1080 Snowboarding
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Release Date: April 1998
Best Feature: Thrilling Slopes
Slide down precarious mountaintops and pull off extreme tricks in the snow-stacked 1080 Snowboarding for N64. Crafted by the same team behind Wave Race 64, 1080 does for snowboarding precisely what Wave did for jet skiing. The all-important play control rests on the laurels of the analog stick. Move it gently to angle your board's direction and lean your rider, pulled diagonally to adjust steering as desired. The learning curve is significant, but when mastered it recreates the feeling of snowboarding to an amazing degree. As indicated by the complex control system, this game is all about serious realism. This holds true with the visuals, as well, from the scenery to the competitors. The mountainous environments are so real you could freeze your tail off! Altogether 1080 has six tracks, an Olympics-style jump, a half-pipe, and a wide assortment of boarders and boards. Plus, two-player mode, too!
Mystical Ninja
Publisher: Konami CEO
Developer: Konami
Release Date: April 1998
Best Feature: Sense Of Humor
Konami Osaka brings the wonderfully weird world of the Mystical Ninja series to a polygonal environment with Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon. You play as the titular blue-haired ninja in his tumultuous quest to save feudal Japan from a gigantic UFO that has appeared over the once-peaceful village of Oedo. Goemon will traverse the sprawling countryside and engage with a diverse line-up of activities ranging from mini-games to giant robotic boss fights. Mystical Ninja plays like a Mario/Zelda combination with tons of exploration peppered with SM64-style platforming and action-RPG-like combat. Its only stark demerit is a disappointing camera that ops for an automatic perspective with limited controls. The visual design captures the historical Japanese theming well with vibrant locales and colorful textures. Musically, Konami nailed its unique tone by blending Japanese and Western vibes.
Quake 64
Publisher: Midway
Developer: id Software
Release Date: March 1998
Best Feature: Decent Control
Its legacy on PC will stand as a genre-defining feat in atmospheric shooters with memorable stage designs and graphics, but on N64, Quake just does not measure up. Id's original work flourished predominately as a result of its superb multi-player mode, achieved over a local network or via the Internet. Quake 64 is then, naturally, a giant compromise. It relies on the merits of the single-player mode, which was met with a lukewarm reception even on PC. It is certainly enjoyable, no doubt, but beside more recent captivating carts like GoldenEye and Turok, the satisfaction from this port is so-so. Graphics are blurry, or "moody," with low light and poor anti-aliasing, and enemies are quite poorly animated. Game control is serviceable, as are the sound effects. This does lack a full soundtrack, however. Does it succeed in capturing the feel of the original? We grant a tepid no, but recommend curious players give it a rental.
Diablo
Publisher: Blizzard
Developer: Blizzard
Release Date: March 1998
Best Feature: Addictive Gameplay
The ‘97 hit Diablo has been ported over to the PlayStation at long last! In this isometric dungeon-delver, you play as one of three adventurers within the tormented hamlet of Tristram. Using your abilities and wits, hack and slash your way through the hellish dozen-or-so stages of catacombs and vaults. Thanks to Blizzard's cleverness, levels are automatically regenerated in each playthrough, allowing for endless replayability. This iteration of Diablo benefits quite a bit from its console conversion, putting aside an obvious graphical downgrade (Ugh!). Map navigation, inventory management, and spellcasting is improved with a fresh gamepad-centric interface - our preference above keyboard and mouse controls. A PS-exclusive two-player mode has also been introduced to make up for the lack of net connectivity. There's a reason this blood-soaked romp was an overnight success.
Gex: Enter The Gecko
Publisher: Midway
Developer: Crystal Dynamics
Release Date: February 1998
Best Feature: Dana Gould
Crystal Dynamics returns its wise-cracking reptile to the frontlines with Gex: Enter the Gecko. Now, in 3-D! Gex, for the uninitiated, is a tail-whipping jokester rife with trendy riffs and eye-rolling references, voiced by comedian Dana Gould. Now persuaded to delve back into the media dimension, our gecko hero must endure a fully three-dimensional cavalcade made up of plentiful pop-culture themed stages and dangerous and dubious platforming. CD was well aware of the potential pitfalls of a 3-D conversion, limiting Gex's climbing mechanic whilst creating lush, detailed areas to explore. All creatures in Enter the Gecko were composed of a virtual "skeleton" with a mesh texture, allowing for impressive animations and realistic articulation. Gex controls responsively in these environments, though the camera could have used some fine-tuning. A creative endeavor altogether and a step above the original.
Einhander
Publisher: Square
Developer: Square
Release Date: May 1998
Best Feature: Exciting Action
In the quest to resurrect the scrolling shooter genre, this title may be precisely what the doctor ordered. From the dazzling minds over at Square Soft comes Einhander screaming on the scene. This traditional shooter is themed in a hyper futuristic aesthetic with a sharp focus on graphical detail as well as playability overall. 3-D, polygonal backgrounds and enemies give this somewhat antiquated idea a fresh coat of paint. Play control, a vital element for these types of games, is exceptional with a twitch-perfect feel. Gameplay accelerates from start to end with arcade-like white-knuckle action all throughout. As you pilot your spaceship and fire at enemies, you will retrieve their weapons to accumulate even more blasting power. Tackling bosses must be done strategically, usually accomplished only after a few deaths, but mastering their patterns is possible! Absolutely one of the best horizontal shooters, ever!
Blasto
Publisher: Sony CE
Developer: Sony Interactive
Release Date: April 1998
Best Feature: Entertaining Voicework
"Remember, Uranus is on the line!" This line stems from Blasto, a campy comic-book action game developed by Sony Interactive. Originally conceived as a wacky parody of a superhero similar to The Tick, the titular hero is perhaps the best part of this game. Captain Blasto, voiced by the late Phil Hartman, must be guided through sprawling levels in a high-tech shootout against evil aliens on Uranus. Its strength lies in its stylistic visuals and atmosphere. The Looney Tunes appearance with shaded polygons is pleasant to play through and the dynamic musical score adds tension during heated firefights. Yet, we struggle to compliment the core gameplay. Play control is finicky and unreliable with precision jumping and timing nearly impossible to nail down. Its difficulty ramps up tremendously, which when combined with imprecise control and uncomfortable shooting mechanics ultimately makes for a mediocre experience.
Gran Turismo
Publisher: Sony CE
Developer: Sony CE
Release Date: May 1998
Best Feature: Ultra Realism
Start your engines! Gran Turismo is a racing tour de force, delivering an uber-realistic driving simulation on levels unseen yet in the home console market. Car enthusiasts will be floored with the selection of actual, name-brand vehicles available to choose from. SCEI ensured all its 163 machines handled, performed, and sounded as close to the real-world counterpart as technology allows. Racers can customize their favorite cars to affect driving performance, too. GT is equally impressive on the graphical scale. Excellent visual effects give life to the racetrack, as does a high-resolution mode that plays at 60-frames. Replays are available as well, viewable through dynamic camera angles made to replicate a TV broadcast. Do note that it will require a dose of patience at times to get used to the controls. Inexperienced players may wish to play with the "Free Race" mode to earn their stripes prior to setting out.
ReBoot
Publisher:Electronic Arts
Developer: EA Canada
Release Date: March 1998
Best Feature: Giant Stages
Based on the hit computer-generated animated series about a computerized world, it's ReBoot! A game based on a virtual world sounds like an easy homerun, yet not all is golden in Mainframe. Playing as the show's protagonist, Bob, fly around the futuristic, 3-D cityscape on a hovering zipboard while hunting down explosive bombs set by the nefarious Megabyte. Play control is instantly meddlesome with EA's insistence the player be locked to the board at all times. Although early levels with their skatepark-like ramps are fun and easy, the jumps become increasingly difficult. Progressing through the eighteen large levels, with compounding hordes of enemies to fill the screen, becomes extremely tedious. Fans of the show will be overjoyed to learn the recreation of Mainframe is faithfully detailed, and off-road exploration is quite fun. Perhaps it is worth a rental for fans, only. Otherwise, skip it.
Rampage: World Tour
Publisher: Midway
Developer: Game Refuge
Release Date: November 1997
Best Feature: Faithful Nostalgia
Rampage is a beloved Midway coin-op from the mid-80s. In it, you play as one of three monsters and seek to cause total mayhem and destruction across various cityscapes. It was a classic way back when. Now? Well, it's all a tad dull and repetitive. GTI developers made a concerted effort to faithfully adapt the arcade cab onto the Saturn, and in a sense they did! The core gameplay and graphics replicate the original with giant sprites tearing into skyscrapers as usual - this time pre-rendered. Yet no hint of any genuine 32-Bit improvements in either of these areas. Rampage: World Tour adds themed, international areas and new power-ups to the fray, as well as rad multi-player cooperative and competitive modes. But this dose of replayability falls short of remedying the real issue: The coin-op was always a hot ticket...for 15 minutes or so before we all moved onto the next cab. Dearly hoping for a true revival next time to modernize the movie monster thriller.
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega
Release Date: May 1998
Best Feature: Exhilerating Battles
Sega's most cinematic series in its entire line-up soars to new horizons, sending off the Saturn with one of the greatest RPGs available on any platform. Panzer Dragoon Saga stars a young imperial soldier named Edge who seeks revenge following a tragic murder. Riding atop his majestic dragon companion, Edge is determined to find answers. He is free to travel and explore expansive, fully polygonal environments from unyielding seas to barren wastelands, all equal parts imposing and awe-inspiring. Saga undeniably retains the stylistic mastery from its two previous outings with a mature atmosphere and massive-scaled beasts. Its action is an incredible mix of Panzer's iconic rail shooting and turn-based tactical combat styled much like FF VII. Strike hard with your dragon's special abilities, then have Edge lend a supporting hand with supplemental attacks or healing magic. This disc left us totally spellbound from start to finish!
Bust-A-Move 3
Publisher: Natsume
Developer: Taito
Release Date: December 1997
Best Feature: Multi-Player
Bust-A-Move, AKA Puzzle Bobble, makes its way to the Saturn with several notable extra features to sweeten the deal. Essentially, it's the same action-puzzler you know and love with a handful of twists, plus an enormous helping of stages to work through. The basic idea is to match three bubbles of the same shape and color to clear them from the screen. Shoot a bubble of your own to force the match, connecting as many as you can to pop 'em all. But be mindful when aiming! A poor shot will make the challenge tougher! Think strategically as the puzzles grow more complex and the time limit runs out faster. In this edition, bubbles will bounce off the ceiling instead of staying stuck, allowing for new techniques. Specialized bubbles and objects like bowling balls also add to the variety. Two-player mode is where the true competition is. There's nothing quite like a head-to-head matchup with a future bubble-popping rival. A solid sequel, even if it is very similar to entries on other systems.
Mystical Ninja
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami CEN
Release Date: April 1998
Best Feature: Amusing Translation
In Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon for the Game Boy, our agile hero joins forces with two cohorts to put an end to the Black Ship Gang from plundering Japan. This edition of Goemon's journeys takes the form of an action-RPG with an overhead perspective, totally dissimilar from the same-named N64 release. It's a straightforward title if not a bit archaic and unpolished. Goemon roams the world fighting pixelated foes by throwing shuriken at them while leaping to dodge enemy fire. You can also choose to play either Sasuke the Android or a snack-minded ninja named Ebisumaru. Sasuke is quick with better jumping prowess, but fires weapons weakly, while Ebisumaru has the opposite attributes. To our dismay, world traversal is very slow with scrolling screens a la Zelda 1 and combat is repetitive and uninspired. The addition of mini-games does shake up the action, yet it hardly saves the main game. We urge the curious to rent, first.
Bomberman GB
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Hudson Soft
Release Date: April 1998
Best Feature: Diverse Areas
Ka-Boom! The bomb-throwing legend makes his way to portables with Bomberman GB. This handheld offering continues the tradition of solving puzzles and eliminating baddies with explosives. Graphically, it meets expectations. Standard fare with a hint of pizazz on Super Game Boy. Story Mode is your solo experience, packed with roughly 50 levels to conquer with various themes to keep the visuals interesting. Go from dense forests to ancient ruins, tackling numerous obstacles along the way. Stages contain plenty of challenging enemies as well as power-ups to help give you an edge. You can also select Battle Mode for classic-style Bomberman with lovely multi-player action. Either connect two Game Boy systems with a link cable for one-on-one, or, with Super GB and a multitap, play with up to four players. Innovative, yet not exactly practical. BGB does manage to successfully cram the console experience to the small screen! Fans ought to try it out.
Mickey Mouse Wands
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Kemco
Release Date: May 1998
Best Feature: Great For Kids
Oh no! An evil wizard captured all of Mickey's friends! It's up to the big cheese himself to hunt down the sorcerer and rescue his pals. Mickey Mouse: Magic Wands from Kemco is a puzzle-platformer composed of about 40 total stages. In each, Mickey will explore the castle corridors, uncover secret warp panels, and splice together portraits based on famous Disney characters. This cart's controls are ultra simple, with Mickey's movement restrained to walking, jumping, climbing ladders, and activating items. That's all! The puzzles grow slightly trickier deeper with later stages incorporating ice bridges, falling obstacles, and some meager boss battles, but a gentle learning curve makes the experience a breeze and perfect for younger players. Visually and musically, there is little to celebrate with Magic Wands. You do receive a fancy border and full color cutscenes on SGB, at least. All well and good, but hardly merits a second-look.
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