VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, July 1990

VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, while not quite as popular as some other magazines of the time like GamePro and Electronic Gaming Monthly, was always my favorite. It featured the writing/editing of Arnie Katz, Bill Kunkel and Joyce Worley who were involved with the original Electronic Games magazine.

Sadly, Bill Kunkel died back in 2011 and Joyce Worley in 2016 :(

The contents of the July 1990 issue include:

Features

• VG&CE’s Game Boy Buyer’s Guide – The Game Boy had only been around for a matter of months at this point. This guide covers many of the games available. Games overviewed include Shanghai, Alleyway, Tetris, Revenge of the ‘Gator, Bases Loaded, Baseball, Batman, Spiderman, Space Invaders, Hatris, Miner 2049, Kwirk, Castlevania – The Adventure, Motocross Maniacs, Daedallan Opus, Days of Thunder, Gauntlet 2, World Bowling, Wheel of Fortune, Boomer’s Adventure in Asmik World, Boxxle, Nemesis, WWF Superstars, Fist of the North Star, Hyper Lode Runner, Paperboy, NFL Football, Heiankyo Aliens, Monster Master, Heart Attack, SolarStriker, Kung-Fu Kid, Wizards & Warriors X: Fortress of Fear, Tennis, Flipull, and Pipe Dream.

• The TurboGrafx-16 goes into the Shrinking Machine – Amazingly, NEC managed to get their new 16-bit system into a portable form factor. And it was pretty awesome. Unfortunately, it wasn’t battery friendly and cost an arm and two legs. Also, since games weren’t necessarily made with the smaller screen in mind, not every game was ideal for portable use.

• Batman Strategy Guide, Part II – Part 2 of 2. This part provides a guide through the final levels of Batman for the NES. Still my favorite Batman movie and probably my favorite Batman game (though that isn’t saying much).

• The Quest for Sky Castle: A Player’s Guide to Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle – A detailed guide through this Alex Kidd game for the Sega Genesis.

• Around the Bases: A Survey of Electronic Baseball – A bit of history of baseball video games and a look at the various baseball games available throughout the years. Games covered include World’s Greatest Baseball (Epyx – Commodore 64), Earl Weaver Baseball (Amiga, DOS), TV Sports Baseball (Cinemaware – coming soon), Computer Baseball (SSI), Statis Pro Major League Baseball (Avalon Hill), APBA Major League Player’s Baseball (Random House), MicroLeague Baseball (MLSA), MicroLeague Baseball II (MLSA – Atari ST, DOS, Macintosh), Championship MicroLeague Baseball (MLSA – Commodore 64), Pure-Stat Baseball, Full Count Baseball, Major League Manager (UXB/Spinnaker), Baseball Stars (SNK – NES), Interactive Major League baseball (LJN – NES), RBI Baseball (Tengen – NES), Baseball Simulator 1.000 (Culture Brain – NES), Reggie Jackson Baseball (Sega Master System), Tommy Lasorda Baseball (Genesis), and World Class Baseball (NES – TurboGrafx-16).

• Stepping Forward, Jim Nangano Gets Ready for the Big Time! – An interview with Jim Nangano by Bill Kunkel. Jim Nangano was involved in the creation of many home computer games including games by MicroLeague, Flip & Flop for the Atari 400/800, the Commodore 64 conversion of Spy vs. Spy, The Omnicron Conspiracy, Spy vs. Spy 3: Arctic Antics, Millennium Warrior, MicroLeague’s WWF Wrestling for the Amiga and DOS, and more.

• Computer Game Strategies – Some strategies to help you through Bruce Lee Lives (DOS), Mean Streets (Amiga, DOS, Commodore 64), and Bubble Bobble (Amiga, Apple II, Commodore 64, DOS).

Reviews

• Video-Game Reviews
  • Air Diver (Genesis) – Sort of a combo between something like After Burner and a flight sim.
  • The Mafat Conspiracy (NES) – The second Golgo 13 game for the NES.
  • RBI Baseball 2 (NES) – A decent baseball game for the NES.
  • Target: Renegade (NES) – A not so great sequel to Renegade.
  • Bad News Baseball (NES) – A Little League baseball game that is more fun to play that most of the ‘professional’ ones.
  • Psycho Fox (Sega Master System) – A Super Mario Bros. 2 influenced platform game. It gets a bad review here but I didn’t think it was THAT bad.
  • Crater Maze (TurboGrafx-16) – Sort of a modern take on Pac-Man.
  • Cyber Core (TurboGrafx-16) – A decent vertical shooter.
  • Rad Racer II (NES) – Not the most original game by this point but I had a lot of fun with the Rad Racer games.
  • Super Hydlide (Sega Genesis) – The ads always made me want this action/RPG. The review makes me glad I didn’t get it. I still kind of want to play it though.

• Computer-Game Reviews
  • Battle Squadron (Amiga) – An excellent vertical shooter.
  • Keef the Thief (Amiga, Apple IIgs, DOS) – An adventure game in which you try to make your way up in the world starting as a thief.
  • Mechwarrior (DOS) – The mech game that started it all. I played a little of this one but much more of MechWarrior 2.
  • Arkanoid II: The Revenge of Doh (Apple IIgs, Commodore 64, DOS) – Breakout taken to its limits.
  • Nuclear War (Amiga, DOS) – If nuclear war were waged via Monty Python…
  • Gunboat (Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS) – A PBR sim that is quite good.
  • Living Jigsaws (DOS) – 15 Jigsaw puzzles that each create an animated scene when completed.
  • Harpoon (DOS, Amiga, Atari ST) – Play the commander of NATO’s North Atlantic Task Force or Russia’s Norther Fleet in this NATO/USSR war game.

Departments

• Editor’s Letter – Andy Eddy talks about the TG16 portable, reviews vs. advertising and more.

• Reader Mail – Readers comment about the Konix Multi-System, the Super Famicom, Nintendo’s licensing stranglehold and the effect on the TurboGrafx-16, and more.

• New Bits – Acclaim buys LJN; Fujitsu shows off FM-Towns computer; Seismic plans Genesis games including Super Hydlide, Air Diver and R.C. Grand Prix; “Rad” manages Activision BBS; The Lord of the Rings coming from Interplay for DOS and the Commodore 64; BLD denied license to make NES portable; and much more.

• Tip Sheet – Tips for Kenseiden (Sega Master System), R-Type (TurboGrafx-16), and Alf (Sega Master System).

• Easter Egg Hunt – Codes to access secret features in Super C (NES), Super Hang-On (Genesis), Crater Maze (TurboGrafx-16), Xexyz (NES), Ghouls ‘n’ Ghosts (Genesis), Tommy Lasorda Baseball (Genesis), Neutopia (TurboGrafx-16), and Tetris (NES).

• Gaming on the Go – A detailed look at the Atari Lynx portable game system and a few of the first games.

• Destination Arcadia – A detailed look at Snow Brothers: Nick and Tom, new in arcades.

• Inside Gaming – A brief look at the latest in fanzines, including Turbo-Pro #1, cyberDrome #1, Video Wars #1, and The Altered Beast Vol. 1 No. 1.

• Game Doctor – Questions answered about the technical specs of various game systems, the Power Base Converter, and the future of game systems.

…and more!