• Tag Archives Nintendo
  • Advanced Computer Entertainment (April 1991)

    Source: Advanced Computer Entertainment – Issue number 43 – April 1991

    ACE, short for Advanced Computer Entertainment, is a gaming magazine that was published in the U.K. in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It primarily covered computers but also had some coverage of consoles as well. The April 1991 issue includes:

    Reviews

    • On Computer and Console
      • Chuck Rock – A platform game featuring a cave man for the Amiga and Atari ST.
      • Colditz – A strategic spy game set during World War II for the Amiga, Atari ST, and Commodore 64.
      • Flames of Freedom – Sequel to Midwinter for the Atari ST and Amiga.
      • Gods – An action adventure game set in ancient Greece.
      • Gynoug – A side-scrolling shooter for the Megadrive (Genesis).
      • Lemmings – The classic real-time strategy/puzzle game in which you must save as many lemmings as possible as they mindlessly march to their deaths for the Amiga, Atari ST and DOS.
      • Muds – A fantasy sports sim for the Amiga, Atari ST and DOS.
      • Navy Seals – A game based on the movie of the same name for the Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad, C64, and Spectrum.
      • Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe – A World War II combat flight sim from LucasArts.
      • Super Monaco Grand Prix – Racing sim for the Amiga, Atari ST, DOS, Amstrad, C64, and Spectrum. Looks a bit like Grand Prix Circuit from Accolade.
      • Star Control – The classic sci-fi strategy game. It’s interesting that this game is generally a well regarded classic but it gets a pretty horrible review here.
      • Turrican 2 – The classic side-scrolling shooter for the Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad, C64, and Spectrum.
      • Zany Golf – A fun miniature golf game for the Megadrive (Genesis).
    • On CD
      • Sherlock Holmes – A bit about the making of Sherlock Holmes.

    Features

    • Coin-Op Breakthrough – A look at upcoming arcade technologies including increased memory, digital video, and more. This article talks a bit about the Intel i750 graphics processing unit but this was ultimately a failure in the market.
    • CD Report – A look at early CD systems like the TurboGrafx-CD as well as some of the CD based games expected to be in stores for the holidays.
    • Actual Reality Exclusive – Despite the name, this was a virtual reality system under development at the time.
    • The ABC of CD – A brief look at upcoming CD-ROM hardware for the Amiga, Atari ST, PCs, as well as the FM Towns.

    Regulars

    • ACE Tech News – New ‘camera on a chip’ technology, model rocket sales soar (I used to love building and launching these), Socrates Educational Video System from Vtech, and much more.
    • ACE Games News – Sonic the Hedgehog, Alien Storm arcade game, G-Loc, Lemmings II, and much more.
    • Letters – Letters from readers about after sales service for hardware and software, F-29 Retaliator, multiplayer gaming, and more.
    • Tricks’n’Tactics Returns! – Tips and tricks for Rise of the Dragon, Captive, Night Shift, Supremacy, F-19 Stealth Fighter, Gremlins 2, Kick Off II, and more.
    • Pink Pages – Game charts, high scores, classified ads, and more.

    …and more!


  • GamePro (December 1991)

    Source: GamePro – Issue Number 29 – December 1991

    Back when video game print magazines still existed, GamePro was one of the most popular. From the late 1980s until they ended, while there were others, GamePro and EGM really dominated, at least in North America. The December 1991 issue of GamePro includes:

    • Letter from the GamePros – An editorial on the upcoming 16-bit holiday battle.
    • The Mail – Letters from readers on technical capabilities of the Genesis vs. the Super NES, hooking a Super NES to a computer monitor, the Game Genie, renting games, and more.
    • Cutting Edge – Updates on the state of the art in gaming, including a sequel to the PC Engine, upcoming CD-ROM systems, a new version of the PC Engine GT that has external CD-ROM, TV, and controller ports, the new Phillips CD-I, and more.
    • Hot at the Arcades – A look at some of the latest arcade games including Steel Talons (Atari) and Batman (Pinball, Data East).
    • Pro Reviews
      • Nintendo – Reviews of The Simpsons: Bart vs. The World (featured on the cover), Mega Man 4, Batman: Return of the Joker, Wizardry II, Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?, Dragon Warrior III, Tiny Toon Adventure, Uncharted Waters, The Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy and the Miracle Piano System. Almost all of these are excellent games.
      • Genesis – Reviews of Rolling Thunder 2, Battlemaster, Pit-Fighter (pretty awful game on any system), Chuck Rock, Fatal Rewind, and Quackshot.
      • Super NES – Reviews of U.N. Squadron (one of the earliest horizontal shooters for the SNES), Final Fight, Lemmings, Super Adventure Island, and Smash TV (one of my favorites though it is hard).
      • TurboGrafx-16 – Reviews of Cadash, Champions Forever Boxing, Andre Panza’s Kick Boxing, and It Came From the Desert.
      • Master System – A review of Sonic the Hedgehog (an excellent 8-bit translation)
      • Game Boy – Reviews of Teenage Mutant ?Ninja Turtles II: Back From the Sewers, Terminator 2 Judgement Day, Double Dragon II, Prince of Persia, Blaster Master Boy, and Atomic Punk.
      • Game Gear – Reviews of Ninja Gaiden, Space Harrier, and Pac-Man
      • Lynx – Reviews of Stun Runner and Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure

    • Special Feature: So, You Want To Buy a 16-Bit System… – A comparison of the major 16-bit systems going into the holiday season including the Sega Genesis, TurboGrafx-16 and the newly released Super Nintendo.
    • Special Feature: GamePro’s Video Football Playoffs – A comparison of some of the available football games including John Madden Football ’92 (Genesis), Joe Montana II Sports Talk Football (Genesis), Mike Ditka Power Football (Genesis), John Madden Football (SNES), Tecmo Super Bowl (NES), Tecmo Bowl (Game Boy), Joe Montana Football (Game Gear), and NFL Football (Lynx).
    • Overseas ProSpects – A brief look at new games released in Japan including Spriggan (PC-Engine CD-ROM) and Valis IV (PC-Engine CD-ROM).
    • S.W.A.T. (Secret Weapons and Tactics) – Tips, tricks, passwords and more for Maniac Mansion (NES), Turrican (Genesis), Bonk’s Revenge (TurboGrafx-16), Little Ninja Brothers (NES), John Madden Football (Genesis), Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis), Devil’s Crush (TurboGrafx-16), Moonwalker (Genesis), Bases Loaded II (NES), Super Mario Brothers (NES), Power Ball (Genesis), Fantasia (Genesis), Gradius III (Super NES), SCAT (NES), Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom (NES), Batman (Genesis), Hunt for Red October (Game Boy, NES), and more.
    • Ask the Pros – Readers ask and get answers about difficult gaming situations in Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom (NES), Skate or Die 2 (NES), Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis), Spider-Man (Genesis), Bonk’s Revenge (TurboGrafx-16), Operation C (Game Boy), Shinobi (Game Gear), and more.
    • Short ProShots – Short previews if recently available and upcoming games including Space Shuttle Project (NES), TaleSpin (NES), Back to the Future (Genesis), El Viento (Genesis), Darkwing Duck (TurboGrafx-16), Earth Defense Force (Super NES), Lagoon (Super NES), Star Trek (Game Boy), Viking Child (Lynx), and Halley Wars (Game Gear).
    • ProNews – Nihon Falcom to develop software for Sega CD (e.g. Ys), SNK to introduce CD-ROM drive for Neo Geo, Game Genie coming for the Sega Genesis, Microleague to develop games for NES, Home Alone and Sonic 2 coming for the Genesis, Chester Cheetah game coming for the Game Gear, and much more.
    • The 1991 Index – An index of most of the contents for the 1991 issues of GamePro.

    …and more!


  • VideoGames & Computer Entertainment (February 1991)

    Source: VideoGames & Computer Entertainment – February 1991

    VideoGames & Computer Entertainment was my favorite gaming magazine in the late 1980s to early 1990s. EGM was great then too but this one was my favorite. It was sort of the spiritual successor to the original Electronic Games as it had many of the same people involved though Electronic Games itself would make a return for a little while. The February 1991 issue of VG&CE includes:

    Features

    • Hot Circuits: The Arcade Museum – “Hot Circuits, A Video Arcade” was a traveling arcade museum created by the American Museum of the Moving Image in New York City. It included arcade machines dating back to 1971 all of which were playable by patrons.
    • Looking for the Light: A Player’s Guide to Final Fantasy, Part II – The second part of a strategy guide for Final Fantasy on the NES. Spoilers included.
    • VG&CE’s Best Games of 1990 – Winners and runners up in several categories as determined by the editors of VG&CE. Phantasy Star II for the Genesis won game of the year, Bonk’s Adventure for the TurboGrafx-16 won action game of the year, Whip Rush for the Sega Genesis won best science-fiction video games, Devil’s Crush won best simulation video game (as a pinball simulation), Herzog Zwei (Genesis) and Military Madness (TurboGrafx-16) tied for best military-strategy video game, It Came From the Desert won best computer game, Prince of Persia won best computer action game, Battles of Napoleon won best computer military-strategy game, and there are a number of other categories as well as honorable mentions in each category.

    • Super Glove Ball, Part I – The first part of a strategy guide to Super Glove Ball, a game designed for the Power Glove.
    • Giving Crime the Boot – A feature on crime related games. Some of the titles covered include The Punisher, Search for the King, Police Quest, The Colonel’s Bequest, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, Clue: Master Detective, David Wolf: Secret Agent, Countdown, Rise of the Dragon, and more.

    Reviews

    • Video-Game Reviews – Reviews of Bart Simpson vs. the Space Mutants (NES), Battle Squadron (Sega Genesis), The Punisher (NES), Shadow Dancer (Sega Genesis), Galaxy 5000 (NES), Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom (NES), Krazy Kreatures (NES), Burning Force (Sega Genesis), Ultima: Quest of the Avatar (NES), Arrow Flash (Sega Genesis), and Pac-Mania (NES).

    • Computer-Game Reviews – Reviews of Wing Commander (DOS, Amiga), Spot (Commodore 64, DOS), Ishido (Amiga, DOS, Macintosh), It Came From the Desert II (Amiga), Altered Destiny (Amiga, DOS), Anarchy (Amiga, Atari ST), Unreal (Amiga), Stunt Driver (DOS), and Stormovik (DOS).
    • Computer-Game Strategies – Brief strategy guides for Brainblaster (Amiga, Atari ST, DOS) and Turbo Out Run (Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS).

    Departments

    • Editor’s Letter – Andy Eddy talks about his experience with an Activision event to promote F-14 Tomcat.
    • Reader Mail – Readers write in about alternate uses for the Game Boy and Atari Lynx, the used game market, Tecmo Bowl for the NES, Pit Fighter, and more.
    • Crash & Boom – A comic featuring taunting turtles.
    • Tip Sheet – Tips for Alien Syndrome on the Sega Master System, Snake’s Revenge on the NES, and Ninja Spirit on the TurboGrafx-16.
    • News Bits – Accolade sponsors golf course design contest for Jack Nicklaus’ Unlimited Golf; retailers increasingly carrying 16-bit systems and software; Commodore’s CDTV; Commodore reduces price of Amiga; new arcade game from Williams (Hit the Ice); and much more.
    • Easter Egg Hunt – Tips and tricks for Klax (TurboGrafx-16), Loopz (NES), Gilligan’s Island (NES), Super Star Soldier (TurboGrafx-16), Gargoyle’s Quest (Game Boy), Narc (NES), Devil’s Crush (TurboGrafx-16), Mondu’s Fight Palace (Genesis), and Chip’s Challenge (Lynx).
    • Fandango – Reviews of recent fanzines including Porta-Play #1 (covering the Game Boy and Lynx), Genesis Masters #2 (covering the Sega Genesis), Dan-Man’s Game Review #3 (covering the Sega Genesis), and The Subersive Sprite #5.
    • Destination Arcadia – A report from the 1990 Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA) Expo. New games shown include Mad Dog McCree (American Laser Games), Bio-Ship Paladin (American Sammy), Double Dragon 3 (American Technos), Race Drivin’ (Atari), Pushman (American Sammy), Pit Fighter (Atari), Shuuz (Atari), Carrier Airwing (Capcom), Magic Sword (Capcom), The Adventures of Edward Randy (Data East), The Simpsons (Data East), Blood Brothers (Irem), Hammerin’ Harry (Irem), Cisco Heat (Jaleco), Earth Defense Force (Jaleco), Escape Kids (Konami), Over Drive (Konami), Punkshot (Konami), and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Konami).
    • Inside Gaming – A look at the year past, including the awards process for the awards in this issue, and a look into the next year with predictions.
    • Game Doctor – Questions answered about the TurboGrafx-16’s technical capabilities, the future of NES software, Nintendo’s upcoming 16-bit system, state of the art PC games, programming video games, and more.

    …and more!