSM With..u. . . acttn pme as drateboaDllq. d..Ula't yoa.

IMl that it wo.w .. ~to p.. ....... kbuI of'-lback tJu-o.&b u.. skatebou.l bd:ufac.l AM) It was po:ulble fo. u.s to m.ilke the users expertence the feeling that they we.e really skateboardins. without u.slns feedback throush the skateboan:llnterface.ln reality. it wouJd be verydifficuh to play if wedidusefeedbadt.

ISM Top Skata "'.....,. mlKh a.u.p plaJU ......_Did. you._coD.ddatu...optioaotalaltl_pIaJU~

.w. "lib .. ·.t......IIIb1. _ sklt.boa/"1h. I. tilt co.,.111I0I0.

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adllakM cabtaeat AM) If you play a game with another user at the same time youll always end up trytng to beat him and the game ends up as a race. We had preferred a trick same to a ra«' game from the very beginning, so we gave up the idea ofa \WI;>-playe.same.

to .. uter. TOIl SUit. 11 ...nllruM cllllll.,..

AMI We sot a lot of feedback off them Those ~ple who were inter· ested in street fashkm sald they tried it because it was a new style of same.They enjoyed playing it because it was a different kind of same from what has been available up to now. They liked the Wily the same easily responded to the Wily they played. What we were most worried about was the feedback from the main pLayersofflshtinS games and shootinS sames. One player who liked flshtins games tried Top Skater Ju.st because the characters are designed by the same person whodid the Last 8ronx charilcters. HetriedTop Skater for the first time and he liked It very much. With the location tt'Sls we were able to Inspire newusen. AlthouShofco~the.ewerea few~ple who had some criticisms. there were a lot of ~ple who were satisfied with the game. Nobody really wanted us to make any chanses

ISM So . . . . you. wmrlI4 ~ whether the pmeW01Wl."

woll....,....'

AMI BefOIl! the location test we were nervous. ofcoww. BefOIl! the releasel Oh. we always f~1 nervous before a release. We can never know whether the game will do well until It comes out. But our worries were rernoved by the location test.. We fett relieved..

-ad......,.

PM"I'_ al..t ....... doMIy wtth AM4ia ontarto a-1op the skateboard iatufac._ Could J'01I plaaHtlll1 . . a Uttle btt ~JOUnlatIoa with \Ma oa W. projKt? We usu.aUy work with AMq when creatins Sllmes. We work together to make a cabinet that will work well with our software.

Normally. games such as driving games are soon finished. When )"Ou rK"eive the cabinet from AM 4 there's usuallyonly a short excha.ngt'. such u -Vou should improve only this little bit-. However. the process AM)

M. I t l\llll/UlO ud M. HIIIIOOl'lt~1 dlKIIIIM filii. polnllllf Top SUle.·, pmlpl.,.

ISM HowIllU J'D'l CI"Mte aD thespedaltcradef&cb fcrwl4ia Top .......

AMI We collecled samples of the solUld effects by doln8 things like throwing a skateboaId arolUld and things like that. However. if you only use sarnplin8 for the solUld effects, the game sounds nol$y.

Rerording a runrUn8 skateboaId picks up a lot of background noise. So we researched trying 10 mix different samples togethert08et the best SOlUld..ln the end we partly used real solUlds and we partly used artifi·

,si,..

By t he , k. teboard peripheral , pll1era puJl IIff rta. llft lIynlllnd t rlCD.

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SSM~J'O'Il~ _ _ to.lotof~"topt~ !m the IIIIUic. HowIllU J 0 1 I - tIaat the Top 5lWa N1UUl ~ WV1WIIIo tMmfutial

AMI We installed fantastic speakerslll was Important that we Install woofers to e mphasise the bass so that the players could really feel the drum beat. We spent a lot aftime dlscussln8 where the speakers should be installed many times. Now the spealce rs are installed barf', out mfront, and are much better than before. They can reproduce the great sound both for the players' ears and their bodies.

ISM Dill J01I atiliM &DJ otlIu spedal N1UUllludwant AMI Yes, we Installed the MPEG board onto the Model 2 board..

Financially, we couldn't Lnstall them before, but their use 1$ becomln8 more cost effective. This is the first time we·~ Installed spealcers with $Uch aW8e capacity. I thtnk this will be thelrend from now OIL

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ISM J'I"I Wl ..... 1ittJe a"-tthe pzvduct ~l AMI We decided to tie·up with some companies who make real shoes FQr example, the Reef shoes are ava.ilable now. lhi$ lime we are only tied-up with the shoes. All the character's clothes have been designed by us and are original. to design and create the skaleboaId Interface didn't 80 so smoothly that wewere able to 8et it right In one 80. When the player stands on the skateboard It has to be stable and we needed to create a mecha· nism through which you could enter all the trtrn.There was a lot of discussion between uson these points.

ISMAtwbatpoiatclmiqthe~~IIlUJ'D'l

coaAIlutlM 4..tp. of the ~t AMI We decided on the design af the skateboard about one month before our first location test. By that lime It had already been redesl8ned several limes. We were very nervous because the schedule was very tight. All the tricks had been finished and blended together so it was the fust lime that it could be played In its complete fonn. We reallylikedtheflnaldeslgn.

ISM The

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p-.,.1ouul. haaywIM. HowIllU J'D'lfld. oat a"-t tMml AMI I knew about them long before I decided to use their son8s In Top Skater. llike thiskfndafmusicsuchasha.r<irockandpunJc. SSMWhyIllUJ'D'lUcUeto_~!mthe

_ _l

AMI First of a.Il. a major reason was that the real skateboaIdln8 world has three main concepts; music. fashion and sport. They aren·t divisi· ble. As forthe music. welL there are severalgerues that skateboaniers especially admlre. Punk rock 1$ <:ertainly one af them. We were looking for somf' excltln8 and upbeat music which would could usetoexdte the players. so fust of all we chose the punk rock 8e rue. Afterthat, we then researched Yarious punk rock artists. We ltstened lovarlous artists' son8s and compared them with the final visual images af the 8arnf'. Wf' found that Pennywise were the most suitable so we then decided to use their songs. As a matter of fact, Pennywise had been susgested fromthe very beglrmingbecause they are one of the great· est grunge bands arolUld.. They have supplied ten son8s forTop Skater as well as an exclusive original track.

ISM AzehDDywiH. JIOPIIlaz ..... "'b.paa1 Did tlo.b: lab_ JOIU dadaoa to.pproach the pcrapt AMI Yes they are and! myself arn a very bl8 fan ofthf' group.

ISMHowimpcntallt . . . diffInlIt_ttto-..OdsipDllICnSIdp !m Top lkat:ed AMI It wasn't that difficult at all. We've tied-up with su companies.

As tilt arudt ....rtlGa of Top Sk. t. r wu powertd 111 Model 2 bo. rd, wlll thl.

Se,,'.

... pra ml tlU. appe. r on Satal'll? AII3wantycll r fttdb. ck lowl

Actually. In a real skateboardin8competition, prafessionalskaleboard· ers are also tied·up with companies. We thought it was Important to express this reality. Even though it's not a real competition, we'd like the users 10 feel familiar with It. A user might say "Wow, thOSt' are Reef shoes! This competition looks reall " lha.t's why we used the real shoes In the 8ame

ISM WlddI. uptICt of Top Skater an J'D'l mott pnN4 oft AMJ The thln8 which I'm most sa\:i$fl.ed with 1$ that we've created a space In the arcade whf're a player, and the people watching him, can communicate together. "Communication- is the policy af our gener.U mlI.rulge r. In the loeationtest. there were a iot afpeople arolUld the game. The y could e njoy watching both the screen and the skateboard..

The y oould communicate there. lha.t's what we're most proudaf.

SSMDoJ'D'lJ&n. ..,.plauto port Toplbta to the s.tamJ AMI To be honest with you, I have no Idea.. When we decide to port software, we have to resea.rch the pla.yers· feedbaclc before hand. For example, after "Virtual On- came out, we 80t a lot af feedbaclc saying that they wanted to play it on the Sega. Saturn. Then we began to discuss If it was possible to do It. So we don't know whether we'll make a Sega Saturn Top Skater until we 8et the users· feedbaclc.

ISMDoJ'l"l tIllak tIaat it'..-Ibleto play Toplkata _ the IepIataJ:a witlt. oalJ • pa4l AMI We worked o n this project with a policy " Do it before you think about it. Nobody can tell the result beforehand..- We've been taking a positive attitude. but we can't say what the possibility 1$ now. Nomat· t er what you try to atte mpt, the possibility never beromes zero. There might be a possibility but we'll have to investigat e it first.

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J'O'A J&n.. aD JOIU .... ta the UXl AMI Well, take a shot at illlhe game will always respond exactly to your controL Just try It and experiment with Top Skat er In different ways and I'm sure you'll find your own favourite wayaf enjoyln8lt.

SEGAS.l.lURII MA(lAZIIIE 59

1~ liJI"II'''11

[JONAH LOMU RUGBY Codemasters have been a little quiet since their Megadrive golden years but now they're back with world's first 32-bit rugby simulation_Forget American Football, soccer and basketball, the monster of all sports games is ready to tackle the Saturn! ~~~

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known as Jon;oh lomu, you elther movtOf ge1 tumed

into minurnul. With an established ~puhtjon ilS .... sby's rising star, New Zuland born All-Blacks playe' Jon;oh hn now turned his sights totl>e world oflnt<"r3ctiveentertalnment. Bytnmingupwhh WilfWlckshlre bilJ.ed Iilmlnllu'us Codemad"rs.

Jonahlslendlnghls slgnlf1untbulk;ondlmilgetoa sports tit le that takes tum pl;oy and exdtement to feverpitchievf!'s.

Whllethell~a,ecertalnly plenty of superb S"turn sports gam .., 10 choose f.om, no df:veloper has eve. produced a title bilSed on the UlC's sewnd most populiar sport, So, while EA may have the football market

Jonah is lending his

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sewn up with endless FIFA sequels, Codemuten have calVfll out their own substanlial sporti ng niche wilh the likes of Brian ura Cricket and PeteSampru Tennis, Of coune, Jonah Lomu Rugb}/rep.esentsa completelyuniquechallengeilnd,l'mhappytosay, thatCodies,andprogramme.sRageSoftwa.e,ha~

pulled off an amazlngjob yet again.

Ifyou'.ecompletely unfamiliar with Iheworld of strums, try5 and con~rted goals th en WOfry nol.

Jonah Lomu Rugbyfeatu.es one of the mosl InnovaIi~ and easy to use s ame play systems e~r utilised In a sports game, For stilrte's, beslnne.s are eased Into the game via a se.les of friendly matches, allowIngplayenloselectf.omoneof30p.ofesslonal teams and play a single match In one of four stadlums,Furthergameoptionsnowp.esentthemselves, $uch as va,lable weather condlllons and time limits,

significant bulk and image to a sports title that takes team play and excitement to fever pitch levels,

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STATS YER LOT! Jonah !omu Rugby boa.t. plenty of player and game staUstks. Pa..,ing the game prcwides accell to the main . tat menu and from here players wade through . uch specific match infonnation a s the n\lJt\~r of possessions a team has obtained as well as territory gained. llneouu won. penalties conceded and much more. other options allow playen to lelect multiple camera angles and the nifty action replay option...

~fore the game beginsproper.Theslop ·startn ature ofrugbyact u allyworksinapla~r'sfavourduringa

match, allowins t.ain ee Bill Beaumon\stoaccess a num~. of on-s<reen menus which simplify potentialIy confusins rugby rul es. For instance, whe n both teams are locked in a SCfum. there'soften a mad scramble for the ball. Howe~ r. thanks to Jon a h Lomu·suniquecontrolsyslem.pla~rshave th e

option toadd extra team members tothe SCfum. push asalnst the opposinS side 0' simply make a quick srabfor th e ball. Of course. as mOre eXPf!rience issained.pla~rssoonfindlhemselvestappins

throush these game playoptions 3t a frishtening pace th ere by increasing the speed of match es. The result is a gamewitha nearperlect learning curve and one which allows both short decisive matches 10 be played as well as lengthy tourname nts While HudsonSoft may bethe king of mult i player games. Codemasterscome a ve ry dose second The same company that pionee' ed the Innovative

appeal naturally extends to additional players. With the aid of a multi-tap. two-on -two matches become avai lable,enhanci ngth c le amsp lritoflh e game.

Atthough it'snol possible to have fou, players on one team, th ese two-on-two sessions do become jusl as competitive. Dn the audio side. Jonah Lomul!ugby's commentary also plays an esse ntial part in the game as both Bill McClaren and Bill Beaumontofferhandy advice to bumbling players bulalso Cfiticisepoor gameplay. Likewise the gam e's dramatic weath er conditions enhance the atmosphere with gentle. whistling breezeslurnlng Into full on gales and light ra in showe rs drown ing stadiums. turning green lurl 10 slippery mud.

I!ugby isn't exactly mass market (yel) but with the right marketing push. and the kind of score s that this superb Saturn sports title is guaranteed to recei~. JonahLomuRugbydese~stobe asbigahit

as Its namesake.

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I

BATTLE STATIONS

Experience ail the lun of being in the Navy from the comfort of your own bedroom, fortunately avoiding the jokes about what those men get up to behind ciosed portholes.

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uSON:! to play In the olden days. bKk In a Ume when folk were simple e!lCXl8hto h_thelr .ttenUonheld frx hou~ on .. Md by small pi«es of wood and paper.

Of course we now live In" more modern society, where child.en only use wooden toys and ~pef 10 help them ignite buildings. and Solmes these dilYS must be elKtrOllic,coIoorful,flash and aboYe all,you kill things.

Electronic Arts have noticed thisshlf'taway'romtradi.

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WHEN THE SHIP HITS THE FAN There', . d.ecent range of oc:ean-Boing craft that can be wntrolled durinB the game. Basically they dMde into three cattgOriH -.mall and manoeuvrable lJ.ke the Patrol boat, lartI:er missUe launch"'n . uch as the ' \IN and Dub'O)"tI'$, and the 101,•• Iow Aircraft Caniu. The h.umble Patrol boat ean d~oy most of the opposiUon thO\lgh, b\lt J..ter mhsions do need some strategic UH of theb.rJerandmore.peclaliHd . hips.

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tional ga~ towards the more visually stunning multi. media entertainment world, and tiley'vetherefo.e de<ided to give usa more exciting. thrilling and dynamic venion of the classic: Battle Ships board game.

HOweYer, upo<! first playing this Saturn game, it's not immediately obviO<.ls where EA have hidden all the exciting. thrill ing and dynamic elements. because the only content I could find on Ihe disc, despile

repeitedattempts,wasar~therdullandledi<)us

exe rcise in random button pressing.

The game has a choice between Arcade and Campaign modes. with the Arcade mode being an incredibly simplistic one-on-one battle against a computerorhuman foe.but lhechancHofbeingableto convince an able bodied and menully sound person 10 playlhis game (except for review purp0se5 of course). are pretty slim indeed. Playing against Ihe Saturn In A,cade mode really is just a matterofv.lguelywaggllng the d·pad and hammering Ihe shoot button. Adm iral Nelson must be t urning in his grave Thetil mpaignmode al leastconulnsabltmore to hold your inlerest-steeryou,selected ship around a 10 map until you find an ene myvessel,ind engage It In battle, hoping to achieve a set objective. The result· ing fight sequence looks fairly decent 10 be honHt , with some nicely detailed 3D ships battling it 0<.11 for

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WE'LL TAKE THEM FROM BEHIND. SIR! Of cours e, this is supposed to b e a strate gy game, soyouwould e xpe ctto see alarge number of ra ther·boring·but -te chnlcallye .. enUll-screen s, which would a llow you to pla n your cunning precision attack on the enemy. You decid e which shi ps to englg e In battle, and can move your fleet to strate gic 10caUons or Into ba ttle , via th ese rather-borIn g-but-technicIlly-es sentlal-s creen s which are pictured h ere;

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UnllIce the real Navy, the $alio", in thU pme don't spend all theil: time drinking. smoldng. fighting the Ioc.ah. and hanging 1I000d In the shawen Wl5h1ng each othen baeb, Instead they're expected to fight for Queen and CoW\try In some dangerous campaigns a:rOWld the world, and for manyofthem, aI.a.s, the sad yet Inevitable face of death stares these young men In the eye.

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good ideas inthere. but shockingly bad ~resent~tion a~d amazingly simple gameplay should help thiS to Sink like the Titanic.

ocl!ilnicsupremacy. The only problem with this section Isthecompletelackofreality. Youcancontrolamas_ siveAircraft Carrier for example, and simply holding down the O·Pad in one direction makesyour shipspin around on t he spot. I suppose a totally realistk simulation where it would take 12 hourstocome toa halt would be <!Wn less ",xCiting. but this game would definitely benefit from a slight increase in realism Anotherexamplcofthcmind·bendingqualities containfil wilhinthis game is the way that a humble Patrol boat can move around very quickly,avoiding thc sights of the Airc ... ft Carrier,andJust byrepeatedlyfi ring offweaponsandgoingaroundindrcles.themighty

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Airc ... ftCarriercanbesun~bythetinyPatrolboatIA touching play on the old Oavid and Goliathtale. anda great example of the little person struggling against massive odds to beat the evil system, but itdocsn't r.....lly make for an exciting pi""e of Saturn software There ar... some signs of inspiration hidden in there though-the larger ships can launch helicopters and fighter 'planes to attack th ... enemy. but since each confrontatlon is ~r so quidly, t he easiest way to achi<!W victory is simply to pound the standard guns and hope theenemysinksbeforeyoudo.Anotherwastedoppor· tunity sees you abl ... to captain a submarine. but since thc sub controls in exactly the same way and has the

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The vast majority of battles between large ships end up with th ... two stuck side·by-side.andjust exchanging fire until one of them Is destroyed. hen when ships do explode.there·s hardly the sort of destruction you might exped· a terrible white block appears around the stricken vessel to signify it's about to sink,and th ... ship is engulfed in some curious douds of orange and yellow blocks. probably similar to how Picasso would make an abstract artistic rcpreSl!ntationof·fire'.

Of courw, the game isn't completely without mcril ... but iI comes quite dose

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SEGA SAlURHMiGlllHE 65

IINDEPENDENCE DAY Time's up! Nearly a year after Independence Day exploded onto cinema screens around the world, EA finally unleash their big licensed 3D shoot 'em up. So tell us hotshots, are you ready to "whup ET's ass"?

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WARP FACTOR 4 On certilin levels, playe" a~ce$$ random warpgates that lead to special bonus stages. The sites for these n c:ret sta ges are Cape Canave ra.l, the Nakhoda Sub Base and the Antuctlc.

he world of lic ensed movie gil mes has

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always been a shaky oneto say the least.

8y wooing film companies wit h big bucks, and Ihe promise of sticking true

to a creator's celluloid vision , vid eo gam l!' deve lopers usually a ssume t h~'Vf'ba88edasure f1fehit.

However, long lead times and a lack ofsludio support ofte n res ult In sottware houses releiu ing half-baked titles that on ly bear a pauing.esembl ance to what audiences remember watching On th e big screen.

Such isthecasewith Foxlnleraclive's Inde~nde nce Day. The worldwide success of 104 was sophenomenalthalamovie-to-console conve rsion was inevitable. Unfortunately, while the film's blS budsets~cialeffectsandbasicpopcornplotm3y

havefilledcinemaseats inthe summerof·96.lhe Saturn same of the same name is lifeless and unexcit-

ins·Forastart,Foxlnteractive haveta~en3number ofli~rtieswiththemovie'splot ,focuslnscompletely

on the action -based sections of Ihe film. Players take on the role of a brave fishter pilot accompanying Captain Steve Hill er (played by Will Smi\h) a nd fly a variely ofairuaft. against invadins alien forces.

Missions ilre set within 13 forcefield enclosed zon es ransins from the neon-lit streets of Tokyo to the top secret airbase known asAru S'. The ali en's mile-wide ships have positioned themselves over the planet·s capital cit ies a nd ilre prepil ringtowipeouthumanlty in one final. dev3stating assault. In orde r to stop Ihis extraterrestrial menace once and for all, players need loknockoutasetnum~rofshieldgenera\orsor

enemy ships before prosressinstolhe nexts lase.

TO add further deplh 10 what could have bee n a basic Afterburner-style shoot 'em up. Fox haveildded

plenty of action and enemies on-screen, a low frame rate and scruffy texture maps give the game a rather shabby appearance.

While there's

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LET'S SPLIT The split-screen option offers t wo h ollhol fighte r pilots thoe opportunity to blast away at each other in a h ead-ta-head aerial dogfight.

There a re four dUes to battle over with players requlIed to locate and dest roy the other. A set numbe r of .nb 15 d etermined before the game bfogms and sldllful pilots are those that survive th e high altitude encounter. The h ead -ta-head mode aho enables players to fly any ofID4'S t en fighter craft, usually only av;o.ilable by collecting hidden icons In the main game.

The mowil u ent of '96. Independence DlY wa.a mu slnmoneYlplnnerbult haSaturngam,111 real letdown. Worn 'IIute. .. (o.upleofmlllti - playeroption~in"neffortlo boost th e gam e's limited l ifespan. 80th split-screen and link-

upmodesa,cacc,"ssibl e althoughthehead -to -he ad optiondoessufferfromsomcnoticeableslowdown likewise, the link cable app,oach is a welcome addi· tionalthoughtheargum entofwhetherplayelscan be bothe'ed to lug thei r Saturn and a spare TV round totheirmates house may mean this partkularoption is one that few players wili ever test out.

Each fighter craft comes equipped with the same standard w eaponry, i ncluding heat -seeking mls· s;lesandchalng,ms,althoughzonesarelltteredwith a number of useful power·upswhich provideemer. gencyenergy boosts asweli as other bonuses. The tricktosuccessfullycompletingeachst ageli esinfol· lowingyourship'son· board radar and taking out shield generators and targets as swiftly as possible Of course these missions are hampered by swarms of attacking alien fighters and nume' ousground based batteries t aki ng pot shots at your aircratt so some seat-of-th e- pants f lying is usually required. With the

clrtl lnly of'lglnal.

ciO( k ticking away, pl ayf'rsmust knO(k out thei r tar gets before destroying the City Dest royer's primary weapon .

Now this may sound like 104 has ail t he makings ofa top quality title yet these elements consisten t ly fail t o geL Whil e there's plenty of action and enemies on-SCfeen, a low frame rat e and scruffy t exture maps give the game a rather shabby appearance. Likewise the repetitiveness of each mission results in players settling into an unimaginati ve pattern of shooting and dodging ali ens. But t he biggest disappoin t ment is that Fox Interactive now have a major blot on their otherwise unstained reputat ion. Both Alien Trilogy and Die Hard Trilogy were superb titles but these were programmed by Probe and as such seem to have undergone stricter qualitycontroLWithl04 ,developer l1 adical Ent ertainment have obviously had t heir hands tied and have produced a decidedly ayerage 30 shoot em up

I

ACTUA SOCCER CLUB EDITION

Yep, you can tell the summer is on the way by the steady stream of soccer titles that are being rolled out. the latest of which is Gremlin's Actua Soccer Club Edition. But is good enough to beat WWS at its own game?

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ootbaU fans are well catered foron the Saturn ,;olthoush ift,uth be known

Ihere'sonly one essenUal purchase

which is Sega'. awesome Worldwide Socce. '91. How It will fa.e with the inevitabl e de luge

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ofsoc:cer sims likely to arrive in time for th e World

Cup nut year is anyone's gueu. But for the moment it appean 10 have Ih e marki!t p.etty much sewn up.

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Howe~ r

threatening to throw a spanner In th e works

is G.o:o mlin's Adua Soc:<e r Club Edition. AlthouSh

essentlallya,ehashoftheoldEuro'g6game, it boasts the same level of playability but now with all-

new teams. Could be interesting.

As is the norm with soccer titles t hese days.

Gremlin have stuffed Actua Soccer (Iub Edition full of optionstoensureenoughgameplayvarlatlonsto keep you coming back for more. Three different modesofplayhave~eninduded.practice.friendly

and season. Practice isa knock around with onlyyouf team on the field. friendly is a one-off match whereas the season isa gruelling trip through every match fiK' tureoftheseason.Natu rallywiththis~ingtheclub

RETURN OF THE GREMLIN Despite primarily producing games for the PlayStationiastyeu,duetothesucteSsofthetr Saturn convt!'HioftS Gremlin ha"", Sf'f'n s.eftSt!' and ue focussing a lot mort!' attention on their Saturn games. Actua Sacct!'. Club Edition is tht!' first in a s.erit!'s of games Gremlin have in store for Saturn ownt!'H, among them a much requt!'st· t!d footy manager gamt!'. Yt!'p, WE! all know how popular such tiUt!'s u t!' on the PC and Amiga, so Grt!'mlln's Pre miere Managt!'r '97 could wt!'ll turn out to ~ ont!' of this Y"'ar's swpriSt!' hits. Out!' out som t!' time this summt!'r, wt!"ll ha"", mOrt!' on this OVt!'r tht!' coming montlu. I promise.

edition. all the European club side s of Euro'96 have ~t!'n removed with the real Premiership teams ~ing put in tht!'ir plact!'. Tht!'re's around twenty of Ihem in total each with the most up to date player listings allowing you to make the necessa ry cha nges to your squad. casting aside old has beens to make way for new blood. Then il's time to talk tactics with the option to atter your team strategy to suit your particular playing style. Whether it's to get more play<:'rsup field to hammer in the goals or adopt a moredefensiverolewith a strongermidfield and defence. The choice is yours.

Onceyou'veselectedyourteam,it'sontothe ga me set up where the option is there to ena ble you totinkerwith the game mechanics. Turn off the offside rult!',free kicks and bookings, al ter the game length. wind speed and even select the referee. I could goon. suffice to say there's an adequate list of options to appeal to foolball fanatics who like their game to be as close tothe rt!'al thing as possible.

Gremlin have even reenlisledtht!'commentatingservices of Match of t he Oay"s 8arry Oaviesto lend his

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It is clear Ihal Gremlin have altempled 10 mak! the gam~ as close to the real thing, even reenlisting the commentatmg services of Barry Davies. vocalslothegame,givingitamoreauthenticfeel.

The re 's also a fairly impressive range of came ra angl es Ihathawo been Included from which to vi ew the 8i1me. From theoVi'rheild pl,1n view to the touch line

camera, the range Is qUite Impres5ive. Il'sjust a shame that hillfofthem iI ' e I,u s e ly unplilyabledue to theirawkwilrdpositioning.

However whilst this may suffice for anal fool ballfanatks he ll bent on playing with realteilms

and real playe'5,the truth of the matter is that ASH play5li~e a dog . I defy anyon e of sound mind to play WWS '97 for five

minule s and e ver want 10 return to this

again.The game playissove ryslow andSlJbdued as opposed to the f,)5t· paced game It ought lobe. Whllsl Ihe controls are fairlyt lghl Ihey·re far from user fri e ndly, meaning relatively simple manoeuvres area rea l chore. Diagonal crosses a re a virtual impossibility, which invari· ably le ad lofrustralion and frayed tempe rs all round . Graphically ASCE fails 10 exploil th e true pol e ntial of th e Saturn. looking quite rough in places and lacking Ihe ove rall polish and refinemenl we associate with Sega's own litle . Possibly the biggesl gripe I have wilh ASCE however, is Ihe fact that very little has been changed from ils Euro·96

and player names have been altered accordingly but little if a nythi ng else to justify the price point. Ijust hope that Actua 2,dueout laler this year isa significant improveme nt. otherwise Gremlin could be heading down the road of mediocrity with thal too.

The bottom line is that Actua Soccer (Iub Edition Is

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Despite the AI in Actua being of a good standazd, It can never compete with an InftnItelyv;trl;tble and \U\pred.idable human opponenl. Two-playet battles are always more tun than playing against a CPU opponent, esped.ally when you're able to play as your favourite tearns. Whether you're continuing the long running Manchester Unlt~ vs Newcastle Unit~ debate or hllving a dnlnken afte r-closing·time games 5e$slon, you can't go wrong with ASCE.

ITHE CROW: CITY OF ANGELS Il's an unlikely name for an unlikely hero: the Crow. And, judging by the quality of Acclaim's latest release, we think that maybe something along the lines of "The Dodo" may be slightly more appropriate.

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f a movie is branded as having cult sta. tus, It Invaflably mean s that It's crap that nobody in t hei r right mind would pay out good money to see. The Crow was the e xception. It qukkly achieved cult status (hope there's no printing erron there) with the fatality of its main star 8randon t ee. The sequel however suffered no dCKum e nted fatalities on set and as result flopped at the boKoffice. However, by way of clawing back some of the lost million s comes the movie tie·in gam e, The Crow: City of Angels. But it dO<!!sn't end there, as production is about to slarton the third thrilling Instalmenl of the serles, the appropriately named Crow 3. lean hardly(ontainmy e K(iteme nt ...

As with many of Acclaim·s releases of lat e. The Crow: City of Ang els is a beat 'emup.8utnottheusua I2Dside·scrolling mCKk ery of a game that has become synonymous with Acclaim, but a 3D beat ·em up similar in esse nce to Sega'sown Die Ha rd Arcade. In th al respect at least.

The Crow is an improvement on Acclaim's recent titles However. though it is clear that programmers Gray Matter attempted to make the ir game different from mosl beal 'e m ups, I"m afraid it will femain confined 10 the realmsofmediCKrity. Here ·swhy.

Obviously 10 creale a videogame of The Crow. the

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A. you un MI from Ihl abon . hot, lite abulIC' of IIghl4 IOIInlng 01 th. chanet.... I1 a real mllHd opjlGl1unlty.

b,.r.lltofn, CrowmawllwllllMlhilrdpullledlonlMlany-

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programmers have hild to alter the basic pfemise oflhe Crow, Ihat being thilt he·s invincible. For the purpose of thevideoga mehe's~nlimitedtoth'ee

lives ilnd appeilrs to hilve picked upamaf' tiillartalongthewily.meilningtha t esse ntially this isn't th e CfOW. Playing th e game you assume th e guise of the milin charilcterAshe.wherebyyourtask is to explore th e dimly lit 30 environme nts dispensing punishment to the unrighteous. Thisilllows Asheto rest his soul In etemal peace Of something to that effect. A bit grim but the n the film wasn"i e xactly all smiles eithe r. Using a range of punches. kicks and impfovisedweapons such as bottles and snooker cues. your motion captured characte r engages in combat

beat 'em up., The Cr~w has the player dOing battle With mulitple enemies simulataneously.

-

CAPTURE THE MOMENT

dy that. The process of motion capturing It self involvu attaching Uttle light s to some·

-

far from being a one-on-on~

thing IPlll111nl In Acclaim'. lal"t d rorl.

Acclaim 's much vaunted motion capture system has, up \1ntil now, be.n a souru of much amusement in the offke (bu.rlnsln mind the quality of the IOftW'U' it has appeued in) and I'm afraid to say the Crow doesn't leme-

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one and then filming them p erforming a ll sorh of degla din8 acts. Howevu, It appean as if s omeone forgot to attach the lights to the 1"'1 area, a5 even s imple movements like walking look ridiculous.

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withtheenemy.Filrfrombeingilone·on·onebeilt'em upthough,the game has you doing battle with multi· pie enemi es simultaneously making your task iI tad more difficult. Up to three ofthe deviilnt skum attack you atthe same time often cornering you before proceed ingto smash your face in.

The graphics of The Crow: city of Angels are far more attractive than Acclaim's r«ent deluge of games, but still hasa somewhat tatty overilnilppearance. Theba<kgrounds are all pre·rendered with the 30 polygon thilrilcters overlaid. However as most of the graphics are streamed off the CD it makes for some irritating loading times as the in-game cam era switches position. The camera positions themselves ilre designed to Sive the same iI tinem atic feel to it like that of the actual movie. but fails miserably being f>O'Sitioned in the most awkward of places. Oespite the dramatic and colourfully lit rooms, shadows are curiously absent from the same giving impression that the characters are somenow hovering above the ground. Likewise there is nO light·sourcingon the characters. meaning even if they enter a brightly

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colou,ed ,oom, the charact ers remain the silme colour.

Obviously this wouldn't matter so much if th e game Wils fun to play but fun isn't a word assodated with The Crow. Playlns the game isa real chore due to sluggish and unresponsive controls with you exerting minimillcontrol over your character. The frghtscenes are all veryslmilar,borins and Iilrgely repetitive . The col lision detedion is frankly t errible appearing to work on a random bases with punches and kicks often passing straight through an enemy frghter. Aspe<:ial mention shouldalsogotothe Villternative soundtrack"which consists of the same guitar repeated over and over asain for the entirety of the leveL Ninel nch Nails it ain't.

As such Th e Crow: City of Angels is iI disappointing piece of software which bears little resemblance toth e Crowfilmsor a decentgame for that matte,. Don't be ta ken in by all the pre· ren_ dered graphics and claimsofan alternative sound trilck. as it will invariably lead to disappointment.

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CERTIFICATE: 15 Waminsl The Crow: City of Angels may conta in some sce nes of sex and violence and/or sexually explJtfve swear words. Well, Just the viole nce actually. As ls the case in real life , being repeatedly slashed with a naked blade results in much blood beins s pUt. Hence the .S certificate the game has been awarded, as the censors insist on shielding young Innocents from the harsh realltle-s of life.

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Pre- reftderedgrapblcsmlkltb not 1 9ood P IIII. SEGA SATURHMAGlllHE 71

4Jl~ SEGA SATUI<N™ tips Hey, hey, hey••• it's tips time again! Boy, have we got some corkers this month, including the full moves list for Sega's Die Hard Arcade.

Also make sure you check out part one of our awesome guide to the RPG game of the year, Shining the Holy Ark. Ne.t month we'll be printing some amazing Fighters MegaMi. cheats, so if you have any, send them in and you could win a mystery Sega Saturn prize. Send your tips to: Sega Saturn Tips Section, 37-39 Mill Harbour, Isle Of Dogs, London E14 9U

BUG TOO! ThesC' codes must bc entClcd North,SOuth,Eilst,West · Up.

He/co's how to keep encountering the BB expell. encegranlingcreaturelnthelowertotheeastof the Capital of Enrkh. From the entrance of the

Down, left. Right

towe., hC'ad north,then turn right. You should then

when the game Is paused'

LAZYWEASEl · Thlslsthel~1

be able to see Ih~ paths In front of you (one to the

select code LAWLESS - Mak~ 8UG fly alO!Jnd hisinse<tlnfestedwo.ld

Ieft,.mothertotne right and in front of you tnere'lI be a door). Keep running from the left path to the right path and b.Kk again and you should AlWAYS

REAlEASY · MakesBUC irwtJlnerable

be ilble to fight the 3333 experience critter, Thr s.ame m'ature also pops up regularly In the East Shrioe. and at thIs point in the game the extrll levels

you un gain a.e V1TAlI

DIE HARD TRILOGY l1red of foist carsl Well thiS isthe tip for you.

Follow the guidelines andyou'lI soon flnd the slowest vehicle on the planet . To drive the "Baby PRAM" you must m~ke it 68" of the w~y through "Die Hard With A ~ngeance". on the I~I that fe~tures the "Rain" effects. As soon ~syou'reable to "Drive", turn around (do ~ 360) and a cop car shouldgospeedingp~st . Followit.You'lIlosesigh t

of him

~fter

he

m~kes

a left t urn a few seconds

THE CROW Everyone thinks this game Is rubbish. but not me NO. I Icve it. So much SO that I managedtot.ack down some nifty passcodes for it. Enter these codes to procl:i:d further Into the game' 1: AAAAXYBBAA . The Pier Z : YXYXABYYXA· The Ship

after following. but your indicator will show a blue affOW in the di. ection the cop went. Follow II and you'lI find a pa.king lot with an ext.a hfe, a time bonus (you will need it by the time you get here) ilnd the "Baby Pram" In t he parking 101. Just do what you normally do when you change "Vehicles",

INDEPENDENCE DAY FAST RELOAD, DAMAGE BONUS AND UNUMITEO WEAPONS Using this little chealyou'lI be able to kkk the alien scum off the planet In no time at all. Co 10 the options mode and enter the player name "CO POSTAL" Then exittolhegameselectscr~nandqulcklyentef;Left.

Right. Up. Down. X. Z. Y. This will take you to a hidden cheat menu. and from here you'll be able 10 switch the FAST RElOAD, DAMAGE BONUS. and WEAPONS

Fast Reload lets you flre missiles rapidly. Damotse Bonus lets you deslroy allens,generalo.s,otndvehlcles in one shot. Weapons gives you unhmited firepower,

c.ototheoptionsmode~ndentertheplotyername

"MR HAPPY: Then exit to the game select scr~n and quickly enter: left. Right, Up. Down. X. Z. Y. You wilt go tO ot cheott menu. and you'll be able to select any pl otne. By the way. If you' re plotying ID4YOU·veobvlous· Iynot bothered to read OUf scathing review this Issue Shot meon yo ul

72 Sf.GASATUANMAGAlINE

DOOM Stud on Doom, ehl Well here are some handy codesforyou tolry.

Tlr~d

of hearing the um~ old bori ng mUSic/ Enter th is code for a R~m,,,~d SOundtrad. On th~ t'tl~

Doom Levels 9 -10 9FWCIlFRYJK

LeapKid:Run+K Run. P Dragon Uppercut. P.J Dashing Elbow P + J, Right or

Tackl~,

L~ft

10: F8891DQOKJ I1; HIJ3SQNKOB

12: HH06RTMGCF

H1IndgunorM1IchineGunFir~:P

'3 NSsZB83lSQ '4 ML319901QS

Crouch and fire: Down. P KickK Flr~ DI~gonally Down: J. P Turn and Shoot: Fac~opposit~ direction + P DragonGunUppefcut:P.J Handcuff Arr~st with gun, Gr1lb, P, P Hog·tl~ Arr~st with g"n: Gr1lb. K. K Doubl~ Kick Head Smash withMachln~ Gun: K. K. P Doubl~ Sweep Uppercut with M1Ichlne Gun: Hold Dow". K. K. P

'S: ITJBlCSIS3 ,6,W9 KCOlV764 17: PZ8 6 PSMBCF ,8:42SL344BW 19: XQHFY12 Y46

low Kick: Down. P Run: Tap and Hold (Right or l~ft)

10: KNYOCQKSTR

Grab:Touchany~n~my

SATURN BOMBERMAN

Uppercut: Hold Left or Right. p. P. P Foot Sweep: Hold l~ft or Right. p. p. K TurningBack·fistP.HoldLeftorltight TurningSid~kick; K.Hold Left Of Right

(Maximum fire and number of bombs. remote con trol,k lck and hnebombs)

MOVES WITH BROOM, PIPE AND ROBOT LEG TfipleSp,n High: P'p.p Down·up CrosswiSf': K. K. K low Sw~p Down. K PoleV1Iult Run .. K JoustAttack· Run+P D,agonPoleUpper,P.J Jump Forw1l,d Sweep: Ooubl~ Tap l~ft Of Right. K

011 Ihe "Prt'ss start button" SCfeen, enter: (lStStage) l+R+upperleft+Aatthesametlme (IndStage ) L+R+upperleft+Battheu,metime UrdStage) L+R+upperrlght+Catthe silmetlme (4thShae) L+R+uppe.r'ght+X iltthesametlme

MOVES WITH AXE,KNIFE, BOnl E AND M ISSilE LAUNCHER Jab/fire: P SI1Ish/Kick.K TriplePoke.P,P'P low Triple Sllsh K.K.K towSIi(e.Down.K Super Drop: J. Down + P DragonAxeUpper:P+J

Here ;i!e some ace cod~ for this explosive giitne.

Stage select with

ma~imum

power items

(sthStase)

L+R+upper+Yatthesametlme START W ITH SIX BOMBERMEN

In case the player start the normal game at 10' 11:00 am, he COIn use SiK Bomberman. (usually

JUMPING AnACKS Should~r Slam: J. Down. P Kn~ Slam: J. Down. K Double Jump Back Kid. Hold l~ft or Right. K. J SpinnmgAltack:J.P.K Doubl~ Hamm~rfis" J. hold P JumpKick;J+K Drill KICk/Flip Kick: J. Hold K

TurnafOUndSwing.F1Ic~opposit~direction.PorK

Antl·TJI'Ik Rifle Fire: PDownward Swing: K Turna,oundSwlng:fac~opposit~dir~ctlon,POfK

thr~)

Hidd~n chariKt~f5 (¥UNA put~r I~

to. MANTO) and com·

4 (the level is usually Sf't f,om 1 103)

OrIth~·Malchplay"Sf'ledsc:reen.pr~ss.ndhold

l .. It 111 the um~ tim~ for on~ second to gain YUNA. with h~r speed multiplied fou, tim~s.

MANTO has the pow~r globe.

This code Is d,ff~r~nt on th~ Japanes~ version. b"t th~ 1Ibove should work just fine on the UK ~ditlon of this fin~ gam~

Pil~ DflveroK.K.P.P. K ArmThrow:K.K.P.P,P MonktyThfow: J.K Ffank~nst~in~r, J. P

Vertical Back Kick: P.P,P.K

SlGlSATUANIUGllINE 13

HEXEN

PANEMONIUM

ExtJ3Iiw$ Enter VITAMINS at the passWOfd

SCf~.

PI楼(1"r.es

aft now boosted toa whopping 3'

Quittothelewl~

ANDREm RACING

fnter lNANDOUT at the password screen. Quitting

If you want ill ~al challenge, enter EVllDEAO at the password screen. Now ill. enemies become invulne.-

......

thega~brin8Syou~ktothelevelselectscrttn

Getting boled of the

irlSteadofthetrtlesc:reen.

cheats wlli soon brighlen things up.

tI~n hIt Z during the golrrte to change between the two charactefS.

Entt'1 BOD'fSWAP

Permanent firepower

s.<Irrte

old (.lfsr Wel" these

Switchcharactel'l'duringthegame

Enter PHAT(ARS on Ihe regIstry screen to get ph .. t路 ca, mode.

Enter OTIOfIRE at the passWOfd SCI~. Pla)'!"rs now retain the last weilpotl they collected even ifhit byan enemyc~alure

In the (;ueer mode, enter Ihe name GOBEARSI to

re<:eive seven secret stock (ilfS. Invincibility Enter HARD80CN at the password screen. Fa,sus and N,HI are oow completely Indestructible.

Select any level Enter AtMABHDL at the p<lssword s.creen. It's now possibleforplayerstochooseanystagewith}llive5 and 7 hearts.

Bonu,Screen Enter CASHDASH at the password screen"After ~ry

levelyou"11 now play the bonusrilCC'

lit SEIlASATURNMAGllIN(

FIGHTERS MEGAMIX We'veh~dqulteafew,equestfo, t hl5game,5o

he,e'safewtlpstohelpyoulh,oughVirgln's futuristic sports title,

We've been houndlngStga for ages for the5e codes, and finillly thqve arrived. Welcome toa large part of the Fighters MegaMb,l'eatu.e list

C.edltHuds AI the l1:estofe Came screen, enter the paSSWOfd A. V, A. l1:ighl Dov...., V, Up, l1: ighl Right, A.

GetAIIFlass At the l1:esto.e Came screen, ente. the password, Down, V, Right. A. Right. Up, Right. B. A. Down,

At the Restore Came screen, enter the password, Up, V, A. I1:lght, Up, V, B, Down, Right, Down.

Afte.finishingcou.sesAthroughO,coursesE.F.C appeaf,finish these courses and course H appears.

Complete this COU'5e ilnd COU'5e I appears.

Hidden Char.tcter AppUfilnct Conditions Finish A course: Candy In new costumes (as 3P,4PcoIou.} Finish B course: Aklra/Sarah from VF Kids} Finish Ccourse: Ura Bahn (Da.k Bahn) Finish o COU,5e: Janet (from Virtua Cop 1)

lP No Damage On/Off. Player J becomes invincible Finish ~lIcour5eS and play ff\Ofe than 500 roonds Hyper Mode OnlOff. All the tl"lCl\IeS are be performed without 路stlffening". Play more thiln 100 rounds. TO'iIiningEnemy:PlaytrflOWchoosethe tfillnlng f1'1Odeoppone-nt. Finish all courses ilnd put rTIOfe than 600 'OK" ~.ks in the tfillnlng mode.

Survival stage. Survival mode stage flOW selecta~.

Finish all courses, ilOd play survival mode rTIOfe than 10 times. Portrait. l1:eview Ending sequence gfilphks oftompletedcourses.

Book Kecp,Gamestatlstlcs

Make Training Mode Opponent "Deku" Finish A th,ough D courses and put more than 50 "OK" marks in the training f1'1Ode Additional Options Bycompleting any course, the following options wIll bC'added; BCM On/Off. Turn on/off CO-CA BGM's

Sf:O.ASATURNIUGAZINE 75

Unveiled at the February AOU Amusement Expo in Japan, Sega's two player shoot 'em up is even better than Virtua Cop 2! Programmed by AMI, The House of the Dead is the finest light gun game SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE has ever seen. e.:enUy maldng its debut in the UK, The House of the ~ ild has stunned and amazed those that hay" played it. While the game combines e lem e nts f rom the Virtu;!. Cop se ries. and even swipes the hono r motif horn Capcom's Reside nt Evil, players have been amazed that AMl nave produced surn a top title u.ing the Modelz board. When Sega first announced that they would be re leasing a new coin -op light gun game, most players were expecting maybe a Model 3 powered Virtu .. Cop 3. However, ne ither AMz or the e~n. slve Model 3 board have been emplO}'l"d for this aIcade blaster. Instead AMI (previously known for the likes of In dy 500 and Die Hard ATeade) have

R

have had phenomenal success with the PlayStation version of Res ident Evil and Saturn owners can expect to play a n "enhanced" version of the game later this year, Capitalising on this current horror resurgence, Sega have produced an arcade shoot 'em up that's guaranleed to send shivers up you r spinel In keeping with the low budget feel of such classic fright films as Night of th e Living Dead, EvilDe adlandtheFridayth e 11th series, AMI have created an involving storyline for players to uncover. As the game begins, complete with an arty MSeven" styletiUe sequf' ncf',thf' chllling plot is revealed ...

toffn handed the developme nt re ins and successful路 ly pushed the Modelz', potential to th e limit.

The horror genre has been undergoing something of a renaissance Just late ly, with the likes of Wes Craven's !kream, The Relic

I'

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6.

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mentofficials sf'ntin agents to invf'stigate DBR ..

Corp'sscientificdirector,DrCurien, "" whO'Sebehaviourlhf'ysuspf'cted However, the agents never returned, Their last message was only that Or Curif'n was In the final stage of some secret plan and that his research washlghlydangf'lOUS, The dat e is now December 20th 1998 and Ihf' selting is a large gothic mansion (OBR Corp's scientificcentre),As a last resort, the gove rnment havedecid路 ed to send in two of their top agenls, "'Tom Rogan" and the mysterious MG". Tom Is engagf'd 10 marry SophleRichards, a sCientist working at DBR Corp and has already met Dr, Curif'n on pasloccasions, Whal isth e cause of the mosl gruesome case this century? What are the evil schemes of Or Curien?

Only you can discover the whereabout s of the miss路 ingscientists, find your missing fiancee, Sophie, and

~ ~-:.c ~

Monlt,,.., 1IQ't11'l, lIIalellMlnd ml1~l m. TH HOIIM of 1111 D11l d hll'lm all! Pll1ln lauonlhl l"Oluor goylrnmenl

agent. , TOIII

ROpllllWlG, Mnttohl"ft.tlgatt 'lrU~' ~IIPt.-

JOU·rtrIW. rcltdw lt~ l .w.I

•

1IIjIOI'HC~Utl..

... p.,heill t h~lIlld

aIIot&lll.

utrt

rout~ mark~ out. A$ p]a~n ruch certain points in the game. they're hee to choose which path they'U take. However, these mra routes are only acc~sed if you know the conect malUler in which to se]«t them. For instance. In Stage 3: Truth, the aSenl$ care· fully make their way through a deserted chemical factory until they reach an elevator. If pla~rs fail to shoot the right·hand $WIlch to open the lift doors,

£It pi.tol, ()Ill Cltll,,,. " " hl", !Olllblu al"'lJYlt al. of th, d..1ou1 CI"'l It ...... I.rtl.. ...-In 111111l1li'11111/11I"l101111.

SItoat IIOftllln llWI ~ts to fin.! hlddu ,."..t...

I.

SEOA SATURNMAClAZ INE 93

they'U avoid using the alternative secret passageway.

These additional routes are weU worth discovering as they're usually packed with handy power-ups, e.:etra lives and monsters galore and also have the added bonus of e.:etending the game's longevity - something that few coin-ops manage to accomplish, So even If players do manage to complete The House ofthe Dead, a feat that will still require superb marksmanship and plenty of continues, the game never plays the same way twice.

MASTDOPMONSTDS Although the re's no denying that AM2'S classiC Virtua Cop games are easily the best arcade shoot 'em ups available, both titles do suffer from being somewhat squeaky clean. Shoot a criminal in the head,leg or any other part of his anatomy and they'll simply flicker, disappear and players are rewarded with a cozy little score. The House of the Dead, on the other hand, doesn't pull any punches in the violence department, In fact AMI have creat ed one of the bloodiest coin路ops we've ever playedl For a start each ghastly creature in the game has its own trademark attack that Inflicts varying degrees of damage on players who are slow to respond to undead attacks. Fail to shoot a zombie in time and they claw the screen, leaving slimy green finger marks and sapping p.eclous energy.

Likewise, chainsaw wielding monsters hack away at unsuspecting agents, bats swoop in to bite and explosion s shake the entire screen. What's especial lyimpressive is the fact that the forces of darkness are constanUy on the move as zombies inhabit every room, unexpectedly bursting out of cabinets, experlmentai glass tanks and from behind sflflmlnglylockfld doors at thfl most unlikflly momflnts.Ofcourse,plaYflrsare hardlydflfflncfliflssanda fflW quick shots are usually more than enough to blow away any lumberlngmonstrosity.

94 SEllA SATU RN MiGAllNE

Blasting away at zomblfls results In gaUons of green goo gushing from opfln wounds and dlslntegrated flesh flying off In hugfl chunks However, progression through the manslon results In agents not oniy blasting minor creaturflS to piflces, thfly also encounter some of the most incredibly detailed and well-animated bosses to

BBHOLD... MY CRIATlON LlVISI If you've managed to complete The House of the Dflad, thfln you'll know that all of the game's monster guardians are superb. While even the earlier stages boast such frightening end-of-level bossfls as the battle axe-wielding armoured zombie known a s Chariot and a giant spldflr, thfl final stages are simple incredible. It's these encounters that highlight Just how far AMI are pushing the Modfll 2 tflchnology. For Instance, take the mutatfl dsp ldflrbossofSt a gfl},Hflrmlt. Players first encounter this nightmare arachnid at the start of the third level as theybflgin their pursuit of the elusive Dr Curian. The batHfl is short and sweet with the spider's head being Its obvious weak point. However, make it through to the end of the stage in one pieCfl and Rowgun and G face the six-legged fiend once again. This timfl though, Hermit proves to be a far more formidable foe and attacks players when they enter a pipe-like passageway. Aiming for the head takes off some energy but Hermit now dodges player's fire and fights back using multiple leg aUacks and begins

spewing out a lethal silken thre ad. Fast reloading and accuracy are required Ifwou ld ·be age nts wi s h to re ach thegame's next stage

SHOCK, SHOCK, HORROR, HORROR Although The House of th e Dead has only appe aredinlimitedUKarcadesinthe pastfew months . p layers are already curious to know wh ethe r AMI have any p lans to convert this grue some s hoot 'e m up to the Saturn. As usual, Segaare staylngttght·lipped re garding any possibl e arcade·to·console conversions but consld ecing that Virtua Cop 2. Virtua Fighte r 2 and Virtual On were all Mod e l 2 games, it 's possible that we may see a home ve rsion of this game som etim e next year. The only rea l stumbHng block would be how th e Saturn would cope with The House of the Dead 's incredibly de taile dtex· ture maps and multiple on-scre en polygon en em ies . Always in se arch of the truth, SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE will be continuing its indepth coverage of The Hous e of the Dead n ext month as w e pr esent an exclusive interView with the game's creators, AMII Look out for that amazingly Informative pi ece ne xt issu e and make sure you che ck out The House of the Dead at an arcad e near you now.

GRUESOME GAME GUIDE

STAGIII TIlAGBDY Players begin their mission by dashing acrO$s the seemingly deserted courtyard area. Zombies soon make their presence felt and attack a number of fleeing scientists who need to be rescued. In particular. a huge zombie Is seen carrying a scientist to the edge of a bridge, where he will be hurled to his doom. Players are required to shoot the creature a number of times before the scientist reaches safety. Mutant dogs and fish al.o make t heir first appearance In the game and move with frightening speed, Upon ente ring the mansion, more zombies attack and a number of secret routes a re to be discovered before players face the armoured might of Chariot.

BOSSI OlAJIIOT Well protected and armed, Chariot attacks ferociously with its mighty battle axe.Th1s 6end'sweak spot 1$ located in Its chest and highlighted by a blood red patch. WhIle one player alms at this target, the other shouId keep Chariot at bay by laying down covering fire.

BOSII HAJlGBDMAJI By combining human and bat DNA. Or Curian's scientists have created the Hangedman.

Surrounded by a dark cloud of hovering bats, this flying monstrosity swoops down towards players and rakes the screen with Its claws before taking to the sky again. It's attacks are followed by multipie bat assaults. To defeat this beast,a\m for the centre of Its torso and, In particular, concentrate fire when It approaches the s.creen.

STAGI SI TJlUTH Or CUrlan finally reveals himself before beating a hasty retreat. Entering a laboratory, players face Hermit for the first time as well as some next generation zombies. These undead creatures are partly encased In metal and offer some hint as to what the mad Doe Is really up to. Also appearing are evil zombies with stretchable, hooked claws. A secret elevator Is to be discovered nearby. Saving a female scientist gains players an extra life while multiple lOutes also present themselves.

BOSS, IIDIIIIT STAGI 21 .."..GI The beaut1ful Sophfe makes her delightful presence f<ili once again and tantalises players with vital clues and information. The exploration of the mansion continues with players making their way through such dtveTie locatlorl$ as the Art Room, Bedrooms, Kitchen and ResearchCentre. Creatures encountered In this stage Include bloodthirsty bats, monkey zombies and knife-wielding. suIt-wearing undead office workersl Rowgun and G also explore the abandoned chemical factory where they are attacked by a number of bizarre creations before making a mad dash across the mansion's roof.

Scurrying away to Its pipe lair, Hermit 15 a vicious creatwe Indeed. As detaIled before, this arachnid boss moves with a speed that belies Its enormous bu1Jt. Watch out for multiple leg attacks and web thread that appears from Its rear. After blastIngltshead,players soon slow the creature down and then move

PANDEMONIUM

BYSEGA£44.9990%

As the video gilming public are more than aware. Ihe PlaySlation's lad of decent platform titles has long been a source of embarrassment for SOny and their recent attempts to hype Crash Bandicootasa company mascot were merely laughable However.allthathaschangedrecenllyas US based developer Crystal Dynilmics have managed to t riumph were others had failed by developing Pandemonium, a colouriul2,sOplatformerthathas elevated this neglected genre from its ,6·bit glory days

Now,lhanhtoabitofquickthinking, SegahilvesnappedupPandemonium from p~ious UK distributor BMG and unleilshed this Technicolour title on the Saturn. We sayPandemoniumisa -l·SO" plalformerduelothegame'sl inearstruc· ture. Players run from left to right across bizarrefantasyworldsandactual30sec· tions are few and far between. But even laking intoaccounl its basic structure, P.mdemonium still manilges to conjure up warm andcuddlyfeelings ofplalform games from yesleryeilr. There's certainly nolhing original aboul bouncing on ene-mies, collecting power-ups and facing hugeend-<lf·level bosses but Ihisgame manages 10 incorporate allofthesefealures and covers them w ith a sugary coat· ing to warm the hearts of those jaded Saturn owners boredwilh endless beat 'em·ups and Doom style corridor tilles PlayStat lonowners receive yet another kICk in theteeth, as Pandemonium is also Ihe first Saturn game 10 feature trans · parencies,ilnamilzingprogrilmmingfeat previously thought to be impossible, If Sega have been hanging their heads in

FIGHTERS MEGAMIX B'lSEGAETBA95~

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have been tearlns their hair out in antlcipalion for AMa's latest 3D beat 'em up and, as

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ished results have been well worth the wait.

The thought of a title that combined both Virtua fighter 2. and Fighting Vipers characters on one disc was dismissed as mere rumow: six months ago but FisMe" MegaMill is definitely no myth. It', simply the S;o.h.m g;une you have to buy! Although the game neglects to use VFa', high resolution mode, and instead opts for thl! slightly rougher feel of fighting Vipers, the smooth wmatlo n and perfect timing of both

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While hudcore samers m;o.y feel more at home with VFa's plxel perfect. moves, MegaMix hilS a looser feel which many players will appredale.

Aho on the plus dde ve the ~kome additions of Viper's style walls, armour b reaker moves, n ew play modn and a host of hidden chuacten Including Vlrtua Cop's 'anet Marshall and even the Daytona Hornet! UK Saturn owners may be worried that the PAl conversion will suffer but rest assured that Sega have taken the time to reduce the game'. potentially obtrusive borden and even the loss of speed Is minimal. If Virtua Flghte r 3 on Saturn never happens, we could be looking at the game of the year. So what are you waJtingfor? Go buy Itl

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shame because of Ihe likes of Bug Too! and SOnic 3D Blast then Pandemonium more than satisfies with a combination of tongue-in-cheekhumour,sneakylevel designs and a supremely satisfying challenge. Pandemonium may not have the longevityofotherSillurntitlesbutcompleting the game is only half the fun localing all the sec ret S«tions and wacky bonus gilmes addsyet another level of gameplay to Ihls top platforming romp

MR BONES

someoflheworsl comedy this side of Hi· De·Hi. Best avoided,

MECHWARRIOR 2

BYAClIVI510M£4-4,9989%

Althoughreceivinganot·too·shabbySSM ratingof8g% last month,Activision's MechWarrior2couldhaveeilsilysur. passed this scorewiththeadd itionofa multi·player mode, Certainly a splitscreen option or even iI Unkcable fealure would hav-e been heartily welcomed but alas this futuriSlic striltegyshoot.'em·up remains purely a one player affair, Of coursethilt'snotsaythiltMechWilrriorl is uninspiringal all. On Iheconlrary, Activision must be commended for pro· ducinganenthrallingSaturntitlethat manages to perfectly capture Ihe inlensi Iyoflhepcoriginalyetaddsenough edras to keep 32-bit console owners mmethan happy. You know you'fe such a picky bunch .., PI~rstilkecommandofanumber

BY SEGA[Z'J,9966% Well,it'scertainlydifferent. In develop· ment for what seems like an eternity, Mr Bones f,nallyrattles his boneyass over to th ese shores only 10 begreeled with a slightly better than av-eragescore, We usuallyonlygive thiskindofscornto obscure Japanese import titles bul ifever a PAL game deserved harsh criticism , it's thiS mUSical malafky. Oeveloped by those craryYanksSegasoft,Mr Bones attempts to blend numerousgameplay styles with some ilpp..lling American humour and the resulls ar... a shambling mess to say the least.

Now we at SEGA SATURN MAGA· ZINEhavenoprobl ...mwilhsoftwar... companies aUempting 10 develop new gaming ideas. After all,originalily is the key to successful video games but after playingMr Bones for five m inutes, you soon get the feeling that you're looking at some kind ofaborted Mega CDtille Using iI combination of rendered sprites and FMVbackgrounds, this anatomical abomination offers players Ih... opportuni' tytoguideold calcium cranium through a numberofdiverse slages in an attempl towinhisbodybadffombeyondthe grav-e,Usingrockmusicasakeyelement.

Mr Bones tackles such yawnsome tilsks as entertainingtheundeadwilhnaffJokes, performing dreadful EricClaptonstyle guitilr rifuand plil)'ing bongos in Hell, A lack of depth, very little gameplay and

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of walking assault platforms (or Mechs), eilchofwhichisarmedtotheteethwith state·of·the·art weapons, and tackle up t03lvaried missionsrangingfrom search·and·destfOY campaigns to ali-out attacks on enemy strongholds. This action tilkes plilcefrom inside the cockpit of eachMechandasafirslpersonpers~·

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tive blilsler, MechWarrior 2 excels, Smooth visuals and superb sound effects allcombinetogiveMechWarrior2i1sur· prisinglyrealisticatmosphere,onethat proves accessible to both skilled warriors and novice players alike, Initial missions give pilots the opportunily to get to grip wit h the Mech's basic cOfltrols and weapons while latercamp..igns are tougher, requi ring a player's total concen· t riltion, Be warned though! If you're eKpeclingjustabasicshool·'em·up, you're going 10 be sadly disappointed, MechWarrior2fequiresplayerstouse their bfains and their trigger fingers in

order to meet thechilllengeoftheCliln warS, Still. if this were an eas,e, gilmeto wade through, SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE would have been forced to knock MechWarrior l'S score down considerably, As il slands.ActiviSion hilve produced a testing, engaging and worthyaddit,on to any Saturn owner's library.

player gamew,th CPU controlled oppo· nentsprovidmgthebulkof t hechal· lengeand tricky t racks added as an addi

SCORCHER

BYSfGAETBA10% When Scavenger fi'st announced t heir intent,on to develop Saturn games.ini· tial promises ilnd earlyfootilge hinted at some superb titles to come. Two years late,andbothAMOKandScorcherhave failed to live up 10 their own hype.

Setinyetanotherpost·apoc:alyptic wastela nd (the futu ' e doesn't look that rosy does itlJ.players race against each over a series of spiralling cou rses bu m p. ingand boundng around the t racks in self·contained energy spheres, Obst acles such as pot holes. barriers and shee rs drops are present totesl a pilot's skill but the addition of other pilots also makesforsomenail· bitingraces.

Unfortunately. Scorche r is purely a one

tionalnl)isance. Theg<l me·sm<l in fajJing is that the conlrol of the sphere's is very poor. M isslhedesiredpie.::eoftrackor accidentally nudge ilnother racer and players ricochet arol)nd the cou rse before regaining their losl t ime and positions. While Sega Rally offers a true racing challenge and Wipeout has its t rademark breakneckspeed,Scorcher basically misses the boat byoffe'ing <I confus ing mishmash ofradng fealures t hathilven'tbeendonebelterandfaster somewhe reelse_let'shopefuture Scavenger tit les areof<l higher quality.

ALSO OUT NOW ACTU.t.GOLF lLIE11TRllOGY

AlONEINTlIEOARl2:JACI!;'SUCK ARU51 ATlILrnllNGS BAlUWUAN11W. BAllWIFOREVEfI

BWI!MACHINEHEAD BLASTCIlAMBElI BWlNGORAGONS &OIIBERYlN BIG HURl' BASEBAll BRWPOINT IUB8U &ORaLE I'M:l BUG! BUG TOO! CHAOS CONTROl ClOCKWORllNIGHT ClOCKWORllNIGHT2 COIIYlNO 1110 CONQUER CRfMEW.l.VE CRYPTllll£R CYBElIIA CYBElISPEEOWAY DAftfUSGAfO£N DAftKSAYlOUR DAYTONACCE DAYTONA USA O£FCON5 OESTRUCTlONO£RBY DIGITAL PINIWJ. INSCWORLD DOOII EXNUMED EURO'96 FlfA'96 FlGIITINGYlPERS FlRESTORII G.I.lACTJCATIACK GEX GOlDEN AXE: TlIE DUEl GUARDlANHEROES

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SHINING THE HOLY ARK

BY SEGA[44.9' 93%

If there's one style of video game that

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both Americ;o.n .o.nd ElUope an audio encesareczyingoutforlt·sRPG's.

Fortunat ely, Se ga Europe h ave just released the awesome epic that is Shining the Holy Alkl Continuing the classic Shining series, Team Sonic's latest RPG offers Saturn owners something other than a standard overhead fantasy adve ntuIe. For a sta rt the e ntire ga me is played from a first person perspective which Cer· ta inly a dds a refreshing change to what can be a fairly predictable genre.

Shining the Holy Alk feahues an engaging stozyline, some spectacUlar b attles, devilishly clever puzzles and an anay ~-j, '1~ ~. ,-. ~- '-t ofdanling spells lomasler. If you've never b een tempted by turn·bas ed combat and the lengthy explorations that form the core of any decent RPG, take a chance and plUchase this title.

Shining the Holy Alk offers days and f '~ weeksot thoroughlyenjoyable gam· ing and deserves Iecognltlon as a 5.~ .~ ~ ,0. ' >~,. .. superb Saturn title. Keep yOIU ey" peeled tor th e full SSM guide!

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Introducin ...

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l eve10ped by the Ja panI!M d.lvblon of Time Warne r lnter.o.~, hydUc Warlock AssaIsin Tuom.&r\l (a mouthtu! of a tiU", 11 ever there wu one) has rKenUy surfaced as a sc:orching hot Saturn Import title. Although TWI only prod\Ked 50,000 COP'" of the game befote ceaslng t~g. the company obviously pulloed out all the stops to deltv",. a rtwmins <lO artiontitle.

FoUowIlIj In the ~ footsleps of sIKh dasslc video games as Konami's Castlevania and Ikarl Warriors, Psydtic Wa.-Iod: Is an incredibly detailed platform",. Jet in f~ Japan.. As

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magicool n!nja wanton, players fet out on a challenging quest arml!'d with powerfullock-on speUs and mylUcal abUlUes. TheR powers enable both characters, T'aromaru and Enbl. tocha.ge up thelt spells bf:fore unl... ashing d~statlng muttiple attacks. 'nib mystical energy 1$ also used to conj='" a prolKtlve for~eld which deflects attacks and acts as a gravity brake when falling from Long drops. Masterlng ;o.lI of Ihe~ abUities Is t h~ k~y to surviving on~ ofth~ tough~st platform~n w~'v~ played for ag~s. Forget Pandemonium, Psychic Warlock ls rock-hard with many enemies attacking simultaneously, cunnLnglevels to negotiate and massive bosses, some of which are actually larger than th e screen Itself! The action is relentl~ssand,\n$teadof theusualchapterbreaksandendoflevelch.allenges,

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playerstadcle one continuing adventure that IncreaJes In size and dlfflcult yasthe Many Saturn owners may be put off by Psychic Warlock's simple 20 appearance but there are some 3D elements Included, such as rotating levels, scaling buildings and some of the most incredible monsten we've ever seen. ~ the game Is something of a cult hit in Japan, It', unlikely that we'll ever see PsyclUc: Warlock ~sassin Tllromaru appearing on these shores, but you never know. If aUK comp,any (such aJ THQ) were looking for a swe-flre Saturn hlt then thIs pyrotechnlc perlod piece definitely fits the bill

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NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS

AUCTION OF ADULT SWEDISH LITERATURE RARE ADULT VIDEOS, MAGAZINES AND EROTIC PARAPHERNALIA The Staff Room, Friday lunchtime (Pupils welcome) ENQUIRIES: CALL 0500 011 _

-------------------------~~S~1ok ~h1s up. !ake OOTer and prepare ~o we~ lourself.

YOURSELF

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