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  • VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, April 1991

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, April 1991

    Retro Gaming / VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, April 1991 - #Nintendo #NES #Sega #SNES #Genesis #NEC #TG16 #Commodore #C64 #Amiga #IBM #Atari - https://www.megalextoria.com/magazines/index.php?twg_album=Video_Game_Magazines%2FVGCE%2Fvgce_91-04_show=vgce_1991-04_001.jpg

    VideoGames & Computer Entertainment was published from 1988 until 1993 before becoming VideoGames and ultimately morphing into Tips & Tricks.

    The April 1991 issue includes the following:

    Features

    • Under the Hood of the Super Famicom, Part 1 – The first part in a series of articles detailing the new Super Famicom. This part discusses the controllers, CPU, graphics capabilities and more.
    • Sega Champs Square Off In (Not-So-) Sunny Hawaii – Coverage of the Sega Genesis World Championship finals. Games involved included Shadow Dancer, Mickey Mouse in the Castle of Illusion, and Joe Montanna Football. The prize was a new Eagle Talon worth $18,000. This just makes me nostalgic for when you could get a new car for $18k…
    • Veigues Tactical Gladiators Strategy Guide, Part II – The second half of a strategy guide for this sci-fi shooter.
    • Games Beyond Tomorrow – An overview of recent sci-fi related gaming releases. Games mentioned include Dash Galaxy in the Alien Asylum (NES), Target Earth (Genesis), Final Zone (Genesis), Day of the Viper (PC, Amiga, Atari ST), The Adventures of Rad Gravity (NES), Atomic Robo Kid (NES), Thexder 2 (Amiga, PC), Hybris (Amiga), Battle Squadron (Amiga), Stellar 7 (PC), Skate Wars (Commodore 64), DeathTrack (PC), Galaxy 5000 (NES), A Boy and His Blob (NES), The Rescue of Princess Blobette (Game Boy), Beyond the Black Hole (PC), Arkanoid (various), Total Recall (NES), Back to the Future Parts II & III (NES), Countdown to Doomsday (Amiga, PC), Countdown to Doomsday (Amiga, PC), MegaTraveller 1 (PC), Full Metal Planet (PC, Amiga), Space 1889 (PC), Circuit’s Edge (Amiga, PC), Star Wars (Commodore 64), BattleTech: The Crescent Hawks’ Inception (PC, Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64), MechWarrior (PC), Wing Commander (PC), Universe III (Amiga, Atari ST, PC), Star Trek: The Kobayashi Alternative (Apple, Commodore 64, PC), Star Trek: First Contact (Apple II, Commodore 64, PC), The Promethean Prophecy (Apple, Commodore 64, PC), Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (Amiga, PC), Altered Destiny (Amiga, PC), Space Quest III and Space Quest IV (Amiga, PC), Chamber of the Sci-Mutant Priestess (Amiga, PC), Quasar (Amiga), Star Control (PC), Reach for the Stars (Apple II, Apple IIgs, Commodore 64, PC, Macintosh), Stellar Crusade (Amiga, Atari ST, PC), Granada (Genesis), and more.
    • Castlevania III Players Guide, Part I – Part 1 of a detailed strategy guide for Castlevania III for the NES.
    • Winning the West with Games – Games all about exploring and conquering the wild West. Games covered include Galleons of Glory (PC), Gold of the Americas (Amiga, Atari ST, PC), Billy the Kid (Amiga, Atari ST, PC), Gold Rush (PC), The Lost Dutchman Mine (Amiga, Atari ST, PC), Colorado (Genesis), Western Games (Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64), Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and Rodeo (Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, PC), and more.

    Departments

    • Editor’s Letter – What to expect of reviews in VG&CE.
    • Reader Mail – Comments and questions about Genesis vs. TurboGrafx-16 sales, reviewers, beta testing games, and more.
    • Tip Sheet – How to get past Mission 6 in Double Dragon II, finding Magneto’s lair in X-Men, and defeating the end boss in Blaster Master.
    • News Bits – Commodore introduces the CDTV, Broderbund releases Sport Simulated Boxing and Sport Simulated Tennis, Nintendo announces 1990 sales figures…there were 7.2 million Nintendo Entertainment Systems sold which was increase of 27% over the previous year, Nintendo announces various Super NES and Game Boy peripherals, Taxan spends big on advertising G.I. Joe game, Atari drops price of the Lynx to $99.95, Accolade releases hint book for Elvira, and more.
    • Easter Egg Hunt – Secret tricks and codes for TV Sports Football (TG-16), Mega Man 3 (NES), Buster Douglas Knockout Boxing (Genesis), Thunder Force III (Genesis), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan (Game Boy), and Lock ‘n’ Chase (Game Boy).
    • Destination Arcadia – A look at Mad Dog McCree plus VG&CE’s picks for the best arcade games of the years. Games picked include Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Air Inferno, Four Trax, F-15 Strike Eagle, Mercs, Pigskin 621 A.D., and Diner (pinball).
    • Gaming on the Go – A look at some of the latest games for portable systems including Zarlor Mercenary (Atari Lynx), Robo-Squash (Atari Lynx), Rampage (Atari Lynx), and Shanghai (Atari Lynx).
    • Inside Gaming – Focusing on games for adults.
    • Game Doctor – Questions answered about Mega Drive and Genesis compatibility, 3D gaming, choosing a sound card for a PC, game saving via passwords on TurboGrafx-16 games, game expense in Europe, and more.
    • Fandango – A look at recent fanzines including cyberBeat #1 and the December 1990 issue of Arena.

    Reviews

    • Video-Game Reviews
      • Totally Rad – A decent platform game for the NES.
      • The Adventures of Lolo III – A save the princess adventure game for the NES. If you liked the previous two Lolo games then you would probably like this one.
      • Basewars – Playing baseball with robots on the NES.
      • Sword Master – A pretty generic beat-em-up for the NES.
      • Fatal Labyrinth – An ok RPG for the Genesis but without much of a storyline.
      • MegalStorm – A sci-fi themed platform game by Irem for the NES.
      • RoboCop 2 – A pretty good platform game for a licensed game and a lot like the original Robocop arcade. For the NES.
      • Metal Mech – A sci-fi platform game in which you control a mech. For the NES.
      • Powerball – A futuristic sports game for the Genesis.
    • Computer-Game Reviews
      • Stratego – A computerized version of the board game for the PC and Macintosh.
      • Stellar 7 – A remake of the original for the Amiga and PC.
      • Dragon’s Lair II – A conversion of the laser disc arcade game for the Amiga.
      • Imperium – A sci-fi strategy game for the Amiga, Atari ST and PC.
      • The Secret of Monkey Island – The classic adventure game for the Amiga, Atari ST and PC.
      • Command HQ – A strategy war game featuring five scenarios from 1918 to the near future for the PC.
      • BattleTech: The Crescent Hawks’ Revenge – A strategy game set in the BattleTech universe for the Amiga and PC.
      • Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday – Sci-Fi themed RPG that uses the same engine as the Gold Box AD&D games for the Amiga, Commodore 64, and PC.
      • Shadow of the Beast II – Graphically impressive beat-em-up for the Amiga.
    • Computer Game Strategies
      • The Immortal – Staying alive in this isometric adventure game for the Amiga, Apple IIGS and Atari ST.
      • Chamber of the Sci-Mutant Priestess – Strategy guide for this humorous sci-fi action/adventure game for the Amiga and PC.

    …and more!


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  • Advertisement for SwordQuest

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Advertisement for SwordQuest EarthWorld, FireWorld, WaterWorld, AirWorld for the Atari 2600 from the January 1983 issue of Video Games magazine.

    via Retro Gaming / Advertisement for SwordQuest

    The SwordQuest games were meant to be a series of four action/adventure games (among the first of their kind) produced by Atari for the Atari 2600. Each game was meant to be a contest with the winner receiving a prize worth $25,000 (at the time). The solution to each game was part of a larger puzzle that when solved would have resulted in a larger grand prize. Unfortunately, due to the video game crash of 1983 and Atari’s subsequent financial difficulties, the series was never completed.


    SwordQuest: EarthWorld

    The first game, SwordQuest: EarthWorld was released in 1982 and was originally intended as a sequel to Adventure. It resulted in 5,000 entries into the competition with only eight people managing to find all five of the correct clues. The ultimate grand prize winner won the “Talisman of Penultimate Truth” which was made of 18K gold with 12 diamonds and birthstones of the twelve Zodiac signs embedded in it. There was also a sword made of white gold attached. Alas, the winner supposedly melted down the Talisman to pay taxes and the sword stolen. Supposedly he still has the gems though.


    SwordQuest: FireWorld

    Swordquest: FireWorld released in 1983 was the second game in the series and it had far more entries into the competition than the previous game. The winner won “The Chalice of Light” which was made of gold and platinum with citrines, diamonds, jade, pearls, rubies and sapphires. As of 2005, the winner still possessed it.


    SwordQuest: WaterWorld

    SwordQuest: WaterWorld released in 1984 was the third game in the series and was only available to Atari Club members. The winner of this contest was supposed to get “The Crown of Life” which was made of gold with aquamarines, diamonds, tourmalines, rubies and sapphires. There seems to be some uncertainty about whether or not the final for this contest was actually held and the prize awarded.

    The final game in the series, SwordQuest: AirWorld, was cancelled as was the AirWorld competition and the final grand prize competition. The prize for the AirWorld competition was to be a “Philosopher’s Stone” which was to be a large white jade in an 18K gold box with diamonds, emeralds, citrines and rubies. The grand prize was to be the “Sword of Ultimate Sorcery” and valued at $50,000. Apparently the prizes were produced by The Franklin Mint and the final two (or three) prizes were produced but recycled into other items when the final contests were ultimately not held.

    Each of the games are all part of a single story line involving twins named Tarr and Torr. Their parents were killed by the King’s guards because of a prophecy that said one day the twins would kill the king. The twins themselves were hidden away and raised as commoners. Their identities are ultimately revealed and adventure ensues. Each of the prizes were also important artifacts in the games.

    Generally speaking, all of the games play in a similar manner and are reminiscent of Adventure though they are somewhat more sophisticated. Your job is to collect items for which you sometimes have to defeat enemies or other obstacles. When you have the correct items in the correct rooms, numbers would be revealed that were a clue where to look in the comic books that came with the games for the correct words. Sending the correct phrase to Atari was how you could win the competition.

    The advertisement above is from the January 1983 issue of Video Games magazine.


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