• Tag Archives PSX

  • PSM (December 1997)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    psm_004_-_1997_dec_001

    Source: PSM – Issue Number 4 – December 1997

    There was the Official PlayStation Magazine and then there was PSM who prided themselves on being “independent”. There were others too but I think these were the most popular by far. The December 1997 issue of PSM includes:

    Features

    • Cover Story: Tomb Raider 2 Strategy – Part One of a complete walk-through of the game. Useful if you are stuck…or to completely spoil the game.
    • Cover Story: Girls & Games – What do girls want in a game? Not sure why they seemed to portray this as such a novel thing. Even in the dark ages of 1997 there were plenty of girl gamers.
    • The PSM Holiday Special – A holiday buyer’s guide with a list of naughty and nice games broken down by category.
    • Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back – Review of the 3D platformer Crash Bandicoot 2. PSM gives it 5 stars which is their highest rating.
    • Parappa Contest – A trivia contest in which you could win a Sony 200 Disc CD changer, PlayStation varsity jacket, a PlayStation T-shirt, and much more.
    • Street Fighter EX Plus Complete Special Moves and Super Combos – Special moves and combos for all of the Street Fighter EX Plus characters.
    • Test Drive 4: Producer’s Strategy – Detailed info on all of the cars, their difficulty level, tracks they are best on, and more. Plus, some general strategies for the game.
    • Colony Wars – A walk-through guide for the first five acts along with some general tips and strategies.
    • Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee – A strategy guide for this platform/puzzle game with an excellent atmosphere. How to rescue all 99 Mudokons.

    Monitor

    • Feature Story: Diablo Burns Up PlayStation – The classic action/RPG and one of the most popular games of all time comes to the PlayStation.
    • Yaroze News – Various web sites with info about the Net Yaroze, the PS development system anyone could buy.
    • Gossip – Square to publish its own games; Acclaim reorganizes; New Contra game on the way; development of Mortal Kombat 4 well underway; Crash 3 coming soon…
    • Nihon Game Otaku! – The latest out of Japan, including info on Chou Atsui!, Ore! Tonba!, Crime Crackers 2, Space Adventure Cobra the Psychogun, Konami Antiques – MSX Collection Vol. 1, Metal Gear, and more.
    • Other News – PSEmu lets you play PlayStation games on your PC but only Raiden Project for now; controller with vibration feedback may be coming soon; and more.

    Reviews

    • Crash Bandicoot 2 – See above.
    • CART World Series – A mediocre racing game.
    • NHL ’98 – The hockey game to have…if you wanted a hockey game anyway.
    • Nightmare Creatures – A beat-em-up 3D adventure with a horror theme.
    • Pandemonium 2 – A psychedelic 3D adventure on rails.
    • Test Drive 4 – A continuation of the classic driving game. I played the first one on my Commodore 64.
    • Jet Moto 2 – Hover bike racing game.
    • Mass Destruction – No complicated missions here. Just blow stuff up with your tank.
    • Need for Speed: V-Rally – Another entry in another racing game franchise.
    • Cool Boarders 2 – Snowboarding, including half-pipe and downhill.
    • Tomb Raider 2 – This sequel gets the highest possible score here. Tomb Raider popularity was at its peak.
    • Red Asphalt – Not much new here but if you like Wipeout and Twisted Metal then you might like this game.
    • Rampage World Tour – A port of the arcade Rampage sequel.
    • Fighting Force – A 3D beat-em-up.
    • MDK – Did this really stand for Murder Death Kill? I’ve forgotten…
    • MK Mythologies: Sub Zero – This seemed like an interesting concept. Take a Mortal Kombat character and throw them into a platform beat-em-up type game. The title seemed to also hint at future entries in the series. However, it wasn’t very well executed and sequels never came.
    • Flashback – A look back and previously reviewed games, including Epidemic, Assault Rigs, and NHL Face-Off.

    Previews

    • Breath of Fire III – Classic fantasy RPG for the PlayStation.
    • Spawn: The Eternal – A 3D adventure game based on the comic book character.
    • FF Tactics – A Final Fantasy game emphasizing the battles.
    • Auto Destruct – Inspired by Twisted Metal but with more of a story.
    • Skull Monkeys – Sequel to the PC game Neverhood. A 2D platformer that uses claymation styled graphics.
    • NCAA GameBreaker – For those preferring college football
    • Pitfall 3-D – One of many game that it was felt (by someone) needed a 3D remake.
    • Batman & Robin – Not the best Batman movie. Probably not the best Batman game either.
    • Super Motocross – Motorcycle racing game.

    …and much more!


    📂This entry was posted in PlayStation Retro Games 📎and tagged

  • Rampage World Tour (PlayStation, Sega Saturn)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Join George, Lizzie & Ralph for a little Rampage!

    http://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/163782529031/oldgamemags-join-george-lizzie-ralph-for-a

    Rampage World tour was the arcade sequel to the original Rampage arcade game. This sequel was a long time coming. The original Rampage was released in 1986 while Rampage World Tour was released eleven years later in 1997.

    A number of home ports were released starting later the same year. The PlayStation and Sega Saturn versions were the first to appear in late 1997. The above ad is for those versions. The following year, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color and PC versions were also released. The game received pretty mediocre reviews but it was popular enough to spawn at least three more sequels. It would also be re-released as part of Midway Arcade Treasures 2 and as a bonus game in Rampage: Total Destruction.

    The gameplay of Rampage: World Tour is much like the original Rampage. Your goal is to destroy each city while avoiding or destrorying the military as it tries to stop you.





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

  • Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine (October 1999)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    official-playstation-magazine-vol-3-issue-1-0001

    Source: Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine – Volume 3, Issue 1 – October 1999

    The Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine along with PSM were the two big PlayStation magazines. The Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine was associated with EGM but exclusively covered PlayStation hardware and software. It started off covering, as the name would suggest, the original PlayStation. It also covered the PS2 when it came along and eventually the PS3 and PSP as well.

    The October 1999 issue includes:

    Features

    • Spyro 2.0 – A detailed look at Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage.
    • Crash Team Racing – A detailed preview of the cart racing game that was sort of PlayStation’s answer to Mario Kart, only featuring Crash Bandicoot and related characters.
    • NFL Showdown – Detailed reviews of both NFL GameDay 2000 and Madden NFL 2000.
    • HUGE FFVIII Strategy! – The ultimate strategy guide for Final Fantasy VIII.

    Departments

    • Letters – Letters from readers this month include topics such as Final Fantasy IX rumors, the future of the Sega Dreamcast, flight sims, and more.
    • News – News this month includes the upcoming release of the PlayStation version of Rainbow Six, PlayStation 2 to debut in Japan for about $390, PS2 to be debuted at the Tokyo Game Show in mid-September and launch by Winter, more news about upcoming game developments on the PS2, game based on Planet of the Apes coming soon, many PlayStation games now at $20 price point and the PlayStation has a drop in price to $99, X-Files PC game being ported to the PlayStation, Eidos signs deal to use Olymic Games license, and more…
    • Previews – In addition to the Preview of Crash Team Racing and Rainbow Six already mentioned above, there are additional previews for Final Fantasy Anthology, South Park, Toy Story 2, Grandia, Fighting Force 2, Monster Rancher 2, Test Drive Off-Road 3, Tail Concerto, Space Invaders, Cyber Tiger, Cool Boarders 4, Twisted Metal 4, Formula One 99, NBA Live 2000, FIFA 2000, Smurfs, Star Trek, MTV Sports: Snowboarding, Worms: Armageddon, Missile Command, Intellivision Classics, QBert, Gallop Racer, Time Loop, Pong, Shadow Tower, and Broken Sword 2
    • International Previews – Previews of games coming soon to Japan, including Dragon Quest VII, Breath of Fire IV and Valkyrie Profile.
    • Reviews – Games reviewed this month include Championship Motocross, Dino Crisis, Evil Zone, Final Fantasy VIII, G-Police, Hot Wheels, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Maden NFL 2000, Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions, NCAA Football 2000, NCAA GameBreaker 2000, NFL GameDay 2000 (everything has to have the year 2000 in it because, you know, it’s almost the year 2000), Omega Boost, Pac-Man World 20th Anniversary, R/C Stunt Copter, Star Wars: Episode I, Trick ‘N Snowboarder, Tiny Tank, and You Don’t Know Jack! (this series of trivia games was insanely popular for a couple of years).
    • Tricks – Tricks this month include tons of cheat codes for NCAA Football 2000, secret characters in Chocobo Racing, new fields and other items in NFL Xtreme 2, cheat mode for Warzone 2100 with tons of options, cheats for Street Sk8er, and more.
    • g.e.a.r. – PaRappa figures, a rumble seat an “arcade cabinet” designed to hold your PlayStation stuff, and other items gamers might find interesting.
    • Demo Disc – On the free disc this month, demos for Metal Gear, WipeOut 3, Pac-Man World, Toy Story 2, Jet Moto 3, Omega Boost, NFL Xtreme 2, Championship Motocross, Bugs Bunny: Lost in Time, Rugrats: Studio Tour, Countdown Vampires, Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style, Fighting Force 2, NHL FaceOff 2000, Medal of Honor, NBA ShootOut 2000, and more fun stuff.

    …and more!


    📂This entry was posted in PlayStation 📎and tagged