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September 1995


PLAYSTATION
Air Combat
Sony   Namco
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Flight Sim   Release: September 1995
Age Rating: All   Challenge: Easy

In our humble view, most flight simulators on the market fail to liven up our lives. Many falter from clunky or sluggish controls, and oftentimes push for realism at the expense of gameplay. Ace Combat is a whole new experience. Putting to the side its glorious graphical feast for the eyes, AC's arcade-quality gameplay exhumes brilliant programming and fun-centered design. The one-player story mode allows for 16 missions with a range of terrains and objectives, from blowing up massive weapon installations to taking out bomber jets. Two-player dogfighting is also a splendid sight which truly pulls you into the game world. Lock-on weapons and precise handling make this a joy to play. Gotta love those unlockable barrel rolls!

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PLAYSTATION
Toshinden
Sony   Realtime Assoc
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Fighter   Release: September 1995
Age Rating: Teen   Challenge: Intermediate

One look at Battle Arena: Toshinden, and it's easy to see the cause of its mouth-watering appeal. This 3-D fighter with loads of hype behind it is finally available alongside the Sony PlayStation. Choose a fighter and get ready to thrash! Players will be thrust into a huge 3-D area as mayhem ensues. Battling it out is a ton of fun once you've sorted out the slightly awkward joypad controls. It plays much more like SF II than Virtua Fighter, a trait we consider a major plus. Toshinden is a visual force with excellent texture mapping and stage design. Our main complaint centers on the lackluster American voicework compared to its Japanese counterpart, but this otherwise remains an absolute must-play for PS owners looking for a next-gen fighter.

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PLAYSTATION
Raiden Project
Sony   Team Aquila
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Shooter   Release: September 1995
Age Rating: All   Challenge: Hard

Shooter fans, rejoice! Upon setting the standard for vertical shooters back in 1990 with its arcade premier, Raiden proved the genre still could pack a huge wallop in a burgeoning era of brawling and fighting games. The quarter stealer, along with its sequel, Raiden II, are both packed into this launch title for the PlayStation. The idea is a bit simple, we admit. Shoot anything and everything in your way, whilst dodging enemy fire and steadily upgrading your meager ship. Use missiles, cannons, and bombs to get the job done, and you'll be home in time for supper! Raiden projects (Get it?) in a vertical viewing format, granting shooter fans a welcome wish. Can this type of game withstand the pressures of 32-Bit expectations? Only time will tell.

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SATURN
Astal
Sega   Sega CS2
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Action-Platformer   Release: August 1995
Age Rating: All   Challenge: Easy

Astal, simply stated, is the most gorgeous-looking game yet seen on 32-Bit. The art direction behind this side-scroller deserves an Academy Award for presenting a visual treat that puts most TV cartoons nowadays to shame. Joyfully warm and Disney-like spritework accompanies the player character and each type of foe, thus giving our eyes a break from the abundance of jagged computer animation on the scene. Vibrant backgrounds are integrated perfectly with each stage, and a plethora of neat-o zooming effects keep the action interesting. The core gameplay in Astal is familiar to any games player: Run-and-jump platforming. It is also far too short. Some may beat this one in under an hour. Still, the artistry is worth the admission price.

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SATURN
Bug!
Sega   Realtime Assoc.
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Action-Platformer   Release: July 1995
Age Rating: All   Challenge: Easy

Bug is trying to make it big as a Hollywood actor in an unforgiving world. Having finally signed a lead role in an action film, the titular character (Yes, his name is actually "Bug") must navigate a plethora of platforming scenes to rescue his fictional family from the evil Queen Cadavra. Now, here we have a game with a splash of innovation. Bug can travel side-to-side like a traditional platformer, but also vertically and upside-down in stunning 3-D geometrical fashion. Once you've conquered some risky leaps, taken out enemy insects, and completed each level, a nice-looking rendered cutscene will tell the next story bit. These high-tech graphics show off what is capable on Saturn. Nitpick: Bug's Gex-like one-liners suck.

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SATURN
Myst
Acclaim   Interprog
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Adventure   Release: August 1995
Age Rating: All   Challenge: Intermediate

Look out for the Myst! The critically acclaimed Macintosh adventure game from Cyan has been repackaged by Sunsoft for a summertime release on Saturn. Be transported to a wonderous and weird plane rife with oddities and mystery. You, the first-person traveler, must rely on your wits to solve an assortment of puzzles to learn more of the world and how to escape it. Keep close attention to every clue, you'll need it! Myst on Saturn, like on home computer, is a point-and-click game with a sequence of rendered pictures to move through. Each environmental shot is graphically rendered with tip-top realism in mind. Saturn owners should try this out, if anything to catch a glimpse at one of the prettiest adventure games made yet.

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SNES
Doom
Williams   Sculptured
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3-D Shooter   Release: September 1995
Age Rating: Mature     Challenge: Hard

Fresh out on the scene with an all-new variant for SNES, id Software's core creation, Doom, has finally made its way to 16-Bit. And to our astonishment, the translation is pretty close to the original. This better-than-expected quality is mostly thanks to the beefier tech of the Super FX-2 chip, a tool that appears to allow the aging console to keep up quite handily. Now, it's not all roses. Moving aside its decent control scheme and PC-like gameplay engine (Do I hear better than 32X? -Jet), Doom's visuals suffer from pixelation, choppiness, and headache-inducing draw distance issues. Floor and ceiling textures are also MIA. Between this and the computer version, there is simply no contest, but it's hardly the worst attempt we at PPM have seen.

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SNES
Primal Rage
Time Warner   BitM
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Fighter   Release: August 1995
Age Rating: Teen   Challenge: Intermediate

Satisfied with its arcade domination, Primal Rage is ready to conquer living rooms everywhere. The monstrous fighter with its seven carnivorous beasts plays rather well on the 16-Bit Nintendo platform. With an abundance of fighters on the market, Primal Rage does well in introducing an assortment of bites and slashes, as well as hypnosis and acid-spitting attacks, to ruffle some veteran's feathers. Pulling off combos is a cinch, though perhaps not as impactful as on MK2. Multi-hit combos register on-screen just as in the coin-op, allowing for ample bragging from victorious players. A graphical powerhouse, this is certainly not. Colors can be murky with odd clashes. However, it is undoubtedly a step above the lackluster Genesis entry.

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SNES
Mega Man VII
Capcom
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Act-Platformer   Release: September 1995
Age Rating: All   Challenge: Hard

He's back...again! Capcom's flagship platforming franchise returns to the Super Nintendo with Mega Man VII, a stylized reversion of sorts to the original NES titles. Sophisticated graphics have been toned down a tad from the X games to appear more like the original series, yet the presentation is just as crisp and detailed as ever. We do love those parallax layers, after all. Play control is on-target, gameplay is rife with high difficulty sections, and the edition of a weapons shop provides a fun spin on the old formula. Elsewise, this is the Mega Man of yore, from the robot bosses with their funky abilities to the death-by-spike hazards. Not much is novel in this entry, so if you were not a fan before, this will certainly not change your mind.

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GENESIS
Weaponlord
Namco   VC
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Fighter   Release: September 1995
Age Rating: Teen   Challenge: Hard

Namco tried its hands at something new with Weaponlord, a traditional one-on-one fighter, but the developers may have focused on the wrong aspects. The fighting techniques in this cart are a fresh change of pace, surely, with clever offensive counters and guard drops. In most other areas, Weaponlord suffers rather miserably. Semi-decent character art is squashed to bits by grainy graphics, a limited roster begs for some more creativity, and shockingly choppy movement animation makes play control a tiresome endeavor. The choppiness is such an issue, in fact, that despite knowing all the commands to pull off combos, the computer player is built too fast for a fair fight to be had. We recommend a pass on this disappointment.

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GENESIS
Primal Rage
Time Warner   Probe
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Fighter   Release: September 1995
Age Rating: Teen   Challenge: Intermediate

Re-configured for home console is Primal Rage, the epic prehistoric firefall from arcade fame. Each of the original fighters have successfully made the journey to Genesis, their many blistering special moves and combos well in-tact. The Genesis itself, however, appears to struggle to pull off the translation despite programmers' best efforts. Movement stutters prevent the Sea edition of PR from reaching its potential greatness. Sprites are colorful and recognizable despite their small size, plus the backgrounds are nice and vibrant, yet the play control simply doesn't cut it. Pressing upwards of four buttons plus the directional pad makes one wish for an earnest joystick. We do commend the lovely, spine-shattering sound fx.

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JAGUAR
Rayman
Ubi Soft
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Act-Platformer   Release: September 1995
Age Rating: All   Challenge: Intermediate

Rayman is truly one of the best-designed game protagonists ever developed, and Ubi Soft is prepared to launch this squirmy fellow onto every system it can. This premier entry by Ubi was originally made with the Jag in mind but examining it side-by-side with the PlayStation version may arise doubts concerning that fact. Rayman takes full advantage of the Jaguar as no previous title has, presenting gorgeous graphics with incredible spritework. The detail in this side-scroller is downright astounding. Its controls are undeniably hampered by issues, namely a lagged unresponsiveness which inhibits jumping and movement. Jag's cart-based limitations also rear up on the lacking musical front. Still, a top Jag title.

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