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(send Digital.Games/Digests/Digest.28)

                     Digital Games Review Digest, Number 28

                             Sunday, June 30th 1991

Today's Topics:

Amiga:            Chuck Yeager's AFT
           The Killing Cloud

Mac:       Vette!

PC:        Warlords
           Last Days of Doom

Genesis:   Sonic the Hedgehog
           Dick Tracy
           Star Control
           Ringside Angel

TG16:      Bomberman

Top and Bottom Ten Video/Computer Titles

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Mike Powell <[e-mail]>
Subject: Amiga: Chuck Yeager's AFT
Date: Thu, 30 May 91 22:11:07 PDT

Well, finally got my hands on Chuck Yeager's AFT 2.0 for Amiga...

It comes to us from Electronic Arts, and comes with a manual written
specifically for the IBM version (oh great.)  with an insert that
explains the exceptions for use on the Amiga.  An entertaining audio
tape is included of Chuck talking about AFT and flyin' in general.  I
even received a free ball cap.

It seems to run well on my A3000...  but it must be slllooowww on stock
500's - 2000's.  And there is no hard drive support (of course) even
though hard drives are supported for the IBM version (as usual).  The
only way I found to exit is the 'three fingered salute'.

There is manual copy protection, and the disk is NOT in AmigaDOS format,
although it does make copies of itself.

I have used the original AFT on the IBM that had smoke trails flowing
from the wingman's planes (making it easier to follow them through
manuvers), this is sadly missing from AFT 2.0.  Also, there is this HUGE
FLASHING CURSOR that shows the position of your 'stick' that is drawn
right on the window making it difficult to see the terrain and other
planes and is a MAJOR distraction at times...

I'd like to see an H.F.C.  on/off option.  Or at least to kill the
flashing!

There are large warning placards that appear with warnings/messages/
stats etc.  that are WAY oversized and are again, drawn on top of the
window blocking your view during flight....  this is especially
troublesome during formation flying...  Just imagine driving in a very
small car with a single tiny window, at high speeds on a mountain road
no less.  Then having a number of bumper-stickers suddenly appear on
your window, informing you to lock your door or some such nonsense, and
you will have a fair idea as to how it feels to fly in formation in AFT.

There is plenty of room on the instrument panels, why didn't they put
in-flight messages there?????  The world may never know.

The scenery and ground objects are just so-so.  ditto the sound.

The selection of aircraft is pretty good (about eighteen) and you can
fly from keyboard, joystick, or mouse (yea!).  And the handling through
the mouse is darned good (ala' FSII).  It's about time someone made
another sim that can be 'flown' pretty much like the aircraft being
simulated (remember mouse control in Falcon 1.0?  yeech!)

The aircraft include:  (partial list...  from memory) -
       F16 - F117 - Cessna 172 - F18 - P-51 - Space Shuttle
       X-1 - X-15 - X-3 - X-29 - Spitfire - Spad - SR-71

And there are a number of locations to start from that can be selected
by menu option.  These include 10,000 ft., final approach, on the runway
for takeoff, and in the hangar to name a few.

Among the other more interesting features are stars that are visible
during night or high-altitude flight.  Air races and formation flight
are also available in several levels of difficulty.  These are
especially challenging.

There are no weapons on any aircraft...  ok by me.

There are no provisions for the user designing/flying custom aircraft.
The only aircraft available are in the menu...  It would have been nice
to see a bomber or two...  (B-1, B-52 ???)  Maybe next time.

The rudder is controlled with the left/right mouse buttons...  and works
well.  This is a nice change to standard sims that usually coordinate
the rudder with the alierons, preventing slips, slow rolls, hammerhead
stalls, spins, etc...  Knife-edge flight is great fun...  (but try it in
the SR-71 :-)

There are a number of external views (that are not nearly as good as
the ones in Interceptor) that I don't see as being too usefull,
although you can rotate all of the views if desired.

There is also a 'Replay' feature that allows replaying the flight
similar to the ones found in FSII, Their Finest Hour, F-16...  Although
there is a rather substantial bug in it.  Sometimes the replay doesn't
remember thigs as well as it should....  I have made a number of amazing
landings that I wanted to see externally in replay mode, only to find
that I 'buy the farm' in a horrible crash...  some replay eh?

Some of the nice touches found in other sims are missing...  seeing and
hearing the landing gear extend and retract, carrier landings,
afterburner, and pilot ejection would have been great.  Also the crash
detection seems to be limited to the ground only.  I'll try flying into
more things to test this out (not my normal mode of flying mind you),
but I know I taxied right through the hangar without a scratch!

But the best thing about AFT is that each aircraft has a distinct
personality that really makes you feel like you have your hands on a
"hurtlin' hunk of machinery".  Some of the experimental planes are just
about impossible to fly!  It's great fun trying to get yourself out of a
sticky situation.  I once found myself flying (or should I say falling)
tail-first at over 300 knots while rolling uncontrolably...  no hope.
No ejection seat either!  (BTW, I did survive!  I changed to an X-15,
put her into high gear and eventually got her goin' the other way....
up!  Neat trick.  :-)

Overall, AFT 2.0 is about a 6 to 7 out of 10 in my estimation.  It's
nice to have a sim that is designed to simulate *Flight* as opposed to
all the ones that simulate air attacks.  And as a result, you will
probably find that the planes in AFT can do a lot more and do it more
realistically than the ones in the combat simulators.

Chuck Yeager Air Force Trainer, for the Amiga, from Electronic Arts

------------------------------

From: "Gary Burns, SS UISG Ayr" <decwrl!ayou34.enet!gary>
Subject: Amiga: The Killing Cloud
Date: Mon, 3 Jun 91 03:35:11 PDT

San Fransisco sometime in the near future, a toxic cloud hangs over the city.
The Black Angels, a ruthless gang of criminals, roam the city and show no
regard for law and order. You, a member of the SFPD( San Fransisco Police
Department ) must hunt down these criminals and bring to them the punishment
they so rightly deserve...

GamePlay:

Fly around the streets of SF in the next generation of police mobile, the x-500
hoverbike. The flying area is split into two, the top area where you see the
tops of all the buildings and the low level where you dart around the streets
of SF dodging buildings while in pursuit of your suspect. The game is split
into missions i.e "Proceed to Chinatown where your suspect is driving about in
a stolen van, capture him alive", before embarking on these missions you
arrange backup which consists of placing Net pods (Fired at the suspect to
snare him and allow you to arrest him) and PUPS (summoned when the suspect is
arrested to retrieve him and take him back to the nearest police station) these
can be places anywhere in the city for you to pick up, but be careful, the
Black Angels have been known to blow up remotely placed PUPS when your not
there to stop them. To arrest a subject you have to actually park your hover
bike and move over to him on foot, after arresting him a PUP will be summoned
to take him back for a suitably long period of incarceration. When the PUP has
docked with the suspect its off to the interrogation room to force out some
information, in this section you are offered a series of question to put to the
prisoner, but you may have to knock some years off his sentence to make him
answer...

I like the Graphics, vector in style and while not being particulars smooth
are very well detailed (Note : High medium and Low detail is selectable as is
whether to make the street level contoured) the colours in the street level are
various shades of red, which I feel adds to the atmosphere of the game. Sound
is very average, i.e engine on, rat-tat-tat of machine guns, and could have
been done better.

Bad points/Good points:

- Longish time to get into a game, forced to go through an animated sequence
  before play (A la dying sequence in Shadow of the Beast, but nowhere near
  as annoying)

+ Offers flight-sim like views when flying ie. Left, Right, External.

- Disk Swap required when you die to restart the game, shouldn't be a
  problem with two drives.

- Disk based copy protection, can't comment on Hard disk Installability

    Graphics      8
    Sound         5
    Playability   8
    Lastability   8         (Well I haven't finished it)
    Overall      8.5       (I like games of this type, and this one has
                            been done well. The overall feel of the game
                            has added to the final rating)

The Killing Cloud, from Image Works, for the Amiga (UK only) #19.99

------------------------------

From: Dave Taylor <[e-mail]>
Subject: Mac: Vette!
Date: Tue, 25 Jun 91 10:53:51 PDT

As a resident of the San Francisco area, a game where I could drive
through the streets of the city in a variety of different hot production
and custom Corvette's seemed like a cool idea.  Released a few months
ago, Spectrum Holobyte's long-delayed Vette! game for the Macintosh
(and DOS) offers just that venue, or does it?

While Vette!  has the premise of the driver going from specific points
in the city to other specific points within, or on the edge of, the
city, it's clear that the game designers intended for people to just
tool around and see the sites.

Drive past Davies Center in downtown SF, for example, and it says
"MACWORLD" on the side.  (you can't get to the Moscone, as SoMa [South
of Market Street] is one of the undefined areas of the city:  they
didn't have space for all of SF, alas).  Drive up to the Carol Dodo
sign and sure enough, her left nipple flashes erratically.  Drive down
Lombard and, well, it's awful twisty.  Use the helicopter view while
driving through the Broadway tunnel...  and you don't have too much
headroom, and...

The down side, and one of the most frustrating things about the game is
that there are major portions of the city that aren't included in the
game map (though they are included in the printed maps included with the
game, confusingly enough).  Drive down Market street towards the Castro
district and you smack into a wall, an "edge".  It's vaguely like
something out of a science fiction film, but it's annoying, and detracts
from a great idea; of having a driving game where it's real roads you're
driving on.  (similar to Microsoft Flight Simulator letting you land at
real airports throughout the world)

On the other hand, when you are driving, well, it's a real blast, with a
variety of typical Spectrum Holobyte touches.  There are things that one
learns playing this game too; for example, I now know that it's really
hard to drive across the Bay Bridge at 250 mph unless you can remove the
traffic beforehand.  (on the other hand, a good strategy for medium
traffic levels is to drive on the *wrong side of the road*, swerving
around oncoming vehicles.  Kids, don't try THAT at home!)  I also found
out that there's a street called MacExchange near, well, I leave it to
intrepid Vette!  explorers to find it...

My summary comment is:  if you like The Duel and/or Hard Driving, then
you're going to flip over this game.  If you know San Francisco, it's
even more fun.  The game has book-based copy protection which isn't too
intrusive, reasonable graphics (includes color and B&W versions), some
pretty nifty audio, and some very witty illustrations.  The list of
excuses when a cop pulls you over are great too...  but I don't think
I'll try them on a real cop.

Oh!  Another rule of thumb; don't try to push police cars off the Golden
Gate Bridge if you're not in Trainee mode...  They don't seem to like it
very much...

       Graphics:       7
       Sound:          6
       Playability:    6
       Fun Level:      8

       Overall:        7

Vette! from Spectrum Holobyte for the Apple Macintosh
  (also available for the IBM PC and compatibles)

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Reagan Schaupp)
Subject: PC: Warlords
Date: Fri, 28 Jun 91 8:31:34 EDT

Warlords is sort of a mixture of Empire and Sword of Aragon, without the
best features of either, but with some good ones of its own.

It is a game of conquest, played on a map with 80 cities on it.  There are
eight players, and each one starts out with one city and expands from
there.  Each player is a different race/culture: the Horse Lords, the
Elvallie Elves, the Sirians (human), the Grey Dwarves, the Storm Giants,
the Selentines (human), the Orcs of Kor, and Lord Bane.  You can toggle
any of the eight to be played by human (you) or any one of four increasingly
difficult level of computer play.

Each city can produce one or more types of unit, at a certain cost.  Units
have different strengths, movement rates, maintenance costs, and bonuses
for fighting in certain terrain (e.g. dwarves are good in hills, elves
in forests, etc.)  Each unit takes a certain amount of time to produce,
a la Empire.  As you expand, production can be "forwarded" automatically
to cities on the front line, freeing the player from wasting time moving
dozens of units to the front by hand.  Some units include Elven Archers,
Dwarven Legions, Giant Warriors, Wolf-riders, Navies, Griffins, Pegasi,
heavy infantry, light infantry, and cavalry..

In addition to armies, you begin with one Hero (a la Sword of Aragon).
Heroes provide bonuses to units in combat.  More importantly, they can
explore the many specialized locations on the map (ruins, crypts, towers,
halls, caves, libraries, etc.)  In these places they may find artifacts
which increase their command bonus or combat strength, or they may
defeat monsters and acquire gold, or they may receive an offer to be
joined by any one of several special creatures (devils, demons, wizards,
dragons, ghosts, etc.)  These special creatures provide bonuses to armies
in combat.  More heroes will join you throughout the game, for a price
in gold (up front!)

To win the game, you must capture over 40 of the 80 cities on the board.
Some positions are easier to win with than others.

Certain combinations of units will provide bonuses to combat overall.
For example, eight heavy infantry are not nearly as good as two light
infantry, one heavy infantry, one cavalry, one griffin (air support),
one undead (special bonus), one wizard (magic bonus), and a hero with
a nice command item.  These "A-Team" combinations are very powerful.

Combat is done on a "everybody line up, first person in line fights the
first person in the other line" basis (no more than eight units can
ever stack).  Each unit has two hits.  When one goes down, the next in
line steps into the breach.  And so on, until everyone on one side is
dead.  Cities have varying strengths of walls, which can add defensive
bonuses.

PERSONAL COMMENTS

Seems like a great game, and not one you can get bored with very quickly.
If you win the game with one position, you can start again with another
position.  Or at a different difficulty level.  Or play TWO positions, or
more!  Or Play against computer opponents whose skill varies with each
position (e.g. the Grey Dwarves played by a computer on "Warlord" level,
while Lord Bane is played by the computer on "Knight" level).

The role-playing twist with Heroes searching out ruins and finding items
and allies is what really makes this game; otherwise, it's just another
strategy game.

The graphics are super.  Each type of unit looks different (and a nice
close-up picture of each one can be called up from the production screen).
The terrain is done well.  The interface is pretty good -- the overall map
is on the right hand side, while the close-up window is on the left.  You
can zoom in on any area on the map by clicking on the large-scale map.

Battle is so-so -- the units are lined up, and they just sort of "pop"
as they die.

     Graphics:    8  (no fancy animation, but still good)
     Sound:       7  (nice digitized sound "phrases", but very repetitive)
     Playability: 8  (great except for the production interface)
     Fun Level:   8
     Overall:     8  (somehow Empire measures up in spite of archaic sound
                      and graphics)

WARLORDS, from the Strategic Studies Group, for the IBM PC.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Subject: PC: Last Days of Doom
Date: Tue, 25 Jun 91 13:27:26 +0200

Topologika, about the only company still producing text-only adventures,
has just released (or is just about to release) "Last Days of Doom"
by Peter Killworth (well-known as the author of Philosopher's Quest, one of
the first games ever published for the BBC Micro).

The game is available for PC, Amstrad, BBC Micro, Archimedes. Possible
release for Amiga at some point in the not-too-distant future.

The game is text-only, but on some machines the text changes colours
during conversations so that you can see who is speaking, for instance.
The "setting" is very faintly SF, like that of the previous two "Doom"
games by the same author, but the style is very much in the tradition
of "Colossal Cave" - there is no real story, just a nasty set of puzzles.

As usual, the planet of Doom is in serious trouble. You must go to
find out why. All sorts of creatures/friends/enemies from the first
two games turn up again, but it does not matter if you haven't played
the first two games.

The first stage of the game is quite time-critical, and involves rescuing
your robot dog from your ship and finding a way to enter a cave. You
then go through and enter a city on the far side. The main part of the
game is there. As is usual with Topologika, the puzzles interact in
fiendish ways. One aid to exploration is a library which can teach you
exactly two skills chosen from a list of four. Working out which two
you need (and which two have effects which can be duplicated in ordinary ways)
is part of the game, of course, but in the meantime this allows
you to explore larger areas. Some of the puzzles stand alone - one of
my favourites was the Muu Bird area - a zone inhabited by birds which fly
through solid aluminium. You have a limited number of charges in your
gun with which you must blast a way through. The end-game is in an area outside
the city, and is not very long. You simply have to have ALL the bits
from earlier sections, and to have made the correct preparations.

Again, as is usual with Topologika, there are no "normal" mazes (ie mazes which
you map by dropping objects to disambiguate rooms). The Muu Bird area is an
example of an "unusual" maze. Also, as usual, this game is NOT for beginning
adventurers. It is aimed at people who breeze through the likes of
"Spellbreaker" or "Starcross". It is rather easier than Topologika's larger
offerings like "Acheton", though, and rather harder than the relatively
introductory "Sangraal". (One Topologika author once told me they were
thinking of putting difficulty grades on the boxes like the Infocom
standard/advanced/expert grades, only Topologika was considering something
like "Hard", "Bloody Hard", "Absurd")

The game should come with a hint sheet (a bit like the Infocom invisiclues
booklets, but not as high-tech), which makes it possible to find out
what to do when you are absolutely stuck. Of course, you shouldn't just
read the whole sheet.

Idea of difficulty: I did Starcross in 3 days, Spellbreaker in 4 or 5,
Planetfall in 5 hours, Lords of Time in 2 days, Enchanter in an evening,
Sorcerer in 2-3 days, Sangraal in 30 hours (competition for the
playtesters!).  Last Days of Doom took me a week. (And Acheton took me
a month)

Obviously, it is hard to say too much about games like this without giving
away secrets. Also, I don't know the address of Topologika or how much
the games cost. I don't think the company has an American distributor,
so anyone who wants more details can contact me via electronic mail
at [e-mail] or [e-mail]
JRP1 should know prices and how to get hold of the games.  I saw the
pre-relase version rather than the final version, but I believe that
the only difference in the final version is that the "congratulations"
message at the end is now less than 10 pages long, and no longer makes
the player want to vomit.

Graphics    - 10 (there aren't any! excellent! I hate adventures with pictures)
Sound       - 10 (for the same reason!)
Playability - 10 (the parser is good - what else is there to say?)
Fun value   -  8 (I quite enjoyed it, but I prefer larger games. Also, as I
                  said above, this game is only really suitable for text
                  adventure fanatics.)
Overall     -  8 (Same as fun value since graphics and so on don't count)

Last Days of Doom, by Peter Killworth, published by Topologika.
       for the IBM PC, Amstrad, BBC Micro, and Archimedes (UK only)

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (James Hague)
Subject: Genesis: Sonic the Hedgehog
Date: Thu, 13 Jun 91 11:36:28 CDT

Every couple of years in the video gaming industry there is a blinding
explosion of hype.  And in the center of that hype is a usually pretty
insignificant speck:  a video game.  Anyone remember the old Atari 2600
version of Pac-Man, the straw that broke that system's back when it
didn't live up to expectations?   Or Super Mario Bros. 3 for the
Nintendo?  Well, here we go again.  But amid the whirlwind of fluff
reviews and mounting sales figures, try to keep things in perspective.
After all, hype has zero playability.

Which brings us to Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Genesis.  In a
nutshell, this is yet another one of those Super Mario Bros. 2 & 3
style games (which, by the way, have very little in common with the
original Super Mario Bros. which has nothing in common with the almost
forgotten Mario Bros.).  You can waste little robotic animals by
pouncing on them.  You can collect rings and power-ups.  And most
importantly, you run around aimlessly.

Ah, but in Sonic the Hedgehog, running around aimlessly is FUN.  You
don't just methodically trudge along as in Super Mario and friends.
You can accelerate little Sonic until his legs are a cartoon blur, then
sail off a cliff only to land on a springboard and rocket several
screens straight up at nine-hundred miles an hour.  And...well, this is
all very difficult to explain.  This gist is that in this game you can
really move around FAST.  And it is very easy to control and very
fluid and very FUN.

And herein is Sonic the Hedgehog's greatest contribution to the video
game world:  the difficulty is automatically "adjusted" to your style
of game play. You can cautiously explore Sonic's surprisingly intricate
universe, taking as few risks as possible.  Or you can be the Hedgehog
from Hell and wildly zip about, bounding over two screens at a time,
only to land on an unanticipated set of rather pointy spikes.  Or, as
most of us will, play somewhere between the two extremes.  As proof of
this system's playability, bear in mind that there is NOT an options
screen.  (WHAT!?!  No sound test!?!?)

There are several other aspects of Sonic which in conjunction with the
above make the game a joy to play.   You are not forced to move to the
right, as is so common these days.  You are free to roam wherever you
please.  The levels are arranged in a refreshingly non-linear
fashion which makes exploration all the more fun.  You can fall ungodly
distances with nary a scratch.  And the "get hit when carrying rings,
lose all rings but keep on truckin'" rule cuts down on the frustration
of "barely nick a bad guy--BOOM"  games.  Don't get the idea that this
is an easy game, though.

Okay, now I'm gonna break all the rules for reviewing a hype-o-saurus
and start complaining.  As in the Mario games, levels are divided into
sub-levels (called "acts" in Sonic).  At the end of the third act on
each level, you have to fight a "boss."  Sigh.  Yes, I know bosses are
big and cool, etc., but these bosses are just repetitive and break up
the rhythm of the game.  Including them was a mistake, but I guess they
were needed to beef up the manual's ridiculous "save Sonic's friends
from the evil Dr. Robotnik" storyline...

When I first played Sonic, I was amazed at the feeling of freedom and
speed for all the reasons I've already mentioned.  BUT, this only
applies to Level One.  The second level is just a bunch of Super Mario
nonsense:  hop on this "ladder" of moving platforms, push this block
onto this button, carefully jump over this pool of lava (hmmm...sound
familiar?).  To top it all off, Act One is almost completely linear.
I'm a super-fast hedgehog, by golly, and I want to run and play!  I
don't want to time a precise jump onto a little brick in the middle of
a lava lake.  It's maddening--what moron designed Level Two?
Fortunately, it gets a bit better later on, but so far (no, I haven't
seen all the levels yet), Level One is BY FAR the best.

Okay, I'll admit it, Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the graphic wonders
of the world, for the Genesis or any other system.  But, and this is
surprising for games of this type, I would have been perfectly happy if
the graphics weren't quite so extravagant--just as long as the gameplay
was still there.  Of course, I don't mind at all that Sonic is
visually incredible.  Quite frankly, some of the graphic effects are
amazing.  I've done some video game programming in the past so I know
what kind of work goes into this sort of thing, but there some effects
in Sonic that I can't even begin to imagine how they were pulled off.
This is some top notch programming.  Some of the greatest effects,
though...

...have absolutely nothing to do with the game.  There is a "secret
room" kind of a bonus level thing which Sonic can get to occasionally.
It's sort of...well, no it's...uh, it's beyond description.  The room
is really a floating maze in which Sonic can bounce around and collect
things.  It is tricky to describe because it is so unlike the rest of
the game.  In fact, it probably could have been released as a game in
its own right, although probably not a best seller. It is not only
difficult to describe, but to play as well.  The first few times I
reached this level I had no idea what was going on.  And the hypnotic
scrolling birds/fish didn't help matters any.

Quite off the record, the secret room seems to be Sega's way of showing
the world that they can match the graphics of the Super Nintendo, and
nothing more.  Think about it:  LOTS of VERY fast super smooth rotation
of really large objects.  Yes, it is quite impressive, but it still
doesn't fit with the rest of the game.  Please note that this is
just a personal theory and not any kind of inside information.

People lose sight of the fact that these days, video games are more
important than the systems they run on.  One great game can make a
system.  The Genesis is drowning in a pile of chop-socky Rambo-commando
garbage.  While not the end all be all of video games, Sonic the
Hedgehog is one of the few real stand-outs in the Genesis market.
And, unfortunately, probably the first in a long line of sequels...

       Gameplay/Funness:       9.5     (the key factor)
       Concept/Originality:    6.0     (major factor)
       Attention to detail:    9.5     (intermediate factor)
       Graphics/Effects:      10.0     (minor)
       Sound Effects/Music     8.5     (minor)

       OVERALL RATING:         9.5     Not completely original, but
                                       execution & playability are
                                       excellent.

Sonic the Hedgehog, by Sega for the Sega Genesis, $54.99.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Milton W. Kuo)
Subject: Genesis: Dick Tracy
Date: 22 Jun 91 07:56:25 GMT

Having rented and played this game, I was so  shocked at how incredibly
bad this game was that I felt I had to review it.  Although I rented
this game, it still wasn't worth it!   Here's my review of Dick Tracy
for the Sega Genesis.  Those of you who liked the game or movie might
want to skip to the next review: This ain't gonna be pretty....

     At first glance, Dick Tracy looks to be a promising game despite
the fact that the movie stunk of week-old fish.  The graphics are
actually pretty good for a game that is so lacking in other areas.  In
fact, one of my friends who was watching me play and had never played
this game before remarked that the game looked "cool."  Beyond the
decent graphics, however, is a game totally void of originality, game
play, and other features which make a game fun.

     Take sound, for example.  There are a probably no more different
songs in this game than there are fingers on my hand (I am not a mutant
so I have five fingers per hand :-) I played through nearly every level
and heard only three different songs.  To be fair, there may be many
more songs but this game was so bad, I could not bear playing it
anymore.  Playing this game was such punishment that I am certain that
in Hell, Satan would probably commission the people who wrote Hellfire
to make this game more challenging for the damned.  The damned souls
would have to keep playing this game until they finished.  Once they
finish, they can move onto Sword Of Sodan or Hard Drivin'.  The only
good thing about the sound is that most of the time you are busy firing
the machine gun or pistol and the shooting noises mercifully drown out
the music.

     Dick Tracy brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "shooting
game."  You literally shoot anything and everything that moves.  See a
guy walking across the street?  Well don't just stand there!  Pull out
your machine gun and blow him away!  Sound stupid?  Well, that's just
about the whole game.  Most of the game is comprised of walking around
warehouses, restaurants, and streets gunning down thousands of villains
who just pop up out of nowhere.  There are also car chase scenes where
you stand on the running board of a car and shoot cars which are loaded
with baddies.  In fact, some cars have six or more armed and dangerous
criminals in them!  Of course, to qualify as a stupid game, the car
chase scenes cannot be fun -- and they aren't.  They are just like the
warehouse, restaurant, and street scenes except your mobility is reduced
(i.e., game play is EVEN worse, if that is possible with this game).

     There are over five levels of the same boring, monotonous shooting
with each level comprised of three areas.  After every level, Dick Tracy
gets to go to the shooting gallery to earn extra points and continues.
Three dummies with faces will appear and Tracy must shoot the bad guys
while not hitting those dummies who are good guys.  Does this sound
familiar?  Well, the bonus stage's concept is straight from Hogan's
Alley.  The only difference is the dummies come out of the same place
every time on Dick Tracy.

     Overall, this game is so bad that the silicon used to make the ROM
should be turned back into sand and returned to the beach where it will
be put to better use.  At the rate Sega Of America is going, it won't be
long before I ignore all of their stuff like I do Electronic Arts'.
Needless to say, I think this game is so bad that I may even consider it
dumber than XDR -- and that's quite an insult.  The best part about this
game was dropping into the return slot at the store I rented it.

     Graphics    : 7   (The graphics are actually okay)
     Sound       : 3   (There are only about three different songs!)
                      (1 point for each song since I'm so generous :-)
     Gameplay    : 2   (Over five levels of the same crap over and over)
     "Funness"   : 1   (I'd rather watch a blank screen than play this)
     Originality : 1   (Even dead people can be more original)
     Difficulty  : 3
     Overall     : 2   (Definitely not worth buying and not worth renting)

Dick Tracy, for the Sega Genesis (4 Mbits/512 KB)

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]  (Jay C Poret)
Subject: Genesis: Star Control
Date: Tue, 25 Jun 91 11:04:53 PDT

Star Control is a space stragedy/combat game which takes place in the
27th century.  The conflict is between the alliance of free stars
against the evil Ur-Quan hierarchy.  The game itself consists of 3
variants:  the first is a practice mode which allows you to try out all
the ships, and to learn how to manever in the combat mode.  The second
(melee) is ship vs.  ship from both sides in a battle to the death.  The
most interesting part of the game are the 15 different scenario's which
pit computer vs.  player, or player vs.  player under different
stragetic situations.  What makes this game so unique is the playing
field is a 3-D rotating cluster of stars.  The movement from star to
star is not a simple left to right, up down type of movement, but a
complex series of jumps which moves you to the desired location in the
cluster.  The star cluster rotates the entire time the game is in
progress to allow you to see the entire star cluster.  This concept is
really difficult to explain, but the closest game to this is an old
board game called 4000 A.D.

I have to admit, it took a while to get used to the rotating cluster.
It was really mind blowing to watch this thing rotate, but once you get
used to it, it serves a very important purpose.  It allows you to plan
routes to send your ships to attack, colonize, or to find areas to
fortify.  The variety of ships that are available to both sides are
pretty good.  Obviously, each ship has its strong points, and weak
points, but all in all the choice of ships is pretty good.  Another
really cool feature of the game is that every time a senario is played,
the shape of the star cluster is different.

The graphics are also good.  The 3-D effects are handled quite well, and
the close up battle scenes are really clear.  The sound effects are
excellent.  To give you an idea, when one of the Ur-Quan ships fires, it
sounds like the photon torpedo firing from the Enterprise in Star Trek.
Most of all, there are no flicker problems (at least from what I have
seen so far).  Also, the planets look really detailed, as well as the
rotating star cluster itself.

Overall, I would give this game a 10 but two minor points prevent me from
this.  The first is the advantage of the Hierchy ships: in my opinion,
these ships are slightly better then the Alliance.  In the easy level this
doesn't matter, but playing the computer on hard levels, the advantages
become readily apparent.  My second minor complaint is that Accolade spent
4 megs of RAM on pretty pictures which do not contribute to the game.
This could have been used to increase the number of senarios, or to put
more effects into the games.

In summary, this game definitely rates above a 9 overall.  This is
really cool game which has excellent graphics, sound, and game playing
elements.  It is an excellent game when played against the computer, and
even better when playing against a friend.

       Graphics:        9
       Sound:          10
       GamePlay:        9
       Fun Level:      10

       Overall:         9+

Star Control from Accolade for the Sega Genesis System

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Larry J Brackney)
Subject: Genesis: Ringside Angel
Date: Mon, 3 Jun 91 11:38:42 -0500

Although many games manufactured for the Japanese Megadrive system
eventually find their way across the Pacific in the form of Sega
Genesis Carts, many get lost in the shuffle.  In some cases, the
games are just too strange for American tastes.  In other instances,
American distributors may feel that the games are too violent or
contain questionable elements.  Ringside Angel, a lady wrestling
game produced for the Megadrive, definately falls into the latter
category.

With the release of Sega's Wrestlewar being pushed back month after
month, hardcore gamers might consider this title in its place.  The
game pits one player against the computer or two players against
each other in a no-holds-barred wrestling event.  (The computer can
also fight itself in a spectator mode which is fun for a while.)

Each player may choose a character.  (There are around ten to choose
from.)  In addition to appearing differently on screen, each of the
well rendered characters has a different "specialty" move.  For
instance, one of the leather-clad wrestlers uses her chain belt to
strangle the other wrestler.  With nearly twenty possible holds and
throws to choose from, game play remains varied for some time.

The moves themselves are somewhat stiffly animated.  Characters
move around the ring slowly, and the game bogs down at times.
The accompanying sounds and music are also dissapointing.  Sound
effects consist of simple "smacks" and "thuds" as well as a few
poorly digitized sounds.  (The refs count and an end of round bell)
The music is fair but repetitive.  (My suggestion is to turn down
the sound on your TV and toss on an appropriate CD!)

The next point is not so much a complaint as a warning for potential
buyers.  The game IS Japanese - read: the manual is in Japanese!  As
such, you have to figure out the controls yourself.  Nearly all of the
holds and throws are initiated by combinations of the three trigger
buttons and the direction pad.  Not too difficult to get the hang of,
but something you should know about!

As a one player game, this title suffers.  The computer opponents
are predictable, and offer little challenge after the second or
third play.  However, the game IS at its best in two player
mode.  Despite the poor animation and sound (poor for a 16 bit
game) the game is great fun to play w/ friends.  Where else can you
toss your best friend out of the ring then kick them in the face
when they try to get back in?  (Nothing quite like ultraviolence!)

     Graphics      : 8   (Characters are large & well drawn)
     Animation     : 6   (Game bogs down sometimes)
     Sound effects : 5   (Basically NES quality)
     Music         : 7   (Okay, but repetitive)
     Playability   : 6   (Controls take a while to figure out)
     Manual        : 0   (Who knows, maybe it would be a 10 if
                          I read Japanese!)
     Fun Factor    : 6/9 (Depends on the number of players 1 or 2)

     Overall score : 6     Recommendation : Low - Only if you get a
                                                  good deal on it!

     Ringside Angel: Asmik of Japan, available through mail order
     houses in the U.S. (Price varies $59 - $89)
     Overseas price is more reasonable.  (estimate $20 - $35)

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Philip Wong)
Subject: TG16: Bomberman
Date: Thu, 27 Jun 91 16:43:38 EDT

As a single player game, Bomberman was ok.  The first 7 levels were very
easy...With the save game feature, you had virtually unlimited
continues.  The last level was difficult, but not in the way I like
difficult.  The difficulty is that you either die immediately or you
survive to continue the level.  The difficulty doesn't come from more
challenging stages.  The final battle was very good though (in contrast
with the rest of level 8).  The one player game was much too easy.  An
avid game player can easily finish the game in a day.

As a multiplayer game, Bomberman shines.  It is very fun to try to blow
up your friends.  I have only tried playing with 3 players total, but I
suspect the more players, the merrier.  For those of you who won't give
up MotoRoader for anything, this game will also hold a special place in
your hearts.  The game starts each of the players off in a corner
blocked off from everyone else.  You must bomb your way to the other
players, finding power-up items on the way.  If you have a Turbo-Tap,
this is a definite good buy.

What's also nice is the new price.  It's $44.99 at EB.  That's a pretty
good starting price...I'd like to see the trend continue (since most
games start at about $55)

Overall Value: 8

   TurboBooster+/CD-ROM Save game feature used
   Bonus: up to 5 players simultaneous play
         special game for 2 player TurboExpress C-linked

Bomberman, for the NEC TurboGrafx-16, $45 at Electronic Boutique

------------------------------

Compiled By: [e-mail]
Subject: Top and Bottom Ten Video/Computer Titles

TOP AND BOTTOM TEN GAMES (5 VOTE MINIMUM)

 Votes  Rank  Title
   16   9.9  Ys Books I And II (CDROM, for the NEC TG16)
   33   9.6  Castle Of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (Sega Genesis)
   28   9.6  Military Madness (NEC TG16)
    8   9.6  Gaiares (Sega Genesis)
   25   9.3  Dungeon Master (Atari ST)
   22   9.3  Devil's Crush (NEC TG16)
   37   9.2  Lemmings (Amiga)
   30   9.2  Blazing Lazers (NEC TG16)
   19   9.2  Final Fantasy Legend (Nintendo GameBoy)
   13   9.2  Chaos Strikes Back (Atari ST)

   10   3.3  Last Battle (Sega Genesis)
    5   3.2  Sex Vixens (Amiga)
    5   3.2  Manhunter: N.Y. (Amiga)
   12   3.2  Goldrunner (Amiga)
    7   3.1  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (IBM PC)
    8   3.1  Faces (...Tris III) (Apple Mac)
   11   3.1  Ogre (Apple Mac)
    5   3.0  Paladin (Amiga)
    6   3.0  Orbiter (Apple Mac)
   14   1.6  Gauntlet (Apple IIgs)

In this list, games have been rated on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the
best and 1 being the worst.

The general guideline for ratings is:

8-10 worth buying at full price
6-7  worth buying at a discount, or if you're particularly interested
     in this kind of game
3-5  only worth renting
2    only worth playing for free, and only for a few minutes
1    worthless

-------------------------------------

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