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June 1994


Bullet - For SNES
Spike McFang
Act-Adventue | 8 MB
Release: June 1994
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Undoubtedly the highlight of this month's reviews, The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang is a must buy for all Super Nintendo owners. McFang is an action role-playing/adventure title developed by Bullet-Proof Software. It presents an engaging vampiric story, awesome-looking pixel graphics, and an amusing collection of animations to boot. Throw your hat like a deadly boomerang or toss out cards to tackle foes throughout the mysterious island of Vladamasco. Along the lines of Soul Blazer, McFang has a ton to offer and is sure to take a long time to complete. Thank goodness for those battery saves!

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Data East - For SNES
Fighter's History
Fighter | 20 MB
Release: June 1994
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Data East wants in on that fighting game action! Fighter's History is indeed their shot at stardom and, yes, an attempt to capitalize on the SF2 craze. Before diving into this one, an entertaining tidbit to note is how similar Capcom found FH as well. This title was a target of a copyright lawsuit by the big C, who alleged theft and demanded FH be stopped at all costs! Well, Capcom lost that battle, but they will likely win the war. In sales, that is. Data East delivered a generic and derivative fighter than has little to offer on its own. Our recommendation is to hold onto your funds until SSF2 is released next month.

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Jaleco - For SNES
Peace Keepers
Brawler | 16 MB
Release: April 1994
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Lennon asked us to give peace a chance, so here we are! The Peace Keepers is a brawler/beat-em-up for SNES by Jaleco and a threequel to the lesser-known titles Rival Turf! and Brawl Brothers. One look at this cart and memories of Final Fight may flood your brain, but unoriginal though it may be, we deem TPK an above-average outing complete with sharp graphics and multiple, branching storylines for added replayability. Four players can brawl cooperatively with the Super Multitap, or you could journey out as a lone ranger if you so desire. With lots to love in TPK, I suppose the third time truly is the charm.

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Core - For GENESIS
Bubba 'N' Stix
Puzzle-Platformer | 8 MB
Release: June 1994
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Move over Puggsy, there's a new off-beat, sort of slow, comical-looking puzzle-platformer in town! Bubba 'N' Stix, brought to you by Core Design, is a novel take on this aging formula. Now to its credit, Bubba leans further into the action scene than its slower counterparts. The gameplay is admittedly challenging, and the animations are stylistic enough (Like Bart Simpson in the Bayou -Jet). Play this side-scroller for just a short while, and it will be rather evident just how dull and repetitive these puzzlers have become. It becomes a downright chore! If you must copy a gameplay style, copy Gunstar Heroes.

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Takara - For GENESIS
Fatal Fury 2
Fighter | 24 MB
Release: June 1994
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Coming in with a mighty 24-MEG cartridge, Fatal Fury 2 barrels forth onto the SEGA Genesis as the latest and greatest conversion of a Neo-Geo masterpiece. This conversion from Takara is leagues better than the first entry on the Genesis, and its gameplay speed is throttled-up high courtesy of that killer blast processing! Fighters seem to be a dime a dozen these days, but Fatal Fury never does get old. Play control is fantastic, the graphics are smooth and well-done, and dueling with the six-button gamepad pulls you right back to the arcades. It's practically begging for your buck!

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Koei - For GENESIS
Operation Europe
Strategy | 8 MB
Release: June 1994
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Operation Europe: Path to Victory 1939-45, or as it is known in Japan, Europa Sensen, is a newly released war strategy game developed by Koei exclusively for the Genesis. To preface this review, you need to be a very specific kind of games player to get the most out of Operation Europe. If managing microscopic military units meticulously on a chessboard-like map sounds like your deal, then you'll fall in love. For the rest of us, our brains ache a bit just thinking about it! Our team prefers the Shining Force breed of strategy, but geeky WWII historians (and them alone) should check this one out.

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EA - For 3DO
Shock Wave
Flight Sim | CD
Release: June 1994
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Throughout its rather long development, Shock Wave was categorized by Electronic Arts as an "interactive movie." Having endured more than our fair share of FMV during the early days of the SEGA-CD, our reviewers met this idea with skepticism. But fret not 3DO fans! Shock Wave is, in fact, a game! You steer a prototype, 21st-century space fighter from a first-person view, blasting apart baddies Star Fox-style. Fly over 3-D rendered landscapes, avoid enemy blasts, and stop those aliens! The FMV is not too distracting, either. Controls are not the most intuitive, but aside from that we were overall delighted.

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EA - For 3DO
Syndicate
Strategy | CD
Release: June 1994
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EA hits 3DO once again with Syndicate, a welcome port of an exhilarating action-strategy title originally available for PC DOS and Amiga. This game is set in a worn-down cyberhacker world rife with crime and corporate malfeasance. Not too unlike Shadowrun on SNES, Syndicate is viewed from an isometric angle and grants players an assortment of missions to learn more about this mixed-up society. EA boasts of this disc's high-definition graphics and the vast complexity of its gameplay. This marketing lingo is code for a great gaming experience, and we say it's about accurate. Mature audiences only, folks.

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Universal - For 3DO
Jurassic Park
Action | CD
Release: May 1994
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Look out behind you! There's a Tyrannosaurus breathing down your neck! Dare to take on the extinct come-again in Universal Interactive Studios' Jurassic Park, a 3DO exclusive project and, in our view, the best depiction of these dinos yet on console. It's actually tough to compare this to the Jurassic offerings on Genesis and SNES. This disc ain't no platformer, nor is it some odd-ball dungeon crawler. Your objective is to save all five characters, doing so in a mishmash of mini games and more grandiose action segments. Excellent graphics on the whole and a true shake-up of your standard gameplay elements. We recommend it!

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Koei - For Game Boy
Stop That Roach!
Puzzle | 1 MB
Release: June 1994
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Boy, oh boy. Programmers will turn anything into a game nowadays. Even bug squishing! Stop That Roach! is a Game Boy puzzler developed by the fine folks at Koei. Stepping in the nasty shoes of a pest exterminator, players will need to use their noggins to outsmart the sly little cockroaches before they reach the confectionary-shaped goal. Defending your cake may not sound as important as saving the planet from alien invaders, but in our book, roaches are even worse! Roach is a fun timewaster with a hint of strategy but otherwise there isn't much to be done, here. Most gamers will be through in five minutes.

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Absolute - For Game Gear
Super Battletank
Simulation | 2 MB
Release: June 1994
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Take control of an unstoppable war machine in Super Battletank, a simulation game available now for Game Gear systems. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to steer this vessel through enemy territory during the dark days of the Persian Gulf War. Your M1A1 tank must shoot down helicopters, annihilate opposing tanks, and take out strongholds on the militaristic quest to restore something-or-other. The highlight here is the first-person view, a curiosity to see on a handheld, but the game itself drags on a tad - and the tank drags on even slower. Maybe worth a try for Game Gear owners itchin' for a fight.

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THQ - For NES
Zoda's Revenge
Act-Adventure | 2 MB
Release: April 1994
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Anyone out there remember StarTropics? No? Long ago in the quaint era of 8-Bit gaming, when Paula Abdul and Wilson Phillips controlled the Billboard charts, a Nintendo-operated studio headed by Genyo Takeda launched an underrated action-adventure title on the NES. Four years later, now in the throngs of 16-Bit, Takeda looked again to the NES to serve as his home base. Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II is a Zelda-like game with a plethora of dungeons to explore and treasures to uncover, albeit held back by the NES' limits. Players capable of looking past brutal difficulty and subpar graphics may enjoy this sci-fi cart.

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