Category Archives: Reviews

LegoLand Reality meets Lego Game

Ring…Ring…Hi! This is Jonathan Ablebody the LegoLand Duty Manager. Congratulations, you have just bean hired as the new LegoLand Trainee Park Manager. Lets meet the rest of your staff. There’s Professor Voltage the park scientist and inventor of new rides, JP the parks chief mechanic, Bob Longtree the parks chief landscaper, and who can forget Rosie Brickolini a cousin to Mama Brickolini from Lego Island and the master Chef of LegoLand. The objective of LegoLand is to build a working theme park using rides, attractions, restaurants and landscapes from four different themes including LegoLand, castle, wild west, and adventure themes. … Continue reading LegoLand Reality meets Lego Game

MidiLand S4 is symphony of sound

It was not hard to believe how clear the MidiLand S4 7100 multichannel computer speaker system sounds, or how loud it is, or even that it is far better than my high-end car or home stereo. What is interesting is that the speakers actually improved my game play both in terms of better scores and in my overall enjoyment. Forget the industry standard of four speakers because MidiLand throws another one into the mix. It makes my office seem as acoustically correct as a concert hall. An additional satellite speaker handles a specific range of the audio spectrum and also … Continue reading MidiLand S4 is symphony of sound

Traitors Gate is crown jewel of two companies

When Daydream (the makers of Safecracker, one of my all-time favorite puzzle games) and Dreamcatcher (the publishers of Cydonia, one of my all-time favorite puzzle games (notice the pattern?)) got together to bring us a new puzzle game, I thought I’d be in heaven. And mostly, I was. Traitors Gate is a totally brilliant game with beautiful art, a fabulous interface, engaging sound, and best of all – ingenious puzzles. It is marred only by some loading and startup problems that I will get into later. In the game, you are Raven, an agent with the CIA. The head of … Continue reading Traitors Gate is crown jewel of two companies

Diablo II is devilishly good!

Is it too early in my GiN career to give a game a perfect score? Yes, but I’ll do it anyway for Diablo II. Just be careful when you play this game, it has a powerful nicotine-like addiction. It’s the crack cocaine of computer games. You just can’t stop playing it. It’s easy to get into, but darn hard to walk away from. Case in point: a friend of mine played straight for about 20 hours. But it gets worse"at four in the morning during his binge, he returned from the bathroom and realized that he had locked himself out … Continue reading Diablo II is devilishly good!

World Series 2K1 loses big

Sega’s World Series baseball lineup, until now, always appeared a sure thing to me. It all started when I played the original World Series for the Genesis, which was developed by Blue Sky. This company was also responsible for great Genesis classics such as the Vectorman series. When the Saturn was released in 95, a new Japanese-based development house released their smash hit Greatest Nine to the states, naming it again World Series Baseball. It was one of the earlier launches capable of stealing some thunder from the EA Sports titles released for the PlayStation. As each year passed, the … Continue reading World Series 2K1 loses big

Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram is a stupendous sequel

Sega’s Virtual On will always have a place in my heart as one of my all-time favorite Saturn titles. It also is a title responsible for me spending a lot of money at the local Dave & Buster’s a few years ago. It is such a simple game to get into, yet a challenge to master. True one-on-one mech combat against another human opponent is now possible, and as a result, long lines were common. It was just as much fun to watch a battle as it was to play. Pictures of Virtual On Oratorio Tangram (henceforth known as Virtual … Continue reading Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram is a stupendous sequel

Super Scattergories is scatter-brained fun

From the time you hear the beginning swinging tidings of the Super Scattergories’ theme song, you know that you are in for quite a fun and intense ride. Hasbro Interactive has brought the word category board game Scattergories to the CD-ROM platform. Super Scattergories can be played in a variety of ways. Gaming options include playing solo, Network mode, head to head with another player, or in teams of players. A hints option is given if players would like some help along the way with the game. Don’t worry if you aren’t an expert typist with this game. It only … Continue reading Super Scattergories is scatter-brained fun

Colin McRae Rally: How The Rest Of The World Races Cars

Have you ever imagined yourself in a VW Golf sliding at 90 miles per hour down a muddy slope in New Zealand"sideways!? Well, that is exactly what you will experience in Colin McRae Rally. This game shows you how rough racing really can get. We’re talking off-road racing in cars that you can find cruising around downtown! The idea behind Colin McRae Rally is that it will accurately recreate for you the excitement and feeling of actual rally racing. Rally racing is different from NASCAR racing or Formula One racing. It is much more off-road than a typical race track. … Continue reading Colin McRae Rally: How The Rest Of The World Races Cars

Airplay Wireless Controller is unstoppable

The problems with infrared wireless controllers has always been the reliability of working correctly more than a few feet away from the main console. Another problem often occurs when an object (like your dog, cat, or significant other ) moves in front of the console and disrupts the signal. The interesting thing is that the Airplay wireless controller has eliminated both of these gaming obstacles, and a lot of headaches along with them. Eleven Engineering Inc., the makers of the Airplay, claim the controller will operate as far away as 25 feet, even without a clear line of sight. The … Continue reading Airplay Wireless Controller is unstoppable

Vagrant Story is perfection in motion

Well, it finally happened. After over a year of reviewing games for GiN, I found a game worthy of a perfect score – 5 GiN Gems. Playing like a medieval Metal Gear Solid, Vagrant Story delivers a perfect combination of adventure, RPG gameplay and one hell of an awesome story (get it, story — oh, never mind). With graphics rivaling anything seen on a Playstation and a plot nearly equaling Xenogears, Vagrant Story sucks you in from moment numero uno and never lets go. Everything about this game is top-notch and Square couldn’t have picked a better leadoff hitter for … Continue reading Vagrant Story is perfection in motion