Review by: Scott Steinberg
Published: September 24, 1999

When it comes to outdoor recreation, I like fishing as much as the next guy, but I’ll admit that when I first heard fishing games were heading to PCs and home consoles, I was a bit dubious. Despite my misgivings, it seems as if I should have kept my mind open, as the impressive sales figures from successful titles such as Sierra’s Trophy Bass 3D and THQ’s Bass Masters series prove. As every gamer casting their line out in search of a new title knows, when the scent of money is in the air, publishers just can’t resist the bait, and it was only a matter of time before someone reeled a fishing title for the Nintendo 64 into their lineup (how’s that for a pun?). ( read more… )

Review by: Scott Steinberg
Published: September 10, 1999

It’s not an uncommon thing to see titles being ported from one platform to another, and when a PC title usually makes its console debut, the first system we see it for is the PlayStation. That being the case, it came as something of a shock when Rockstar Games had announced that it was bringing Microsoft’s hit PC title, Monster Truck Madness, to the Nintendo 64. Although the Nintendo 64 market seems to be cluttered with racing titles, none had featured the crushing attitude of a monster truck game, and so quite a few of us were anticipating the release of Monster Truck Madness 64. ( read more… )

Review by: Scott Steinberg
Published: September 3, 1999

Throughout the 80s and early 90s, countless coin-op and console offerings took a hint from classics like Double Dragon, and although many of these titles were destined to flop, still more have gone down in history as classics. Take, for instance, the Turbo Grafx 16′s SplatterHouse series of games or other long lost favorites along the lines of P.O.W., Final Fight or the coin-op version of Aliens vs. Predator. Considering that just about every genre out there has made something of a small comeback when the 3D generation of consoles hit the market, it’s a bit odd that, despite this trend, beat ‘em up style titles are still few and far between. As a matter of fact, in recent memory, all I can recall are Sega’s Die Hard Arcade and THQ Europe’s Legend. ( read more… )

Review by: Scott Steinberg
Published: August 24, 1999

When it was released back in 1997, the original Legacy of Kain didn’t make too many waves. That’s not to say it wasn’t a good game. Quite the contrary, actually, as it was an entertaining Legend of Zelda-style action RPG that followed the exploits of a vampire who had risen from the grave to take revenge upon his slayers. While it introduced a few neat little touches to the genre, like the ability to quickly drain a stunned opponent of blood, for the most part it went unrecognized amongst the slew of titles that found their way onto shelves that year. Nonetheless, the game enjoyed something of a cult following, and fans have been eagerly awaiting the release of the latest title in the series, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, for quite some time now. ( read more… )

Review by: Scott Steinberg
Published: August 17, 1999

Unsurprisingly, as anyone who follows the “sport” can tell you, professional wrestling’s mainstream popularity waxes and wanes with the years, as does the quality of the wrestling-themed games accordingly produced. During the rather brief moments when we see proper synergy between the two industries, the results can be stunning, such as in the case of amazing titles as WCW/NWO Revenge and WWF War Zone. Unfortunately, at other times, there’s a breakdown of the system, resulting in sub-par efforts like WCW Nitro that are so bad they make players want to cry. However, just as there are always die-hard fans who stand behind the brutal action offered by the WCW and WWF, there are fans who stand behind the console titles as well, and we’ve been waiting anxiously for WWF Attitude to arrive. ( read more… )

Review by: Scott Steinberg
Published: August 3, 1999

If there’s one thing the PlayStation gets in abundance, it’s 3D platformers, and yet it’s a rare occasion when one of these titles proves good enough to make the cut. Even so, the brain-child of developers Argonaut and publisher Fox Interactive made a reasonable enough debut in his premier title Croc, and apparently he made enough of an impression upon players to warrant a sequel. That’s right, Croc the Crocodile is back, and Argonaut has given us the chance to continue our scaly, green hero’s adventures once again. It’s Lake Placid meets Barney the Dinosaur as Croc sets out on a mission to defeat the evil Baron Dante once and for all, and he’s even partnered up with Life Savers candies to do it. ( read more… )

Review by: Scott Steinberg
Published: July 28, 1999

Having arrived on PC monitors worldwide last year courtesy of Midas Interactive and Intense Entertainment, Castrol Honda Superbike Racing (CHSR) was released to little acclaim. Although the sequel, Castrol Honda Superbike 2000 has already begun making an appearance on store shelves throughout Europe this month, it appears as if the original game has made one last pit stop on the PSX, almost as an afterthought. It appears as if Electronic Arts has been reaching out to external teams more and more these days to beef up their EA Sports lineup (as evidenced by the acquisition of titles such as Sports Car GT from Virgin, etc.), and I’m sure UK-based Interactive Entertainment (the people responsible for this one) were happy to ride the coattails of EA’s massive distribution network. ( read more… )

Review by: Scott Steinberg
Published: July 22, 1999

After years of publishing video games, Disney Interactive has established a fairly impressive reputation for itself as one of the premier providers of entertainment titles for console systems. Despite recent hiccups with such titles as the disappointing A Bug’s Life, Disney has managed to distinguish itself with a quality lineup ranging from The Jungle Book to Hercules. Oddly enough, bucking industry trends, they’ve done this by focusing on one genre of games in particular, that being the platformer. ( read more… )

Review by: Scott Steinberg
Published: July 13, 1999

When it comes to racing games these days, there just hasn’t been too much innovation in the gameplay aspects of these titles. Though some developers opt to put the focus on intense, pedal-to-the-metal type arcade action and an over the top gaming experience, others have chosen to accurately model a number of vehicles ranging from motorcycles to boats and everything in between. Players have been treated to a number of audio and visual enhancements with the latest crop of products on the market, but are these enough to interest the discriminating gamer? ( read more… )