Category Archives: Reviews

Capcom loads titles on Sega Dreamcast

Capcom has been on a roll lately. In the past several months alone, three titles have been released. First of all, we have the impressive anime mech-style Tech Romancer, the long awaited Street Fighter 3, and the much anticipated sequel to Marvel Vs. Capcom. I had a chance to try out all these titles, but for the time being I wanted to review SF3 and MVC2 because over the last few years, since the days of X-Men back in 1994, there has been a heated debate. On one side of the argument, you have the Street Fighter series that has … Continue reading Capcom loads titles on Sega Dreamcast

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!

Space Channel 5 is a dance party

Sega’s first attempt in the dance/rhythm genre comes right off their impressive showing at E3 last month. Space Channel 5 was hyped by Sega with an elaborate setting, complete with cage dancers, future-retro backdrops, and an LED display simply stating "Launching June 6, 2000!" After seeing this display, I started to gain interest in the title although the dance/rhythm games don’t really appeal to me. Granted, I went through both Parappa and Bust-a-Groove on the PlayStation, but they were finished in only a matter of hours, resulting in a short, shallow experience. I had a gut feeling that Sega would … Continue reading Space Channel 5 is a dance party

Dead or Alive 2 kills

Tecmo’s Dead or Alive was released back in 1996 for both the Sega Saturn and the Sony PlayStation. Being based on Sega’s own Model 2 engine (which was previously used for Daytona USA, Fighting Vipers, and Virtua Fighter 2), it was no surprise that this game looked like its arcade predecessor on the Saturn. However, on the PlayStation, the characters might have looked more rounded, but the backgrounds were extremely flat (partly due to the Saturn using its special VDP2 processor to generate the backdrops). Unfortunately, to see DOA on the Saturn you would have had to own an import … Continue reading Dead or Alive 2 kills

Crazy Taxi is one wild ride

Crazy Taxi’s release in arcades last fall came as a big surprise. After all, who would have thought that a game based on driving a taxi cab through a city that looks like a cross between San Francisco and Pittsburgh would provide so much playability, so much action and so much fun. To me, playing it is the greatest cure for road rage since Carmageddon on the PC. The best part of the arcade game is that is runs on Sega’s NAOMI board, which is basically a Dreamcast board with extra RAM and the game code embedded on the board’s … Continue reading Crazy Taxi is one wild ride

Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine will compete w/Lara

The year 1999, and the start of 2000 for that matter, has been an interesting one for George Lucas. First of all, there was major criticism about his much-hyped Phantom Menace, especially in relation to the heavily-despised character Jar Jar Binks, and the ongoing controversy about no DVD release plans in the near future. The controversies continue to this day about who is going to play Anakin Skywalker in Episode II, with most of the rumors directed towards Leonardo DiCaprio (gag, barf, retch!), and there is also talk about a fourth Indiana Jones movie in the future. In the meantime … Continue reading Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine will compete w/Lara

Dukes of Hazzard: Racing for Home is stuck in the pits

When the powers that be here at GiN first gave me Dukes of Hazzard: Racing for Home to review I thought that Christmas had arrived early. What red-blodded American male could resist finally being able to live out their boyhood dreams and play as Bo and Luke Duke driving around in the General Lee battling Boss Hogg and Roscoe? I’ve been told I said something like, "This is the happiest day of my life!" before racing off to the testing center. Oh how wrong I was. The crux of my review for Dukes of Hazzard lies in four words — … Continue reading Dukes of Hazzard: Racing for Home is stuck in the pits

Boombots is fast and fun

Boombots is a comedic hi-tech fighting game set in the far future (the year is 15 million to be precise.) You must pick one of 10 Boombots and battle your way thru several stages in order to save the world. Boombots are robots specially designed to protect the earth from the nefarious Mandu and his legions of evil space cats. Sound silly yet? The year is 15 million and earth has been conquered by Mandu and his alien cats from outer space. Doctor Pick, an earth scientist, has designed 10 different Boombots; Boomer, Chickie Boom, Doggie-Dog, Mobie Tank, Airplane, Hans … Continue reading Boombots is fast and fun

Quake 3: Arena is multiplayer mayhem

Let me start this review of Quake 3: Arena by saying that comparing this game with Unreal Tournament is inevitable. They are both superior in their own ways. Both involve hard-core deathmatches set on a grand scale, but where UT specializes in both single play and multiplay with all new tweaks, Quake 3: Arena (Q3A) sticks with the classic deathmatch engine, and in essence, this is not a bad idea. Now we know that the Quake series has never been well known for plot, and Q3A is no exception. The manual does explain about an alien race called the Vadrigar … Continue reading Quake 3: Arena is multiplayer mayhem

Button up for action with Gulf War: Operation Desert Hammer

The army has just finished the first production version of their latest mobile destruction center (better known as a main battle tank), the M12 Hammer, and they have put YOU in the commanders seat! Where you go from here is completely up to you! The setting is the desert of the Middle East and "It is up to you to finally eliminate the desert dictator and his terrorist army, now known as the Federation of Militant Equal Nationalists (FMEN). Good luck." With these words Gulf War, the latest tank simulation from 3DO and Military Channel, send you off into the … Continue reading Button up for action with Gulf War: Operation Desert Hammer