• Tag Archives Genesis

  • Electronic Gaming Monthly (January 1995)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Electronic Gaming Monthly – January 1995

    This was one of the best and biggest selling gaming magazines in the U.S. for a long time. I was never a subscriber but I bought issues when I could between probably 1989 and 2002 give or take. The January 1995 issue includes:

    Features

    • Shoshinkai Show Unveils New Products! – The big news was the unveiling of the Virtual Boy and what a flop that was. Some of the first games were Mario Bros. VB, Pinball VB, and Teleroboxer.
    • Getting “Tricky” With The King of the Super NES Jungle! – Tips and tricks for the latest and greatest 2D platform game on the Super NES, Donkey Kong Country.
    • Earthworm Jim Strategy Guide – A level by level guide to this humorous platform game from Shiny Entertainment.
    • Killer Instinct Jumps Onto The Fighting Scene! – A first look at Killer Instinct along with an incomplete moves list.

    Departments

    • Insert Coin – A commentary on the Virtual Boy’s introduction and how Nintendo was already stumbling out of the gate with its release.
    • Interface: Letters to the Editor – Letters from readers about the 32X, bug spray and CDs, Sega CD fighting games, developing games for the Turbo Duo, NAM-1975, full motion video on the SNES, Bloodstorm, and more.
    • Review Crew – Reviews of Samurai Showdown II (Neo Geo, game of the month), X-Men (Super NES), Indiana Jones (Super NES), Jurassic Park 2 (Super NES), Wolverine (Genesis), Aero The Acro Bat 2 (Genesis), Star Wars Arcade (32X), Heart of the Alien (Sega CD), Street Fighter II Turbo (3DO), Doom (Jaguar), Space Invaders (Game Boy), The Marvin Missions (Game Boy), and Ecco 2: The Tides of Time (Game Gear).
    • EGM’s Hot Top Tens – Several top tens lists including Top Ten video Babes (Mai Shiranui from The King of Fighters ’94 gets the top spot), Editor’s Top Ten (Samurai Showdown II for the Neo Geo is at the top), and Readers’ Top Ten (the arcade version of Mortal Kombat II tops the list). There are also top 10 games lists for several systems. Number one games include FIFA International Soccer (3DO), Donkey Kong Country (Super NES), Madden ’95 (Genesis), ESPN National Hockey Night (Sega CD), and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Game Gear).
    • Gaming Gossip – The latest news and rumors about Mortal Kombat III, NBA Jam Tournament Slam, Diddy Kong, Virtual Boy, Saturn and the 32X, Sonic on the 32X, the Sega Neptune, and more.
    • Press Start – Nintendo teams up with Paradigm to create a flight sim for the Ultra 64 (Nintendo 64); Earthworm Jim commercial featuring worm eating; Flightstick Pro from CH Products for the 3DO; a Super Game Boy to Game Genie adapter; Donkey Kong Country launched worldwide; Xband Catapult Modem for the Genesis; and more news and new products.
    • Arcade Action – A look at some of the latest arcade games including Tattoo Assassins (Data East), Ace Driver (Namco), Locked ‘N’ Loaded (Data East), and Point Blank (Namco).
    • International Outlook – Previews of new and upcoming games released overseas including Fighting Polygon (Super Famicom), Chrono Trigger (Super Famicom), Front Mission (Super Famicom), Kirby 2 (Game Boy), Super Bomberman 3 (Super Famicom), Super Bomberman Panic Bomber W (Super Famicom), Sim City 2000 (Super Famicom), Burning Heroes (Super Famicom), Pacific Theater of Operations 2 (Super Famicom), Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV (Super Famicom), Winning Post 2 (Super Famicom), Super Panchiko War (Super Famicom), Super Family Stadium 4 (Super Famicom), Go For It Tonosama (Super Famicom), Super Chinese Fighter (Super Famicom), Drift Highway Battle 2 (Super Famicom), Super Bombliss (Super Famicom), Tale Fantasia (Super Famicom), Battle Crushers (Game Boy), Super Chinese Land 3 (Game Boy), Pokonyan (Super Famicom), Art of Fighting 2 (Super Famicom), Live World Soccer Perfect Eleven (Super Famicom), and Fatal Fury Special (PC Engine Super CD-ROM).
    • Tricks of the Trade – Tricks tips and codes for VR Stalker (3DO), Shock Wave (3DO), Contra Hard Corps (Genesis), Brutal (Sega CD), Super Street Fighter II Turbo (3DO), The Lion King (Super NES), Doom (32X), Samurai Showdown (Game Boy), The King of Fighter ’94 (Game Boy), Super Return of the Jedi (Super NES), King of the Monsters 2 (Super NES), FIFA International Soccer (3DO), Out of This World (3DO), Earthworm Jim (Super NES), Beavis & Butt-head (Genesis), Shining Force II (Genesis), Sonic & Knuckles (Genesis), Ren & Stimpy: Time Warp (Super NES), Crazy Chase (Super NES), and Sonic Blastman 2 (Super NES).
    • Next Wave – Previews of upcoming games including Blue Lighting (Jaguar), Incoming (Saturn & PlayStation), TimeCop (Super NES), Clue (Sega CD), Trivial Pursuit (Sega CD), Family Feud (3DO), Cadillacs & Dinosaurs (Sega CD), Rise of the Robots (Game Gear), Air Cavalry (Super NES), Troy Aikman Football (Jaguar), Hover Strike (Jaguar), Val D’isere Skiing and Snowboarding (Jaguar), Flashback (Jaguar), Dragon’s Lair (Jaguar), and Ultra Vortex (Jaguar).
    • Special Feature – Namco discusses the making of Ridge Racer for the PlayStation with an interview of Shigeru Yokoyama, Kouichiro Shigeno, and Tsuyumi Toyoda; NEC launches FC-FX game system; a continuing look at Snatcher for the Sega CD; and more.
    • Team EGM – A look at the latest in sports games including Tecmo Super Bowl ’95, Sega Sports NHL All-Star Hockey, Road Rash III, NBA Jam Tournament Edition, Madden ’95, WCW Superbrawl, and more.

    Fact Files

    • Super NES Times – A quick look at Home Improvement (95% complete), Ogre Battle (90% complete), The Ignition Factor (100% complete), Pinball Fantasies (95% complete), and Savage Empire (95% complete).
    • Outpost Sega – Previews of Mega Bomberman (95% complete), The Death and Return of Superman (100% complete), Mighty Max (100% complete), Cosmic Carnage (32X, 100% complete), Samurai Showdown (Sega CD, 50% complete), Fatal Fury Special (Sega CD, 50% complete), Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Sega CD, 100% complete), Ecco II: The Tides of Time (Sega CD, 100% complete), and Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure (Sega CD, 100% complete).
    • Neo Geo Challenge – Preview of Samurai Showdown II (100% complete).
    • Planet 3DO – Previews of Super Street Fighter II Turbo (100% complete), The Need for Speed (85% complete), Shockwave: Operation Jumpgate (90% complete), Shanghai: Triple Threat (95% complete).
    • Jaguar Domain – Preview of Zool 2 (93% complete – oddly specific).
    • Club Game Boy – Previews of Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf (95% complete), Pinball Fantasies (95% complete), and Bonk’s Revenge (100% complete).
    • Super Gear – Previews of Ristar (90% complete) and Legend of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (80% complete).

    …and more!


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  • Super Street Fighter II (Sega Genesis)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    While somewhat subjective, it always seemed to me that Street Fighter II was the last really hugely popular arcade game. Sales numbers would seem to objectively back that up. Street Fighter II is second only to Space Invaders and Pac-Man in terms of number of arcade machines sold. Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat II are also high on the list but they don’t really come close to Street Fighter II. The original Street Fighter II sold 60,000 machines (Street Fighter II Championship Edition sold even more at 140,000 machines). By comparison, the Mortal Kombat machines only sold in the range of 20,000 to 30,000 units. See https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/the-25-best-selling-arcade-games-of-all-time.htm for more sales info. Part of this of course comes down to the decline in the popularity of arcades as home systems finally caught up. 16-bit systems were close but 32-bit systems were arcade perfect or so close to it that it didn’t matter.

    Being one of the most popular arcade games, Street Fighter II was also one of the most anticipated home conversions of all time. This was in the 16-bit era of home gaming so home systems were significantly less capable than arcade machines at the time. It was all about how close to arcade perfect you could get but there were always some sacrifices. Graphics quality, sound quality, and even game play on home systems were usually at least somewhat below arcade standards.

    Nintendo managed to get the first home conversion on the Super Nintendo system. The Super Nintendo had better graphics hardware than the Genesis but it also had a slower CPU. Many early games on the Super NES suffered from problems with slow-down when a lot was going on on-screen at the same time. As programmers became more familiar with the hardware, this became less of an issue over time.

    While the Genesis version was not quite as graphically impressive as the Super Nintendo version, it did have a few advantages. First, it did not suffer from slow down as much as the Super NES version did. This wasn’t a huge problem or anything…more of a relatively infrequent mild annoyance. The Genesis kept more of the background animations as well but it suffered from a poorer color pallet and lower quality sound. The standard Genesis controller also didn’t have six buttons which was pretty crippling, however, plenty of aftermarket controllers were available (see below).

    One challenge with the home conversion of Street Fighter II and its sequels was the controller. The arcade version used a joystick and two rows of three buttons. The Super Nintendo controller actually had enough buttons though they weren’t really arranged in the ideal way for this game. Other systems didn’t even have enough buttons. Needless to say, this spawned an entire market in various six button controllers.

    While not arcade perfect, this arcade conversion was probably the most impressive there had been up to that point. Even to the casual player today, this version is perfectly fine to play instead of the arcade version. Of course, these days you can emulate the arcade version or play arcade perfect conversions on newer systems. It’s still worthwhile to check out the Super NES or Genesis version or even the other conversions at the time to see how impressive they were considering the hardware they were running on. Whether you prefer the Genesis version of the Super NES version probably comes down to what system you owned. Most people owned one or the other and were pretty fanatic about it. The system wars were a bigger deal then than now. While I prefer the Super NES version (that was the system I owned at the time after all), the Genesis version is solid too.

    It can also be a little confusing when you say ‘Street Fighter II’. Street Fighter II: The World Warrior was the original and this version was ported to the Super NES. Genesis didn’t get a version until Street Fighter II: Championship Edition. Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers was an even later version that was on both systems. However, the comparisons above generally apply to all variations of Street Fighter II.

    Screen shots above are from the Genesis version of Super Street Fighter II.


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  • Aero the Acro-Bat 2 (Sega Genesis)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Aero the Acro-Bat 2 is a side-scrolling platform game released in 1994 for both the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo. This is a pretty typical platformer of which there were endless quantities of in the 16-bit days. However, it is at least an above average one. As the name suggests, this is a sequel. Like the first game, it was developed by Iguana Entertainment and published by Sunsoft and involved many of the same creators.

    The story… Ok, well the story doesn’t really matter all that much for this type of game. Suffice it to say that it involves an acrobatic bat, a protagonist named Edward Ektor, a Museum of Horrors, a magical box, an ancient castle and a kamikaze squirrel among other interesting things and characters. The game is split into eight worlds, most of which (except the last one) have three acts. The basic mechanics haven’t changed too much from the original game. For instance, Aero still has his basic drill attack and can throw stars at enemies. However, a few new moves have been added and the controls are somewhat improved.

    Sequels don’t always improve upon the original but in this case, Aero the Acro-Bat 2 seems a step up from the original. It has improved graphics, is a much longer game, has improved play control and more moves, and has a distinctively darker feel that helps it stand out from the original. Having said that, there’s nothing terribly original about the Aero games as platformers in general. They just do what they do better than most. This game gives you pretty much exactly what you would expect out of a 16-bit platformer.

    Reviews for Aero the Acro-Bat 2 were all quite positive. If you like platform games then this is one you should definitely check out. While not the most original game in the world the execution is very good and it is a fun game to play. As far as which version to try, I would say pick the one for your favorite console. Both versions are good and I don’t think one really stands out from the other. Unfortunately, there isn’t much to talk about in the way of re-releases. There was a Nintendo Virtual Console version for the Wii in the past but there doesn’t seem to be any Aero games available online for the Switch. If you do want to give this one a try, you’ll have to track down an original cartridge or be content with emulation.

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


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