| December 1997 |
San Francisco Rush
Publisher: Atari Games
Developer: Atari Games
Release Date: November 1997
Best Feature: Shortcuts Aplenty
Jet down the streets of San-Fran at a blinding pace with San Francisco Rush. Styled closely after the namesake arcade cab, this cart is a stunt-heavy racer with outrageous jumps that send you flying square across the city skyline. It comes nowhere close to the original graphically, lacking a sharp resolution and brimming with fog to hide pop-in, but as far as physicality and playability, this version is a choice pick. The key is to attach your controller to the Rumble Pak accessory. The added support will leave your hands all but numb as varied degrees of feedback sensitivity leaves the heart racing. This home port further adds exclusive tracks with plenty of shortcuts and secret areas to discover, as well as shiny cars to unlock. A solid addition to the pile of circuit racers.
Mischief Makers
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Treasure
Release Date: October 1997
Best Feature: Innovative Design
Shake, shake! Treasure strikes gold with Mischief Makers, a side-scrolling platformer rife with the developers' trademarked fast-paced action and quirky charm. It stars Marina Liteyears, a cybernetic housecleaner with a super-speed jetpack and an amusing habit of shaking her enemies, as she sets out to rescue her creator and the beleaguered civilians of Planet Clancer from an evil emperor. Players will slide, roll, and shake through a plethora of unique stages, each graced with imaginative graphics (What's with the face blocks? -Jet). MM shines in its puzzle-solving elements and, particularly, its stellar boss encounters. It is strongly reminiscent of Super Metroid's exploration-driven combat. Warning: Intense learning curve ahead! Gunstar Heroes fans will undoubtedly feel right at home.
Turok
Publisher: Acclaim Ent.
Developer: Iguana Ent.
Release Date: March 1997
Best Feature: Fun Weaponry Options
Turok was one of the earliest titles unveiled for Nintendo's next-gen device. Developers promised a first-person adventure set in a lush, prehistoric world filled with explosive firepower. They sought to break away from the age of tight corridor shooters with wide-open spaces populated with mutated creatures and dinosaurs. This cart delivers these tenets and proves to be an impressive visual treat to boot. Motion-captured animations bring lifelike movements to enemies and add a touch of realism to the otherwise fantastical scenes. A heavy dosage of fog in most areas cleverly attempts to mask the graphical limits of the N64, though doing so sadly blurs jungle areas together. Tricky controls - C-buttons for movement and stick for aiming - are a big drawback for us. Still some kick-ass dino fun, alright.
Crash Bandicoot 2
Publisher: Sony CE
Developer: Naughty Dog
Release Date: November 1997
Best Feature: Impressive Graphics
Sony's dastardly bandicoot returns to the PlayStation with a follow-up that seeks to improve on the original outing whilst staying true to its tried-and-true formula. Presentation hits you square in the face upon startup. Naughty Dog packs in the flashiest effects they can muster, like razor-sharp textured graphics with killer in-engine cutscenes that outshine most titles on the PS-X. Lights shimmer in dim areas and dust particles plume into the air as Crash slides on the ground. All of this without a hint of slowdown. Not all lands as it ought to - Controls are as imprecise as in Crash 1 and the core experience is largely unevolved from last time. More varied level designs and silly gimmicks like the polar bear stages show improvement, but it feels more like an iterative repaint than a worthy successor.
Re-Loaded
Publisher: Interplay Ent.
Developer: Gremlin Interactive
Release Date: December 1996
Best Feature: Carnage Galore
Our team celebrated Loaded as a grim and gruesome romp when it first launched on the PlayStation in '95. The arcade-like feel of gunning down endless hordes of baddies did eventually grow a bit tiring, and we hoped the all-new Re-Loaded would remedy this biggest hindrance. It did not. Giving due credit, this entry does introduce sharper graphics and multi-tiered, vertical stage layouts, but the combat is totally unimproved. The enemies swarm exactly as before, leaving little room for strategy or puzzle-solving, even in those rare cases in which the levels complement such ideas. To our befuddlement, play control is somehow clunkier than before! Despite its wealth of explosions and carnage, our advice is to replay the original. For staunch fans, we implore you to try renting it first.
Time Crisis
Publisher: Namco Hometek
Developer: Namco
Release Date: November 1997
Best Feature: Special Scenario
Namco's pinnacle light-gun masterpiece makes its way to home consoles at long last. It's Time Crisis, an expertly polished arcade portover that will not disappoint. Via the hyper-accurate GunCon accessory, players with fast reflexes and clean shooting skills will nail enemies without taking a hit. This game's signature ducking mechanic may be recreated by tapping the gun's side button or by using a makeshift foot pedal with a keypad. Time Crisis includes the standard Arcade Scenario as well as a slick Time Attack mode and a bonus campaign called the Special Scenario. And yet, at the end of the day, this is a jack of one trade, as is the case with all light-gun games. Nevertheless, getting through the game in one sitting is nearly impossible, and the varied set pieces keep the action pumping.
Mega Man X4
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Release Date: October 1997
Best Feature: Two Playable Roles
Capcom celebrates the Blue Bomber's 10th anniversary with the release of Mega Man X4 for PlayStation and Saturn. This latest entry in the offshoot X-series maintains the familiar core gameplay elements of the Super NES titles with beautifully blended visuals that showcase the power of 32-bit. Backgrounds are vibrant, animations are clean, and stages will test even expert players' platforming abilities. You can choose to take the reins as either uber lawful X or the sword-slashing antihero Zero, each with totally differing play styles and twisting storylines (Zero is a total bad-ass -Jet). X4 has incredible boss fights that are a blast to run through without any power-ups needed. Brilliant, immersive soundtrack, too. Brace yourself for some horrendous voice acting in the anime cutscenes, however. My, oh my is it laughable.
Mass Destruction
Publisher: ASC Games
Developer: NMS Software
Release Date: November 1997
Best Feature: Ka-Boom!
Those of you sickos who get your jollies from warlike destruction and massive explosions, by which we mean 99% of our readership, are bound to get a kick out of Mass Destruction for the Saturn. The objective is uncomplicated: Eliminate the enemy forces by blowing them to smithereens with your tank. It is a mindless shooter through and through, as the game presents players with plenty to aim at, from enemy tanks and military installations to gas pumps and entire city buildings. Buildings will even shake and crumble as the sound rumbles away. Weaponry from flamethrowers to flares keeps the action entertaining. This Saturn version even exceeds the PS iteration in the graphical department, exhibiting sharper textures and more colorful environments. Missions are rather dull and repetitive, sadly.
Bug Too!
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Realtime Associates
Release Date: December 1996
Best Feature: Neat 3-D Backgrounds
The infestation swings back onto Saturn with Bug Too. Shall we grab the insecticide? This sequel deviates excruciatingly little from the original disc some years ago. It continues to utilize a pseudo-3-D graphical interface that relies on sprites atop textured paths, a gimmick which wears thin in this second outing. Exploring giant stages sounds enticing until one is met with this mediocre, side-view camera perspective - making it a tricky task to jump into the foreground or background, resulting in missed targets galore. On the plus side, the graphics are certainly prettier, with more interactive background elements and diverse level themes. Bug's animations are well-composed, and the new gliding maneuver evokes a grin now and then. But, next to choices like NiGHTS, Bug Too! falls flat on its antenna.
Hercules
Publisher: THQ
Developer: Tiertex Design
Release Date: July 1997
Best Feature: Looks Like The Movie
Mythological Greek demigod and Michael Eisner's box office hero, Hercules has been adapted to the Game Boy in Disney's attempted rush to capitalize on the feature film's success. Converting a story of this size to Nintendo's handheld must have been a herculean task (Har, har -Jet), as although the overall package sucks, we do see glimpses of effort at play. This title unfolds as a typical, action-oriented side-scroller, in which the namesake protagonist must journey to become a true hero. Visuals are rather nice for the portable, and even shinier on the Super Game Boy, with character and stage designs each attempting to mimic the movie's style. Yet, the level of difficulty is non-existent aside from oddly backward controls: B to jump and A to attack. One glaring omission is a final confrontation with Hades! Huge misstep for THQ!
DK Land III
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Rare
Release Date: October 1997
Best Feature: High Quality Graphics
In an all-new, miniaturized 4-Megabit adventure, Dixie and Kiddy Kong leap back into the fray in Donkey Kong Land III. This cart, modeled closely after the Super NES' DKC 3, features six worlds with 36 total stages, and an eye-popping 72 bonus spots to be discovered. Its graphics shine above each previous entry in the DK Land mini-series, with smooth animations and crisp sprites for our heroic chimps. Still, naturally, plenty of blur when traversing area to area unless one pops this cart in the Super Game Boy. Play control is precise as one could ask for on a handheld, capturing the feel of Rare's console games. New vehicles like the toboggan keep the gameplay fresh and unique when compared to the home version. That all aside, it ought to be clear that this cart lacks much genuine improvement over previous iterations Land 1 and 2.
Tamagotchi
Publisher: Bandai
Developer: Tom Create
Release Date: October 1997
Best Feature: Cooler Than Keychains
Time to warn the child psychologists! Tamagotchi, the inescapable digital pet craze is now unleashed onto the Game Boy. Inspired verbatim from the electronic keychain version, the GB cart will allow players to religiously care for their cybernetic creature lest risk its certain untimely demise. Bandai included an assortment of shiny treats to keep fans busy as they wait to feed or clean-up their digi-pet, including varying food types, specialized contests, and new mini-games. Eight unique Tamagotchi eggs are also available to hatch in order to unlock new breeds. Now onto the plethora of negatives! This cart features some horrifically irritating sound effects, uses an in-game menu with the vaguest of icons to work through, and, overall, totally fails to prove its merits over the much cheaper keychain toy.
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