- Tag Archives PlayStation
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Electronic Gaming Monthly (August 1996)
Electronic was perhaps the most popular video gaming magazine in the U.S. during its peak. Sadly, though there are still some niche magazines out there, the days of popular video gaming magazines are long gone. The August 1996 issue of EGM includes:
Departments
- Insert Coin – Steve Harris leaves EGM as publisher.
- Press Start – The state of 3-D gaming tech with a look at such products as the CyberMaxx head-mounted display and the HMD Dynovisor; a look at the upcoming Nintendo 64; Xband modem for the Saturn; and more.
- Review Crew – Reviews of Gun Griffon (Saturn), Bugs Bunny in Double Trouble (Genesis), Shockwave Assault (Saturn), Bogey: Dead 6 (PlayStation), Bust-A-Move 2 (PlayStation), Simcity 2000 (PlayStation), Space Hulk (PlayStation), Ninja Masters (Neo Geo), Heavy Metal (Game Gear), and Dragonheart (Game Boy).
- Gaming Gossip – News and rumors including: Crash 2 in progress; Sony to sell RPG combos; More N64 game developers; Sega’s upcoming 64-bit system to sell for $250; Street Fighter 3; and more.
- Tricks of the Trade – Tips and tricks for Solar Eclipse (Saturn), Guardian Heroes (Saturn), Agile Warrior (PlayStation), Super Mario RPG (Super NES), PO’ed (PlayStation), Slam ‘N Jam ’96 (PlayStation), Bust A Move 2 (PlayStation), Return Fire (PlayStation), Resident Evil (PlayStation), Night Warrior: Darkstalkers’ Revenge (Saturn), King of Fighters ’95 (Saturn), Vectorman (Genesis), Battle Arena Toshinden Remix (Saturn), and more.
- Special Features – A look at Capcom’s latest arcade translation, Street Fighter Alpha 2.
- Next Wave Protos – An early look at upcoming games still under development including Clayfighter 3 (PlayStation), Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (PlayStation), Power Rangers Battle Racers (Super NES), Virtual Pro Pinball (PlayStation, Saturn), Powerslave (PlayStation, Saturn), Iron & Blood (M2), VF Kids (Saturn), MTV’s Slam Scape (PlayStation), Marvel 2099 (PlayStation), Magic Knight Rayearth (Saturn), Dark Savior (Saturn), The Divide: Enemies Within (PlayStation), Power Rangers Pinball (PlayStation), Dark Rift (Nintendo 64), Three Dirty Dwarves (Saturn), Discworld 2 (PlayStatiob), World Heroes (Saturn), Tetris (Saturn), Prince of Persia (Super NES), Chaos in Lemmingland (PlayStation), Incredible Hulk (PlayStation, Saturn), and Fighting Vipers (Saturn).
- Team EGM – This sports section includes previews of Madden ’97 (PlayStation), Tecmo World Golf (PlayStation), Supersonic Racers (PlayStation), Grand Slam (PlayStation), NCAA Basketball: Final Four ’97 (PlayStation), NCAA Football: Saturday Showdown (PlayStation), and Burning Road (PlayStation). Also included are reviews of Adidas Power Soccer (PlayStation), Big Hurt Baseball (PlayStation), NBA Action (Saturn), and World Series Baseball ’96 (Genesis).
- Interface – Letters from readers about pirating games, Final Fantasy V, audio problems with the PlayStation, multiplayer RPGs on the Super NES, and more.
Features
- Big Names and Big Games at Japan’s Toy Show – Coverage of the 1996 Tokyo Toy Show which included the latest games for the PlayStation, Saturn, and Super NES such as Virtua Fighter 3, Street Fighter Alpha 2, and many others.
- Williams Gears Up For The Future of Gaming – Playtesting some upcoming Williams’ Nintendo 64 games including Mortal Kombat Trilogy, Wayne Gretzky’s Hockey 64 plus some other upcoming Williams’ games for other systems including Final Doom, Area 51, Robotron X, Ms. Pac-Man, and Williams Arcade’s Greatest Hits 2 and 3.
- Gamers Will Flip For Sony’s Furry New Hero! – A look at Crash Bandicoot for the PlayStation.
Next Wave
- Saturn – Previews of upcoming Sega Saturn games including Dragon Force by Working Designs, Loaded by Interplay, Gun Griffon by Sega, and Shockwave Assault by Electronic Arts.
- PlayStation – Previews of upcoming Sony PlayStation games including Dark Forces by LucasArts, Dead 6 by SCEA, Blast Chamber by Activision, and Iron and Blood Warriors of Ravenloft by Take 2.
…and more!
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Army Men 3D (PlayStation)
Army Men 3D is a third person action game released in 1999 by 3DO for the PlayStation. It basically turns the idea of playing with those green plastic toy soldiers into a 3D action game. Your enemies of course, are the tan soldiers.
You play the role of Sarge who must lead his armies against the tan soldiers across various terrain. Since this game is based on toys, some of those terrains will be familiar household territory such as the kitchen or backyard. The game is pretty straightforward 3rd person run-and-gun action with a variety of weapons including rifles, bazookas, grenades, flamethrowers and more. You can also control vehicles such as jeeps and tanks. Generally, each mission or level has a specific goal. Once you achieve the goal, you can move on to the next level.
The graphics were pretty average for a PlayStation game at the time. However, it did do a good job of making the characters and other items seem toy like. It’s sort of like you are playing an interactive version of Toy Story (of course, there were Toy Story games as well). Likewise, the voice acting is campy and cartoon like adding a touch of humor to the game.
This was not a great game but it’s still ok for a bit of fun if you are into the toy soldier theme. Camera angles aren’t great, missions are somewhat repetitive, and perhaps worst of all there is no multi-player. None of this is enough to really make it a bad game though. It is to other 3rd person action games what Micro Machines is to racing games.
This wasn’t the only Army Men game. In fact, there were quite a few. This was the third game in the main series and the first to appear on the PlayStation. There were nearly two dozen Army Men games in total with some being better than others.
The ad above is from the March 1999 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly.
