• Tag Archives Sega
  • Computer and Video Games (October 1995)

    Source: Computer and Video Games – Issue Number 167 – October 1995

    Computer and Video Games was a very long running video games magazine in the U.K. and one of the longest running video games magazines that I am aware of. It covered whatever computer and video game platforms were popular at the time. In 1995 that included PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Sega Saturn, 3DO, Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo and PC games among others. The October 1995 issue includes:

    Features

    • Welcome to Virtua City – A look at Sega’s “Virtua” series of games and other 3D games including Daytona USA, Sega Rally Championship, Virtua Fighter Remix, Virtua Racing, Virtua Striker, Wing Arms, Virtua Fighter 2, and Virtua Cop plus a few words from Sega’s AM2 division.
    • Virtua Boy! – A look at Nintendo’s Virtual Boy and the first software available for it, including Red Alarm, Mario Tennis, Panic Bomberman, and Teleroboxer.

    Regulars

    • Editorial – More of a news parody than an editorial…
    • Connected – Gaming news, including: Sony announces launch date of PlayStation as well as developers and upcoming games; Gamegun released for the PC; Virgin announces new budget re-releases including Rebel Assault and Dreamweb; Cyberia ported to the PlayStation and Saturn; Virtua Cop 2 coming to arcades; Casper comes to the SNES; and more.
    • Videodrome – A look at new and recently released games in the arcade, including Rave Racer, the latest in the Ridge Racer series from Namco; Alpine Racer, a skiing sim from Namco; Cool Riders, a motorcycle racing game from Sega that plays a bit like Outrun and Crusin’ USA; plus news about the Namco Wonderpark, an arcade theme park.
    • In the Bag – Letters from readers with topics such as: graphics and sound vs. game play; game play changes as a result of new technology; N64 vs. PlayStation vs. Saturn; and more.
    • Help – Questions answered about second hand game costs; 3DO choices; sports games on Saturn; Killer Instinct on the SNES; success of the 32X; Nintendo 64 costs; and more.
    • Cheatmode – A detailed guide for Toshinden including special moves for each character; cheats and special modes for Daytona USA; hints for Flink on the CD32; cheats for Cannon Fodder on the SNES; a cheat for ATR on the Amiga; hints for Wing Commander 3 on the PC; cheats for Zeewolf on the Amiga; cheats for FIFA International Soccer on the 3DO; cheats for Maximum Carnage on the SNES; lots of codes for Syndicate on the SNES; a tip for Mega Man IV on the Game Boy; a simple code for Chaos in the Windy City on the SNES; various codes for True Lies on the Mega Driver/Genesis; a cheat for Slipstream on the PC; and more.
    • Challenge – Various game challenges with prizes to be announced.
    • Charts – Top games for the month include PGA Golf 3 on the Genesis, International Cricket on the SNES, Zelda on the Game Boy, Tekken on the PlayStation, Hoverstrike on the Atari Jaguar, Star Trek on the PC, VF Remix on the Saturn, Player Manager 2 on the Amiga, and Wing Commander 3 on the 3DO.
    • Next Month – Coming next month, coverage of Mortal Kombat 3, Virtua Cop on the Saturn, Virtua Fighter 2, Worms, Assault Rigs on the PlayStation, and more.

    Reviews

    • 32-Bit
      • Destruction Derby – The original auto destruction game on the PlayStation.
      • Bug! – A humorous 3D platform game for the Saturn.
      • Ballz – A unique fighting game for the 3DO.
      • Winning Eleven – A soccer game for the PlayStation.
      • Discworld – An adventure game based on Terry Pratchet’s books for the PlayStation.
      • 3D Lemmings – A 3D version of the classic 2D puzzle game for the PlayStation and PC.
      • Battle Beast – A cartoon like combat game for the PC.
    • 16-Bit
      • Comix Zone – A side-scrolling beat-em-up with a comic book look and feel for the Sega Genesis.
      • Batman Forever – A platform game for the Genesis and Super NES based on the movie of the same name.
      • Doom – A port of the classic 3D shooter for the Super NES.
      • Weaponlord – A fantasy based beat-em-up for the Super NES and Genesis.
      • Yoshi’s Island – The sequel to Super Mario World for the Super NES.
      • Asterix & Obelix – A humorous platform game for the Game Boy and Super NES.
      • Turbo Toons – A kids’ racing game featuring Hanna Barbara characters for the Super NES.

    Previews

    • Tekken 2 – Sequel to the popular arcade 3D fighting game from Namco.
    • Sega Rally – Sega’s conversion of this arcade racer for the Saturn.
    • PO’ed – A 3D shooter for the 3DO.
    • Lone Soldier – A sort of 3D Rambo for the PlayStation.
    • Amok – A sci-fi themed 3D shooter for the Saturn.
    • Assault Rigs – A futuristic 3D tank battle game. It could be though of as a more modern remake of Combat on the Atari 2600. Best played with 2 players.
    • D – A very dark 3D adventure game for the Saturn.
    • Screamer – An answer for Ridge Racer on the PC.
    • Johnny Mnemonic – A full motion video adventure game based on the movie of the same name starring Keanu Reeves.
    • Krazy Ivan – A 3D mech fighting game for the PlayStation.
    • T-Mek – A first person combat vehicle game reminiscent of Battlezone for the PC and 32X.
    • International Superstar Soccer Deluxe – A soccer game for the Super NES.

    …and more!


  • Official Sega Saturn Magazine (September 1998)

    Source: Official Sega Saturn Magazine – Issue Number 35 – September 1998

    This was the U.K.’s official Sega Saturn magazine. The Saturn didn’t have a very long commercial life and so there weren’t many magazines dedicated to it that lasted very long. At about 3 years this is probably one of the longest lived. The September 1998 issue, which was one of the last and already including Dreamcast coverage, includes:

    Features

    • SNK Special Report – An interview with SNK’s Norimasa Hirano. Topics covered include the upcoming Neo Geo Pocket and future arcade plans including moving from 16-bit to 64-bit. Not much about the Saturn though…
    • The AM2 Inquisition – An interview with Sega’s Makoto Osaki. Makoto Osaki wokred in the AM2 division and was the director of Daytona USA 2 and this interview is mostly about the design and development of that game.
    • The Capcom Generation – A retrospective of Capcom and its games including a complete list of all of Capcom’s arcade games and focusing on some of the best. Also covered are Capcom’s home games including their recent collections Capcom Generations #1 through #5. The time period covered spans from Capcom’s first games in 1984 until 1998 (which included the release of Resident Evil 2).
    • Radiant Silvergun – A detailed look at this vergical shooter that the magazine called the world’s best. Unfortunately, it could be played as an import only as there were no plans to bring it to the U.K.
    • Deep Fear – A detailed look at one of Sega’s last projects for the Saturn. This is a survival horror game that takes place on a nuclear submarine.

    Previews

    • Sol Divide – Another import only game, this is an impressive looking 2D beat-em-up by Psikyo/Atlus.
    • Galaxy Force 2 – An arcade conversion of an older Sega game. Perhaps an arcade perfect conversion but of a game that was around 10 years old at the time. Something to enjoy if you remember and love the arcade original.

    Reviews

    • Radiant Silvergun – A continuation of the feature look at this 2d vertical shooter by Treasure. An import only game for the U.K. as are all of the games reviewed in this issue.
    • Pocket Fighters – Another excellent 2D fighting game by Capcom featuring a ton of super deformed characters.
    • Grandia Digital Museum – Lots of stuff to look at but also an RPG that continues the series.

    Regulars

    • News – Godzilla comes to the Dreamcast; detailed looks at some upcoming games from NEC, including The Warring States of Turb, the first Dreamcast RPG from NEC and Seventh Cross; Actua Soccer coming to the Dreamcast plus more 3rd party Dreamcast coverage; a look at D2 for the Dreamcast.
    • Virtua Writer – Letters from readers with comments and questions about Sega’s failures, World League Soccer ’98, Dreamcast vs. PlayStation 2, a modem for the Dreamcast, buying games from the U.S., Dead or Alive, Virtua Fighter 3, Star Wars games on the Dreamcast, and more.
    • Q+A – Questions from readers (and answers) about Tomb Raider 3, the Sega Nomad, the Nintendo 64, and more.
    • Coin-Operated – A look at some arcade games including Spikeout, a new arcacde 3D fighter from Sega’s AM2 team; Asura Blade: Sword of Dynasty, a 2D fighter by Fuuki; plus an interview with Virtua Striker 2′ Kentaro Fujita and Satoshi Mifune.
    • Up the Back End – A random assortment of oddities including the mags favorite sad internet sites, an internet addiction quiz, girlfriend game pics, Japanese advertisement of the month, and more.
    • And Finally… – A focus on Virtua Fighter’s Pai Chan.

    Playing Tips

    • “Small” Tips – Tips and tricks for Silhouette Mirage, Loaded, Manx TT, Die Hard Arcade, Doom, and more.
    • Castlevania X, Part One – The first part of a strategy guide for this 2D platform classic.
    • Shining Force III, Part Two – The second and final part of a strategy guide for Shining Force III, including a look at the remaining characters.
    • Riven, Part Two – The second and final part of a detailed strategy guide for this difficult Myst sequel.

    …and more!


  • Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (October 1992)

    Source: Mega Drive Advanced Gaming – Issue Number 2 – October 1992 

    Mega Drive Advanced Gaming is a magazine that was published in the U.K. and dedicated to the Sega Mega Drive (Sega Genesis) and also covered the Mega-Cd and 32X. It was published from 1992 until 1995. The second issue from October 1992 includes:

    Regulars

    • News – Sega announces release of Streets of Rage II; Lemmings gets official release in the U.S. and Japan but no work on the U.K.; Amstrad hopes to produce combination computer and Mega Drive (the PC would feature a 286 CPU and of course a 68000 for the Mega Drive functionality and include a cartridge slot); Susoft announces Superman; Kaneko announces Power Athlete, a supposed competitor to Street Fighter II; Prince of Persia comes to the Mega Drive; other new and upcoming releases include Side Pocket, the Game Genie, RBI 4, Rampart, Gauntlet, Jennifer Capriati Tennis, Afterburner III, Batman Returns, Phantasy Star IV; and more. There is also coverage of the 1992 Sega European Championship. The number 1 game in the U.K. at this time was Taz-Mania.
    • Star Play – A famous soccer player tries out European Club Soccer from Virgin and gives his opinion.
    • Oop Yer Way – Gamers give their opinions on the price of Mega Drive games.
    • Mega File – The best and the worst in platform games. Some of the games at the top of the list include Castle of Illusion, Ghouls ‘N’ Ghosts, and Sonic. Games at the bottom include Monster Hunter, Alex Kidd and Ghostbusters.
    • Megaphone – Letters from readers. Topics include Super Monaco GP, ratings, Kid Chameleon, the high price of Mega Drive games, and more.
    • Fist Fight – A hypothetical look at what should be included in the ultimate Beat’Em-Up game.
    • Laser Tag – An article about laser tag. It was reaching a peak in the U.K. at this time.

    Players’ Guides

    • Bart vs. The Space Mutants – A complete solution to Bart vs. The Space Mutants with lots of screen shots to guide you along.
    • Cadash – A detailed guide and maps for this coin-op conversion.
    • Chuck Rock – A guide to one of the more popular platform games on the Genesis, the cave-man themed Chuck Rock.
    • Kid Chameleon – The second part in this guide to a sometimes difficult platformer, including lots of maps.
    • Splatterhouse II – A complete guide to this gory, beat-’em-up sequel to a classic.
    • Taz-Mania – A guide to the later levels of this excellent Looney Tunes themed side-scroller featuring the Tasmanian Devil.

    Games Inside

    • Atomic Runner – Review of this older arcade conversion by Data East. It is a pretty mediocre run and shoot type of game.
    • Dungeons and Dragons – Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun reminds me a bit of the Gold Box AD&D games that were popular on various computers. I loved those games and have often wondered how this one compares though I have never played it. It gets an OK but not spectacular review here.
    • Dyna Brothers – Review of a game that is sort of a cross between Populous and Pokemon…or maybe Digimon…or something similar. The theme is dinosaurs.
    • Evander Holyfield – This review agrees with others I have seen. Evander Holyfield’s Real Deal Boxing isn’t that great of a deal.
    • Gley Lancer – An excellent side-scrolling shooter (at least according to the review). The screen shots remind me a little of R-Type but then lots of shooters had a similar look.
    • James Bond – Preview of a James Bond themed action game that features plenty of classic bond characters.
    • Magical Tarot – A unique, fantasy themed platformer that gets a pretty good review here.
    • Techno Soccer – A sort of novelty soccer game in which the field can have different surfaces (ice, mud , etc.) and the players can use power-ups to make them faster and stronger. It gets a terrible review here so I’m guessing this one is not for soccer fans…or game fans in general.
    • Thunder Force IV – An excellent horizontal shooter that looks even more like R-Type than Gley Lancer. But this is one than any shooter fan and Genesis owner should have.
    • Twinkle Tail – The reviewer compares it to Gauntlet and I guess it looks kind of like a more open world Gauntlet. It gets a pretty good review here.
    • Warriors of Rome – Warrior of Rome II – A strategy/war/role-playing game. If you are a strategy game fan then this is a good one for the Genesis.

    …and more!