• Tag Archives Super NES

  • ACE (October 1991)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: ACE – Issue Number 49 – October 1991

    While ACE stood for “Advanced Computer Entertainment”, this was a magazine that covered gaming on the Amiga, Atari ST, PC (DOS), as well as the MegaDrive (Genesis), Game Boy, Atari Lynx and Super Famicom (Super Nintendo)…at least in 1991. The October 1991 issue includes:

    Reviews

    • Buster Douglas Boxing (MegaDrive) – Buster Douglas was the big heavyweight name after Mike Tyson but the game itself is not so great.
    • EA Hockey (MegaDrive) – The first of the EA hockey games on the Genesis. Sports games were something EA was very good at for a while.
    • F117A: Stealth Fighter 2 (PC) – A sequel to the 1989 original. While I love older games, the relatively low frame rate and low polygon count sims of old don’t hold up all that well.
    • Magic Pockets (Amiga) – Not a game I am really familiar with, this is a side scrolling platform type game for the Amiga.
    • Mega lo Mania (Amiga) – A strategy game reminiscent of Populous.
    • Microprose Golf (Atari ST) – An ok golf game for the Atari ST. This one tries to combine the best element of serious golf games and more simplified arcade oriented titles like Leaderboard.
    • Robin Hood (PC) – Another Populous inspired strategy game.
    • Storm Lord (MegaDrive) – A side-scrolling adventure that at least in looks reminds me of Ghost ‘N Goblins. However, from this review it doesn’t sound nearly as good.
    • The Simpsons: Bart vs. The Space Mutants (Amiga) – A port of the NES game of the same name. It gets a pretty mediocre review here that cites its lack of humor among other flaws.
    • Wing Commander II – Sequel to Origin’s original space combat flights sim. If you liked the original then you’ll like this one too.

    Features

    • Gore Blimey! – A sort of “best of” in terms of gore in computer and video games. Games mentioned include Persian Gulf Inferno, Lemmings, Oids, Barbarian, Technocop, Indianapolis 500, NARC, and Warzone.
    • Spaceship Warlock (Macintosh) – An interactive movie of sorts with a 1950s B movie theme for the Macintosh, a platform that didn’t see too many game releases at the time, relatively speaking.
    • Sensible Soccer (Preview) – One of the more popular soccer (football) games, at least in Europe.
    • Konsole Kick-Off!!! – Big Match, another popular soccer game for the Amiga and Atari ST, makes its way to various consoles, including the Super Nintendo, Nintendo, Sega Master System, Game Boy and Game Gear with a MegaDrive version in the plans as well.
    • In The Works – A brief look at some games currently still in development including Daemonsgate, Godfather, Grand Prix and Hudson Hawk.

    Regulars

    • ACE Games News – Upcoming games announcements including The Simpsons, Castlevania IV for the Super NES, Super Tetris for the PC (I remember playing that one on the ancient PC XTs at school), The Killing Cloud for the PC, Amiga and Atari ST (set in the sci-fi future of 1997), Crisis in the Kremlin (PC), Mercenary III, Planet’s Edge, Guardian Angels, Shoe People, Might and Magic III (PC), Super Space Invaders, Super Fulcrum (PC) and Double Dragon II for the Game Boy.
    • ACE Tech News – Amstrad releases an all-in-one PC with a 16MHz 286 processor, 40MB hard drive and 1MB of RAM. Also included are the games Links, F-15 Strike Eagle II and Prince of Persia. Also, game developers in Japan complain of a lack of developers, Yamaha releases the SY99 Synth and JVC releases what could be thought of as a predecessor to the GoPro, the Super VHS SC-F007.
    • Letters – Comments on Terminator 2, console game reviews, and consoles vs. computers among other topics.
    • Tricks ‘n’ Tactics – A detailed guide for The Secret of Monkey Island, plus hints for Supercars 2, Horror Zombies From The Crypt, Pang, Toki, Predator 2, Stormball, Navy Seals, Spirit of Excalibur, Operation C, and Wizards & Warriors.

    …and lots more!


    📂This entry was posted in Amiga Atari ST Computer Arcana DOS Game Boy Retro Games Sega Genesis Super Nintendo (SNES) 📎and tagged

  • VideoGames: The Ultimate Gaming Magazine (June 1994)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: VideoGames: The Ultimate Gaming Magazine – June 1994

    Video gaming magazine can have a complicated lineage. One of my favorites, VideoGames & Computer Entertainment morphed into VideoGames: The Ultimate Gaming Magazine but many of the editors/writers I liked went on to reboot Electronic Games instead. VideoGames spawned Tips and Tricks which, though they overlapped for a while, essentially replaced it. I followed VG&CE but not so much VideoGames and Tips and Tricks… Anyway, the June 1994 issue of VideoGames includes:

    News

    • Input – A discussion of the then new video games rating system.
    • Press Start – More about the ratings system and the political pressure that led to it; Nintendo announces the Super Game Boy; Revolution-X featuring Aerosmith is released in the arcades; an interview with the makers of Way of the Warrior for the 3DO; NovaLogic works on helicopter sim for the Saturn; Philips announces lower priced ($299) CD-i; and more…

    Previews

    • Demolition Man – An action game for the Sega Genesis based on the movie of the same name featuring Sylvester Stalone, Wesley Snipes and Sandra Bulloch.
    • Tennis All-Stars – A tennis game for the Genesis in the new “J-Cart” format. A J-Cart in addition to containing the game also added two additional controller ports for 4-player action. This tennis game allowed 4 players in a doubles game.
    • Psycho Pinball – Another J-Cart, this one featuring video pinball with six tables.
    • Kasumi Ninja – What would turn out to be a pretty decent fighting game for the Atari Jaguar.
    • Doom – A pretty good translation of Doom for the Atari Jaguar (they seemed to keep porting this game to new systems for years and years) but really, no version beats the original PC version.
    • Club Drive – A great example of one of the many games with a rushed development schedule for the Jaguar and it shows. While game play wasn’t terrible, the graphics and music were, especially for a supposedly “64-bit” system.
    • Lawnmower Man – Another movie based game. This one is for the Sega CD and the game/movie heavily featured virtual reality.
    • Mighty Morphin Power Rangers – Power Rangers was all the craze at the time so of course there would be games. This side-scrolling beat-em-up was released for the Super Nintendo and Game Boy.

    Tips & Tricks

    • Tempest 2000 – Tips to skip levels and to play bonus levels.
    • NBA Jam – Tricks to enable the special guest players from the arcade version, enable power-ups such as speeding up game play, set your player “on fire” for the whole game, and more.
    • Ground Zero Texas – A mini strategy guide to help get you through this FMV game.
    • Robocop Versus The Terminator – A trick to unlock the MA-17 version of this game for the Genesis.
    • MLBPA Baseball – A bunch of passwords to activate power pitching, power hitting, double throwing speed, double running speed, enable higher bouncing balls, play on ice, and more.
    • Chuck Rock II – Tricks to skip levels or even entire zones.
    • …and lots more!

    Strategy Guides

    • Daffy Duck: The Marvin Missions – General tips as well as guides to each level of this side-scrolling action game featuring Marvin the Martian and Daffy Duck for the Super Nintendo.
    • Kether – Strategy guide for a weird sort of 3D shooter that nobody had ever heard of for the CD-i.
    • Tempest 2000 – Make it through all 100 levels of this update to the classic arcade game on the Atari Jaguar.

    Reviews

    • Super Street Fighter II Turbo – This review is for the arcade version of the game which had just been released.
    • Spectre – This game for the Super Nintendo is essentially a 3D battle game in which you are placed in a flying craft in an arena and must battle it out with robots. It’s an ok game but without much variety. The PC version was better for the simple reason that you could play over a network with multiple people.
    • Rocko’s Modern Life – This is a platform/puzzle game for the Super Nintendo based on the Nickelodeon cartoon of he same name. It ends up being pretty good for a kids game based on a license.
    • Super Loopz – A puzzle game for the Super Nintendo in which you must construct polygons. There are various modes including two-player cooperative and competitive modes. It is a pretty good game if you are a fan of puzzle games.
    • Flintstones – This game based on the cartoon for the Super Nintendo mixes a variety of genres including racing, platform, and board game. However, it ends up being too short and easy to provide much value.
    • Jetsons – A fairly unique platform game for the Super Nintendo based on the cartoon. It is an excellent game overall but the challenge level makes it better for older players than for younger kids.
    • Asterix – An average (at best) platform game for the Sega Genesis.
    • Mortal Kombat – The Sega CD version of this game offers a few relatively minor upgrades including some FMV, a soundtrack and a few more frames of animation.
    • Third World War – A strategy game for the Sega CD that the reviewer compared to KOEI’s offerings. The graphics aren’t great, the interface is complicated and the voice acting is pretty awful but as a strategy game it’s not bad.
    • Rise of the Dragon – A cyberpunk themed graphic adventure for the Sega CD sounds like a good idea but unfortunately, this particular implementation is average at best. It was also a conversion of a game that had been around on the PC for a few years already.
    • Super Air Zonk – Overall, a great platform game for the Turbo Duo but at the end of the day it’s much to short, especially for a CD based game.
    • Space Ace – A great conversion of this laser disc based arcade classic for the CD-i. I was never really a big fan though.
    • The Incredible Hulk – An excellent comic book themed game for the Game Gear that this reviewer like even better than the Genesis version. The only downside was the relatively poor and monotonous sound.
    • Ninja Gaiden III – This game for the Atari Lynx looks and plays much like the NES version. And that’s a good thing.
    • The Horde – This game for the 3DO tries to combine, not very successfully, strategy/simulation with fantasy based action.
    • Twisted – An interesting and rather unique board game/game show combo for the 3DO.
    • Micro Reviews – Short reviews of several games including Spider-Man and the X-Men (Game Gear), Aladdin (Game Gear), G2 Rider (Game Gear), and more.

    Other Cool Stuff

    • Alien vs. Predator: Stalking the Jaguar, Burning Up the Arcades – Interview with Atari producer James Hampton about Alien vs. Predator for the Atari Jaguar. Also, a look at the arcade version of AvP which is a completely different game (fighting game vs. FPS).
    • SportsWire: Sports game news, reviews, previews and more – Midway releases NBA Jam TE for the arcade; Sterling Sharpe signs with Jaleco for a Super Nintendo football game called Sterling Sharpe: End to End…but I don’t remember this one; previews include World Cup USA ’94 (Super NES), Mario Andretii Racing (Genesis), Champions World Class Soccer (Genesis), and Suzuka 8 Hours II (arcade); a review of Baseball Tonight for the Super Nintendo; a review of Double Dribble: The Playoff Edition for the Genesis; a review of Jammit for the Genesis; and a review for Soccer Shootout for the Super Nintendo.
    • Hardware: Gaming accessories galore – New items include the Super Link multiplayer adapter for the SNES, the Mega Mouse for the Genesis, the Interactor Virtual Reality Vest, and more.
    • Global Gaming – Featuring Sonic Drift for the Game Gear, Dragon Ball Z 2 for the Super Famicom, and Waka Taka Osumo for the Super Famicom.

    …and more!


    📂This entry was posted in Retro Games 📎and tagged

  • Tips & Tricks (January 1997)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Computer & Video Game Magazines – Tips & Tricks – January 1997

    Though descended from my favorite magazine, VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, Tips & Tricks was never a magazine I paid much attention to. Many loved the hints, strategy guides and cheats it provided but I was always more interested in news, reviews and that sort of thing. Tips & Tricks provides a little of that also but it’s emphasis is, as the name would imply, on tips and tricks. The January 1997 issue includes:

    Departments

    • Power Up! – An introduction to the staff which includes Chris Bieniek, Wataru Maruyama, Ione Flores, Nikos Constant, Bett Hallock, Tyrone Rodriguez and Deborah Lockhart.
    • Readers’ Tips – Readers write in with tips on Daytona USA as well as various questions and comments.
    • T&T Select Games – Overviews and previews of recent and upcoming games including:
      • Jet Moto (PlayStation) – A racing game featuring a vehicle something like a Jet Ski.
      • Crime Wave (Sega Saturn) – A vehicle combat game featuring a top-down point of view.
      • Ten Pin Alley (PlayStation) – A bowling game of course.
      • Suikoden (PlayStation) – An RPG that allows not only individual and group combat but full scale wars.
      • Powerslave – A Doom-like game in which you wield magic as well as weapons.
      • NFL ’97 (Sega Saturn) – A football game featuring licensed teams, stadiums and players.
      • NBA Live ’97 (PlayStation) – Because we need a new basketball game every years…
      • FIFA Soccer ’97 (PlayStation) – …and soccer too of course.
      • FIFA Soccer Gold Edition (Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo) – A soccer game for the 16-bit systems.
      • FIFA Soccer ’97 (Game Boy) – Blurry soccer…
      • Madden ’97 (Game Boy) – Blurry football…
      • Burning Road (PlayStation) – A racing game out of France that is somewhat similar to the likes of Daytona USA and Ridge Racer.
      • Toshinden URA (Sega Saturn) – Another tweek to the Toshinden 3D fighting game franchise.
      • Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo) – The pinnacle of Mortal Kombat on 16-bit systems.
      • Destruction Derby 2 (PlayStation) – I loved these games and this one was among the first i had for my PlayStation.
      • King’s Field II (PlayStation) – A fairly well regarded 3D RPG.
      • Amok (Sega Saturn) – Frantic 3D action under the ocean.
      • Sonic 3-D Blast (Sega Saturn) – The first Sonic game for the Saturn.
      • TNN Motor Sports Hardcore 4×4 (PlayStation) – An off-road racing game.
      • Contra: Legacy of War – A 3D sequel to Contra. I still prefer the 2D versions.

    • Game Genie/Game Shark Codes – Game Genie codes for the Genesis games Toy Story, Vectorman and Garfield: Caught in the Act; Game Genie codes for the Super NES games Porky Pig’s Haunted Holiday (I swear I’ve never heard of that one); Game Shark codes for the PlayStation games Bubble Bobble, Crash Bandicoot, Olympic Soccer, Project Horned Owl and Robo-Pit; and Game Shark codes for Sega Saturn games Bubble Bobble, Iron Storm and Shining Wisdom.
    • Letter from Betty – Betty has some tips for Mr. Do (Super NES) and Vectorman 2 (Genesis).

    Strategy

    • X-Men vs. Street Fighter – A detailed strategy guide for this arcade game featuring general moves and how to use them as well as details for each character. Also, how to play as a couple of hidden characters.
    • Kizuna Encounter – Another fighting game strategy guide, this one for the Neo Geo.
    • Wave Race 64 – A detailed guide for this Nintendo 64 racing game featuring Jet Skis. It was a pretty outstanding racer for the time.
    • Tomb Raider – A detailed strategy guide for the classic Tomb Raider on both the PlayStation and Sega Saturn.

    The last half of the magazine features tips on dozens if not hundreds of games for the Super NES, Genesis, PlayStation, Saturn, Game Boy, Game Gear, 3DO and arcade. These tips can be anything from passwords to simple strategies to secret button combinations and more. If you are looking for secrets, cheats or strategies to beat a certain game then Tips & Tricks was always a gold mine.


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