• Tag Archives Game Gear

  • Mega Play (November/December 1991)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Mega Play – Issue Number 7 – November/December 1991

    Mega Play was a Sega specific magazine covering mostly the Sega Genesis, Game Gear and related accessories. It was published by the same publishers as EGM so for a while they were publishing EGM, EGM2, Mega Play, and Super Play (a Super Nintendo magazine). The first issue of Mega Play was included as a freebie with EGM. The November/December 1991 issue includes:

    • Editorial – Things look rosy for Sega as Genesis hardware and software sales exceed expectations with the Mega CD/Sega CD coming soon.
    • Mega Mail – Letters from readers about RGB mode on the Genesis, a new Genesis design, playing Master System games on the Game Gear, and back issues.
    • Hi-Tech Sega – A look at a handy new third-party accessory called the ‘Master Gear Converter’ that will allow you to play Sega Master System games on the Game Gear.
    • Mega Tricks – Tips, tricks and cheat codes for Turrican (Genesis), Road Rash (Genesis), Spiderman (Genesis), Marvel Land (Genesis), Decapattack (Genesis), Saint Sword (Genesis), and Streets of Rage (Genesis).
    • Coming Attractions – Previews of upcoming games in the U.S. and Japan, including Golden Axe II (Genesis), Exile (Mega Drive), Super Fantasy Zone (Mega Drive), Corporation (Genesis), Devil Crash (Mega Drive), Isle Road (Mega Drive), Alien Syndrome (Game Gear), The Chessmaster (Game Gear), Galaga ’91 (Game Gear), Kabuki (Mega Drive), Alisia Dragoon (Mega Drive), Warsong (Genesis), Rings of Power (Genesis), and Game Gear Boxing (Game Gear).

    • Genesis Does… – A more detailed look at some games coming out for the holiday season. Games spotlighted include Growl (Genesis), a violent fighting game from Taito; The Terminator (Genesis), based on the movie of the same name; Trouble Shooter (Genesis), a shooter somewhat similar to Forgotten Worlds; James Pond 2: Robocod (Genesis), a platform game featuring a fish; Shadow of the Beast (Genesis), a fantasy based side-scrolling beat-em-up; Cal. 50 (Genesis), a top down action game in which you must rescue the prisoners; F-22 Interceptor (Genesis), a combat flight sim; Toki (Genesis), a translation of the arcade game; Sonic the Hedgehog (Game Gear), now on Sega’s portable platform; Halley Wars (Game Gear), a sci-fi themed shooter; and Bio-Ship Paladin (Mega Drive), a shooter with a unique twist.
    • Review Crew
      • Y’s 3 – Sadly, not as good as the Y’s games on the TurboGrafx-16.
      • The Terminator (Genesis) – Take the role of John Conner in this action game based on the movie. Better than most licensed games.
      • Robocod (Genesis) – Better than the original James Pond.
      • Trouble Shooter (Genesis) – Play Madison and Crystal as they fly around blasting everything in their quest to find the king’s son.
      • John Madden ’92 (Genesis) – Back when the Madden games were really good.
      • Mario Lemieux Hockey (Genesis) – An average hockey game.
      • Cal. 50 (Genesis) – A translation of the arcade game. Reminds me of games like P.O.W. and Ikari Warriors.
      • RBI 3 (Genesis) – Not really an improvement over the NES original.
      • Dark Castle (Genesis) – A pretty terrible adventure game from these reviews…
      • Buck Rogers (Genesis) – The computer version was excellent, apparently the Genesis version was not.
      • Art Alive (Genesis) – A painting and drawing program…but you can’t save your work.
      • Game Over – A look at the ending of Batman…the game based on the 1989 movie.

      …and more!


      📂This entry was posted in Retro Games Sega Genesis 📎and tagged

    • Streets of Rage 2 (Game Gear)

      Posted on by Azrael Comment

      https://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/682296052193394688

      Streets of Rage 2 is a side-scrolling beat-’em-up game that was originally released for the Sega Genesis in 1992 and was also ported to the Sega Master System and Game Gear (and other systems later on). It is generally considered to be the best in the series, one of the best games on the Genesis, and even one of the best games of all time.

      The Game Gear version, while also quite good and had very solid reviews, was not quite up to the level of the Genesis original. I guess that is to be expected given the inferior hardware (8-bit vs. 16-bit) and much smaller screen. Whereas the Genesis version added two new characters (for a total of four), the Game Gear version left one out. The levels were also considerably different and of course the graphics and sound also did not live up to the Genesis original.

      Having said that, the Game Gear version is still quite good and the graphics, sound, and music are still excellent. Streets of Rage 2 improved on the original in a variety of way, including having bigger characters, more details and more animation. In addition, new moves were added along with additional features such as life bars and names (though these are omitted on the Game Gear version).

      The plot, while not terribly interesting, original or even important, involves once again finding Mr. X and defeating him and his minions. This time, you must rescue Adam who has apparently been kidnapped by Mr. X as indicated by his trashed apartment and photos left behind. You can play as Axel, Blaze or Skate and 2-player cooperative games are supported via the use of the “Gear-to-Gear” cable. The Game Gear version has 6 stages, each consisting of 3 to 4 acts culminating with a battle against Mr. X himself.

      Streets of Rage 2 has had a few later re-releases including releases on the Wii, Xbox 360 (via Xbox Live Arcade), and PlayStation 3. However, as far as I know, these are all based on the Genesis original. If you really want to play the Game Gear version which has unique levels, then I’m not sure there is another way to do other than with a Game Gear and original cartridge or via emulation. In any case, if you like this genre or retro games in general, then this is definitely one you should try. The Genesis version or any of the re-releases are best but for completeness, the Game Gear version is definitely worth checking out as well as it offers a unique experience.

      All screen shots above are from the Game Gear version of the game.


      📂This entry was posted in Retro Games 📎and tagged

    • VideoGames: The Ultimate Gaming Magazine (June 1994)

      Posted on by Azrael Comment

      Source: VideoGames: The Ultimate Gaming Magazine – June 1994

      Video gaming magazine can have a complicated lineage. One of my favorites, VideoGames & Computer Entertainment morphed into VideoGames: The Ultimate Gaming Magazine but many of the editors/writers I liked went on to reboot Electronic Games instead. VideoGames spawned Tips and Tricks which, though they overlapped for a while, essentially replaced it. I followed VG&CE but not so much VideoGames and Tips and Tricks… Anyway, the June 1994 issue of VideoGames includes:

      News

      • Input – A discussion of the then new video games rating system.
      • Press Start – More about the ratings system and the political pressure that led to it; Nintendo announces the Super Game Boy; Revolution-X featuring Aerosmith is released in the arcades; an interview with the makers of Way of the Warrior for the 3DO; NovaLogic works on helicopter sim for the Saturn; Philips announces lower priced ($299) CD-i; and more…

      Previews

      • Demolition Man – An action game for the Sega Genesis based on the movie of the same name featuring Sylvester Stalone, Wesley Snipes and Sandra Bulloch.
      • Tennis All-Stars – A tennis game for the Genesis in the new “J-Cart” format. A J-Cart in addition to containing the game also added two additional controller ports for 4-player action. This tennis game allowed 4 players in a doubles game.
      • Psycho Pinball – Another J-Cart, this one featuring video pinball with six tables.
      • Kasumi Ninja – What would turn out to be a pretty decent fighting game for the Atari Jaguar.
      • Doom – A pretty good translation of Doom for the Atari Jaguar (they seemed to keep porting this game to new systems for years and years) but really, no version beats the original PC version.
      • Club Drive – A great example of one of the many games with a rushed development schedule for the Jaguar and it shows. While game play wasn’t terrible, the graphics and music were, especially for a supposedly “64-bit” system.
      • Lawnmower Man – Another movie based game. This one is for the Sega CD and the game/movie heavily featured virtual reality.
      • Mighty Morphin Power Rangers – Power Rangers was all the craze at the time so of course there would be games. This side-scrolling beat-em-up was released for the Super Nintendo and Game Boy.

      Tips & Tricks

      • Tempest 2000 – Tips to skip levels and to play bonus levels.
      • NBA Jam – Tricks to enable the special guest players from the arcade version, enable power-ups such as speeding up game play, set your player “on fire” for the whole game, and more.
      • Ground Zero Texas – A mini strategy guide to help get you through this FMV game.
      • Robocop Versus The Terminator – A trick to unlock the MA-17 version of this game for the Genesis.
      • MLBPA Baseball – A bunch of passwords to activate power pitching, power hitting, double throwing speed, double running speed, enable higher bouncing balls, play on ice, and more.
      • Chuck Rock II – Tricks to skip levels or even entire zones.
      • …and lots more!

      Strategy Guides

      • Daffy Duck: The Marvin Missions – General tips as well as guides to each level of this side-scrolling action game featuring Marvin the Martian and Daffy Duck for the Super Nintendo.
      • Kether – Strategy guide for a weird sort of 3D shooter that nobody had ever heard of for the CD-i.
      • Tempest 2000 – Make it through all 100 levels of this update to the classic arcade game on the Atari Jaguar.

      Reviews

      • Super Street Fighter II Turbo – This review is for the arcade version of the game which had just been released.
      • Spectre – This game for the Super Nintendo is essentially a 3D battle game in which you are placed in a flying craft in an arena and must battle it out with robots. It’s an ok game but without much variety. The PC version was better for the simple reason that you could play over a network with multiple people.
      • Rocko’s Modern Life – This is a platform/puzzle game for the Super Nintendo based on the Nickelodeon cartoon of he same name. It ends up being pretty good for a kids game based on a license.
      • Super Loopz – A puzzle game for the Super Nintendo in which you must construct polygons. There are various modes including two-player cooperative and competitive modes. It is a pretty good game if you are a fan of puzzle games.
      • Flintstones – This game based on the cartoon for the Super Nintendo mixes a variety of genres including racing, platform, and board game. However, it ends up being too short and easy to provide much value.
      • Jetsons – A fairly unique platform game for the Super Nintendo based on the cartoon. It is an excellent game overall but the challenge level makes it better for older players than for younger kids.
      • Asterix – An average (at best) platform game for the Sega Genesis.
      • Mortal Kombat – The Sega CD version of this game offers a few relatively minor upgrades including some FMV, a soundtrack and a few more frames of animation.
      • Third World War – A strategy game for the Sega CD that the reviewer compared to KOEI’s offerings. The graphics aren’t great, the interface is complicated and the voice acting is pretty awful but as a strategy game it’s not bad.
      • Rise of the Dragon – A cyberpunk themed graphic adventure for the Sega CD sounds like a good idea but unfortunately, this particular implementation is average at best. It was also a conversion of a game that had been around on the PC for a few years already.
      • Super Air Zonk – Overall, a great platform game for the Turbo Duo but at the end of the day it’s much to short, especially for a CD based game.
      • Space Ace – A great conversion of this laser disc based arcade classic for the CD-i. I was never really a big fan though.
      • The Incredible Hulk – An excellent comic book themed game for the Game Gear that this reviewer like even better than the Genesis version. The only downside was the relatively poor and monotonous sound.
      • Ninja Gaiden III – This game for the Atari Lynx looks and plays much like the NES version. And that’s a good thing.
      • The Horde – This game for the 3DO tries to combine, not very successfully, strategy/simulation with fantasy based action.
      • Twisted – An interesting and rather unique board game/game show combo for the 3DO.
      • Micro Reviews – Short reviews of several games including Spider-Man and the X-Men (Game Gear), Aladdin (Game Gear), G2 Rider (Game Gear), and more.

      Other Cool Stuff

      • Alien vs. Predator: Stalking the Jaguar, Burning Up the Arcades – Interview with Atari producer James Hampton about Alien vs. Predator for the Atari Jaguar. Also, a look at the arcade version of AvP which is a completely different game (fighting game vs. FPS).
      • SportsWire: Sports game news, reviews, previews and more – Midway releases NBA Jam TE for the arcade; Sterling Sharpe signs with Jaleco for a Super Nintendo football game called Sterling Sharpe: End to End…but I don’t remember this one; previews include World Cup USA ’94 (Super NES), Mario Andretii Racing (Genesis), Champions World Class Soccer (Genesis), and Suzuka 8 Hours II (arcade); a review of Baseball Tonight for the Super Nintendo; a review of Double Dribble: The Playoff Edition for the Genesis; a review of Jammit for the Genesis; and a review for Soccer Shootout for the Super Nintendo.
      • Hardware: Gaming accessories galore – New items include the Super Link multiplayer adapter for the SNES, the Mega Mouse for the Genesis, the Interactor Virtual Reality Vest, and more.
      • Global Gaming – Featuring Sonic Drift for the Game Gear, Dragon Ball Z 2 for the Super Famicom, and Waka Taka Osumo for the Super Famicom.

      …and more!


      📂This entry was posted in Retro Games 📎and tagged