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  • Electronic Gaming Monthly (September 1999)

    Source: Electronic Gaming Monthly – Issue Number 122 – September 1999

    Electronic Gaming Monthly was near the top of my list when it came to video game magazines. By 1999, the industry had consolidated somewhat compared to what it was a few years ago. Sega, Sony and Nintendo were the only real players. The September 1999 issue includes:

    Features

    • The Dreamcast is Here – A look at the Sega Dreamcast, initial round of games and Sega’s plan for the future. The Sega Dreamcast would have been released days after this issue hit the stands.
    • No Longer Fantasy – A look at the upcoming Final Fantasy movie.
    • Turok: Rage Wars – A preview of Turok: Rage Wars by Acclaim for the Nintendo 64. This was a first person shooter with an emphasis on multiplayer.
    • Final Fantasy VIII – A preview of Final Fantasy VIII for the PlayStation which was due out the same month this issue hit the stands. While I played FFVII, I never did play FFVIII.

    Departments

    • Editorial – The Dreamcast is set to hit the streets with 24 solid games available on day one. Is this the biggest game launch ever?
    • Letters – Readers write in about the Dreamcast, Perfect Dark, survival horror games, megabits vs. megabytes, and more.
    • News – Final Fantasy movie coming to theaters; limited edition Pokemon game coming for the Game boy; Resident Evil 3 demo included on some copies of Dino Crisis for the PlayStation; Mario 64 sequel not anticipated until Dolphin (GameCube) release; bleem! PlayStation emulator hits stores (requires a Pentium 166MMX); Pac-Man Fever album re-released on CD; Nintendo reveals 64DD plans for Japan; and much more.
    • Gossip – Various rumors, including a possible Dreamcast version of Driver, a possible Dreamcast version of Soul Reaver, Michael Jordan returning to video games, PlayStation 2 to be used as a “set top box”, Dreamcast could emulate PlayStation, and more.
    • Previews – Previews of upcoming games including for the Dreamcast: NBA Showtime, Vigilante 8, Street Fighter Alpha 3, The King of Fighter: Dream Match 1999, Shenmue, Fighting Force 2, Ecco the Dolphin, South Park: Chef’s Luv Shack, Seven Mansions, Virtua Striker 2, Espion-Age-Nts, virtual On, Giant Gram All Japan Pro Wrestling 2, and Super Producer; for the Nintendo 64: Pokemon Snap, Mario Golf, WCW Mayhem, Rainbow Six, StarCraft, Hot Wheels Turbo Racing, Turok: Rage Wars, Resident Evil 2, Hercules, Winback, and Kyojin No Sohin; for the PlayStation: Final Fantasy VIII, Crash Team Racing, Suikoden II, WipeOut 3, Madden NFL 2000, NFL GameDay 2000, Spyro 2, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Medal of Honor, Dune 2000, Wu-Tang, You Don’t Know Jack, Metal Gear Solid: Integral, Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, WCW Mayhem, Lunar 2: Eternal Blue, Silhouette Mirage, Thrasher, Sheep, Urban Chaos, Detonator Gauntlet, NBA ShootOut 2000, NBA Basketball 2000, Mag 3, Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition, Test Drive Cycles, SuperCross Circuit, Knights of Carnage, Major League Soccer 2000, NHL Championship 2000, NHL FaceOff 2000, Vegas Games 2000, Romance of the Three Kingdoms VI, Konami Rally, Monkey Magic, Rugrats, Bass Landing, NCAA Final Four 2000, Vagrant Story, Rival Schools 2, Geppy-X, Assault Suits Valken 2, Oreshika, Roneco’s Great Adventure 2, Ichi Geki: Hagane No Hito; and more.
    • Power Tools – A brief look at various video gaming peripherals including the Tilt Force 2 PlayStation controller, Tilt Pak (N64), Data Deck (PlayStation), Boomerang 64 (N64), CH Products Gamestick (PlayStation), GameShark Pro (PlayStation), Xplorer FX (PlayStation), and more.
    • Review Crew – Reviews of some of the latest games including:
      • Nintendo 64 – NFL Blitz 2000, Command & Conquer, Duke Nukem: Zero Hour, Mario Golf, Monster Truck Madness 64, Pokemon Snap, The New Tetris, Tonic Trouble, and In-Fisherman Bass Hunter 64.
      • PlayStation – Chesmaster II, NFL Blitz 2000, Driver, Evil Zone, Jade Cocoon, Konami Arcade Classics, NFL Xtreme 2, Rising Zan, Sled Storm, Soul of the Samurai, Tarzan, and Tiny Tank.
      • Game Boy/GBC – Conker’s Pocket Tales, Looney Tunes, Motocross Maniacs 2, Pokemon Pinball, Spawn, Pac-Man Special Color Edition, R-Type DX, and Tarzan.
    • Review Archive – A brief overview of EGM’s last 100 reviews from issues 115-121.
    • Tricks of the Trade – Tips, tricks and codes for Vigilante 8 (N64), A Bug’s Life (N64), Ken Griffey Jr.’s Slugfest (N64), Fighting Force 64 (N64), Quake II (N64), Rush 2 (N64), Ape Escape (PlayStation), Big Air (PlayStation), Pokemon Blue (GB), Driver (PlayStation), Lunar: Silver Star (PlayStation), Hello Kitty’s Cube Frenzy (PlayStation), R-Type Delta (PlayStation), Syphon Filter (PlayStation), Bust-A-Move 4 (GBC), and many more.
    • Get Some – A look at some of the latest gadgets, including Creative’s Nomad MP3 player, Sennheiser HD490 Live headphones, the Psyc Style Discman, the MD-MT821 MiniDisc Player from Sharp, and more.
    • The Final Word – An editorial on game development and innovation.

    …and more!


  • Official Sega Saturn Magazine (October 1998)

    Source: Official Sega Saturn Magazine – Issue Number 36 – October 1998

    This was the official Sega Saturn magazine in the U.K. I believe that the October 1998 issue was nearly the last issue and it was already heavily covering the Dreamcast. The writing was on the wall for the Saturn and had been for a while. This issue includes:

    Features

    • Yuji Naka Reveals All! – An interview with Yuji Naka, who was responsible for the four Sonic games on the Genesis, as well as Burning Rangers and NiGHTS. Here he talks mostly about the Dreamcast.
    • Capcom Speaks! – An interview with Mr. Noritaka Funamizu, General Producer of Capcom’s Development Division. Here he talks mostly about future plans for the Dreamcast.
    • Drones Special Report – An interview with Alex Lemedy, Game Designer, Producer and Project Manager for NIGMA Software. Here he talks mostly about their first game for the Dreamcast called Drones.
    • Astra Superstars – A detailed review of Astra Superstars, Sunsoft’s latest 2D fighting game for the Saturn which utilizes the 4MB expansion.
    • Star Wars Trilogy – A detailed look at the upcoming Star Wars arcade game produced by Sega’s AM8 division and based on Model 3 hardware.

    Previews

    • Guardian Force – A 2-D shooter for the Saturn produced by Success.
    • Konami MSX Pack – A collection of classic games for the Saturn that were originally released on the MSX computer, including Road Fighter, Soccer, Antarctic Adventure, Konami Rally, Hyper Sports 2, Yie-Ar Kung-Fu (one of my favorites on the Commodore 64), Yie-Ar Kung-Fu 2, Gradius, Golf, Tennis, Boxing, Billiards, and more.
    • Sega Ages: Disney – Two classic Disney games that were originally released on the Genesis now collected for the Saturn. Castle of Illusion and Quackshot are both included.
    • Arcade Gears – Arcade conversions of both Image Fight and X-Multiply on one disc for the Saturn.

    Reviews

    • Astra Superstars – A 2D fighter for the Saturn from Sunsoft.
    • Deep Fear – A survival horror game for the Saturn by Sega. Described here as being the last major release by Sega for the Saturn.

    Regulars

    • Editorial – A new era for Sega, pondering possibly the last official Sega Saturn review and the future with the Dreamcast.
    • News – Sonic is back for the Dreamcast; screen shots of Dreamcast technical demos; PC version of Sega Rally 2; Neo Geo Pocket introduced; and more.
    • Virtua Writer – Letters from readers about D2, Tomb Raider 2, Virtua Fighter 3, Sega Rally 2, Daytona 2, Saturn games on the Dreamcast, and more.
    • Q+A – Questions answered about playing audio CDs on the Dreamcast, games coming out on the Dreamcast, the 128-bitness of the Dreamcast, import games on the Dreamcast, network connectivity on the Dreamcast, and more.
    • Coin-Operated – A look at The King of Fighter ’98 and Dynamite Cop (including an interview with the creator).
    • Up the Back End – Japanese advertisement of the month…

    Playing Tips

    • Castlevania X, Part Two – Part two of a detailed strategy guide for Castlevania X.
    • Tips Megathon, Part One – Part one of a guide to every tip for every Saturn game ever printed in the magazine.

    …and more!


  • Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

    https://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/655841777232887809/oldgamemags-bloodshed-legacy-of-kain-soul


    Legaacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is a 3rd person action/adventure hack and slash game that was released in 1999 for the PC on CD-ROM and for the PlayStation. It was also released the following year for the Sega Dreamcast. Soul Reaver is the sequel to Blood Omen and represents a shift in game play style. In many respects the game play is similar but whereas Soul Reaver is 3D, Blood Omen was in more of a 2D overhead style.

    In many regards, Soul Reaver is similar to other 3D action games of the time. One of the more interesting and unique game play mechanics is the ability to shift from the “real world” to the spectral plane. The spectral plane offered more limited interaction but also allowed you to walk through obstacles. Also, as opposed to being the typical hero, you instead take the role of a disfigured vampire and the plot is quite dark. The game was initially rated Teen but the Dreamcast version and later re-releases upped the rating to Mature.

    Reviews for Soul Reaver were generally very positive. There are a couple of caveats though. First, this game ends up being in large part a puzzle game with many puzzles to solve along the way. Many of these puzzles can be difficult which can lead to frustration. The other issue is the lack of a map. While creating your own maps can be fun in turn based RPGs, the lack of a map in an action adventure game can just be annoying. Also, I prefer the 2D style of the original vs. the 3D style of this one but maybe that’s just because I’m old.

    In addition to the original releases, Soul Reaver was released as a “Greatest Hits” title on the PlayStation. It was also later released in 2009 via a digital download on the PlayStation Network. Otherwise, if you want to give this game a try you’ll have to track down an original or resort to emulation. It is definitely a game worth checking out and all three versions (PC, PS1 and Dreamcast) are decent so you can pick your favorite platform of the three.

    Screen shots above are from the Sega Dreamcast version of the game.