Review by: Scott Steinberg
Published: February 11, 2000

Console owners have never found their selection of racing games to be lacking, with store shelves virtually flooded by products that offer everything from four-wheel offroad action to aerial encounters. It’s a shame the same can’t be said for quality titles of this nature, because for every mesmerizing souped-up convertible of a racer out there, there’s around five or six lemons waiting on the lot. “Caveat emptor” may be an acceptable policy in the marketplace at large, but it’s hardly a friendly attitude for a game company to adopt. ( read more… )

Review by: Scott Steinberg
Published: February 5, 2000

No matter how much they may deserve, some products just can’t get a fair shake. It’s a common problem that occurs when jaded reviewers receive a title that looks similar at first glance to hundreds of other titles, and don’t spend the time to delve deep enough to look for the game’s substance. Unfortunately for Armada, the latest title from Metro 3D, whose Star Command for the PC went largely unnoticed, this process appears to have garnered somewhat unfavorable reviews with the print media. Based upon its looks, people have been quick to label it an Asteroids clone and arguably the lamest game for the Dreamcast, but they couldn’t have been farther from the truth. ( read more… )

Review by: Scott Steinberg
Published: February 1, 2000

Just as Boy George and Frankie Goes to Hollywood were very much a product of the 80s, so, too, was the beat ‘em up. Gamers stood in line with baited breath to be awed by the stunning 2D side-scrolling graphics, massive kung-fu moves, and power hits that helped titles such as Splatterhouse, Alien Storm, and Double Dragon establish a strong fan base amongst teenage males. In the early 90s, we began to see a decline in popularity for the genre, despite the release of some of its greatest titles, including Final Fight and Aliens vs. Predator. Operating in a climate where retro gaming is on everyone’s mind, however, it’s hardly a surprise that several publishers have decided to resurrect the beat ‘em up. ( read more… )

Review by: Scott Steinberg
Published: January 25, 2000

Midway has their business formula down pat when it comes to creating action-intensive arcade machines, then porting their quarter-munching creations to every platform imaginable. One of the areas in which they’ve been the most successful in this regard is sports-related titles, including the huge success of NFL Blitz. Now it looks as if Midway is ready to duke it out with NBA Jam, the king of arcade basketball sims, as it brings NBA Showtime: The NBA on NBC home for the Nintendo 64. ( read more… )

Review by: Scott Steinberg
Published: January 22, 2000

Across the board, developers and publishers are eternally striving for a big hit, and once in a while, a few of these digital prospectors actually strike gold. Everyone assumes that things become rosy for the lucky parties in question, but bringing fame and fortune to a brand name isn’t as wonderful as some might believe. Consider that the rewards for success are fleeting, and that when the money runs out, it’s up to the people behind a big franchise to churn out sequels that live up to the lofty standards set by the original game. ( read more… )

Review by: Scott Steinberg
Published: January 19, 2000

Weighing in as one of America’s most popular sports, it’s odd that basketball has never gotten the treatment it deserves when one thinks about digital recreation. Most of us have probably witnessed more than our fair share of basketball simulations dribble their way right off store shelves and into the bargain bin, and with good reason. From outright poor attempts to cash in on players to shoddy simulations and lame spin-offs, we’ve seen it all. ( read more… )

Review by: Scott Steinberg
Published: January 18, 2000

UbiSoft has come a long way over the years, rising from its humble beginnings in France to international stardom. Still, the publisher has failed to make a big splash in the American market. It’s not because of a lack of effort, though, as many of their original creations, most notably Rayman, enjoy great popularity overseas. While Monsieur R was making a stunning second appearance last year with the release of Rayman 2, UbiSoft was also hard at work on another project named Tonic Trouble, designed to follow the path charted by their favored son. Three years in the making, with an initial launch mere months ago, one is inevitably left to wonder: Is Tonic Trouble the heir to Rayman‘s throne, or just the wayward child? ( read more… )

Review by: Scott Steinberg
Published: January 15, 2000

When it comes to video games, few sports have been given as royal a treatment as football. From before the days of the Super Nintendo and Genesis to the current age, no other spectacle of professional competition has been featured in as wide a selection of titles. As the years rolled by, the quality of most of these products has improved bit by bit–no pun intended–but I’d thought we’d just about seen the peak of this trend in recent years. Up until a few months ago, things were looking pretty bleak, with Acclaim’s NFL Quarterback Club series struggling to catch up to Electronic Arts’ famous Madden NFL line, which was beginning to get a bit stale. ( read more… )

Review by: Scott Steinberg
Published: January 11, 2000

Monolith’s Shogo may have whet our appetites for giant robot-themed games, but thanks to a number of bugs and unrealized potential, it proved to be more of an appetizer than anything else. With few other tasty treats in sight following its release, Infogrames’ Slave Zero, which was revealed over a year ago, looked to be the main course we’d been waiting for all along. Hungry players could look forward to picking up a massive vehicle of destruction and taking revenge on an evil dictator bent on world domination, a dish that appeared to be best served cold. Now, after months in the icebox, Slave Zero has emerged to soothe our taste for destruction, but it prompted me to wonder–Did Infogrames attempt to bite off more than they could chew? ( read more… )

Review by: Scott Steinberg
Published: January 8, 2000

Acclaim may have achieved tremendous success with their Turok line of first-person shooters amongst console audiences, but few would argue that these titles were not heavily influenced by PC gaming trends. After all, titles such as Duke Nukem 3D and Quake helped establish the formula of visceral action combined with reflex-intensive play that Turok was based upon. ( read more… )

Review by: Scott Steinberg
Published: January 5, 2000

Originally coming from a PC gaming background, I wasn’t expecting much from 3DO’s BattleTanx: Global Assault. After all, the vehicle-based shooter wasn’t exactly a popular genre for computer-oriented publishers nor a profitable one as titles such as Grolier’s Tank Racer proved when it lived up to its namesake and tanked heavily when it came to sales. Nevertheless, I’d heard good things about 3DO’s prominent N64 series and did get a few laughs out of the commercial in which the Snuggle bear gets the stuffing blown out of it. ( read more… )

Review by: Scott Steinberg
Published: December 31, 1999

Emerging from the murky depths of the past decade’s pool of coin-op releases, the Virtua Fighter series had established itself as one of the premier names in one-on-one combat. Titles that bore the brand may have lacked the ghoulish touches that were hallmarks of Mortal Kombat or the combination-move intensive Street Fighter games, but what they lacked in flair they more than made up for in finesse. Designed with martial arts purists in mind, these products proved that authenticity, attention to detail, accuracy, and precision could be combined into a fascinating blend that was just as attractive and fun as any of the more exotic offerings out there. ( read more… )

Review by: Scott Steinberg
Published: December 29, 1999

A decade or so ago, when interactive entertainment was in its adolescence and games were still based on simple premises, Paperboy made its first appearance. One of the quirkiest titles at the time, it was your goal to deliver newspapers with precision aim to houses in a given amount of time while speeding around on a bicycle and avoiding various obstacles thrown your way. We may never know how, but the offering gained a cult following of sorts, prompting the release of several home versions of the coin-op favorite. Now that we’re ten years down the road and publishers have a penchant for retro gaming, Paperboy 64 has arrived for the Nintendo 64, and it’s time to regress into our youth once again. ( read more… )

Review by: Scott Steinberg
Published: December 9, 1999

Highly detailed vehicular simulations may lack the widespread appeal of their less realistic compatriots, but as titles such as Microsoft’s CART Precision Racing prove, there’s still a market for them. Aside from a few offerings such as Ubi Soft’s brilliant Monaco Grand Prix, until now this type of game has for the most part been the exclusive property of the PC platform. With the release of the immensely powerful Dreamcast console, however, opportunities have been created for developers to step in and set the record straight. And who better than Sega themselves to take the first, brave strides toward filling such a void in the marketplace with the release of their latest title, Flag to Flag. ( read more… )

Review by: Scott Steinberg
Published: December 8, 1999

Jay-Z said it was a hard knock life, and his statement couldn’t ring with more truth in terms of console and computer boxing simulations. It’s a genre that’s had it ups and downs, but over the years garnered grudging respect thanks to phenomenal titles such as Microprose’s 4D Boxing, Nintendo’s Mike Tyson’s Punch Out and the newly released Ready 2 Rumble Boxing from Midway. Although these titles never failed to capture the imaginations of fans of the sport, it’s only in recent years that we’ve begun to see a resurgence in their appearance. As a given rule, you can always expect to find bad apples in every bunch though, as Sony’s Contender and Data Becker’s KO prove, so I tried not to get my hopes up when it came to Knockout Kings 2000, EA’s latest effort. ( read more… )