Sega Genesis / Sega MegaDrive	Rating		Originally published on:
FIFA Soccer '95	8	[full review]	Sega-16
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade	3	[full review]	Sega-16
International Superstar Soccer Deluxe	7	[full review]	Sega-16
Mr. Nutz	4	[full review]	Sega-16
Out of this World (Another World)	8	[full review]	Sega-16
Pete Sampras Tennis	8	[full review]	Sega-16
Pit-Fighter	7	[full review]	Sega-16
Smurfs, The	6	[full review]	Sega-16
World Cup Italia '90 (World Championship Soccer)	2	[full review]	Sega-16
Sega CD
Rise of the Dragon	8,2	[full review]	Defunct Games
Sega 32X
Metal Head	5,0	[full review]	Defunct Games
Star Wars Arcade	5,1	[full review]	Defunct Games
Virtua Fighter	8,0	[full review]	Defunct Games
Sega Master System
Alex Kidd in Miracle World	8,4	[full review]	Defunct Games
Cosmic Spacehead	6,0	[full review]	Defunct Games
King's Quest	6,5	[full review]	Defunct Games
Ninja, The	7,5	[full review]	Defunct Games
Rainbow Islands	5,5	[full review]	Defunct Games
Sega Game Gear
Bubble Bobble	9,5	[full review]	Defunct Games
Bust-A-Move	6,0	[full review]	Defunct Games
Double Dragon	3,0	[full review]	Defunct Games
Panzer Dragoon Mini	3,0	[full review]	Defunct Games
Sega Saturn
Athlete Kings (Decathlete)	6,0	[full review]	Defunct Games
Bubble Bobble ft. Rainbow Islands	7,0	[full review]	Defunct Games
Last Bronx	5,3	[full review]	Defunct Games
Manx TT Super Bike	8,1	[full review]	Defunct Games
Sega Rally Championship	9,2	[full review]	Defunct Games
Sega Worldwide Soccer '97	8,8	[full review]	Defunct Games
Sega Worldwide Soccer '98	8,9	[full review]	Defunct Games
Shinobi X (Shinobi Legions)	7,2	[full review]	Defunct Games
Street Racer	6,8	[full review]	Defunct Games
Tomb Raider	2,0	[full review]	Defunct Games
UEFA Euro '96	0,5	[full review]	Defunct Games
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3	4,0	[full review]	Defunct Games
WipEout 2097 (WipEout XL)	7,5	[full review]	Defunct Games
World League Soccer '98	6,0	[full review]	Defunct Games
Worms	5,5	[full review]	Defunct Games
Philips CD-i
Apprentice, The	8,5	[full review]	Defunct Games
Burn: Cyle	8,0	[full review]	Defunct Games
Chaos Control	2,5	[full review]	Defunct Games
Litil Divil	6,0	[full review]	Defunct Games
Marco Polo	2,0	[full review]	Defunct Games
Micro Machines	0,5	[full review]	Defunct Games
Monty Python's Invasion from the Planet Skyron	7,2	[full review]	Defunct Games
Mutant Rampage: Bodyslam	6,5	[full review]	Defunct Games
Pac-Panic	6,4	[full review]	Defunct Games
Tetris	7,0	[full review]	Defunct Games
Whack-a-Bubble	5,5	[full review]	Defunct Games
Zelda's Adventure	6,5	[full review]	Defunct Games
Bandai Wonderswan Color
Final Lap Special	7,0	[full review]	Defunct Games
Kinnikuman Second Generations Dream Tag Match	7,5	[full review]	Defunct Games
Rockman EXE WS	8,5	[full review]	Defunct Games
Ultraman	5,0	[full review]	Defunct Games
TurboGrafx-16
Parasol Stars	7,5	[full review]	Defunct Games
PC / Mac
Gadget: Invention, Travel & Adventure	2/5	[full review]	Adventure Classic Gaming
Indiana Jones & His Desktop Adventures	2/5	[full review]	Adventure Classic Gaming
Out of this World (Another World)	4/5	[full review]	Adventure Classic Gaming
Rise of the Dragon	4/5	[full review]	Adventure Classic Gaming
Gameboy Advance/ Nintendo DS Ratings		[GBA/NDS Ratings]
Links		[links]

You play private investigator (though you're usually less flattering addressed as "private dick") William "Blade" Hunter, a guy with a big mouth but also a lot of humor. Anyway, the Major wants you to rescue his daughter out of some drug conspiracy. He consulted William and not the official authorities, because he won't like it when his name will be linked in one way or another to illegal drugs! While it might seem that William just has to find the Major's daughter, it turns out to be all a lot of a bigger conspiracy than one could ever have thought of.

Rise of the Dragon is an adventure where you largely play in a first-person perspective. There are some "action" parts (two, to be exact), but that's about it. Your inventory can be found at the bottom right side of the screen. It takes a little while to get used to using the inventory, because it's a bit laborious, but it isn't too much trouble (though I'll never get used to playing this kind of games with a joy pad instead of a mouse).

Rise of the Dragon can be a very frustrating game; there are a lot of ways to get stuck. First of all, there are a lot of ways to die -- getting kicked by some filthy night porters, drop off a platform, getting electrocuted by plugging connecting wrong wires and so on -- which leads you to the "game over" and you need to start the game from the beginning again. However, more frustrating is that when you say something wrong (especially to your girlfriend or a guy in the bar nicknamed "The Jake") the people around you won't talk to you anymore. You'll find out that without their help you are unable to finish the game, unfortunately you'll waste a lot of time before you figure this out.

As I said, when you know what to do the game is very short. But it is re-playable for some time, because there are different possibilities to end the game (e.g. save your girlfriend or not?). I really liked the puzzles (though the bit in which you have to connect wires can be frustrating as hell - save game!!), the dark atmosphere, the excellent music, and the adult humor of the game.

Of course, there are some major differences between the Sega CD and the PC/Mac versions of this title. First of all, there is voice acting here. The voice of Hunter is done by someone called Cam Clarke, a guy I have never heard off. Secondly the color pallet of the Sega CD isn't as broad as the PC-version, so it looks a bit like all the surroundings have been grown over by a lot of moss - or had some sort of Matrix-recycling. I mean it's really green. But the atmosphere is still there, so I'll forgive all that.

Two other changes are less forgivable. The "action" sequences (a bit crappy platform bits) could be avoided on the PC-versions (if you died a few times, you could pick "skip sequence"), but here you actually have to finish them on your own! So, adventure-gamers, prepare for a little bit of compulsory platform shooting. However, though the action bits aren't all that great, I'll admit it's a nice alternation on the typical adventure stuff (asking questions, searching and stuff like that). Worst of all is that Rise of the Dragon on the Sega CD has been censored (e.g. some mid-sequences of a 'French kiss' and an implied sexy night which Blade spends by his girlfriend have been left out). I understood that this was done because there was a lot fuss about violence and "inappropriate content" in videogames in those days, but it's kind of strange, since the game was intended for a mature audience (it received an MA-17 label by Sega of America, so why bother!?).

Overall, Rise of the Dragon on the Sega isn't as good as the PC version, but it's a decent port of a solid adventure game. If you like thrilling adventure games you really should check this out. (Defunct Games, 30/6/'06)

Metal Head is actually more like a first-person shooter than a traditional Mech simulation. The graphics, which are rendered in texture mapped polygons, are quite impressive for a 32X game. Although all proceeding may sound as a basis for a pretty decent game, Metal Head has three problematic issues.

First of all, the game is S-L-O-W as hell. Your Mech moves like it is stuck in clay. Luckily, there is a strive button, which speeds your vehicle up a little. When I was playing I found myself holding down that button all the time, because without it the slowness is so staggeringly the game is practical unplayable.

Between the missions it is possible to buy gadgets for your Mech, also in stock is extra speed, but that doesn't help very much either. The second crucial problem of the game concerns the radar. Usually missions imply shooting all the enemies on the map. Those enemies are indicated on the radar by yellow signals. Most of the time you will be looking more at the radar than at the actual playing screen. But if you have been hit too many times, the radar will first dysfunction and finally break, leaving the player with no clue where he is nor where he has to go! Walking around aimlessly, waiting until the time has run out and you must start all over again, seems to be biggest part of the gameplay of the game.

The third problem is smaller, but still not very convenient. The shooting arrow is just a little orange dot with little red angles around it. Very often it is very hard see, making shooting at enemies feel more like you are randomly shooting around than actually pointing at a specific target.

Though at first glance Metal Head isn't bad, these problems make the game very annoying. The first missions, which are easy, are quite fun, but when you have to 'locate' buildings (without a clue where to go), the fun diminish greatly. The one time I made it in some building; I also noticed that if there is too much on screen the game slows down even more. The weapons and add-ons you can buy between the stages aren't very encouraging either: Hard-to-aim-laser, too-close-range-grenade canons which make the game harder instead of being any help to the player.

The audio isn't anything special but not bad and the control is accurate (which shouldn't be too hard for such a slow game!) ... especially with the six-point controller.

Metal Head has received some real thrashing reviews a long time after the game was released, which isn't completely fair. It was one of the main titles on the 32X and is definitely better than crap like Motorcross Championship, Primal Rage, BC Racers or Cosmic Carnage. Metal Head is more like one of those other 32X flagship titles: Knuckles Chaotix. Just like that game, the intention was good, but the idea just doesn't really work and the very moderate way in which both games have been worked out doesn't really help as well. Overall, Metal Head is a very average game, but quite a showcase for your 32X as long as it doesn't move. (Defunct Games, 20/8/'06)

Star Wars Arcade starts off nicely. The control is easy enough (just point and shoot), and the universe is what you would expect from, well, space. Yes, I know it's quite dark, but what else should space look like? The game reminded me of the first Rebel Assault on the PC. In that game you also have a prescribed route from which you cannot deviate in any way. The only thing to do is blast you way through Tie Fighters.

The sound in Star Wars Arcade is excellent, especially when the enemies pass along the back of your X-wing, it's just like in the movies. There are two possible camera views; one from the cockpit and one from the back of your X-wing, both of which are useable. The game also pretends to have a two-player mode, but you shouldn't think too much of that. It only means the second player can control another gun on your ship.

Even if you are on your own, I advise you to select the 2-player mode and put a toe or something on the second joypad, because you'll need all the shooting power you can get. If you've read other reviews of Star Wars Arcade then you probably already know that everybody finds this game incredibly tough. And they're right, because it's hard to believe how freaking hard this game is. The first two or three levels are doable, but after that you're on your own. Sometimes an enemy just doesn't appear in front of your ship and your time runs out, which means you have to restart the whole level. What's worse, if there is too much action going on the screen the entire game slows down, making it even harder to control!

Star Wars Arcade isn't a bad game, but it's very short lived mainly due to the insane difficulty level. Maybe if you're a huge Star Wars fan it's worth a look, but out of the three launch titles of the 32X only Virtua Racing Deluxe seems to have withstood the test of time. Oh Sega, why oh why did you release an ugly mushroom for the Genesis without making many playable games? (Defunct Games, 6/8/'06)

When I first plugged the game into the system, one of my buddy's said: "It's BLOCKY. And if I want to play with something BLOCKY, I can return to the box of Lego I used to play with in my childhood. So let's play some Mortal Kombat." Well, I can't say Virtua Fighter isn't "blocky" but it's a bit unfair to trash the game just for using Sega's early polygon engine.

The biggest problem with Virtua Fighter on the 32X is its pointlessness, not only now, but even in the time it was released. It came out when the Saturn version was about to hit the market, so there wasn't really any need for a 32X port. But that doesn't mean that this 32X version isn't a high quality port of an arcade classic. Because it is, I would even say it's an excellent version. Yeah sure, maybe the graphics aren't great compared to the Saturn, but for a 32X game they're very well done.

All the characters are available; all the moves are in the manual; you can play arcade, versus, tournament or ranking mode; all the necessary options (camera, stage size, time limit, pad control - which even can be set to 'beginner' - are all available. It moves fast, though (as usual in Virtua Fighter) and the jumps are slow.

I find it hard to say anything about Virtua Fighter you don't already know. It's a nice game, and though all the moves are in the manual, we all know we use no more than five of them, 'cause the rest are too hard to perform or too ineffective to use.

The sound and music is really well done in this 32X port as well, with some exciting music and nice punch and kick sound effects. I especially like Sarah's stage, with the blocky lit floor and the fast-paced music.

Overall, there isn't much unfavorable to be said about 32X Virtua Fighter. It's probably, next to Virtua Racing Deluxe, one of the best games available for your Sega 32X. But, I'm not sure if that's a very big achievement, since most of the other 32X games are unbelievable crap. Virtua Fighter 32X is a nice showcase for one the most failed console add-ons of all time, but completely unnecessary if you already bought the Saturn version. (Defunct Games, 29/7/'06)

Alex doesn't look like a hippy in his first adventure. If his surname wasn't "Kidd" I would have sworn he was a little monkey without a tail. He is a nice little fellow with an enormous fist to defend himself from fearful enemies like parrots, fish, frogs and scorpions. However he is also able to pick up or buy additional weapons like magic rings, a shooting helicopter or a deadly tricycle.

For an early Master System title Alex Kidd in Miracle World is inspiring for how well this game aged. The graphics are bright and colorful; the sound effects are excellent and even the music is still catchy. It won't compete with the newest Xbox 360 games, but this adventure is a lot more fun than a lot of older games.

With a lot of early games you might have fond memories of them, but then when you revisit them they turn out to be barely playable. Alex Kidd in Miracle World is one of those games that didn't suffer from this common flaw. Alex still moves fast and the level designs are excellent. The only critical comment I can make is that estimating jumps is sometimes very hard. The control is a bit loose on this aspect, which makes it easy to jump just beside a platform what can be frustrating at times. But the additional weapons make up for this difficulty.

Alex Kidd in Miracle World isn't very easy since you are only given three lives and no continues. But when you lose a life you start from the spot you died, which I appreciated. Another memorable thing about this game are the bosses at the end of each level. Alex can't hit them, but has to oppose them by playing paper-rock-scissors, which are callend "Jankenmatches" (I believe 'Janken' is the Japanse word for the game). Since those guys always do the same, it's easy to beat them in a new game.

Alex Kidd in Miracle World is noticeable for being a 22 years old game that is still as playable now as it was when it was first released. Next to games like Golden Axe, Sonic, Bubble Bobble, Phantasy Star and Ghouls 'N Ghosts, it is a classic Master System title that is still worth checking out if you're into having a good 2D experience. (Defunct Games, 29/9/'06)

The story behind Cosmic Spacehead is extremely weird. The hero of the tale, Cosmic, is an alien who has once crashed with his spaceship into the "legendary planet Earth." But, returned to his home planet, his fellow aliens wouldn't quite believe him. (I ain't surprised. The famous French philosopher Jean-Paul Satre already mentionend the absurdity of life, so why would any alien believe in the existence of Earth - let alone humanity?). Anyway, Cosmic decides to return to Earth to take some pictures to show his teasing fellows. But before he can take off to our lovely planet again, he must acquire money, a space car and a camera on his home planet.

Cosmic has to travel between different locations, which traveling exists out of some of the most tedious platform bits I have ever experienced. He hasn't got any method of attacking enemies and touching one means you die. You just have to jump over them and gather some stuff which looks like alien candy bars to me. The places you travel between are more interesting. Here is where Cosmic Spacehead shows its adventure elements. The menu (with possible commands to look, pick up, talk, give and use) is very similar to the King's Quest menu system, but there isn't as much to do. With that, the environments on the exploring parts are completely 2D. It misses the freedom to move which was remarkable when used in King's Quest.

The puzzles aren't too hard, and there are some really funny touches (e.g. flying balloon unions as backdrops, giving a helium balloon to a huge monster to let him fly off), but overall the game is maybe a little too childish. However, it could have been a really decent game if it wasn't for the tiresome platform parts which add nothing but annoyance. The James Pond-like music can drive you insane as well, but the graphics are bright and large though they could have used more colors. Furthermore there is a 2-player mode as well, but that's just a boring mini-game which has nothing to do with the real game.

While King's Quest for the Master System didn't really age well, it's remarkable for a game that set new standards for the genre. Cosmic Spacehead is enjoyable for a while, but never quite manages to match King's Quest's uniqueness. Still, for the fans it's one of the few Sega 8-bit games to give you the chance to play a graphical adventure on your early Sega console. If you somehow really enjoy it, don't forget to check out the superior Genesis and PC outings of the game. (Defunct Games, 21/10/'06)

But Sierra was the first to successfully introduce true adventure games. King's Quest 1: Quest for the Crown is, just like the first part of Police Quest, Space Quest and Leisure Suite Larry, a predecessor of the proper point-n-click games these series would become. These early games are hard to define; they are something between the ancient text adventure in which you only saw text (e.g. Zork) and the classic point-n-click adventure (like Monkey Island) - which has by now also almost become obsolete.

In the first Sierra adventures on the PC you still had to type commands, like in text adventures, but you now saw the actually animated character you were commanding. This meant the game still relied primarily on textual input as interface. Of course, since the Master System didn't have any sort of keyboard available, such control was impossible for Sega's 8-Bit pride. Instead, possible commands have been preprogrammed and it is possible for the player to select them in text menus. E.g. if you're standing for a walnut you can either select "pick up" or "look at" the "walnut" and so on. It works quite well - at least you don't have to figure out what to type all by yourself (but the menus are a bit disorderly). Objects which are useable in some way show up in the same list as the objects you already got in your inventory, which makes it easy to miss crucial parts.

The story behind the first King's Quest is the basic stuff early adventure were known for - the King sends your character on a quest to get the Magic Mirror, Magic Shield and Magic Chest of Gold'. I am not kidding, that really is the whole idea of your quest! The graphics are actually better than the original PC version, which was quite pixelated. (But the PC remake of the game surpasses the graphics found in this Master System port). The audio isn't particular interesting: there is a cheesy tune on the title screen, but apart from that there is almost no sound to be heard. Your actions are accompanied by minimal bleep-sounds, which will be familiar to anyone who ever played a prehistoric DOS game.

For present-day gamers the gameplay is very repetitive and tedious. Often you will find yourself aimlessly wandering around without a clue what to do, hoping to see some object which happens to be preprogrammed in the text menu. The most annoying part, however, is the numerous ways in which your character can die. It even starts on the first screen of the game: if you don't manage to pass the bridge on the exact pixels, you'll get the message "You're in the deadly water. There is no hope" and die. Water seems to be very deadly in the world of King's Quest, and it will accidentally happen you drop into it and pass away. Some screens have been connected to other screens which have water on the edges. So, when walking in a new area, it's possible to drop into the rapids and die without even suspecting any form of danger! It makes it even harder that sometimes you are supposed to swim, but there is no way of telling the water in that spot isn't the deadly kind! If you die, you have to start the game all over again, which is a tedious process. However, it is possible to save your game mid-ways by mean of some sort of 30-letter password system. It is quite long to write down, but it works accurately.

Although one can be very critical of King's Quest, I still found it a unique experience to play a rare type of game like this on the Master System. It just differs so much from other games on the console it's almost an oddity. I think it is the only "graphic adventure" available on Sega's 8-bitter, but don't expect the same quality as LucasArts' amazing Maniac Manson which was released on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Overall, a game like King's Quest is barely enjoyable by today's standards, but you may like to check it out for its curiosity or historic and nostalgic values. (Defunct Games, 26/8/'06)

The story, which takes place around 1630, also contains those elements which are known to everyone who grew up with their mother reading fairy tales to them before bedtime (or with video games of the '80s). The concerning ninja has to save a princess and to do so he first has to find some obscure scrolls in order to infiltrate a palace that has been taken by some other indistinct villains.

This action game is viewed from the above and besides throwing shurikens, your ninja can also become an invisible whirlwind for a few seconds by pressing both action buttons at once. The graphics are quite plain compared to Master System titles as Golden Axe or Ghouls 'N Ghosts, but overall they are also very clear and sharp. There's a nice diversion of areas - in the second stage you've to avoid boulders, in the fifth you've got to cross a river by walking over drifting logs -, and the control of your ninja feels excellent. Each stage has to be completed by beating an end boss, which is always the same guy with a head that looks like an onion. Also, the up-tempo background music works pretty well.

Every time I play an 8-bit game, whether it is on the NES or Master System, I'm remembered how unbelievable hard some of the games were back in the '80s. For The Ninja goes exactly the same thing. There is no life meter, so if you take one hit you die. You only have a few lives, so it's obvious you shouldn't take too many hits. However, it's unbelievable easy to take cheap hits. The enemies have a tendency to surround our ninja and besiege him from several sides. They move rapidly and throw multiple shurikens and you, which makes it hard not to get hit. There are also enemy ninjas disguised as rocks, and those will only appear when you get close. Especially the bosses are a pain in the ass, since they move around even faster and throw multiple weapons at you. Luckily, there are some nice power-ups, but unfortunately they only work for a short time span. However, the biggest omission is the lack of a password system, which means you've to be a real gaming pro to actually finish the whole game. I didn't make it, because I suck at games as I told you before.

Overall, it's easy to get frustrated when playing 8-bit action games nowadays due to their occurring high difficulty settings. This is also true for The Ninja, but the game still has that mysterious element that makes you give it "just one more try", even if the same onion-looking guy killed you for the twentieth time in succession. For a game that's more than twenty years old, The Ninja is still quite fun. And it's about a ninja called Kazamuru. What more could you possibly ask for? (Defunct Games, 27/7/'07)

Luckily, I'm not living beneath a bridge yet, which means I can still - for the time being -review an ancient game for our nostalgic readers and educate the teen gamers something about the world's game history - the main purpose of your beloved site, Defunct Games.

Anyhow, today I'm going to talk about Rainbow Islands, one of the most disasppointing and overrated games in video game history. Rainbow Islands full title is 'Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2', because it is, as you'd expect, the sequel to one of the best games ever: Bubble Bobble. In Bubble Bobble the player assumed the role of two little bubble-blowing dragons who were actually two little boys, but changed by some nasty witch who also kidnapped their girlfriends. In Rainbow Islands you've been changed back to the ginger kid again and instead of bubbles they're creating rainbows out of their bodies (outch!) with which you can trap or take out enemies.

You also have to walk on the rainbows, because the levels are vertical and you've to go up. They're some bosses, power-ups and stuff like that, but overall nothing exciting. Biggest letdown is that this Sega Master System version of Rainbow Islands doesn't have a 2-player simultaneous mode, which diminishes most of the fun compared with Bubble Bobble. I find the gameplay becomes tedious rather quickly, the variation is too little and there isn't even one catchy tune to be heard (unlike the original Bubble Bobble).

The original Amiga edition of Rainbow Islands was very colorful (maybe a little too colorful at times, because the screen could become a real mess of colors and enemies which made it sometimes pretty hard), but the graphics of this Master System port are below quality. The whole game just looks shallow and grey, even the rainbows, which also tend to flicker a lot. I'm sure the Master System could have handled a better quality port.

Overall, Rainbow Islands is just an average game and this Master System port is way below quality. It does in no way live up to the fun and quality of Bubble Bobble - a game everybody should experience at least once in their life. Or I'm just saying that out of nostalgia, after all? (Defunct Games, 13/10/'07)

In an earlier review on this spot I haven't been too positive about the game, this includes the Saturn Bubble Bobble port (which came packed with the virtually unknown sequel Rainbow Islands), but that wasn't because I didn't liked the game (see below). Bubble Bobble was still a classic there, but that package just didn't feature the amount of additional content one would expect from a game that came on a second-generation CD console as the Saturn.

However, one does not have to count on new features if the game is released on a less powerful console such as the Nintendo Entertainment System, Master System, or - in this case - the Sega Game Gear. Bubble Bobble just seems to be made for this 8-bit generation of consoles: very few other games have managed to age as well as this one did. The graphics are still large and colorful, and in no way is it a pixilated mess (as many other games of that generation seem to us now). The music is catchy as ever (however I also understand those who say the infinitive recurring tune drives them insane). Most important - the gameplay still appeals to masses, and that's why we've also seen a Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and a PSP port of it, and I wouldn't wonder if even the powerful consoles of today will get a version of this timeless classic too. However, all the "advancements" never really improved the game - the original still holds strong and doesn't need to be updated.

I consider Bubble Bobble on the Game Gear as one of the best games available for the portable. It's an excellent version of the game, of which only two points of criticism can be made. First of all, because the screen of the Game Gear is rather small, the playing area seems smaller too. However, the characters don't seem to be shrunk so I had the idea the game was a little harder because it was easier to get hit. But maybe because I am used to playing Bubble Bobble on a television screen that was just an optical illusion. Furthermore, Bubble Bobble is most enjoyable in a 2-player mode. Luckily this Game Gear version features a link possibility to make such possible, but unfortunately the Game Gear isn't as widespread as Nintendo's Game Boy, so it won't always be easy to find a fellow Game Gear owner (thus the person in question has to have a copy of the game as well, and you have to own a link cable).

Overall, Bubble Bobble is a timeless classic that is always worthy to acquire - no matter for what system - if you didn't own a copy of it yet. In the library of games for the Game Gear it especially stands out as an incredibly fun game to which you will always return once in a while - even for those who mainly play Gears of War, Halo or any other graphical impressive new-generation game. The only challenge is to track down that other Game Gear owner to share Bub & Bob timeless adventures. (Defunct Games, 4/2/'07)

Within the framework of my new-grown bubble-megalomania I'll be reviewing Bust-A-Move for the Game Gear today. Bust-A-Move is one of those games that has been around for quite a while now and is still being re-released in all kind of different editons (very often under the title of Puzzle Bobble). It's totally unclear to me why, because I have never been a fan of Bust-A-Move. It's a cheap upside-down Tetris rip-off that, like most Tetris rip-offs (with the exception of Puyo Puyo and Tetris Attack), is totally average.

For those of you who don't know yet: the gameplay of Bust-A-Move involves shooting colored puzzles on a ceiling that is coming down. If you stack up four bubbles of the same color they disappear. You must make all of them disappear before the well-know dinosaurs from the Bubble Bobble-franchise (who operate the bubble-shooting-canon) get crushed by the ceiling. For your imminent Lord of Bubbles, this gameplay could never hold his attention span for longer than 10 minutes. Maybe because that he is an impatience ass, but more likely it is just because this is a boring game. But your Lordship admits the presentation and marketing of the game have been done excellent.

Overall, Bust-A-Move suits well on the Game Gear. The graphics are crisp and clear, the sound is decent and the control is good. Even the tiny dinosaurs of everyone's favorite Bubble Bobble adventure are in it. Unfortunately the gameplay doesn't live up to the excellent presentation, which makes this one of those bubbling games that doesn't last for very long. (Defunct Games, 3/2/'08)

But let's get straight to the point: no matter how much you love Double Dragon, this version sucks. Surprisingly it isn't a straight port of the "not too good but still playable" Master System version (like a lot of other Game Gear games), but rather this is a totally new game. Which isn't a good thing in this instance.

The graphics are grainy and look just terrible overall. The animation is choppy and slow and the stages are uninspired "it's late at night and a lot of (similar) thugs are out on the street to beat the crap out of you" designs. The sound is on par with the visuals. That means it's crap, that is, as long as it's actually there.

The controls and the enemies are what makes this game genuinely unplayable. As you probably already expected, the hit detection is horrible. Furthermore, most enemies stay just out of the screen for too long. You can punch (not very effective) and jump kick (impossible to calculate the right distance to actual hit an enemy). "Billy" moves slowly and is easily surrounded by enemies, harmless to defend himself. Especially a chick with a stick (yeah, I can't help it) seems impossible to hit, while she beats the crap out of our hero. There are some weapons to make life easier like ... guns? In a Double Dragon game? That's weird, I've never seen that before. Unfortunately it only has limited ammo, leaving the player stuck with just Billy's crappy moves. The guy really must envy Jimmy, for not having to experience this horrifying game.

Overall, what we have here is a real stinker accidently called Double Dragon. Well, at least it isn't a two-on-two fighting game as the equally piece of garbage called Double Dragon V on the Atari Jaguar. If you're looking for a quality street brawler for your Game Gear, get Streets of Rage 2 or Battletoads. If you're looking for a quality conversion of Double Dragon, try the Game Boy Advanced edition. (Defunct Games, 8/7//'07)

Of course, the most noticeable issue here is the very simplistic graphics. An 8-bit system like the Game Gear can actually produce quite pleasant images for a 2D game like Sonic and Mega Man, but this one looks downright ugly. There's never much on screen; always one backdrop a stage, and to create a feeling of actually 'moving' the underground consists out of two colored lines which frantically move, or rather blink, like a crazy assembly line. There are never many enemies on screen, and there's also no rider on the dragon. Together with the psychedelic tones that form the 'music', Panzer Dragoon Mini seems more like a hypnotic experience than an actually game. The boss stages are pretty annoying too; turning around the boss is done automatically which really narrows the player's involvement down to a minimum.

It's often said that gameplay can save a game that has been produced totally awful on graphics and sound. I think that's true. However, not many times have we heard the notion that impressive graphics can make up for disastrous gameplay. Panzer Dragoon on the Game Gear proves the gameplay of this illustrious Sega serie is actually very shallow. They are no more than simple shooters on rails without any real interaction of the player besides aiming at the enemies. If you take away the graphics, and some of the motion possibilities, as has been done in Panzer Dragoon Mini, the game turns out to be really hard to enjoy.

Overall, it's best to forget about this Panzer Dragoon port rapidly. In my opinion the new Nintendo Wii-controls are the only option to get something more out of the Panzer Dragoon series, so my guess is we'll see a Wii-port of it soon. That version has to have great gameplay, since the Wii isn't particular impressive graphically as well … (Defunct Games, 21/1/'07)

Athlete Kings/Decathlete is an old-fashioned button mashing track and field game just like the original Track & Field for the Nintendo Entertainment System. This means it's more like a series of mini-games than what I'd call an actual sport title. It's also clearly a direct port from the arcade and Sega didn't bother to add too many bells and whistles for the console version (there is a Saturn and practice mode, but they do not differ too much from the arcade mode).

In total there are 10 mini-games ... did I say 'mini-games'? - I mean decathlon disciplines available. Before all the events you get a quick tutorial how to handle the event, but most events are fairly easy to pull off. Especially the three running distances (100, 400 and 1500 meters) just involve banging on one button as quickly as possible. The balance between the difficulties of disciplines isn't very well balanced though; especially the high jump and pole vault were impossible and I didn't manage to perform them adequately once.

The graphics are Sega's typical arcade style of the '90s and made me think of Die Hard Arcade: they're well rendered, but a bit blocky. The camera angles automically change and aren't always at the spot you want them to be and the scenery isn't very interesting. The sound is nothing out of the extraordinary either, but works fine for the most part. The eight available characters are all complete retards, especially when they perform their 'winning lines' like SUPERRR! (The gay German), I'M NUMBER ONE! (The tough American), HIHIHIHI! (The lunatic Russian), which is so ludicrous that it's actually kind of funny.

I read a lot of praise about this game, so maybe I was expecting too much, but I found the gameplay rather shallow. All you do is press some buttons and you've played through all the disciplines rather quickly, because 10 events isn't really that much. It's more fun in the 2-player mode than against the CPU, but unfortunately that mode also has some flaws. First of all, the loading times between events that players perform separately (e.g. discus throw, long jump) take just a little too long which becomes annoying very fast. Also, in the running disciplines, when the players are on screen simultaneously it's possible to outrun your competitor off the screen! Maybe it's fun, but not very convenient. And why do women compete against men, were there some feminists in the developing team?

So, what this game also has in common with Die Hard Arcade, besides its graphics, is that it's just too little and too short to hold your attention on the long run. It works as an arcade game, if you have a limited amounts of quarters, but for a home console one is just expecting to get more value for their money.

Overall, I can only say that I was very disappointed by Athlete Kings. It isn't really bad, but I was hoping for an exquisite meal, and all I got was some dry sea biscuit. This would be fine if you're on a boat and there's nothing else to do, but if you're a spoiled and decadent gamer, just like me, you look for more than Athlete Kings can offer you. (Defunct Games, 15/7/'07)

The story behind the games is just silly - the girlfriends of Bubby & Bobby have been kidnapped (for no apparent reason) by some evil wizards which dragged the girls off to a cave 100 floors under the earth. They also turned the boys in two bubble-blowing little dinosaurs (don't ask me why), making them Bub & Bob. Well, it's up to them to rescue their girlfriends and to regain their human shapes.

In Rainbow Island the adventure continues as the manual says - but you're a normal boy again and now you can use rainbows instead of bubbles to stand on and attack enemies. This time you're headed up walking on your rainbows, while in Bubble Bobble you where going down in the 100-door-cellar.

This Saturn-package contains three games. First of all there is the original Bubble Bobble. It's an authentic conversion of the arcade game, so those of you who played the Master System-version of Final Bubble Bobble, will find out that there are no midway-bosses like in that version. Despite its age the game is still very much fun for two-players. The animations are really funny, the control is excellent, the music is a bit cheesy, but suitable and fun nonetheless if you're in old school gaming. The game is very challenging - I still didn't manage to accomplish it - 73 out of the 100 levels is as far as I can ever get. A letdown is the lack of a password mode that was found in other versions of the game. It also isn't possible to save your game nor does the game save your high scores, which I found extremely disappointing, because it's fun to try to beat your last score.

The original Rainbow Islands is also included, and it's fun to play but I didn't find it as addictive as Bubble Bobble. The lack of 2-player is a real pity, because that could have given you much more to look forward to. Anyway, the game is enjoyable, with colorful bosses, but it gets very difficult really fast, with too many enemies in the playing area, making the screen sometimes a bit disorderly. While I don't consider it a classic, it's still amusing, even by today's standards.

The third game included is 'Rainbow Islands Enhanced'. It's still the original Rainbow Islands, but with more polished looking characters and a much more colorful background. I didn't find it an improvement over the original. There still isn't a simultaneous 2-player available and the colorful backgrounds make it often very hard to see what's going on. Even more than the original, the game is a colored mess, especially in the later levels, with enemies sometimes hardly noticeable against the background, which makes the game even harder. I advise you to stick with the original Rainbow Islands.

I'm going to give this game a decent rating, but I'll admit that it's mostly out of nostalgic feelings. I still think Bubble Bobble is one of the greatest games ever, but this Saturn-package is a bit moderate due to the lack of options. I find just the original Bubble Bobble, original Rainbow Islands and a failed enhanced Rainbow Island too sparse for a Saturn-game. They should at least have included a save-game mode and a possible 2-player option for Rainbow Islands. Despite its shortcomings, it's okay to pick this one up for a low-budget price, especially if you've never played Bubble Bobble before (shame on you!). (Defunct Games, 15/7/'06)

I kind of feel bad for saying that Last Bronx isn't a good game. They tried so hard to make 'the best Saturn 3D fighter', but unfortunately it failed. But let's start with the positive. Last Bronx is probably the fastest 3D fighter you can get on your Saturn. The animations are very fluid and the jumps are so fast they look a bit unnatural, especially when you are accustomed to the Virtua Fighter series. It looks great when the characters hit each other with their weapons: it shows some kind of collision spark without any sign of slowdown. Last Bronx even surpasses Fighters Megamix in the degree of speed.

But that doesn't mean it is better than Fighters Megamix, or Virtua Fighter 2 for that matter. The biggest problem of Last Bronx is its unoriginality which makes the game dull as ditchwater. Out of the characters I only found one - a man with a purple suit and a stick named Toru Kurosawa - that was interesting, the rest of them, with their hard-to-remember Japanse names, are all a bunch of boring assholes who don't add anything special to the world of 3D fighting.

While the game moves fluid and the animations are excellent, it still doesn't look as good as Virtua Fighter 2. The characters aren't as beautifully rendered as in that game, and they all look a bit boring, with many dull colored clothing choices. The backdrops are nicely done, but it is the same thing here: it is all too boring. When I think about it now, this game bored the hell out of me. I never really had a problem not liking a game for its unoriginality - since most games are a bit alike - but it happened here.

The control handles fine, but it isn't very inspired either - most of the moves are replicas from Virtua Fighter 2 characters. The music and sound effects are well done, but I didn't feel they were anything out of the extraordinary either. As I said, there is no classic hip hop, but you got some cheesy Japanese singing on the title screen.

Last Bronx could have been an excellent game if we pretended that Virtua Fighter 2 and Fighters Megamix never happened. Now the lack of trying anything new or different defines the game mediocrity. I felt it was one of the most superfluous 3D fighters I played. It may be the fastest Saturn 3D fighter, but Virtua Fighter 2 still is the best looking and Fighters Megamix still is the most fun out of them all. If you are a lunatic who wants to play every fighter available you can pick it up, but otherwise I recommend you to check out those two other titles first. (Defunct Games, 2/9/'06)

Manx TT is a motor racing game in the style of Electronic Arts' Road Rash and is based on the racing event on the Isle of Man of the same name. I guess the tracks are based on the original tracks as well, but I'm not sure of that.

Manx TT was a hit in the arcade, so it was no surprise that the Saturn received a full scale version as well. First of all, it's possible to play Manx TT in the 'arcade' mode, but surprisingly this is the least fun option in the game. You aren't allowed to pick a bike and the one you ride is a little hard to control. Also, the arcade mode lets you play only the two original tracks, and is (party due to the control) too difficult. Far for more satisfying to play is the all-new 'Saturn'-mode, which features different bikes and tracks. To be honest, I only found one of them really controllable (the light green one). The other bikes seem to be responding too accurately, which means a little touch left or right is a giant shift for your bike.

The biggest letdown is the lack of circuits - they're only two original ones (which can be played reviews thanks to the mirror versions of the tracks). The frame rate is almost as choppy as in Daytona USA (especially in the two-player mode) - the track is sometimes popping up almost in front of you. They are two different camera-options - a view directly on the road and one from behind the motor (like Road Rash) - out of which only the last one is really useable. Using the road view it's almost impossible to estimate and take curves well, making it seems like your character is drunk. Also, it's possible for your opponents to drop off their bikes, but not for the player! The collision detection is a little plain: riding against walls or opponents just slows you down, but won't make you crash.

But these drawbacks don't diminish the gameplay of Manx TT. The Saturn-mode is very fun to play and really gives a feeling of speed, despite the choppy surroundings. The music is fast-paced as well; it has a way of speeding up the adrenalin. The motorcycle sometimes sounds like a vacuum-cleaner, but hey, what else should a motorbike sound like? The four circuits are all fun to play, with only one impossible double S-curve on the second (and accordingly on the fourth, mirrored version of it). The opponents are well programmed - they're beatable, but they give you a real challenge to do so. Unlocking the 'Super Bike'-mode is a nice challenge, but if you manage to accomplish that it's a little disappointing (you just get to race with faster, harder to control 'super bikes'). The two-player mode gives the same feeling of speed as the Saturn-mode, though it looks a lot uglier. All are small and choppy, but even then you can get the same suspense out of it as racing against the computer. The 'time trail'-mode is also a nice extra, in which you can practice further to diminish the lap times.

Maybe Manx TT Super bike doesn't have the charisma of Daytona USA or the polish of Sega Rally, but it still gives the player an excellent feeling of speed and it's a lot of fun to play! (Defunct Games, 9/7/'06)

The overall game experience is excellent as well, but it took me a while to get into it. I was just too used to the controls of Daytona USA (which I thought was quite tight), but in Sega Rally Championship the player really has to have precision to make it through corners neatly. I was cursing a lot at first at the controls, but by practicing, my championship car became somewhat more controllable.

While Sega Rally was a little too hardcore for my sake, Sega sure made up for the 1995 Daytona USA, which disappointed a lot of fans of the arcade racer (despite the cheesy sing-a-longs!). Sega Rally is one of the best looking Saturn titles and set new standards for racing games to come. For a Saturn (racing) game there is a minimum of pop-up of scenery and the visuals are really impressive.

Besides setting a new standard for professional racing games, Sega Rally showed what the Saturn was really capable of. If you've never been good at racing games, like me, you may have a though time racing in Sega Rally Championship … but you'll still be blown away by the graphics. Also important to note is that Sega Rally has a 2-player mode. I feel that a 2-player mode is a necessity for every racing game, but strangely enough game producers don't care what an eminent reviewer of Defunct Games thinks, since it was lacking from games as Daytona USA and WipEout XL.

There is only one critical comment I can be justified for making about Sega Rally Championship, a remark that applies to almost every racing game of the period it was released in. There just isn't enough in the whole package: only four tracks (one of which has to be unlocked), two different cars (plus an extra secret one) and two different viewpoints. Positive aspect about this is that you can practice a lot on the same circuits, which I quite needed to improve my skills for handling the control more accurately. I won't say I perfected it entirely, but good enough to really enjoy both the graphics as well as the gameplay of Sega Rally.

If you are a racing purist or a fan of Sega's arcade racers, Sega Rally Championship is worth getting a Saturn for. If you're not, then Sega Rally still is, next to NiGHTS and Fighters Megamix, the most necessary title for your Saturn collection. Just remember to practice, and if you're still bumping into the sides of the road just don't forget to check that helicopter! (Defunct Games, 21/10/'06)

There are enough options to keep you busy for a while - exhibition, world league, world wide cup, cup tournament and penalty shootout. If you bought the four-player adaptor, it's possible to play the game with four players. In the two-player it is not necessarily to play against each other, you can join up in the same squad and work cooperatively. But I found that to be a bit hard, since the switching between players sometimes seems somewhat arbitrary. Still, it's a nice possibility.

The graphics are excellent, especially in the close-up camera view. I usually played in that view, looking sideways at the pitch, which makes it look a bit like FIFA. The only drawback of that view is that you usually have to guess where your teammates are since they're usually off of the screen. But if you know your tactics, it works. Of course, you can pick another view as well. The sound is very suitable for this type of game, Sega Worldwide Soccer '97 features commentary from Gary Bloom. If you don't like it, you can turn it off as well. Ah, everything seems possible in this game.

However, something critical must be said about the AI ... because it sucks. On 'easy' you'll probably defeat the computer with 30-0, on 'normal' it's closer to '20-0' and so on. 'Very hard' seems too hard at first, but with some practice it's easily beatable as well. The goalkeepers are sometimes doing strange things, too. Also, some actions always seem to come to a goal. Assist from the side and a header means 1-0. A free kick taken with the long pass button, 2-0. The game is definitely most fun against a real human opponent.

Sega Worldwide Soccer is the best soccer game for the Saturn, even with the lousy AI and lack of official license. Its fast-paced arcade action, excellent control, accessibility and wide range of options make it a game you'll be coming back to time and time again. In the two-player mode this is the best soccer game since Sensible Soccer that I have encountered for a long time. (Defunct Games, 16/7/'06)

The options are much the same, but this time it's also possible to play with club teams. Well, only with English, French or Spanish club teams depending on the language you chose. It's rather stupid that it isn't possible to play with Spanish teams if your language is English, but forgivable. The game still isn't officially licensed by FIFA, which means all the names of players of national squads are fake. But, the names of club squad members are all accurate, maybe because the UEFA did give their official credit.

Actually, the availability of club teams is the biggest difference from Sega World Soccer '97. Some things haven't improved however. The AI is still as terrible as in the first game. Goal keepers are a bit better, but still not as good as it should be. It's now possible to control them as player as well, but I wouldn't advise it, since that's nearly impossible. But some of the actions which led Sega World Soccer '97 to goal are now improved and more accurate.

The game feels a bit rushed - the graphics and animations sometimes appear a bit sloppy, and the commentary is very often too late or too soon. Concerning the graphics Sega World Soccer '97 is a bit more polished. But, most importantly, the gameplay has improved. Sega World Soccer '98 plays faster than its predecessor and the control feels even tighter.

If you don't have Sega World Soccer '97 yet, Sega World Soccer '98 is the best soccer game for the Saturn. The improvements over the original are minimal, but it still is an excellent game. Sega World Soccer is definitely an underrated-series that deserves a lot of respect. (Defunct Games, 23/7/'06)

The story of the game isn't very inspired: Kazuma has returned ... blah blah blah ... as Sho, the younger brother, you must stop Kazuma's quest for absolute power and so on. The story is also told by some little movie bits that turn up before and after every level. The acting on these sequences is so unbelievably bad that I think it was done by the programmers themselves. It's also so lousy that it's laughable. The sequences are in Japanese (with English subtitles) and I liked to watch them one time just to see what kind of crappy Japanese stuff those guys would be shooting out ("don't worry, I'll save you!" and the usual crap).

But enough about those side issues, let's see what the actual game is like. Well, it's much like Shinobi on the Genesis, but it's a hell of a lot faster. Oh yeah, and your ninja got a lot more cool moves as well (which are listed in the manual). The music and sound effects are decent enough, too.

But I can't make up my mind about the graphics. Your ninja is a beautiful rendered character and all his moves look excellent. The enemies aren't as nicely developed. They are kind of pixely fellows that perform about two or three moves and usually stick to one spot from which they try to hit you (oh, and on one level there is a dinosaur that pops his head out of nothing).

The backgrounds are acceptable for first generation Saturn title; though the characters sometimes seem a bit out of place on the digitalized backdrops (I found that this had a charm of its own). I can't talk in superlatives about the looks of the end bosses either, but at least they move fast.

Though Shinobi isn't the most beautiful Saturn game you can buy, it is a fun game worth playing through. The game is really fast, the levels have been well measured out, so they're neither too long nor too short and the bosses are a nice challenge.

The control is excellent, the jumps are accurate … what more could you ask for from a 2D platformer? You even get the classic irritating jumping bits (especially on level 5 - Mine ride, in which you ride in little mine cars), but the game is addictive enough to get you to keep retrying until you find yourself yelling like a little baby.

If you like 2D action/platform games, you really should check Shinobi X out. The game is a lot more mature than Rayman and a lot more fun than Bug! I really like Shinobi and I find it a pity it was one of the last true 2D platform to be released on the Sega Saturn. (Defunct Games, 5/8/'06)

With Street Racer UbiSoft continued the sort of game they started with Rayman: At first sight it looks a bit childish, but the gameplay turns out to be suitable for a larger, and also more mature, audience as well. Well, as I said, if you know the principle of Mario Kart, then you know what Street Racer is all about, because this is just a shameless clone of the original. But that doesn't mean it isn't fun, because it is … for a while. You've got your share of characters to pick from, like Frankenstein, or a show-off in a fast (but uncontrollable) car, a beach chick and so on, but the best and safest pick is a fellow from India with his orange turban.

All of the characters have their own circuits, and some new ones are unlockable as well, so it isn't necessary to complain about the availability of different tracks. The sounds and music are run-of-the-mill, but quite suitable for the game and not in anyway annoying. Control is easy as well; though pressing up means making your car jump can be a bit confusing. There are four different camera views of which I only used the one most far off, which makes the game look a bit like Micro Machines. I found the other views to be too close to the circuits to see what's going on and to make decent turns. The graphics are absolutely a huge improvement over the Genesis and Super Nintendo version: the characters look a bit pixelated, but the surroundings are beautiful with an impressive use of shading and color.

Though the one-player mode isn't bad, this game is definitely most fun multiplayer. The game can be played with up to eight players, that is, if you own the 8-player adaptor. Things are a little hard to see on the split-screen (even in the 2-player mode), but the game doesn't lose any of its speed and it is lots of fun to annoy your friends by shooting them or bumping them of the circuit. Besides racing, it is also possible to play a 'rumble' option in which you just have shoot each other as often as possible (just like in Mario Kart - speak of originality).

Street Racer is a game which has its merits, especially in multiplayer, but it doesn't quite match up to the original Mario Kart. If you are prepared for an unoriginal, not-professional racing game there is definitely some fun to be had. But overall, it is maybe a bit too short lived due to the more attractiveness of professional games such as Sega Rally, Daytona USA and Manx TT. (Defunct Games, 26/8/'06)

As a rule of thumb I don't like games in which you need to do a practice level in order to know how to control of the game. And what's worse, it didn't help - I kept dropping of cliffs and brigdes even after the practice stage. The camera-view makes jumping right nearly impossible. Controlling the game just feels so slow and gloomy, it's impossible not to yawn. The heroine of it all - Lara Croft - makes appriopriate sounds. While she climbs walls or shoot enemies - in a manner that seems like the game is performing on a PC that's beneath the required system demans - she groans and sighs like she understands the boredom of the player.

And how could the player not be bored? The surroundings all look exactly alike - grey, shaded, and some darkgreen colored moss. The enemies aren't exactly inspired either - no matter if it's a bear, a bat or a dinosaur, they just all appear, almost soundless, dark and dull colored, and will probably kill you, since they like circeling around Lara, which gives it a hard time aiming with the far for responsive controls. I especially hate the swimming parts, the framing seems even worse there or the cameraguy just gets drunk when Lara is swimming.

But there must be SOMETHING in the game, I thought, since all those stories of praise couldn't be based on this?? Does Lara look 'hot'? Well no, see just looks like a computer-rendered character. Are the in-game puzzle-element good? Nope, it mainly revolves about pushing buttons and blocks and pulling handles. That is, if you can figure out where you have to go, because I was lost most of time in the unfailing continuos greyness of this highly praised 'action'-game. I'd recommand you not to listen everyone's common praise of Tomb Raider and skip this game for something far more interesting. (Defunct Games, 8/7/'06)

First of all the 'posivite' notes: you can play with all the 16 squads who participated with the European Championship of 1996. I have to admit, the audio is done pretty decent too, with a nice tune on the option menu's and commentary by Barry Davies. That's pretty much it for the positive side.

Now, welcome to gaming HELL. The graphics look more like a bad 32X game then a Saturn title. The players are a pixeled mess, the stadiums looks like a surface of purple stains, the animation couldn't be any slower if it tried, the artificial intellegence fails to show up (it's possible to end a game in 0-0 without touching the joypad!), and the control are sluggish - what the hell did they THINK when producing this game?

The players are marked by some sort of square, which changes shape (circle, triangle), meaning you should shoot, pass or kick. I didn't notice any difference between the symbols and subsequent actions anyway. "X" means a pass to a "nearby" player but doesn't work half the time. I like how the shoulderbuttons are being used for changing the camerview though, however every view is worse than the last: it's all too far off or too close to see clearly what you're doing. How could this game become the official licensed product of the European Championship Soccer 1996? According to the critics, the quality of the soccer of that tournament was pretty average, so maybe they thought that making a repugnant game would be appropriate as well.

Man, if you've never seen this game it's hard too believe ... I repeat it because I can still hardly believe myself how freakin' AWFUL this game looks. Together with the non-existant gameplay, it's a must-have for the dustbin.

Euro '96 was later released in a "Club Edition" as well under the name of Actua Soccer. Even if you're a collector I advise to stay far away from this game. Easily the worst Saturn game I have ever played. (Defunct Games, 22/7/'06)

Besides the forgettable Mortal Kombat II port, this is the only real Mortal Kombat-game avaible for Saturn owners. And, let's face it, it isn't very good. The sound is alright for such a fighting game; with the regular yells and screams if you kick someones ass, and the usual average music that works on one's nerves.. The graphics are another story. You get the feeling that the programmers wanted to make them look polished, but if you look closer it's almost possible to count the pixels of a character. The backgrounds are fine though.

But, of course, the most important aspect where the game fails is in its gameplay. Although they're three different options - Mortal Kombat one-on-one against computer or player, 2-2 kombat (which means you pick two characters and fight with one them untill he/she is dead) or 8 player tournament - you problaby won't bother to play them, due to the endless loading times which occur on almost every screen in this game you'll see.

First of all, before you can actually PLAY the game, you have to face some Acclaim/Midway screens and a 'Get ready for battle' screen, which altogether almost last for a minute! Every time you load the game in your Saturn you have to face that shit, because it isn't possible to click through it! After that you've to pick your type of combat as mentioned before - the one you click on seems almost to freeze for 5 seconds, and it takes another 10 seconds of loading time to get you to the pick-your-fighter-screen. If you picked one, you already guessed: another 'almost freeze', and another ten seconds of loading time. By now, you probably spent more time on watching the game load then actually playing it The worst thing is that even the morphing of Shang Tsung makes the game freeze and load for almost 10 seconds everytime you change, which makes playing with or against him nearly impossible!

Aside from the loading time the game doesn't play much different from the Super NES and Genesis versions, maybe they just made it a little faster in-game. The AI is still painfully stupid: early opponents tend to be doing nothing and waiting to be kicked, while later on the computer is almost impossible to defeat, pulling off combinations at a speed which isn't human.

It's also noticeable that they are some non-typical Mortal Kombat (read: useless) options avaible in the game. For example it's possible to turn the 'blood' and 'violence level' off in the option screen! Did they expect mommy and daddy would force you to do that in order to allow you to play the game or what? Another stupid option is the possibility for the 'Shang Morph' - you can pick or that's disabled, or that he can change in all opponents, or only the opponent which he's facing. It doesn't help the the loading times however - even when Shang can only change in his direct opponent it takes him 10 freezing seconds everytime.

Mortal Kombat 3 wasn't one of the greatest games ever and didn't match up to the expectations set by Mortal Kombat II. Unfortunately, the Saturn port of "Ultimate" MK3 hasn't changed ... it's still the same game, but much more irritating due to the endless seeming loading times. If you want a good, fun and fast fighting game for your Saturn, get Fighters Megamix. (Defunct Games, 2/7/'06)

The second game of the WipEout series is, just like the first one, set in the distant future - hence the "2097" in the title (the game is also known as WipEout XL in the U.S.). Those guys sure had a strange way of seeing the future - in 2097 one seems mainly busy with an "anti-gravity racing league", for which future you can prepare yourself by playing WipEout (is anyone reminded of the floating skateboard in the Back To The Future-movies? I surely am.) Never mind the silly story, let's see what the game itself is about.

First, you pick a "team" (meaning: a vehicle). Secondly, you pick a circuit - there are three available right away and one unlockable, if you complete the other tracks as winner. You must pilot your floating craft successfully over the circuit, preferably without touching the sides of the course and by flying over power-up pads on the roadway which enable the player to pick up shields, turbo boosts, mines, shock waves, rockets or missiles. Oh, and don't forget your opponents: they can pick up the extras too and shoot you if you don't shoot them first.

If you're good at WipEout then the game can be supersonic fast. The circuit surroundings has been nicely worked out (though not as beautiful as Sega Rally obviously), the craft looks good and the explosions are sparse compared to post-32-bit consoles, but acceptable for a Saturn title.

The audio is one of the best things of the games - the sound effects and music are among some of the best on the Saturn (though I hate the robotic voice which mentions your lap times). As you noticed, I said the game CAN be supersonic fast. But that is only if you are an extraordinary good pilot ("craftsman" for the one of you who likes puns). I'm not, as you yet figured out from the first paragraph, so my craft usually hit the wall which slowed the game down considerably. It takes a while for the ship to get its speed back: luckily there are turbo boosts scattered all over the circuit.

Running out of time or running out of shield (due to too much running into the walls and taking fire from other enemies) results in an exploding craft, and that means you're going to be starting the circuit all over again.

Before I formulate my judgment over WipEout, I must say something about the differences between this version and the PlayStation game. The first WipEout was one of the launching titles of the PlayStation, and it took a while to get a Saturn version. Unfortunately, the Saturn couldn't create some of the visual flair (mainly explosions and framing) of the PS1 version, which made the long wait not entirely justified. While that could be overseen, the biggest letdown is the lack of a 2-player option. It is unclear why this sequel couldn't have a simultaneous 2-playermode, just like the first one. It is possible to use a "link-up mode" (two Saturn units and two TVs) but that is not what we want. Because of this shortcoming, I subtract at least 5% of the total score.

Which leaves us with an excellent, professional, well-presented game which seems mainly meant for hardcore gamers or gamers with a lot of patience to practice. Personally, I found it a little too hard. If you managed to finish Sega Rally, and you don't mind WipEout is 1-player only, you should check this out. The rest of us will get back to Manx TT or Virtua Racing and practice some more before we're ready for the real job ... (Defunct Games, 12/8/'06)

World League Soccer '98 is like FIFA Soccer on the Genesis. It wants to be a professional, mature, soccer game. The game is loaded with options, statistics and extensive controls. For such a game it's a big letdown that it isn't official licensed: the players have names which are 'close' to the actual players (e.g. Dennis Bergkamp is now D. Berger, David Beckham is now D. Becker, and so on). My opinion is that if you release a professional soccer simulation, the least you can do is try to acquire the official rights, but alas, they didn't.

If World League Soccer '98 is FIFA Soccer for the Saturn, than Sega Worldwide Soccer definitely is Sensible Soccer. That game is so much more fun, easier to control, faster, and it looks a lot better too. On the Genesis FIFA surely surpassed Sensible Soccer graphically, but that isn't the case if you compare World League Soccer to Sega Worldwide Soccer. World League Soccer's players look a bit blocky and pixelated and they seem to move a bit stiffly. The audio of World League Soccer has been done well enough, with commentary by Peter Brackley and Ray Wilkins.

As I said, the control of World League Soccer is very elaborate with more possible moves than in Sega Worldwide Soccer, and with a pointing arrow and the usual 'professional' stuff when taking free (and corner) kicks.

World League Soccer '98 isn't a bad game. A lot of effort has been put into it, and the range of available options is excellent, the presentation is done very well and the game play is alright - especially if you compare it to a horrific awful game like UEFA Euro '96/Actua Soccer. If you're into "true" soccer simulations I would even advise you to check this game out. But I really can't get excited about World League Soccer. If I want to play soccer on a gaming console, it has to be fun, fast and accessible. Sega Worldwide Soccer fulfills my demands, while World League Soccer doesn't. This is only worthwhile for those hardcore soccer lunatics out there; the rest of them should definitely get Sega Worldwide Soccer. (Defunct Games, 13/8/'06)

For those of you who somehow missed Worms, I'll do my best to fill you in. Think of non-peaceful Lemmings, but with guns and without the puzzle-elements. Now try to remember that old school game Tanks (also released as Cannon Fodder - not to be confused with the strategy game with the same name). In that game you had two little towers in between some sort of mountain and you had to try, in turn, to hit each other with a missile, while you could adjust the power of your shot and you had to take into account the wind and so on. Worms is exactly that game, but the landscapes are much larger and varied, the Worms are able to move over and dig into the terrain and you've got a broad selection of avaible weapons.

The biggest problem with the Saturn version, as well as with other console ports of this game, is that Worms is a typical PC game. The graphics aren't bad, but they are really very small, which means you've to sit a lot closer to your TV screen than usually to see what's going on. Even then, the random scattered mines can easily be missed. The control is another mnemonic that you're playing a PC game on your console. Playing Worms with a joypad instead of a mouse slows the gameplay down. The game can be played with up to four players, but it isn't possible to play it with 2 joypads! You've got to pass the player-1-controller on all the time. Because one press means changing the menu's and just another press means shooting, you sometimes accidentally, sometimes deliberatly , mess up your buddy's turn. That's a bit of a letdown, because these kinds of games are most enjoyable in the multiplayer. It's also possible to play against the computer, but as usual in this type of games, the AI is a bit strange. Some moves are incomprehensible, while others seem to be impossible unfair hits.

There's a lot about Worms to be liked. I liked the tons of different moves which the Worms can perfom, the way they can mess up the landscape by digging tunnels in it, the funny sounds (the music isn't particular memorarble), the inbetween movies and the variety of avaible weapons (especially the 'sheep bomb' and 'banana' gave me a laugh - though they're very hard to use effectively). Overall, I had some fun with Worms, but I was finished with it very quickly. This just isn't the game you bought a Saturn for. It may be an excellent PC port, but the Saturn just isn't a PC. It also depends on how much you like this style of game, but I found the gameplay rather monotonous and tedious after a very short while. Worms excellent presentation unfortunately couldn't make up for it's shortcomings. Now that you can get Worms probably for free on your PC, this Saturn port seems rather superfluous. (Defunct Games, 22/7/'06)

Final Lap Special is a sort of sequel (on the WonderSwan Color) of Final Lap 2000 which was released on the black & white WonderSwan one year earlier. It's also one of the very few racing games on the failed handheld. Another worthy thing to note is that the game is (thank you Lord) not in Japanse, but just in plain English. Maybe that makes it "Special", because such is very rare for a WonderSwan title. Anyhow, this makes it possible, even for morons like me to understand the option screen properly. Not that there is much to it: most important are the Championship and Time Attack modes and the Car Shop. There isn't much more reading needed in the game (since it is a racing game after all), but it always sort of feels good to know what the hell you are selecting (instead of pushing buttons like a freakin' maniac on every option screen you encounter, as I usually behave when trying to play a WonderSwan title).

Final Lap Special has different cars, circuits and a racing competition. What more could you want from a racing game? The graphics are bright and overall the game looks quite good. The only problem is that it feels like the road is pulled under your car instead of controlling the vehicle. But in the long run that is in no way as annoying as the horrible sound of the car's engine. It sounds most like something between being stuck in your room with a horde of bluebottles while trying to get to sleep and a broken buzzer with half dead batteries.

Despite the horrible sound and well-worn concept, the game is still surprisingly playable. The control works fine and the opponents have been adjusted to a decent difficulty level. It isn't possible to crash into them; if you hit them you just "bump" them and slow down a bit. The circuits are good, the challenge is nice and overall Final Lap Special is a fun play if you're looking for a game which can be picked up quick.

So, if you own a WonderSwan Color this is the (probably only) racing game to brag about. Final Lap Special adds nothing spectacular to the world over video gaming, but nothing disgraceful either. The game is so decent that it's almost boring. But then again if you own a WonderSwan in the first place, you probably aren't too critical. Now, let me finish that final lap, maybe something "special" will turn up after all! (Defunct Games, 6/1/'07)

What I found out about Kinnikuman is that he's another Japan-only superhero and started out as a parody of Ultraman, that other Japanese superhero I only can think of as selling washing powder. Initially Kinnikuman's powers came from eating garlic (don't ask), and if he ate enough he could grow into a giant to fight monsters. But, as the animated series about this goofy looking anima-like character with huge lips developed, it began focusing on professional wrestling in which Kinnikuman had to wrestle parodies of yet other (sigh) popular Japanese superheroes.

So what we have here is actually a wrestling game. As ever, they're multiple options available and again I can't tell you what they are, because I still haven't ordered my advanced course Japanese. The appearance in the intro of Kinnikuman makes me sick, because his lips are so huge it looks like he has herpes disease. My free advice to any female Japanese superheroes is to don't make out with him.

For the game I must say this is one of the best looking WonderSwan titles I have experienced thus far. The graphics are crisp and clear and very colorful and the animation is pretty good, too. Maybe it looks a bit childish, but it works fine and in-game the characters look quite funny. The sound is well fitted too, though nothing out of the extraordinary. The game is very easy to pick up and the fighting engine works quite well, at least it's easy to pull off some moves. The fights take place in a wrestling area and it's possible to make use of the rings to jump on your opponents, which works pretty good too.

I have no idea why this game is 'second generation' or what is meant by the 'dream tag match'. But overall I found this a fairly accessible and enjoyable WonderSwan title, which looks refreshing and is worth a try. Kinnikuman easily kicks Ultraman's butt as being the best superhero fighting game on the Wonderswan. Kinnikuman Go Fight! (Defunct Games, 22/7/'07)

Rockman is the Japanese name of Capcom's well-known Mega Man and if the WonderSwan Color had had more quality platformers like this one, it could have been a much bigger success than with the pile of average games only Japanese can understand.

I'm so pleased with this game on the pathetic handheld console; I can hardly find words to express my joy. Nevertheless, I will try, since that's my task as imminent reviewer of Defunct Games - a site that, as Cyril wrote one day, will be looked on by historian as website that, besides ending all wars (we're still busy with that), changed the world.

Back to Rockman EXE WS. The game starts with some guy talking Japanese gibberish to the hero, but that doesn't last for too long. Then it's a joy of recognition for anyone who ever played a Mega Man before: the character, the animation, the stage design all seem comfortably familiar. Officially, Rockman EXE WS is part of the Mega Man Battle Network-series, most of which has been released on the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS, so if you played any of those games the style will even be more familiar. However, to my understanding there isn't any real 'network'-aspect in this game: it just has the same look and feel.

The clue of the game is to find chips, which you do by defeating enemies and searching stage. The stages, that aren't very long, always have a part in which they splits into two paths: those paths lead to a hard or a little easier boss. I found this to be a pretty nice to touch. If you collect the chips, you can use them to perform special powers. Of course, no game is perfect, nor is Rockman EXE WS. I haven't finished the whole game, but the levels seem a bit on the short side. However, the biggest problem is a control flaw: Rockman can't shoot up nor crouch and shoot at the same time. This does make the game a lot more difficult that it had to be and sometimes it's even a little frustrating.

But those points of criticism are just minor: the bright colorful graphics, the adequate sound and the fun gameplay still makes Rockman EXE WS are WonderSwan Color game that is highly recommended. I believe the exact same game has also been released on the B&W WonderSwan, but I didn't bother about that: why play a black & white game when you have color to your disposal? As I said in the beginning, the WonderSwan Color needed more games like this one. If you're one of those unlucky bastards who acquired one of Bandai's handhelds, at least be sure to check this game out. (Defunct Games, 29/6/'08)

There are plenty of options to choose from in Ultraman. Unfortunately I can't tell you what they are, because it's all, as one would expect from a WonderSwan title, in Japanse. Experimental button bashing give me the idea the game contained at least a story mode. To fully understand what the hell is going on one should take an advanced course Japanese, but my method of clicking on all the buttons to get through the option screens rapidly works fine too.

After some research, I found out that Ultraman was released in 1991 for the Super Nintendo in the U.S.A. as well. It turned out to be an extremely poor 2D fighter which tried to lift on the success of Street Fighter II. This Ultraman game is still your average Street Fighter clone, only this time on the WonderSwan Color.

I guess there are plenty of characters to choose from, but I only managed to select our superhero himself. I couldn't pick many opponents however: only his mirror self and some kind of Godzilla-like creature could be faced. The charactar select screen contained many more question marks. Somehow unlockable, I suppose.

The story mode is a little better, the game offers a quick cinema (full of several pages of Japanese text) and then you're off to fight some massive character in the middle of a city, mountain or what have you. After you've beaten your foe you will have the choice of who to battle next, but since the game is in Japanese it really didn't matter which character I went with.

The game itself looks alright with large characters and fairly bright colors, though the backdrops are a bit uninspired. The music is also of standard quality, but my version didn't seem to have any sound effects. The animation is a bit jerky, and the whole game feels too slow. Controlling the game is just so-so. However, I somehow managed to beat that nasty Japanse Godzilla fellow. Serves him write, attacking innocent diver men isn't an appropriate hobby.

Overall, I cannot honestly judge Ultraman. It seems a very moderate game to me, but if you meet some very specific conditions (being a fan of the serie and understanding Japanese especially comes to mind), feel free to add as many points to the score as you like. For me most of the game is completely incohere, but only when it comes to navigating the menus. Thankfully the fighting itself is pretty easy to get used to, no matter what language you speak. Unfortunately it's not a very good fighting engine, so perhaps the argument is moot. Still, in my opinion anyone called "Ultraman" would be better fit promoting the latest washing powder instead of a fighting game. (Defunct Games, 25/2/07)

But when reviewing games, sometimes an unexpected gem will be lying on your pad. I never thought one of those gems would be happening on my deplorable CD-i system, but it did. From the moment I plugged The Apprentice into the system I was sold. This game is in no way sluggish and has excellent production values, especially when you compare it with a lot of other CD-i titles.

The Apprentice is a standard platform game, but full of humor and little in-game jokes. I even found the introduction story (which can be clicked through - almost unique for a CD-i title) very funny. You control "the lowest of the low" - Marvin, the apprentice of the "great wizard Gandorf Wandburner III", who gives Marvin some assignments, like fetching a book out of the library for him. In six stages (consisting of three levels and one boss battle), Marvin has to complete this tasks. Marvin actually is a naughty little fellow - much more interested in the statues of scarcely clothed Japanese ladies (which are for no reason scattered across the levels) than actually becoming a fulltime wizard.

The graphics are quite amazing if you remember the CD-i player is just a 16-bit console. The characters are large and just as the backdrops they're very colorful and bright. It somehow even reminded of a game that would be loved much later on - Rayman. The Apprentice has the same funny cuteness, though this game has a bit more a mature feeling to it due to the (only suggestive) naughty bits.

The Apprentice is not a groundbreaking or original game, but it is classic platforming fun and will probably appeal to anyone who grew up with 2D platformers. The only critical remark I can make is that it's just too tough at times. If you don't have any power-ups, Marvin will die from one hit. Some parts of levels are nearly impossible to survive, and I literary had to try some of the stages hundreds of times before I beat them. But I guess it's a good thing I kept trying. Luckily the game saves automatically once you've completed a level. A little letdown is that the boss stages aren't saved separately, so once you die there you've got the finish a whole third stage of a level all over again.

Overall, The Apprentice gave me the feeling my CD-i console was actually a gaming console instead of just a player of Infotainment CD's and premature released, poorly produced games. The Apprentice certainly is a positive note on the CD-i spectrum. Unfortunately, the very small collection of good CD-i games is easily overshadowed by the overwhelming amount of crap titles on the system (like Micro Machines, Chaos Control, Dark Castle, Cartoon Carnival, all the Zelda-games and International Tennis Open … just to name a few). But if you're really looking for a fun game for your CD-I that hasn't aged too badly, The Apprentic is worth checking out. I even think this game has still enough quality to deserve a re-release as shareware. If that ever will happen, a CD-i console really will lose almost all the rights to be in any housekeeping. But for now I have at least one good reason to still hold on to Philip's doomed console. (Defunct Games, 28/10/'06)

The story of Burn: Cycle, though it doesn't feel totally original, is somehow intriguing. You play Sol Cutter who is a data thief that has been infected with a deadly virus in his head. He only has two hours to get rid of the virus or else it will destroy him.

Before you go to play Burn: Cycle you must realize that the visuals haven't aged well - especially when compared to the latest Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 (or even PS One or Saturn) game, this one looks very shallow. But at the time of release, at the beginning of the CD-ROM era, Burn: Cycle actual was quite impressive. The game was original released for CD-i, but a PC and Mac version followed suit.

Burn: Cycle is like an interactive movie/cyberpunk adventure with playable parts in between the motion videos in which the player has to solve small puzzles, do some shooting, or figure out where to go and what objects to acquire. There are two aspects in which this CD-i landmark title stands out in comparison to a lot of other first generation CD games. First off, the atmosphere created in the game is really good. The music (that is also included on a separate audio CD) is suitable and the dark, but enigmatic surroundings recall other excellent cyberpunk thrillers (like Sega CD's Snatcher and Rise of the Dragon). Secondly, another aspect that contributes to the outstanding ambiance is the acting of the characters. It is really good, no matter how ridiculous some of them look, especially compared to a lot of other games based on full-motion video.

I won't say Burn:Cyle is perfect. The game can be annoying as hell. You have to complete it in two hours. Running out of time makes you start right from the scratch, which can be extremely frustrating when you've put all that work in. Luckily the game can be saved anywhere. In some of the mini-games it was totally unclear what I was supposed to do, but I managed to win a few of them by just randomly clicking. The parts in which you have to shoot meteorites also worked my very last nerve since it's difficult to hit them. If you die in a mini-game, it's game over for you. If you have saved just before it, you can't click the cut-scenes though, so be prepared to see some of them quite a few times. We're lucky the acting has been done as well as it has, especially when a nice girl with a big gun shows up (Gala) in Cutter's world (she's sure a lot nicer than Cutters girlfriend - she's a sort of goofy girl who's shot at the beginning of the game but by no means really death). They are some nice gory cut-scenes as well, with blood flying around when you shoot a bad guy.

The atmosphere easily makes up for Burn: Cyle's shortcomings. It was one of the few CD-i games I actually enjoyed for more than 10 minutes and I genuinely wanted to finish it, mostly because of the intriguing storyline. If someone tells you this is the best CD-i game released, chances are huge he or she is right. I, at least, consider Burn: Cycle one of the highlights of early CD gaming and a worthy addition to the sci-fi genre, something I can never get enough of. (Defunct Games, 7/10/'06)

The first game I inserted into my new defunct console fulfilled the expectations which one created of the quality of CD-i games. Chaos Control is crap, crap painted up with fancy graphics.

The story behind the game can be watched in a boring lengthy introduction, but the plot is pretty basic. There are aliens attacking Earth, kill them all! The game is the CD-i equal of the first Rebel Assault only with even LESS interaction. That actually means that the player can't in any way influence the way in which his starship is moving. He or she just watches the ship automatically maneuvering among landscapes which are sometimes decent rendered and sometimes average. The only thing to do is aim the cursor and shoot enemies. The first level in which you fly near the Statue of Liberty looks quite good for a CD-i action title, but the later stages are boring without many colors and with the addition of dull enemies.

The sound of your laser, however, will drive you insane. On a few occasions an average electro-tune can be heard, but overall you just hear your canon and the explosions of shot enemies. The laser sounds more like a badly loaded cannon out of the Middle Ages than a laser. Together with the crappy shooting sounds is a robotic voice that yells "overheat!" 25 times a minute.

That annoying voice is complementary to the gameplay. Because the only thing to do is shoot; the player should be able to just hold the shoot-button down and be on his way. But unfortunately that it isn't possible. There is a meter for your laser as well, and if you use your weapon too much at once it won't shoot anymore for a short while ("OVERHEAT! OVERHEAT!"). If you're having Freudian associations here, you're not the only one. So you'll find yourself pressing the shooting button like a freaking maniac, until you hardly have a thumb left. With that the cursor easily gets lost in the ugly mess of explosions, and there seems no way to avoid enemy shots - you'll take a lot of cheap hits.

Maybe Chaos Control looked impressive in 1994, but nowadays it won't impress anyone anymore. Since the game was never any fun, neither back then nor in the year 2006, it's in our best interest to leave it alone and forget this pathetic shooter ever existed. Why Philips disgraced themselves even further by re-releasing this garbage for Saturn and PC is incomprehensible. Maybe it proves that their idea of what a decent game should be differs enormously from the rest of the game playing population. (Defunct Games, 2/9/'06)

Just when I guessed I thought I never had to face a game of that caliber again, I decided to get back in time and check out Litil Divil. Litil Divil was a huge CD-i title, well for CD-i proportions at least, and one of Philip's most proudly presented games for their system. They were so glad with it, it even got re-released for Amiga CD32 (talking about defunct systems here) and the PC. It's easy to see why Philips was so proud of their little devil. He looks cute, the animations are well done and the audio is excellent. Furthermore, the game features the four characteristics which apparently - in secret - have been agreed upon as indispensable for almost any CD-i game: repetitive gameplay, staggering slowness, loose control and animated cut-scenes you're forced to watch time and time again because they can't be skipped.

The objective of the game is to control the devil Mutt through a series of mazes (five to be exact) to gather a Mystic Pizza of Plenty. Mutt would have rather stayed in bed, but he was appointed by a nasty fellow to pick straws with a bunch of other devils, as is shown in the introduction movie. Unfortunately for him, he picked the shortest one and became the loser who had to collect the Pizza of Plenty. (Plenty of what? Pepperoni?) The dungeons have been scattered with rooms which Mutt needs to explore and in which he has to solve small puzzles or beat enemies to acquire objects that are needed to successfully accomplish the dungeon.

Though a little map is shown at the left top of the screen, exploring the dungeons is a tedious process. First you have to wander around to find some gold. Then you have to find your way back to some sort of shop to buy stuff you need to accomplish some puzzles. If you've done that you must find your way back to the chambers with monsters or objects on which you can use your additional acquired items. I didn't find the map very helpfull and was lost most of the time in the enormous dungeons, walking aimlessy around hoping to encounter a useful room by luck.

As you probably already noticed, this kind of game is not one of my favorites. The endless dungeon exploring gameplay really didn't age well, and I didn't like it back then to begin with. But I must confess Mutt has been nicely animated and overall the game looks quite good for a CD-i action/adventure title. I especially like the animations of Mutt going to sleep and dreaming when you let the game alone for a while. When you finally find a room, the puzzles aren't too hard but they're well-thought out. Unfortunately, partly due to the dominant sluggishness of the game the control is too loose. But since you haven't got to make too much difficult actions that is surmountable.

Though it's a largely different types of games, Litil Divil reminded me of The Legend of Kyrandia. Both games looked good for their time and start off nicely, but end in tiresome dungeon exploring parts. If you don't mind dungeon exploring or if you like to check out what was supposed to be fun in 1995, or if you just like to own a game with two deliberately spelling errors in the title, you may like to check out Litil Divil. I just hope you can hold on playing this CD-i's former pride longer than me, because I gave up after the first dungeon. Too 'mazy' for my sake! (Defunct Games, 23/9/'06)

Marco Polo - the "game" - is labeled as an "adventure and simulation". The "adventure" element is that you pick an Italian merchant - you can't actually play with Marco Polo himself, despite the title - and you have to travel with him from certain locations to certain other locations. This can be done in separate missions or as a 'whole' game. The traveling consists out of pointing your cursor on a boring looking map and clicking on the place you want to travel to ... and it's done. That is, if you've managed to do the "simulation" part well. You have to buy stuff like food and camels for your travels, which is done, once again, at dusty menus. Just point your cursor ... and click ... well done, lad.

To prevent the player from falling asleep in the unbelievable dullness of this "adventure and simulation", there are annoying voice-overs available which are able to tell the player what he is selecting. They sound extremely didactic in a harsh and, for any lazy student, inexcusable way. For example, when clicking on a camel a female voice tells you at an annoying instructive tone: "A good camel can carry more than a horse. Camels are very strong and much appreciated for desert travel. Their drivers consume only ration per day." Is this supposed to be a game or a learning course?

When you travel there's usually a short video fragment shown at a very small square. I was amazed that there was such a minimum of actually video fragments used. Why is that in some CD-i games you're totally drawn in pointless full motion videos, and it's almost absent in a game like Marco Polo in which it would have nicely fitted?

The most you see in the game are the maps, and the "simulation" screens of towns and markets. Sometimes you can enter a town and answer "yes" or "no" to a question from a villager (who is also shown as a picture and not as video footage). I didn't get the feeling it would become any more interactive than that. Maybe it's possible to work out tactics, but due to the overwhelming dullness of it all, I not once managed to play this game longer than 10 minutes on end.

After the game, I checked the documentary. I didn't know much about Marco Polo - just that he was an Italian merchant somewhere in the Middle Ages and that he went to China on an elephant and came back alive, without being eaten by those cannibals which, as is well known, lived there back then (at least, something like that). Question: What did I learn from the documentary? Answer: Nothing! Absolutely nothing! Question: Why not? Answer: Because, just like in the game, it's boring as hell! That's right, there's also no full motion video. Just motionless images or photo's with the voice of a guy in the background who's dishing up some facts about Marco Polo, the cannibals and his time and stuff. The information can be re-read as a text. That's about it. The average Discovery Channel documentary is more exciting, captivating and informative than this uninspired, lazy produced picture set.

Overall, Marco Polo is a horrible package. Both the game and the documentary are too dull to retain attention to for longer than a few minutes. If you really want to know anything more about Marco Polo, check out the good old library or watch Discovery Channel. If you're done, you tell me why those cannibals didn't eat the famous Italian. It would have been a good thing, because this crappy package would never have been released. Just one more of the many, many CD-i games of which it is best to forget about quickly. (Defunct Games, 11/11/'06)

Oh, before we get ahead of ourselves, Micro Machines is a game in which you drive little toy cars over tables, bathtubs, beaches and so on. It was an excellent game on almost all early Sega and Nintendo consoles.

The first thing I thought when I played this version of Micro Machines was: 1) this is a very sick, inappropriate joke, or, 2) this game wasn't even finished before it got released. It must be one of those options, because I can't imagine any other reason how they could have totally messed this port up.

Yes, they added some typical "CD" extra's to the original game. At the beginning of every race there is a mediocre zoom-in from a distance of your vehicle. And there is some CD-quality guitar semi-rock which I didn't like too much and is totally out of place for the game, but hey, if you've got CD audio, you're going to use it, aren't you? Guess so. Furthermore, there are no added special features, just the usual options: challenge, head-to-head and two-player.

What could they have possibly done to mess up so much and bring out my hatred for this Micro Machines port? First of all, the game is horribly slow. The animation is so jerky and the whole thing just has that overwhelming feeling of sluggishness which will make you think it can crash any moment. It's hard to understand how slow this whole game is if you haven't played it - those fans of the original Micro Machines series on the Genesis will be shocked by the non-existent 'speed' here.

The controls are also completely messed up. It isn't possible to slow down your car by pressing the reverse/break when you're accelerating. No, now you've actually got to release the acceleration button before you're able to do any breaking! If you do accidently press them together, you pause the game! Due to the jerky frame rate and idiotic control system the game isn't playable in the sense of having fun. Yeah, maybe it is possible to move your slow-motion vehicle along the well-known breakfast tables and pencils, but it is the same thing like, well, say driving on the highway just using the first gear.

That's actually how this game feels: like all the vehicles still have their handbrakes on. Furthermore, there are NO sound effects in the entire game! No motor, nor collision, nor dropping of an area will produce any sound. The only sound is the mentioned quite rapid semi-rock, which is more like an ironic statement of the crappiness.

Don't get me wrong. I love Micro Machines. I enjoyed all the Genesis outings very, very much. But I freaking hate this CD-i port. If it just had been some usual crappy CD-i game my disgust wouldn't have been so huge now than that it actually has been licensed as a Micro Machines game! It's hard to understand how an atrocious excess like this could ever have passed the quality control of Philips and, especially, Codemasters. I wouldn't be surprised if these companies deny even making the game, because it is so unbelievably bad that it's tragic blot on the their whole series no matter how much fun the other games were.

Luckily, you've now been warned by your loyal Defunct Games reviewer who, for your well-being, checked out yet another game in the "obscure annals of the CD-i library" (to quote Chad). When you think about it, Philips' console can almost be considered as a metaphor for life. Initially there were a lot of good intentions which mostly have led to failures and mockery, if that isn't very human I don't know what is. Playing this Micro Machines port is similar to the one unfortunate time in life you're punched in the face, kicked in the crotch and robbed of all your belongings. If you happen to see a copy of the game, destroy it so no one will ever have to experience it again. Thank you. (Defunct Games, 8/10/'06)

I was glad I found this game since I'm a huge fan of Monty Python. For those of you who don't know them, here's a quick lesson: Monty Python is the collective name of the creators (among them Eric Idle, John Cleese, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliams) of Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British comedy sketch show that first appeared on the BBC in 1969. The show was hugely inspired by pioneering artistic trends like dadaism and surrealism. This resulted in a lot of controversial humor. Some of their full-motion pictures are controversial even by today's standards. Especially the 1979 film Monty Python's Life of Brian (a parody on the life of Christ) and Monty Python's Meaning of Life are still able to shock some conservative people. The humor of the show can also be considered as the predecessor of controversial (South Park) or wacky (Spongebob Squarepants) animated series.

Invasion From the Planet Skyron tries to integrate the sketches of the show with a gaming element. You play a group of Pythons (or 'Lost Boys' like they refer to themselves) which wander around typical Monty Python animated landscapes. With them walks a sheep in which the score is presented. Just like other Monty Python games (e.g. The Quest for the Holy Grail on the PC) the 'gameplay' is totally random. You just have to click on random elements and maybe something happens, maybe not. Perhaps the score on the sheep will increase, but it's also possible it will decrease. Sometimes a sketch of the show will turn up. If you do nothing for a while, it's also possible a sketch appears, or you are taking to a new area, or all kind of Monty Python creatures pass the screen. If you gained enough points you can click on the score sheep and is it possible to "buy" a new sketch for an amount of points.

Though sometimes a bit slow, the animated characters are well done and in the tradition of Terry Gilliams' classic Monty Python animations. It is totally unclear what to do, but they are a lot of sketches to be seen though some seem to repeat themselves too often. The game starts out at a different random place each time, which is great since I had no clue how I could reach another area in the game expect by chance.

It is supposed to be possible to save uncovered sketches somehow, but I just couldn't figured out how. Which is a big letdown, because I would like to watch them again and not only at random. Besides for wandering around and randomly clicking, the player will discover some mini-games based on the series. There is memory, 'guess who said it', 'guess the sketch' and a lot of similar mini-games based on sketches in which points can be scored or lost.

Like other Monty Python games Invasion From the Planet Skyron isn't a game you can play for hours on end. It is a nice play for ten minutes to see some wacky animations and uncover another sketch. Perhaps it is even arduous of speak of a real 'game' here, since it's more like a Monty Python gadget.

As said, due to the dominant randomness it's hard to call any Monty Python game a real game. I also don't think this method of humor works as well on a "game" as on the show. It becomes a bit tiresome after a while to just randomly click around.

If you only want to experience some of the Monty Python's funniest sketches again, you are better of buying the DVD collection. But if you're a huge Monty Python fan and happen to own a CD-i, this package will definitely be your taste and a lot of recognition will be your share. If you are one of those fellows who can't appreciate Monty Python's style of wit you better leave this alone and finally try to get some sense of humor. Overall, Monty Python's Invason From the Planet Skyron was a nice addition to the wide range of odd games available for the CD-i library. (Defunct Games, 23/9/'06)

But besides the corny title and cut scenes, Mutant Rampage isn't a bad a game as the first two Animation Magic creations. I won't say it is particular intriguing either, but it didn't really irritate me, which is always a nice treat for a CD-i game.

Mutant Rampage: Bodyslam is a beat'em'up in the same line as Double Dragon and Streets of Rage. It's the year 2068, and Mutants have taken over the Earth. For many years no humans have been able to compete against the mutants, but now a challenge from a human team called "the Naturals" has been issued. This team consists out of three playable characters: two musclemen and one woman. The one and only purpose is to kick the ass of all those mutant villains. On many places in-game it's possible to change the character you're playing with.

The graphics aren't very impressive, but not really bad either. They resemble early Sega Genesis games (especially on the cheap animation part). For the sound applies the same: just the cheesy tunes and sound effects you'd expect from a game like this. The control is fine too, quite responsive expect when you try to perform a "special move" (each character has one). That only seems to be done by luck, because half the time it won't work. The real problem is the CD-i joypad which clearly isn't made for this kind of button-bashing games, so be prepared to be plagued by some muscle cramp.

The mutant enemies you encounter deserve a special mention. Some of them are really, really sick. There's a large woman who hits you with her giant breasts, a guy who farts in your face, spitting cavemen, and some fellows who lose their head but still fight on. On the other hand they're some really annoying enemies which are just too hard to hit like some flying women and robotic man-spiders. Furthermore, this game must have some of the easiest end bosses I ever faced in a street brawler. However, the difficulty is a bit strangely adjusted overall: the first seven stages are an easy blast, and are literally scattered with 1ups, but the last three levels are too hard with too many annoying enemies which are almost impossible to hit. There is also some sloppy programming: when you lose a life it very often occurs you're taking to one of the atrocious cut scenes, though this only is suppose to happen when you lose a character! But I guess it just wouldn't be a true CD-i game if it hadn't had some bugs in it.

Except for the poorly animated and horribly dumb cut scenes, Mutant Rampage: Bodyslam is an enjoyable game for the time it takes to finish it (90 minutes to 2 hours) overall. But after that, there is really no need to ever to return to it again. The only thing it should be nominated for is 'most corny title for a video game'. "Mutant Rampage: Bodyslam" shouldn't be a bad title for a low-performance B-movie with, preferably, Jackie Chan or Steven Seagal. Or maybe Sylvester Stallone should cop the rights for an eventually upcoming Rocky VII title. You never know. (Defunct Games, 20/1/'07)

If the game doesn't fit in any of the categories mentioned above, it will probably be a port of some sort of forgettable puzzle game. Pac-Panic proves this point. Though it wasn't bad, the game neither made much of an impact when it was released as Pac-Attack for the Genesis and Super Nintendo.

In first instance you would think a combination of classic games like Pac-Man and Tetris has potential. But alas, Pac-Panic is just an average Tetris-clone. The bricks consist out of, well, brick, ghosts or a Pac-Man. The idea is to line the ghosts up in such a way that Pac-Man can eat them from the above. If ghosts have been cleared away, bricks which were lying on top of them drop down, and create new horizontal lines (if you're lucky). If you're in normal mode and Pac eats enough ghosts a fairy will appear, which magically lets all the ghosts that were left over disappear. It is also possible to play a 100-level puzzle mode and to play the game with two-players.

Pac-Panic looks alright, with bright and colorful graphics. I especially like the classic look of the ghosts. The audio is suitable for the game, but not outstanding in any way.

The gameplay of Pac-Panic doesn't come near the quality of the original Tetris or of the original clones like Puyo Puyo or Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo. That's mainly because the player in Pac-Panic is more dependent from luck than strategy. Half the time it is a guess which way Pac will eat his ghosts. Because he is unpredictable, the game isn't very long-lived. It isn't really possible to work out extensive tactics. Furthermore, it just isn't very satisfying to play since lining up ghosts has no point until a Pac-Man comes along. Often he comes too late, and your collected ghosts become even harder to clear away.

Though the control is excellent, the game also has that kind of layer of slowness upon it which seems to bother many titles in the CD-i library. I also couldn't appreciate the options menu's which have symbols of Pac-Man having different emotions instead of plain English text. However fancy the idea, if it leads to consulting the manual to know what you are doing it can't be a good thing.

Overall, you can do lot worse for CD-i than Pac-Panic. But that an average Tetris clone stands out as one of the few decent games for the system, makes clear why the CD-i never had any chance to succeed. (Defunct Games, 3/9/'07)

The package of Tetris for CD-i promises us that "Tetris becomes a legend in CD-I (sic)." So will Philips be able to turn the classic puzzle game into something "legendary"?

No, of course they don't. Since the CD-i disaster Philips would do better to stick to producing televisions and electric razors instead of producing video games. Though they didn't totally mess Tetris up, Philips made some disputable changes to the original Tetris.

I must admit I like some of the changes. First of all, they managed to create a really relaxing atmosphere. The playground occurs to multiple backdrops of different natural environments of which some have moving elements in them like waterfalls, rivers, the forest or the shore. If you gather enough points you go to a new level with a different backdrop and music. Though none of this is fantastic looking, they make the player feel sort of cozy. However the biggest contribution to the soothing atmosphere is the excellent music (which was done by Jim Andron). If I would have been into yoga this version of Tetris would definitely get me meditating.

But besides adding graphical and excellent audio glitters, Philips made a change to Tetris which isn't an improvement. They changed the classic control system. Remember that pushing down made a block drop faster so you could change it until the last moment? Well, Philips abolished that possibility. Instead they only added the separate button which makes the block fall down at once. There isn't a mid way possible anymore: either you watch the brick fall down slowly or you drop it at once. No mid-air speeding. If you are used to the original Tetris - and who isn't? - it's easy to make mistakes with this different control. Especially when the game gets faster and harder the control becomes annoying. CD-i Tetris is also harder because it isn't possible to change a block at the last moment, because once it hits another brick they will stick together right away! It's also a letdown that cleared off lines disappear with a kind of slow delay and that there is no sound when they do so.

It's still Tetris, which means it's still fun, but the change of control sets this version of the classic game a step back from my favorite versions of the game. In my humble opinion the best versions to get are Tetris Max (Mac/PC shareware) and - still going strong - the original, gadget-free version for the black & white Game Boy.

Overall, Philips didn't make Tetris "legendary" for their infamous CD-i console. They remade Tetris in an excellent style, but they also managed to diminish the gameplay of the classic game, making it less fun and less of a classic. When you think about it, maybe that is an accomplishment which can be labeled "legendary" indeed! (Defunct Games, 9/9/'06)

Whack-a-Bubble is a colorful but poor looking Arkanoid clone; for those really ignorant: Arkanoid is Break Out with the ability to shoot the bricks. The bricks have been replaced by bubbles. Though colorful the graphics are plain and a little pixelated. The sound is alright with a suiting relaxing melody than didn't get on my nerves too rapidly.

The control works fine, but the gameplay doesn't offer anything more than you can find in common freeware, shareware or even online Flash-games. Besides the regular 'arcade challenge', there are some additional options like three difficulty settings, beat the clock and your high scores are saved in a nice overview. It is also possible to play the game with two players in 'head 2 head', which would be nice if I had two joypads (I always wonder why the hell the second controller port is on the BACK of Philips' console; so far none CD-i addict could explain me that).

Maybe the CD-i was ahead of its time: long before the Wii it wanted to be the first true 'family console'. Philips tried so by releasing a lot of miserable 'family games', Whack-a-Bubble being one of them. Actually, 80 percent of the games in the family game-genre is miserable, also see the Wii library. The difference is that Nintendo actually did release some classics on their innovative console and, even more important, has a lot better marketing departement. But, despite what CD-i fanboys tell you, the CD-i mainly failed because most software was, at best, mediocre.

Overall, my biggest problem with Whack-a-Bubble is not that it is necessary a bad game. But if you bought Philips' 'multimedia' console in 1991 for around $400 (luckily I didn't), you'd expect something more than a game you could have played on your NES or, nowadays, on every Flash-game site around. No matter how well intended, Whack-a-Bubble was just one more statement of the mediocre of the CD-i's software library. (Defunct Games, 3/2/'08)

Zelda's Adventure was released at the end of the CD-i's lifespan, and was the third and last Zelda game to hit Philips' console. But they decided to change course with this Zelda in comparison with the widely criticized prequels. First of all, they didn't hire Animation Magic to produce it, but instead replaced them with the - for me also totally unknown - producer Viridis. Secondly, this meant this Zelda turned out to be more of a role-playing game than your basic platformer like Link: Faces of Evil and Zelda: Wand of Gamelon were. Those two games stood more in the tradition of the primarily action-based Nintendo Entertain System title, while Zelda's Adventure wanted to compete with classics, like The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Gameboy) and A Link to the Past (Super Nintendo). Thirdly, this game has been based on digital rendered sprites and real characters instead of the animated geeks which populated the other two adventures. So yes, be prepared to see a 'real life' Zelda.

How does this wonderful Zelda creation start? Well, an old wizard instructs our heroin by reading an ancient scroll which happened to be soiling his desk: "Gannon, Lord of Darkness, has taken over Tolemac. He has stolen the treasured celestial signs and captured Link. Make haste!" You start on a spot you will see A LOT when playing Zelda's Adventure, because every time your character dies you start over there again (except for when you die in dungeons - they have been fair enough to let you restart from the beginning of it).

As you'd expect from a CD-i Zelda game, Zelda's Adventure has some major drawbacks. The first thing you will notice is that it takes a few second every time you switch screens to load. So walking along ten areas will take a bit longer than it would in your traditional Zelda game on the 8-Bit NES! But surprisingly, this isn't the biggest flaw of the game.

The thing I hated the most were the enemies Zelda encounters on her journey. The environments look quite good and Zelda isn't badly animated herself, but the enemies ... for Pete's sake, they look more like they have been animated by a good-willing amateur with a home-editing program than actually programmed! Yes, they are really terrifying ugly and dumb as hell. Some of them demand a ridiculous amount of hits before they actually die, others will fly right into your face. The yells and screams they utter sound more like somebody vomiting.

While some of the above problems could have been overseen, it is unfortunate that there are some issues which directly impact the gameplay. First of all, the audio isn't really rightly adjusted. The sound Zelda and her enemies produce, is much louder than the volume of speaking characters. You really have to turn the sound up to understand them, but that will make the other audio too loud! But if you don't, you'll probably miss some crucial hints, since most characters will only say their lines once and there is no on-screen text.

Furthermore, while most Zelda games cover a very extensive world, it is generally not too hard to find your way around, thanks in large part to the excellent maps. Now, Zelda's Adventure has one of the most useless maps I have ever seen in a Zelda game (or any series, for that matter). It consists of red blocks without marks and only shows you already where you've been. You will find yourself wandering aimlessly around the world a lot (which is only made worse by the aforementioned loading times), without a clue were to go or what to do. With that, the inventory is too laborious to handle smoothly and it isn't always clear what the objects are used for. The weapon system is also a bit different: when you use a bow or magic it costs you gems. There are no separate arrows and stuff to gather - you just need to make sure that you have enough gems.

Zelda's Adventure is totally average, but I don't think it is such an immense disgrace to the Zelda series as the pathetic games Chad reviewed. They actually tried to make a decent game here, which succeeded if you compare it to its CD-i predecessors and even to a lot of other CD-i games. But of course, compared to games such as Link's Awakening or A Link to the Past this game pales in comparison. I think that if you're a huge Zelda fan you'll be shocked, but not as much as with the previous CD-i efforts. That leaves us with three conclusions at once: a decent effort for CD-i, an average play compared to a lot of other 16-bit games, and a failure compared to the original Zelda series. If one was able to get this cheap, it would help, but I'd advise not to spend much money on this one unless you are a collector.

I think Philips can make money nowadays by releasing a 'Philips Zelda' collection covering all the three games - they are very popular on the internet and everyone seems curious about them. I'm convinced a compilation would sell - it's a strange thing curiosity does to a lot of people. Some idiots, like me, even spend quite a bit of money to acquire stuff like Zelda's Adventure. Don't waste your money. (Defunct Games, 30/9/'06)

In Parasol Stars the player once again assumes the role of the ginger kid from Rainbow Islands. Now he's equipped with an umbrella, which is actually a parasol considering the title. He can use it to take out enemies which will turn into some kind of ghost shape, with which he can shoot other enemies. Enemies vary from trumpets to pianos to clams. Such variety is nice but at times it's a little hard to make out if something is an enemy or some kind of bonus element or power-up.

Parasol Stars takes some of the best elements from Bubble Bobble, which were mostly ignored by Rainbow Islands. Most important, there is a simultaneous 2-player mode again which adds a lot to the fun. Also, the levels aren't vertical anymore, instead they are just like in Bubble Bobble you're going from one room to the next and moving between them automatically.

The graphics are very bright and colorful (just like the original Rainbow Islands) and the music is a catchy (albeit repetitive) tune like in Bub & Bob's original adventure. Actually, that's the biggest problem of this whole game: it's quite fun, colorful and works good, and it's way better than Rainbow Islands ... but it's just not Bubble Bobble. The original is still the best in the trilogy. It has better instant gameplay, a catchier tune and the tiny green and blue dinosaurs look a lot cuter than the dumb ass ginger kids.

Overall, Parasol Stars is a good game. It's just not Bubble Bobble. I sure miss those little dinosaurs. (Defunct Games, 14/10/'06)

Gadget: Invention, Travel & Adventure (which, by the way, has nothing to do with the animated cartoon Inspector Gadget) is an extreme example of a game from this early era, for it is much more an interactive movie than an adventure game. Initially released in 1993 by Synergy Interactive on 1 CD, the game was re-released later in 1998 as a special edition on 4 CDs by Cryo Interactive, after renaming it to Gadget: Past as Future.

The story starts in West End Hotel, room 306. You have an appointment in the lobby of the hotel with a mysterious man named Theodore Slowslop. He tells you to get in touch with a scientist with the ludicrous name Horselover Frost, the leader of a team of scientists who have been conducting secretive and puzzling experiments. Your search leads you onto a journey to different locations using various means of transport, including a futuristic looking streamlined steam locomotive. As you progress, your experience becomes more surrealistic and mysterious, including your encounter of a mute boy who turns up once in a while and hovers seemingly through the air. Other characters who you meet tell you of contradictory anecdotes of the inexplicable events surrounding you. It appears that you are being sent to fetch and assemble a number of gadgets for an enigmatic machine called the Sensorama, which is supposedly designed to help mental patients. Yet, is the machine actually a brainwashing device and are the scientists just a group of megalomaniac mad men? Eventually, you discover that the scientists are all busy designing and constructing a spaceship called the Ark, so they can get away from Earth in time, for they are all claiming there is a meteorite that will soon collide with the planet. Even after the adventure ends, it is not completely clear what is real and what is not, since you also seem to have been influenced by the Sensorama machine. The story truly grasps the imagination from beginning to end, much in the style of David Lynch' Mullholland Drive and Stanley Kubrick' 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Despite of the intricate story, there is not much of a game to be found. In fact, the game is best not to be approached as a true adventure game - even the game package claims that the game is really an interactive movie "directed" by its Japanese creator Haruhiko Shono (who, incidentally, has written a book on the making of the game, Inside Out with Gadget). Critics may ask the question as to why the game is not released as a movie but rather a video game, but since it has been released as the latter, it will always be judged in comparison with other adventure games, regardless how unfair this may seem.

As an adventure game, unfortunately, it is mediocre at best. This is a completely linear game. There is no real puzzle to be solved anywhere. For all locations in the game, the player only has to activate a trigger to continue the journey onward. The trigger is no more than talking to a character or pulling a handle. All of the triggers are extremely easy to find, since there is only a single real action that the player is expected to perform for each location. For the rest, the player is just clicking along, as if the player is looking through a huge slideshow. Even the game cursor looks like an arrow that can be seen in the slideshow. The gadgets or devices which the player gathers are automatically stored in a briefcase. This briefcase acts like a sort of non-interactive inventory. When an item is needed in a location, it is automatically activated so that it is not possible to select a wrong item. It is also not possible to return to an earlier location anytime in the game, expect when it is part of the script. Indeed, it is a relief that the story is so involving, for otherwise the game will really be too big of a bore to play. Near the end, the game unexpectedly attempts to delivers the player a puzzle - but to much disappointment - a maze. This is the only time when the player has to do some problem solving in the game.

The unique production value of this game is attributed to its surrealistic style and feel. Graphically, the game world is aptly rendered. The environments look a bit dusty, though the developer rightly claims (as on the game package) that "there wafts through it an atmosphere of nostalgia". Once the player activates a trigger to be taken to the next section, a black and white movie (all rendered in QuickTime) is almost always shown as a cut scene. The futuristic looking locomotives are featured a lot in these cut scenes. The artworks all have a touch of noire and retro look of the machine age of the 1920s and 1930s. With one exception, none of the game characters are animated or voiced. The few lines of dialogues, written by Hirokazu Nabekura, are just displayed as plain text at the bottom of the screen. Many of the game characters look very pale, as if the world is populated by zombies. The music is composed by Koji Ueno who is described (on the game package) as "a composer who combines digital sensitivity with classical training". A non-Japanese gamer who listens to the music will likely describe it as weird, though it succeeds in creating an atmosphere of suspense for the game.

Overall, Gadget: Invention, Travel & Adventure succeeds mildly as an interactive movie but fails miserably as an adventure game. The surrealistic atmosphere it manages to create is truly involving. However, the game lacks the gameplay necessary to call itself a classic adventure, since all the interaction with the player is totally limited to a simple linear clicking exercise. Without any real puzzle, the game is also very easy to finish. In the end, Gadget: Invention, Travel & Adventure is merely multimedia eye candy with a peculiar Japanese root, but otherwise a forgettable game from an era gone by. (Adventure Classic Gaming, 7/7/'07)

Although it is only a mini game, fans may instantly find it hard to reconcile the dated look and play of this desktop adventure, knowing that the game is released 4 years after the last title in the Indiana Jones series. True to its name, the game runs entirely within a small window on the computer desktop and uses an overhead isometric view. It is clear that the playing area is divided into many invisible squares, within which Indy can move from square to square (but without any animation in between). This style of play is very similar to that in many adventure games on the consoles of yesteryears, such as Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda series. Alas, it may be more appropriate to compare this desktop adventure to other desktop games in Windows (for example, Mines and Solitaire), notwithstanding its Indiana Jones license.

Each game in Indiana Jones and His Desktop Adventures is designed to play for only about half an hour to an hour. To start each game, the player chooses to randomly create a small, medium or large world in which randomly generated quests have to be solved. The beginning of every game is always the same - you start off at the village and inside a building where, for most of the time, Marcus Brody tells you about a quest and asks you to acquire an artifact to be returned to him. Also, Indy's whip and a first aid kit are always found at the same place at the start of every game, which make me wonder why these objects are not added as standard inventory items in the first place. In truth, I cannot call any of the "puzzles" in this game real "puzzles". Most of these puzzles or quests consist merely of collecting objects, giving them to some characters so to acquire other objects, which are then given yet to other characters, and so on. Much of the time is lost searching for the right characters for the right objects, both of which are randomly scattered over the map. All these tasks ultimately translate to a lot of tiresome walking within the game world.

Indy can be controlled with either the mouse or the keyboard, but a combination of both is best. The arrow keys are used to move Indy and the mouse is used to manipulate items from your inventory. These controls are adequate except when there is a need to use a weapon. The game is crowded with all kind of enemies that can attack Indy - Nazis, natives, snakes, scorpions, lions, and others. You are able to attack these enemies with your whip or other weapons lying around (for example, a dagger). Yet, the controls for the attack are too loose, making it nearly impossible to hit an enemy directly at once. The sound in this game is rather limited - just some screams and yells by the enemies alike.

The central problem in Indiana Jones and His Desktop Adventures is its monotonous gameplay. The game package proudly proclaims, "There are a whole lot of different games to play because with each game the map regenerates to give you a whole new experience." It is true that the map changes every time the game is played, but the rest of the world does not differ much between each play. Notwithstanding the fact that the beginning of each game is always the same, every map looks very much alike. Each map is more or less made up of patches of identical bushes and deserts, inhabited with generic characters, all of which can quickly become tedious when you have played it a few times. By then, you probably also have seen every possible variant of quests generated by the game, since they do not differ too much from each other.

To be honest, I do not like Indiana Jones and His Desktop Adventures much. It is an uninspired addition to the Indiana Jones series and does not in any way live up to the reputation that other games in this venerable series have earned. The only element in common between this and other games in the series is the Indiana Jones license. Even when compared to the desktop games in Windows, I feel this game is too short-lived mainly due to its lack of variety.

Perhaps Indiana Jones and His Desktop Adventures has started out as a sound idea - to make an Indiana Jones game for the causal gamer who can pick it up quickly and play it for a relaxing moment. As a freeware game, it is perhaps worthy of a quick look. As a commercial game, however, it fails in too many aspects, even as a desktop game. In the end, it is an adventure that is too quickly forgotten, with or without Indy. (Adventure Classic Gaming, 1/2/'07)

Much like Prince of Persia, Out Of This World is a game that sets the standards for action adventure games of that era. At its core, it is a 2D platform game. However, the game incorporates a lot more puzzle elements than other platformers and focuses heavily on creating an atmospheric visual. These differences set the game apart from other competitors and revolutionize the use of vector graphics and cinematic sequences in video games. The game's intriguing story and unique style has made Out Of This World a cult classic among gamers, a status only equaled by its unofficial but spiritual sequel Flashback.

In Out Of This World, you assume the role of the young red-haired professor Lester Knight Chaykin. The story starts with Lester arriving at his high-tech laboratory. Despite being in mid of a thunderstorm, Lester decides to continue his experiment with the particle accelerator. This turns out not be too good of an idea! Lightning strikes the laboratory and interferes with the experiment, causing Lester to be teleported to a barren alien planet. Suddenly, Lester has found himself completely out of this world (or, rather, in another world), from which he must try to escape with the help of an imprisoned alien with whom he befriends in the new world.

The trial and error gameplay dominant in Out Of This World makes it a little hard to get into this game. The alien planet is filled with unexpected traps, cheap deaths, and near impossible jumps. Many puzzles in the game require complex sets of actions, in which a single misstep can lead to instant death. The game requires a lot of care, precision, and mainly patience, from the player. Patience is required because the player will need to practice all the moves ahead so that they can be performed entirely uninterrupted to solve the puzzle. The impatient gamer will surely and quickly be turned away from this game. Patient gamers, on the other hand, will find this game to be a very rewarding experience. This is, in part, due to the involving ambience which the game manages to create. The cinematic cut scenes that are so beautifully rendered in this game conjure up a mood or tension that quickly envelops the player into the alien world. The game is saved automatically at each checkpoint that is locked by a pass code. The checkpoints are at a reasonable distance from each other but are far enough to limit the frustration of restarting the game after dying. The player needs not to worry about lives, though, because they come unlimited. Lester can only wield 1 weapon&emdash;a gun which he finds later in the game. With it, he can shoot enemies, blast through to destroy walls, or summon a small shield against enemy gunfire. However, the gun will get drained if it is overused and there are only a few recharging stations in the entire game.

The graphics, especially in the enhanced version, have aged reasonably well and are reminiscent of the graphics in Alone in the Dark. Out Of This World is the first game to employ polygons for all of its graphics, as opposed to sprites that are more common in games of that era. The use of vector graphics creates a distinctive visual style for this game. Audio is limited, but the few musical tunes and sound effects are well placed in the game to contribute an atmosphere of tension. Because very precise control is needed, the game is well suited for playing with the keyboard that is, in my opinion, even better than a joypad.

Out Of This World is released at a time when a single individual can still be mostly responsible for the entire development of a game. Eric Chahi, the creator, has been revered over the years by his fans to the likes of Roberta Williams (of King's Quest fame) and Ron Gilbert (of Monkey Island fame). To this date, Chahi still actively supports the game, after having reacquired its rights back from Delphine Software. His fame is rightly earned. Even now, the game still feels special and has lost nothing of its involving tension.

Undoubtedly, you will die many times in this game before you will figure out what to do, and you will die some more trying to figure you how to do it. Yet, when you finally solve the game, the experience is very satisfying. Despite being a very difficult game, the game is not very long. It will take quite some time to finish it on the first run, but once you figure it all out, it is possible to finish the game from start to end within half an hour. In other words, the game is just long enough to make it fun to replay it once in a while.

Out Of This World is among most praised PC games out of the DOS era. Rightly so, it is a landmark game in the action adventure subgenre. The game has reached past its cult status and has become a timeless classic. Beyond Flashback, the game has also spawned an official sequel (but only for the Sega Mega-CD console) titled Heart of the Alien, in which the player assumes the role of the alien from Out Of This World. Sadly, Chahi is not involved in the making of this sequel. As with most adventure games of the past, you will need to a little patience to get into this game. Once you do, however, Out Of This World is a very rewarding and intriguing gaming experience. (Adventure Classic Gaming, 30/3/'08)

In Rise of the Dragon, the player assumes the role of William "Blade" Hunter, a private investigator (though he is usually addressed to, less flatteringly, as "private dick") and ex-police officer who gets involved unknowingly in a major crime conspiracy. The mayor's daughter, Chandra Vincenzi, has been killed after experimenting with a mysterious and toxic drug that has transformed her into some kind of mutant before dying. The mayor does not want the big public to know about what he considers as his private affairs, so he contacts Blade instead of the police to investigate the case. Besides tracking down the megalomaniacal drug kingpin responsible for Chandra's death, the case leads Blade to uncover an underground Chinese Mafia operation led by Deng Hwang - or "the dragon" Bahamut - who is planning on world domination. He shows off his malice by threatening to poison the entire city of Los Angeles through the water supply with the toxic drug. Blade must prevent Deng from committing his inimical plans.

Unlike King's Quest, Rise of the Dragon is not played in a third person but in a first person perspective. Blade's inventory can be accessed by clicking on a square symbol at the bottom right of the screen. Acquired objects can be studied and manipulated in the inventory. For example, before leaving his room it is necessary to pick up Blade's clothes and dress him, which is done in the inventory. Traveling to different locations is mostly done by a map that is automatically accessible on a station after leaving a location. However, traveling can cost precious time that is limited in the game. This is because time is an important element of play in Rise of the Dragon. Some locations, like the City Hall, are closed in the afternoon so that Blade can only visit these locations at certain times of the day. When Blade has an appointment with another character, he better arrive on time or else he may not be able to continue his investigation or gain cooperation from his sources. Also, Blade likes to sleep in the night and when he is not at home in time he will sleep on the streets. If he wakes up on the streets, it is common that some objects, of which he has been robbed, will appear missing in the inventory.

The graphics in Rise of the Dragon are superb. Together with the brilliant music, the game really manages to create a spooky sci-fi atmosphere that is homage to Ridley Scott's Blade Runner and truly immerses the player into the mystery. Most of the story is told by non-animated cutscenes which reads like a comic book and pay tributes to the classic noire atmosphere. The game can be played in CGA or EGA, but the game is most clear and best played in VGA color mode. The game is originally designed to run in DOS.

Much like in authentic Sierra On-Line adventures, there are manifold ways to die in Rise of the Dragon. Saving the game often can lessen the frustration created otherwise, given that many of the deaths are unexpected and sometimes feel even a bit unfair. However, there is another reason to save often. When Blade makes the wrong choices in conversations with crucial characters, they can refuse to talk to him anymore. Without their help it is not possible to finish the game successfully in any way. When first playing the game this can be particularly frustrating, because the player is left with no clue on what to do next and just hangs around aimlessly until time runs out and the game over screen appears.

Thanks to the involving atmosphere, such criticism is surmountable. Most puzzles require logical thinking and some conversations ask for bluffing. Even parts which seem to be trial and error at first (especially the part in which the player has to connect wires and gets electrocuted if it is not done correctly) turn out to be logical after all. Besides puzzles and dialogues, there are 2 arcade sequences in which the player has to guide Blade in a platform styled mini game. They are nice diversions away from the regular adventure elements, but not great in any way. Fortunately, the player is not forced to finish them to continue, since after a few failed attempts the option to select "win the arcade" will appear so they can be bypassed. Rise of the Dragon, though a bit short in length, has a fair amount of replay value. There are different endings of the game, depending on how much the player has successfully accomplished or messed up the mission. The game is aimed at a mature audience. It contains coarse language, and the story takes place in a fictional surrounding where drugs, prostitutes, and violence are the order of the day. When the game was ported to Sega CD, it even got censored despite having been given with the "mature" MA-17 label by Sega of America!

Overall, Rise of the Dragon is a truly involving sci-fi detective adventure. It features an unique mix of gameplay elements and creates an atmospheric setting with its excellent music and graphics that are also appropriate for the sci-fi backdrop. The game sets itself apart from other original Sierra On-Line games by the special mature Dynamix touch. It is a true gem for fans of the genre interested in thrilling adventure games. It is unfortunate that none of the other adventure games from Dynamix have ever achieved the artistic success of Rise of the Dragon, including Heart of China that is meant to be the unofficial sequel to this game. Sadly, Dynamix was closed in 2001 when Sierra On-Line underwent restructuring by Vivendi Universal. Tunnell and others from the studio have since co-founded another game publisher called GarageGames, giving hope to fans that there will be another adventure as atmospheric and involving as Rise of the Dragon. (Adventure Classic Gaming, 8/5/'07)

FIFA Soccer '95 is a huge improvement over the original. Most importantly, the whole game is more polished. The graphics and sound are sharper, the action is faster and smoother, the AI is improved and the control is more tight. Also pretty cool is the addition of more moves; I especially enjoy the possibility to punch other players in the face (which will almost always get you booked). The battery backup is improved as well, making it possible to save up four competitions in the cartridge, replacing the laborious password system.

It is easy to see why FIFA Soccer '95 was a success in its day: there weren't any other soccer games that could compete with the excellent and smooth presentation EA managed to give the game. There are tons of options (among them League, Tournament and Friendly), the menu system works fine and the saving feature is one of the best to be found on any Genesis game around. FIFA Soccer '95 includes all the official teams from England, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United States, Spain, and Brazil; and it's also possible to play with the national teams. However, the game wasn't completely officially licensed and because of that all of the players' name are fictitious.

The gameplay isn't as directly accessible as of its main competitors, Sensible Soccer or International Superstar Soccer, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's bad. It just takes a little longer to get into, because the controls seem a little bit stiffer. Due to the isometric view on the pitch it also can be a little hard to pass accurately to (non-visible) nearby teammates. Scoring goals seems especially hard at first: the goalkeepers are extremely good. However, people tend to forget this is the case in almost every soccer game around to this day. If you have the patience to practice for a little while, FIFA '95 turns out to be very deep and involving. You can alter your strategy and line up in any possible way and it really effects the way your players are playing in a manner which was quite revolutionary for 1994/1995. In terms of options and presentation FIFA '95 easily beats its main competitors; but Sensible Soccer is more suitable for non-soccer fans due to its more accessible gameplay.

Overall, FIFA '95 is a big improvement over the original game and an excellent soccer simulation with a top of the bill presentation and outstanding memory function. I also consider it as one of the highlights of the 16-bit FIFA series, because it only went downhill after this one (especially the graphics and presentation of the following editions are disappointing &endash; whenever the gameplay has improved in those games is a matter of controversy. Personally, I don't think so.) It wasn't until the quite recent FIFA 08 (Xbox 360/PS3) that EA finally managed to give the series some its initial unique and professional charm back. (Sega-16, 27/3/'08)

In my opinion, The Last Crusade is the second best movie in the series after Raiders of the Lost Ark. At least it's a hundred times better than the awful second part which was called Temple of Doom. The Last Crusade spawned a lot of commercial games; there was even a PC/Amiga adventure released with the exactly same title as this one, though the games have nothing in common. The action/platformer based on the Last Crusade got a multiple platform release (Genesis, Master System, NES, Game Boy, Game Gear) and is officially known as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Action Game to avoid possible confusion with the adventure game. For the Genesis version it's only on the label of the cartridge itself that this crappy extension of the title is mentioned.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a four level platform game, all of which are loosely based on fragments of the movie. The player can pick two difficulty settings: easy and hard, but even on easy the game manages to be annoyingly hard. The biggest contribution to the immense difficulty is the unresponsive and anti-intuitive control scheme. When Indy reaches the end of a ledge he automatically drops off. The players actually has to press the jump button a split second before he reaches the end of any ledge. This is especially hard in the second stage when Indy has to walk on a moving train, but more about that later.

Besides jumping, Indy has the ability to punch and whip his, well, whip. The punch is totally useless most of the time since the reach of it is very small and enemies are seldom close. The whip is more useful, but the more you use it the less powerful it becomes and the more hits are needed to take out an enemy. Furthermore, the whip can be used to swing over certain areas - just like in the movie - but it works very counter-intuitively. Indy doesn't want to jump to make his whip reach a spot at which it can be attached, instead the player has to stand still and just press the whip button! Yes, it took me some time to figure that out, which was pretty annoying.

Another irritating aspect is the amazingly number of cheap hits the players will receive in this game. In the first cave level Indy can get hit by (unseen) falling spikes of the ceiling, by falling into shallow water (since when did that hurt the hero who was "named after a dog"?), by hitting his head on the ceiling when he jumps too high and by enemies with some of the cheapest A.I. ever, who shoot, punch or throw knives at our hero.

I managed to finish the first level, but the game doesn't get much better after that. In the second level Indy is walking on a moving train constantly bothered by enemies (like giraffes sticking their heads out of carriages &endash; yeah right, giraffes), jumps between carriages and over unclear obstacles. This stage is near-on impossible, no matter if you're playing the game on easy. When you finally seem to reach the end of it you'll mess up due to the overwhelming cheap A.I. or loose control, leaving you frustrated as hell. The only way I managed to surpass it was by using the level select code which, thank God, exists for this horrible product.

If you thought the second stage was hopelessly annoying, go give the third and fourth stages a try. The third is a Dracula-like castle at which Indy constantly dies when he falls off a platform into… grass. Later on he dies from falling into… a pile of bones. The fourth stage is composed of catacombs that contain moving blades which apparently can be avoided if one can manage the counter-intuitive methods to do as much.

There aren't any saving graces for Last Crusade either. The graphics look quite bland and are very low on animation. Each level just contains one type of enemy that only differs in their choice of weapons. The "end bosses" of each stage (if you ever manage to reach them) are laughably cheap and the music is an ever-repeating uninspired tune of the Indiana Jones theme. Other sound effects range from bad to non-existent. If you want a real laugh at the cheap-ass A.I., try the hard mode.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a short game, but due to the annoying control, cheap A.I. and insane difficulty level, most gamers probably will kick this horrible product into the dusty part of their game collection before finishing it. And that's rightly so, because it is just one of the many games that proves that for unclear reasons, movies and games seldom form a quality mix. Actually, that's quite an euphemistic statement for such a turd as this game manages to be! I'm already wondering what kind of games will be produced based on the fourth installment of the Indiana Jones movies. I won't set my expectation too high. (Sega-16, 30/8/'07)

In 1994 International Superstar Soccer (also known as Perfect Eleven in Japan) appeared on the Super Nintendo, and the sequel with the overly long title International Superstar Soccer Deluxe (ISS Deluxe) appeared in 1996 on the Super Nintendo and finally, the Mega Drive. If the critics had paid more attention they wouldn't have been surprised, since ISS is actually a sort of unofficial sequel to Konami's relatively successful NES-game Konami Hyper Soccer. Rightfully so, Konami didn't expect much of the American market for a soccer game, so this port of ISS Deluxe was released exclusively in Europe and Japan, without a translation for the American Genesis.

ISS Deluxe has plenty of options to chose from - it's possible to play international, World Cup, penalty kick, and open game. The game isn't officially licensed and only national teams are available, but there are two cool additional features, specifically the training and scenario modes. In the training mode the player is able to master the controls on a higher level. In the scenario mode you get different assignments like scoring in the last minute of a game, which is a nice diversion to playing matches.

Option-wise there is one major drawback of ISS Deluxe, and that's the lack of the ability to save on the cartridge. All you get are passwords that are way too long (they also contain symbols, making it even harder to write down). For a platform game I would have found this surmountable, but writing an elaborate password down for every single possible competition in a sports game is way too annoying. The lack of saving possibilities is particularly unforgivable when you consider this game was released in 1996, two years after games like its competitor FIFA Soccer '95 and Sonic 3, which proved that it was perfectly possible to provide a working saving system on a Genesis cartridge.

However, despite its lack of a memory back up, ISS Deluxe still belongs with the best soccer games on the Mega Drive. The graphics don't look as sharp and polished as in FIFA '95, but the sprites are much bigger and better animated. Also, it is probably the only soccer game on the Genesis that features true voice-over commentary. In the long run it becomes a bit annoying, but overall it's quite impressive that they managed to implement it in the game considering the weak Genesis sound chip. Even more, the game is a lot more accessible than FIFA '95. The controls are easier to pick (you don't really need to do the training mode), though it will take a time to figure out how to score a goal due to some insanely good goalkeepers. If you played ISS Deluxe, you do not want to return to FIFA '95 - this game plays so much more fluidly. Keep in mind that it works best with a six-button joypad though.

Finally, ISS Deluxe combines the arcade feeling of Sensible Soccer with the more realistic sprites of FIFA Soccer, and still manage to have its own unique touch. It is the typical Konami-touch, meaning you'll at some point in the game feel like a happy and innocent kid again. What's also nice about ISS Deluxe is that you can make it as deep as you like. There are different difficulty levels, and it's possible to alter all kind of tactics. If you don't like that, it's also possible to just pick up a quick match.

International Superstar Soccer has gradually evolved into the successful Pro Evolution Soccer series, nowadays the only serious competitor of the FIFA franchise that, despite some flawed editions, is still going strong. Pro Evolution Soccer still remains, just like its 16-bit predecessor, the more arcade-like game as opposed to the more simulation-minded fare that is FIFA. Despite this, the game is not as widely known outside the gaming community as FIFA is, mainly due to the fact it is only partially official licensed, while FIFA always had almost full license of all clubs and countries around the world.

ISS Deluxe isn't as polished as FIFA Soccer '95 and not as instantly accessible as Sensible Soccer. Nevertheless, it is one the best soccer games on the Mega Drive, with great arcade actions and a lot of fun. I would have definitely rated it with an "8" if it wasn't for the lack of a save feature, which makes me knock the score one point down; however, in my opinion it's still the second-best soccer game on the Mega Drive, after Sensible Soccer. (Sega-16, 23/8/'07)

There isn't really much of a story to it all either. The package summarizes the epic - that tries very forcibly to be funny - in two horrifying sentences: Mr. Nutz - Only he can prevent a new and permanent ice age. To help him on his way he's got a lotta Nutz, a lotta gutz and one enormous tail. (Note that I'm not making this up. It is actually a statement on the back of the box.) It's totally unclear why anyone would start a new ice age, nor is it clear who's villainous idea this is.

Yes, Mr. Nutz is one of those games that actually looks pretty good in screenshots but isn't so impressive once you actually got to play it. Sure, the characters are large and colorful, and the animation isn't bad either, although no way on par with truly Genesis animation classics like Aladdin or Earthworm Jim; however, the overall graphics can best be described as dull. Though the characters are cute and colorful, none of them is really original or extensively animate. The stage designs reach the same level of boredom. Each consists of five sub-levels, of which the last is a boss stage. Unfortunately, they all look quite drab and dark compared to the characters, and we've seen it all before. There's a stage in the woods, on ice, in a volcano, and so and so forth.

The world of Mr. Nutz is scattered with many, many enemies who will for no reason damage our hero, like moles, spiders, owls, ladybirds, and beetles. There are also walking red apples that look more like tomatoes, hammering hands coming out of trees, enormous flesh-eating flowers that pop out of nowhere, jumping green things which are presumably mutated mossy tree stumps or broccoli sprouts. Worst of all are the hedgehog-like creatures that require you to throw a nut at them so that they lose their prickles. That way, Mr. Nutz is able to jump on them harmlessly and get rid of them once and for all.

From the second stage on the game was well-nigh impossible for me. Maybe it's due to the fact I suck at games and become impatient after numerous tries on the same level, which makes me suck even harder. Anyhow, in my opinion there are too many enemies, too many "hope there's a platform" leaps to maintain interest in Mr. Nutz's cheesy assignment of saving the world from a new ice age for any significant amount of time.

Of course, once the game gets a little more difficult, Mr. Nutz is always short on nuts, which makes his world-saving case even harder. There are a bunch of other upgrades he can collect, however, such as hearts (for your life meter) and stars (which determine just how much you "truly" finished the stage percentage-wise). Once you die, it's all the way back to the start of the level. Thankfully, there is a password system available for each of the different stages.

The music is your regular banal platformer repeating sample, but I must say I wasn't really annoyed by it. The control is adequate but maybe not as tight as one might wish, especially when you're hit, because it's hard to avoid another direct hit immediately afterward. Furthermore, once the player assumes the role of Mr. Nutz, there are only two ways of getting rid of enemies: jumping on them or throwing nuts at them.

I know, this all sounds very familiar. If you by now got the idea Mr. Nutz is a total unoriginal rip-off of other, superior, platformers, you're right. Mr. Nutz is only more poorly executed and doesn't play as smoothly as most of the games from which it took elements. It is just too boring to keep a player's interest for more than a short span of time.

How is it possible that such a crappy franchise made its way to so many platforms? Originally started as a concept on the Amiga (under the title of Mr. Nutz: Hoppin' Mad), Mr. Nutz was released for Super Nintendo, Nintendo Game Boy & Game Boy Color and for the Genesis. After that, it even got a release on the Game Boy Advanced! Originally only released in Europe, American players became aware of Mr. Nutz as well via the GBA version, since that one got an American release as well. A shame really, since it's only an exact replica of its 16-bit counterpart, without any enhancements whatsoever.

Overall, Mr. Nutz seems only to be remembered for its corny title. The game itself is best described by the adjectives boring, cheesy, unoriginal and too hard. Despite my intentions at the beginning of this review, I can only conclude by saying: nuts to Mr. Nutz. (Sega-16, 15/3/'07)

Out of this World is a famous puzzle-platform game that manages to keep the player's attention right from the beginning, and the tension created in the opening sequence still holds strong today. The protagonist of the game, Lester Knight Chaykin, arrives at his laboratory. This young, red-haired physicist continues his experiment of using a particle accelerator in his high-tech laboratory even during a thunderstorm. It turns out this isn't a very bright idea, since lightening strikes the lab and interferes with the experiment, causing Lester's teleportation to a barren alien planet. He is out of this world (or in another world if you please) from which he has to try to escape together with his imprisoned alien pal that he meets in the second stage of the game.

The style and graphics of Out of this World have become particularly famous due to the use of polygons and cinematic cut scenes which was quite extraordinary for the time. To be honest, I can't say I am too impressed with the graphical conversion for the Genesis. Compared to the Amiga, DOS, and even Super Nintendo counterparts; the characters have become rather small, pale, and quite pixelated (the most impressive versions of the game are the later-released Windows and 3DO editions). Also, there is persistent slowdown when there's too much action on screen. I'm quite sure that if the game would have been released later than 1991, at the time when developers discovered the broader technical possibilities of the Genesis, it would have been possible to sharpen the graphics and diminish the occurring slowdown; however, if one keeps in mind this game was released in 1991, it looks quite impressive (just try and compare it to other Genesis titles of that year). There isn't really much to say about the sound, since there isn't that much. But overall the sound effects and the few tunes are placed in a manner that attributes to the game's atmosphere of tension in an excellent way.

Now comes the hard part. How can I explain to younger, non-retro gamers this is actually a very good game? They will probably laugh in my face when I admit Lester will die with almost every step he takes on the alien planet. The game is filled with unexpected and expected deaths, cheap deaths, near-on impossible jumps, and the control is also a bit loose. There are various puzzles which require different actions, and if you just screw one of those actions up it will lead to another death. The gameplay is largely based on trial and error, but the puzzles also require some logical thinking. If you found out what to do, you'll probably have to practice Lester's actions to perfection or else the change of failure is still very, very big. This means that even with a walkthrough you'll not complete Out of this World within minutes if you play it for the first time.

No, this is a game that needs care, precision, carefulness, and mainly patience. The only way to master it is practice. That means repeating the same task over and over again until you can almost do it with your eyes closed. If you have the patience for that, you'll finally know the entire game by heart, and just then it is possible to complete the game within half an hour. Seldom have I returned so often to a game which I quit so many times yelling of frustration of and which made me abuse the joy pad as a throwing device at my television screen multiple times (luckily they're saving points by mean of passwords, which are at a relatively fair range from one another). But after all, I can say that completing Out of this World must have been one of the finest and most delightful moments of my gaming life up to now.

If you like Out of this World you can try a bunch of other action-animated platformers with puzzle elements, like the unofficial "sequels" Flashback and the Sega CD-only Heart of the Alien, or Blackthorne (32X). In my opinion though, none of these games has managed to recreate the same captivating experience as one gets with Out of this World, but then again, Out of this World was released before all those games, and an original idea is usually best pulled off in the initial concept. Due to the focus on animation the game also somehow resembles Prince of Persia, except for the control which is even looser in that game, and in my opinion Out of this World also surpasses it in regard to atmosphere.

This port may not be the best version of Out of this World. Nevertheless, the game still is deeply involving - though the impatient player will not get the true quality out of it. Try to gain some patience, and give it a try, and you'll go through a unique and intriguing gaming experience, even compared to many of today's video games. (Sega-16, 9/7//'07)

Since both players were famous worldwide, it wasn't a surprise that two video games were released with their licenses. Interestingly enough, those games also seemed to fit, or even in a way contribute to their created images. TecMagik released in 1992 the 'raw' tennis game Andre Agassi Tennis, a game which unfortunately turned out to be pretty bad. The whole thing looked too grainy, and the biggest point of criticism was the horrible control. Pete Sampras Tennis was released two years later by Codemasters, and as you might have suspected, the game narrowly fit into Sampras' image. It is stylish, fluid and short on defects.

The most noticeable aspect about Pete Sampras Tennis is that it was the first game which made use of Codemasters' J-cart, a cartridge into which two extra control ports have been built. In this way the game is easily playable for up to four players without the need to buy an extra split port for the controls. The game can be played with two human players against two computer players, two human players against two human opponents, or even one human player teamed up with the computer against two human or computers players. Playing with the computer works fine enough, because the AI is pretty reasonable for a game of this period.

Standard they are three options to choose from. In challenge you can face the computer or a human opponent, in world tour one or two players travel over the world to face different opponents and in tournament mode it is possible to create your own tournament with friends. Besides these three options, there are also two secret options available which are easily accessible by entering 'zeppelin' on the password screen. The two additional options are the 'huge tour' (a sort of extensive world tour) and 'crazy mode' in which the tennis field is gathered with strange power-ups and unexpected appearances (did I see Codemasters' game character Dizzy walking along the net?). In challenge mode it is also possible to select your playground (grass, hard or clay court).

The difficulty varies among the diverse modes. Just playing one challenge (one, two, three or five sets) against the computer is usually pretty though. However, the world tour starts off way too easy and you'll win the first games easily. Later on it gets a little harder. Huge tour is a lot bigger and harder, and will serve those who are looking for a real challenge. Crazy mode is a little too crazy for my taste - I found it often very difficult to comprehend what was going on.

The graphics in Pete Sampras Tennis are very sharp and clear, and all the players move nice and fast. Furthermore, the handling is excellent. The control makes use of the so-called after-touch, which makes it possible to really give direction to a shot. This really adds to the gameplay, and it makes Sampras' game feel like much more than just another Pong clone called Tennis. Even novice players will rapidly learn how to do lob and dive to a ball; however, one point takes a little getting used to. The players switch field from time to time, but for the one who's at the far end of the court (the most far away on screen), it is a little harder to return a ball correctly. At the beginning most players will hit a lot of balls out, but with a little more practice even this aspect is surmountable. Besides that, I have to say I didn't really experience different behaviours of the ball on different court grounds.

The downsides of Pete Sampras Tennis are just minor, but there are some downsides nonetheless. First of all, just because the game has been licensed by Pete Sampras, you shouldn't think any of the other players are real. The only playable real life tennis player is Pete Sampras himself; however, it is possible to change the name of your player so you can always change to your favorite. (I find it more fun to write down nonsense like 'I gonna win' and stuff like that, but that's just me.) Also, a strange thing about the game is that women face men, even in one-on-one games (expect in the world tour in which there are separate tournaments for women and men). Additionally, one of the most annoying aspects is the fact that sometimes the public is cheering or a player goes protesting against the referee. In the several seconds this takes place it is not possible to play on. While it adds to the atmosphere, it gets a bit annoying in the long run.

Fortunately, those few flaws are easy to forgive. Overall, Pete Sampras Tennis is a very polished and entertaining tennis game. As a multi-player experience it outclasses most other games, and also as a single-player game, it has its charm. It's easily the best tennis titles for the Genesis and will even appeal to those who do not like the sport. A sequel called Pete Sampras Tennis '96 was also released, but for unknown reasons, it was made available only in Europe. Even so, the original Pete Sampras Tennis is definitely one of the few sports games for the Genesis which has aged pretty well. (Sega-16, 5/4/'07)

To be honest, at first sight Pit-Fighter induces aversion. It starts with one of the worst video game packages in history, which shows us two photographed "pit-fighting" dudes with enormous muscles. To attribute to the corniness the box also states: "REMEMBER - wrestling is for grannies, PIT-FIGHTER IS FOR REAL!" When the player has overcome the package and plugged the cartridge into his Genesis, something will get into his mind (at least it did to me), and he'll think "this game doesn't want to be taken serious, this game is corny on purpose."

First, lets have a look at the "story" in Pit-Fighter. All the fights take place in shallow basement-like places, crowded with public. There are three selectable pit-fighters: Buzz (ex pro wrestler), Ty (kick boxing champion) and Kato (3rd degree black belt), out of which Ty is easily the best. The player has to guard his fighter through eleven pit-fights to acquire money and finally become the pit-fighter champion. After each fight, the player will see how much money he gathered depending on how well he did on the fight. Unfortunately, this gathering of money has absolutely no purpose, except getting high scores (which aren't saved as soon as you power off the Genesis).

After each two fights, the player also has to face his CPU mirror (in single player mode) or his brother-in-arms (in the two-player mode). The opponents of Pit-Fighter can easily make one think this is a S&M fetish game. I mean, if you have to face guys in leather outfits with names like Executioner, Southside Jim, Angel CC Rider, Chainman Eddie and Mad Miles, you just know this game doesn't want to be taken seriously.

Pit-Fighter was the among first games to use digitized graphics, a technique which was later used at a higher degree of development for games like Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam. In the arcades Pit-Fighter looked pretty good, but in the translation for the Genesis the graphics have become very grainy and a bit pixelated. The crowd, which can also interfere in a fight by punching the players back into the arena, especially looks like a gray mess. It is really frustrating when a CPU opponent just keeps kicking you into this crowd, because it makes it hard to see what's going on.

Livening things up are multiple weapons which can be used (it is possible to throw shurikens, crates, kegs, garbage cans, bar stools, motorcycles and use knives or sticks), some of which make it easy to knock down your opponent. There are also times when the CPU player makes greedy use of them. Also, there is a "power pill" which makes you extra powerful for a while, but it looks very similar to the shurikens, kegs and knives, and very often the CPU player will be quicker than the player to pick it up.

Besides the grainy graphics, there is also some horrible slowdown when there is too much on the screen. This especially happens in the two-player mode, because there are two players on-screen and the amount of opponents is also doubled. The music is about on par with the visuals, and the sound effects add to the jokey attitude of the game: there are quite a few horrible "ugghs" and "aahs." This rings true for the gameplay, which isn't the best ever - the collision detection is a bit weak, and in all, the player only has to two special moves.

Pit-Fighter is a game that is easy to burn down, because it shows all its failures so openly to the world. But once I actually get to play it, I can't help enjoying it. Somehow, you just have to appreciate the joke, and experience that it's even very fun to play every so often. It's hard to explain why Pit-Fighter is an enjoyable game when you've never played it (or only played it on emulation) and have only seen the screen shots. I think it is because there are times in video gaming when you don't want anything complicated. You just want to plug in the game, laugh with the creators at the silly characters and atmosphere they created, and bash those buttons of your controller and for a short time span, forget about all the complex games you've never completed. Pit-Fighter is just the perfect game for that... that is, if you set the difficulty on the lowest level, otherwise it will only add to your frustrations.

You won't hear me say that Pit-Fighter is a classic game, only that is not as bad as is often stated, and that it's quite amusing to play once in a while. Overall, despite or maybe thanks to its shortcomings, Pit-Fighter is an enjoyable fighting game for those looking for some unpretending button bashing. Players looking for something with more depth are advised to look elsewhere. (Sega-16, 23/4/'07)

So, it's no surprise we've seen a game based on the cartoon of the Smurfs as well. Released by the French Infrogrames, the game was clearly aimed at an European market. It's possible to play in French, German, Spanish, Italian or English. The story isn't particular interesting: the recurring villain from the cartoon, Gargamel, has just perfected a terrible plot to kidnap all the Smurfs, and four of them have disappeared already. The player assumes the roles of diverse Smurfs in different levels, each of which has different abilities. The game starts with a "stock" Smurf that can only jump. To eliminate enemies he has to jump on them in typical hop-'n-bop fashion; however, later on the player take the role of Jokey Smurf (whose skill is throwing exploding packages), Greedy Smurf (who can throw cakes) and Brainy Smurf (who can make light in the dark) as well.

There are some bonuses available throughout the game, though not in great variety. Some of them have been hidden in little mushrooms, others are just scattered around. Raspberries upgrade your life, and Smurf dolls give you an extra life. If you collect twenty-five sarsaparilla leaves (I never knew that was the Smurfs' favorite food), you get an additional life as well. Furthermore, you can also select twenty-five stars to access one of the two bonus games. In one of them you're on a raft and in the other your Smurf sits on a White Stork. In both the player is able to collect more bonuses.

One would expect a game about Smurfs to be easily accessible to kids, but forget about entertaining your little brother or sister with this one. Though the game has three difficult settings, it's still pretty hard. The gameplay really is a trial-and-error experience, from the very first level. Furthermore, it's not very often clear what does any damage, and in some of the backdrops it's unclear if certain enemies/platforms belong to the foreground or not. The trial-and-error rule also goes for other levels, in which the player has to jump out to nowhere and hope for a platform below, ride a duck with no clue what will be next and so on. Most frustrating is that all too often it's too hard to spot an enemy in time. Once you lose a life, it's back to the start from the level. Just like the cartoon itself, this kind of gameplay has really aged badly. Even back then, it took quite a bit of frustration to complete this game. Luckily there is a password system, in which you see pictures of four Smurfs in different order. Not very handy to write down, but it works fine.

The control is decent, though sometimes your Smurf (no jokes here) feels kind of loose which can make it easy to jump just beside enemies/platforms/jumping feathers and so on, rather than on them. However, graphically this game deserves a compliment. The Smurfs are all large and colorful, and the same can be said of the backgrounds. Some levels are particular intriguing in terms of graphics, like the one in which the player has to navigate his Smurf on a snowboard sliding down from the back of a mountain. It looks very impressive and of Mickey Mania effect quality. The sound isn't up to level of the graphics, but not really annoying either. It's just forgettable backdrop music.

Besides the difficulty level of the Smurfs, another thing is bothering me, is the actual physical dimensions of the heroes. Smurfs are supposed to be small, like gnomes. Then why the hell do they encounter even SMALLER animals like hedgehogs, birds, butterflies and other animal creatures? Also, your Smurfs - well-known nature lovers - shouldn't touch them, because that will hurt. How is that possible? Since when were animals enemies of the Smurfs? Did the creators of the game even watch the cartoon, or was there another villainous plan of Gargamel which has shrunk the animals and made them foes as well? Nothing of that caliber is told in the game.

Overall, the Smurfs is your run-of-the-mill platformer, of which we saw tons during the console battle between Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo. It's not really bad, but not particular memorable either. It looks great, but the combination of a childish game with a high difficulty factor wasn't really such a brilliant idea after all. (Sega-16, 1/3/'07)

Straight from the start, it is clear that World Championship Soccer has aged very, very badly. The colors of the first (and only) "option screen" are so bland that they gave me the impression that my television was malfunctioning. There are only three available options - world cup, test match single-player, and test match two-player. Once the player has selected an option, he can pick his team on a world map. Only European and South American teams are mainly represented (Africa only has two selectable countries, as does Asia), and Australia isn't even selectable as a team. Though the shortage of teams is a letdown, the game can't be really blamed for it. In all, World Championship Soccer offers just the twenty-four countries which participated in the 1990 World Championship Tournament (sans the licensed players, and they made a few errors regarding the participating countries as well).

After selecting a team, the player has to pick the members he's playing with, which doesn't take long, but is just too boring and annoying to repeat it every game you play. After selecting all this (this is probably the soccer game with fewest options of all time), it's up to the field and suprise, suprise, World Championship Soccer must be one of the worst-looking Genesis games around. The pitch and the action are viewed from the above. For some reason all the players have black hair. They all look like huge black dots with colored shoulders sticking out. The sprites are pretty big but are very short on animation. Players can do short and long passes and shoot, but only the long pass will have the ball fly up towards you - a pretty crappy animation; however the pitch is too small to see any nearby team members, which makes decent passing and keeping control of the ball nearly impossible. The developers probably experienced the same problem, so they added a radar at the right side of the screen which shows the position of the players. Unfortunately, the thing is big enough to fill almost a quarter of the screen, making the view of the pitch even smaller. Despite its size, the information shown on the radar is so microscopic that it's totally useless, and it can't even be switched off.

Besides being low on options and having crappy graphics and crappy controls, World Championship Soccer also lacks customary soccer rules like offsides and penalty flags. Actually, there isn't even a real referee, since fouls cannot be committed and yellow or red cards are never shown. Worse, there is only one type of sliding, which makes the players look like they have been hit by a flyswatter. The only time you'll hear a whistle is when a the ball goes out of bounds or when a goal is scored. For some reason, throw-ins and goal kicks are sometimes shown as bland "close-ups." The player has only to press a button and the animation will automically start. These close-ups become annoying pretty fast, and again, it isn't possible to turn them off. The music is a cheesy ever-repeating tune and the sound effects will make one think the players play the entire game with a leaky ball. Actually, I can't think of one positive aspect I could mention about this first generation Genesis title, except that it was the first soccer game.

As a European, I like soccer and I enjoy playing video games about the sport, which is highly popular all over the world, except for the United States. Sadly, World Championship Soccer is a horribly aged game that wasn't even that good to begin with. There are plenty of good soccer games available for the Genesis - Sensible Soccer, FIFA Soccer '95, and Konami's International Superstar Soccer especially spring to mind, so there is absolutely no reason anyone should bother to play this piece of garbage. (Sega-16, 24/3/'07)