Midway Arcade Treasures 3
PS2/Xbox/GCN (2005)

Midway Arcade Treasure 3, the first themed disc in Midway’s series of compilations, delivers eight different racing games that offer something for everyone. — however. due to the fact that the titles vary so much in style and age, it’s doubtful anyone will care for all of them. Fans of the older games on the compilation will get headaches from the flashy newer titles, while the current generation of games will scoff at what used to pass for racing entertainment.

The current generation of racers are represented by four titles: Off Road Thunder, San Francisco Rush: The Rock, Rush 2049 and Hydro Thunder, the last two of which appeared as stand-alone Dreamcast titles. Those with a need for speed will surely find what they are looking for in one of these four games. What is there to say about current racing games that hasn’t been said? Race laps around tracks in the car (SF Rush), rocket car (Rush 2049), boat (Hydro Thunder) or truck (Off Road Thunder) of your choice. Off Road Thunder is the worst looking of the four with muddy textures and sloppy handling; the other three look visually stunning and play as expected. Most of the newer games allow multiplayer split-screen racing action.

The 2D era is represented by two-and-a-half top-down racers, Super Off-Road, Super Off-Road Expansion Pack (same game, additional tracks) and Badlands. Both games are presented in a slight isometric view, similar to Atari’s Championship Sprint. Surprisingly enough, modern analog sticks serve as decent steering wheel replacements in these games. The control system using the triggers for gas/break and the analog stick for steering gives you good control, a must in any racing game. Super Off-Road has always been one of my favorite SNES titles, so it’s nice to finally own a home version of the real game. Bandlands plays like a futuristic version of Championship Sprint where your cars have been outfitted with weapons.Fans of Champinship Sprint will recognize many of the game’s sound effects which also appear here. These games also allow for multiplayer action, as all the action takes place on one screen.

The “wow, these used to pass for racing games” department is represented by Race Drivin’ and S.T.U.N. Runner, two games that waded into the world of 3D graphics by using few polygons and even less textures. As a kid growing up, the thing I remember about both of these games is that (at least in my arcade) they both had really large, unique environmental cabinets. The Race Drivin’ cabinet resembled a big yellow driving simulator that you got in, adjusted the seat, and even had to push down on the clutch and turn a physical key to start! S.T.U.N. Runner’s cabinet looked like a huge futuristic motorcycle bench you sat on to play. In context and during that era, they are interesting games that show where the industry was headed, but most gamers checking them out will be doing so out of curiousity’s sake and not for any given length of time. Race Drivin’, the sequel to Hard Drivin’, is probably the most cumbersome title on the disc. Both of these games are one player only.

Despite the fact that all eight of the disc’s games were originally played with controllers other than standard joysticks, all three modern consoles’ analog sticks allow the games to be playable. Joystick control for games designed for steering wheels is never perfect, but here it’s adaquate.

Missing this time around are the extras, those little bits that make these compilations more than just collections of games. No configurable controllers, no trivia, no interviews, no unlockable goals, no nothing. Even the menu is stark, filled with a single generically rendered arcade game. The “extras” link from the main menu allows gamers to choose between watching an Ed, Edd and Eddy commercial and the game’s credits. Fortunately, suicide isn’t offered as a third option (it would be a tough decision).

Midway Arcade Treasures 3 is a good but not great collection. Midway’ has taken a step backwards here by offering fewer games and extras than on their previous Treasures discs, but ultimately the games themselves play perfectly and deliver as advertised.

A lack of variety and not enough titles keep Midway Arcade Treasures 3 from ranking higher. “Treasure” may be pushing the status of some of the games on this disc. True fans of racing games will get the most mileage out of this collection.

Midnight Club 3
PS2/Xbox (2005)

A couple of weeks ago I picked up Gran Turismo 4 with the intention of reviewing it for the DP Wire. The problem is, I quickly discovered I don’t like the Gran Turismo series. I didn’t like #3 and I didn’t like #2 and I didn’t like #1, and I’m not really sure why I thought I’d enjoy #4. It’s great eye candy, but eye candy is a dime a dozen on modern consoles. I don’t care about the realistic angle of the game; realistic cars at high rates of speed cut me off every day on my morning work commute. Call me old school, but if I’m going to spend my time driving around in a video game, I want to go fast, I want to live dangerously, and I want to be cool. Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition lets me do all those things.

Midnight Club 3 (MC3) picks up where MC2 left off, and is everything it’s predecessor was and more. MC3 has bigger maps, more traffic, and more vehicles than ever before. Over 50 licensed cars are available this time around for gamers to race, modify, and smash. To go with those cars, you’ll automatically inherit all the obtainable skills from MC2 to go with them (such as nitrous, drifting, turbo, two-wheel driving etc) as well as the opportunity to earn several new skills like agro, roar and zone. Once you’ve mastered both the way your car looks and rides, you can take your set of wheels online to go head-to-head against racers around the world (MC3 supports online racing for both the PS2 and the Xbox, as well as the Xbox’s System Link).

I’m not a huge fan of import racing (whoever convinced an entire generation that a Honda Civic is a racecar is a genius) and fortunately MC3 includes some motorcycles, SUVs and muscle cars for us less-hipsters to cruise around in as well. Regardless of what you think about big wheels on little import cars, MC3 is a blast to play. Like GTA3/GTA:VC, Rockstar has loaded up these virtual versions of San Diego, Atlanta and Detroit with tons of items to collect and places to drive. The longer you play and the more races you win, the more your map will expand. And of course, the more races you win, the more things you will unlock and money you will earn, which can be used to “pimp your ride”. Of course, all that pimping is completely optional; if you simply want to floor it and go fast, you can do that too. I haven’t read up on the technical specs, but the game’s engine seems to hold its own with Burnout 3 and NFSU2.

Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition is currently available for the PS2 and Xbox and is coming soon to the PSP.

Mick and Mack as the Global Gladiators
1992 (Sega Genesis)

Thanks to GameRush’s recent .99 cent sale on all their older used games, last weekend I picked up another 30 Sega Genesis games to add to my ever-growing collection. After we got home and were able to sort through our treasure, I let my son dig through the pile and pick out what we were going to play first. His selection was Virgin’s Mick & Mack as the Global Gladiators.

From the outside of the box, it is next to impossible to detect that Global Gladiators is in fact a McDonald’s-based game. While the back of the box touts that Global Gladiators features great graphics, great sounds, and a nice environmental clean-up theme, it fails to mention that the secondary goal of each level is to collect all the spinning McDonald’s arches and present them to Ronald himself at the end of each level. The looming golden arches in the background of the main menu inform gamers that you may have just stepped into the commercial zone.

The game begins with a quick introduction showing Mick and Mack reading a Global Gladiators comic book in their local McDonald’s. Suddenly, Ronald McDonald appears and magically sends our two heros directly into the comic book (too bad they weren’t reading a Playboy). Mick and Mack’s goal is to clean up the environment in order to return back home.

Fortunately for us, both Mick and Mack are armed with goo-shooters, guns which shoot goo that travels over and down in an arch-shaped fashion. Your goo-shots are unlimited, and you’ll need an itchy trigger finger to destroy all the Goobers, Squeak-Beaks, Snappys and other enemies you’ll encounter in this comic book world.

Brightly colored and nicely drawn, Global Gladiators debuted in 1992 during the height of side-scrolling platform games. Fans of other platform games like Earthworm Jim, Vectorman and Pitfall The Mayan Adventure should know exactly what to expect. Global Gladiators’ levels are big and scroll far, so expect to spend a few minutes hopping up and down just to see how far the levels actually go. During your exploration you’ll run into plenty of enemies, most of which fall into one of two categories; those which shoot, and those which run back and forth to guard a small area. Both can be effectively dealt with using your goo-gun (which shoots recycled, non-toxic goo apparently).

Global Gladiators contains four different worlds, each consisting of three levels each. In order to beat the game you’ll need to work your way through Slimeworld, the Forest, Toxitown and the Arctic. In order to complete a level, players must collect at least 30 miniature spinning McDonald’s arches and present them to Ronald McDonald himself at the end of each level. Collect more than 75 and you’ll be taken to a bonus round which involves collecting garbage (thrown out from your local McRestaurant, perhaps) and place it into recycling bins.

Overall I found Global Gladiators to be a pretty enjoyable platformer. The whole recycling theme feels a bit forced, and it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that Global Gladiators was an already existing game that McDonald’s purchased and forced their logo into. Despite the McTheme, Global Gladiators comes off as a solid game with plenty of room to explore and lots of enemies to defeat. Despite the fact that I’d never heard of this game before, Digital Press ranks it as an R2, which means it should definitely be affordable should you run across it. Global Gladiators is reflective of the other platformers of the time, which means it’s fun, it’s easy to learn, and you’ll probably die while jumping a lot.

A final thought It is my understanding that a large portion of the proceeds of this game went towards the Ronald McDonald House. My question to you is, just how big of a house does that clown need?

Metal Slug 4/5
PS2 (2005)

The next generation of game consoles promises us more realistic graphics, high definition video, and amazing audio. Blu-ray discs (which will be used in Sony’s PS3) hold 25 gigs per layer. Videogames of the future will be more realistic, more in depth, and more robust than ever before, featuring improved advanced intelligence, more interactive gaming and more features than ever before — which makes it amazing that the run and gun Neo Geo game Metal Slug (1996) continues to appear on gamers’ “favorite games” lists everywhere.

Metal Slug is a 2D side-scrolling shoot-em-up series that features hand-drawn graphics, a wicked sense of humor, a lot of explosions and a lot more enemies. Fans of the series are extremely loyal. Shelling out the cash for a Neo Geo MVS arcade cabinet to play Metal Slug is not uncommon among fans. In fact, it’s often seen as “the cheaper route” to playing the original Metal Slug at home. A Metal Slug 1 cartridge for Neo Geo’s own AES system can cost $2,000 or more!

Despite being a sure-fire winner in the sales department, the six game Metal Slug series (1, 2, X, 3, 4, and 5) have had a difficult time finding their way to anything other than Neo Geo consoles. US fans wanting to play the original games at home have their choice between Metal Slug X (Playstation) and Metal Slug 3 (Xbox). Handheld gamers have the additional choices of Metal Slug Advance (Gameboy Advance) and Metal Slug Missions 1 and 2 (Neo-Geo Pocket Color). Import gamers have it slightly better, with Metal Slug 1 (Sega Saturn/Japan only) and Metal Slug 3 and 4 (PS2/Japan only) at their disposal. Now, five years after the console’s debut, SNK has finally ported Metal Slug 4 and 5 to the Playstation 2. Woo hoo!

For those completely unfamiliar with the series, Metal Slug games are all about running, shooting, and blowing up as many nouns (people, places and things) as possible. Shooting as fast as possible by button mashing pays off far greater than thinking ahead or using any sort of strategy. From rifles to lasers to grenades, tanks, planes, and just about anything else you can imagine that shoots or explodes, Metal Slug dishes out the action faster than you can pump quarters into it. Metal Slug’s “claim to fame” (other than its frantic action) is its hand-drawn graphics, which add a ton of detail and often humor into the game.

Metal Slug 4 is a mixed blessing for fans of the series. While the PS2 version game plays identical to its arcade counterpart, most fans of the series aren’t big fans of Metal Slug 4. Many of the game’s graphics and backgrounds were recycled from older Slugs. Metal Slug 5, however, returns to the series’ roots. Just like their arcade counterparts, both Metal Slugs support co-op play, so that you and a friend can co-blow your way through the games.

And speaking of blowing your way through the games … it shouldn’t take you long. With an unlimited amount of continues, even newcomers to the series can blast their way through either of these games in under an hour – which is okay for an arcade game, but not for a full-priced home console game. It’s the same challenge that’s been facing quarter-suckers since Gauntlet first appeared on a home console. If you can continue indefinitely, endurance becomes more valuable than skill in finishing the game.

While old-school gamers and fans of the series will no doubt be thrilled to finally get to play Metal Slug 4 and 5 on their PS2’s, kids who have grown up on polygons and CD-based games may have a hard time seeing what all the fuss is about. Both groups may wonder why this double-disc release doesn’t include ALL the Metal Slug games, which would help justify the package’s $40 MSRP.

Mail Order Monsters
Electronic Arts (1985)

In the fall of 1985, my parents opened Yukon Software, a computer store specializing in PC, Apple and Commodore software. Every week I drooled over the stacks of brand new games my parents received to stock their shelves with. Occasionally I’d talk my dad into letting me open a game to demo it on one of our in-store computers. Mail Order Monsters was one of those games. The thought of building and battling monsters really appealed to me as a young teenager, a fantasy Mail Order Monsters delivered.

In Mail Order Monsters, players purchase and battle “morphs”, short for Mail ORder Psychon Heroes. There are twelve different morphs available, ranging from dinosaurs and insects to giant worms, squids and even a carnifern (a killer tree). Each morph has individual stats, such as armor, muscle, speed, mind, and life, and one or more extras which fall under one of four categories: means of movement (burrow, teleport, etc.), means of attack (spit, sting, claw, fiery breath, etc.), defenses (anti-thump, anti-psi, etc) and natural aids (hands and tentacles, healing, etc). Each morph comes equipped with a couple of extras, but all of them can be purchased for the right amount of psychons.

After picking out a morph, building his stats and arming him with a few extras, you can further arm your morph in the weapons shop. Those who spent too much money in the morph-building stage will most likely leave with only a sword or a Boorang. Those who saved their psychons for a rainy day can purchase cooler toys like Lapistols (a quick-firing laser pistol), Mindsinks (which attacks your opponent’s brain, confusing them) or the always effective bombs. You’ll also need to stop by the sundries department to pick up ammunition for your weapons (food is considered ammunition for physical attacks). If you have any money left you might want to pick up some armor on the way out. Some morphs, like the mutant crab, have pretty strong natural armor. Others, like the giant amoeboid, not so much.

Mail Order Monsters offers three different levels of gameplay. Beginner mode, essentially an arcade mode, allows players to simply pick a morph and go fight. In Intermediate mode, players rent a morph and get 1,000 psychons to spend on goodies. In Tournament mode (which would be called career mode today), players buy morphs and store them in their corral. Tournament mode is the most challenging, giving players only 500 psychons to spend. You’ll need to be pretty quick on the joystick to survive the first few rounds. The coolest thing about tournament mode is that your morphs are actually saved to disk, so successful players can build a stable of monsters to have on-hand.

All three levels of gameplay offer three different game formats: Destruction, Capture the Flag, and The Horde. All three games pit you against a second morph which can be controlled by either a second player or the CPU. In Destruction mode, morphs battle each other until either someone wins five battles, or a morph is totally destroyed. In Capture the Flag, players race across a world map chasing flags. The flags are numbered 1-8 and must be captured in order; however, the flag’s numbers aren’t readable until you get up close to them. Each flag is being guarded by a warrior (which your opponent will control when you try and capture a flag). In The Horde, a massive wave of monsters invades your map. You and your fellow morph will have to prevent the hoardlings from reaching the bottom of the screen. Whoever kills the most wins. If one reaches the bottom, you both lose.

One of the neatest things about Mail Order Monsters is the insane amount of combinations available within the game. Certain weapons are only available to certain creatures. Others, like the multi-firing laser rifles, require tentacles (which, oddly enough, can be purchased) to operate. There are so many different types of attacks and defenses that no morph is ever 100% invincible. The strongest armor in the world won’t protect you from a wave of psi-blasts, and likewise a psi-helm is no defense against a run-of-the-mill missile. Another cool feature is that each player gets to pick one of two battle variables, which keeps battles fair. One player gets to choose the type of terrain, while the other gets to choose the style of battle. Even the most deadly land-based creatures move slowly over hills and through water — that is, unless you purchase a teleporter …

Each battlefield consists of two maps — a “world view” (in which your morph is a tiny colored dot) and a close up “battle view”, in which your morphs come to life. The battle sequences resemble the one from Archon (which comes as no surprise; programmer Paul Reiche III worked on both games). As your morphs run around on the battlefield, you’ll have to aim and duke it out on the terrain you’ve chosen. Win and live to fight another die. Morphs with multiple attacks can switch weapons mid-fight, but chance leaving themselves vulnerable while doing so.

Mail Order Monsters was a great idea for a game that was implemented relatively well considering the platform’s limitations. The graphics are adequate but lack detail. The weapon swapping system is one of the biggest frustrations, forcing you to stop moving/attacking during a battle to swap weapons (leaving you wide open). And, as with most “uncracked” software, Electronic Arts copy protection and drive routines were incompatable with most fast loading cartidges, causing long load times in between battles. For a while my friends and I built up morphs in Mail Order Monsters and then got together for big battle competitions, but as computer graphics and general gameplay evolved we moved on to bigger and better things. Our monsters were eventually shuffled off to morph retirement homes and spent their final years talking about the good ol’ days.

Fans of King of the Monsters, Rampage, and other monster-mashing games will get a kick out of this game. While its graphics may have not aged well, Mail Order Monsters was an ambitious title for the platform and is still fun to play today.

Little Computer People
Activision (1985)

Does it ever seem like your computer has a mind of its own? Maybe it does! Activision’s Little Computer People provides computer owners with a virtual three-story house, designed to lure the computer people out of your wiring and into a hospitable habitat. Once a little person has moved into his new home he can be studied and observed, but this is no hands-off experiment. You’ll need to keep your new friend happy and fed to maintain a healthy relationship.

When Little Computer People first came out, it was difficult to explain just what kind of program it was to your friends. These days, it’s much easier — I’d simply say the game was like The Sims, but with only one sim and one location. To anyone familiar with the SimCity/SimAnt/SimEarth series of games, I’d describe it as a “SimHouse”. I might even compare the game to one of those popular “virtual pet” programs. But Little Computer People came out in 1985, prior to any of those games. Back then we lacked the vocabulary to describe (much less categorize) the game. Little Computer People was first released for the Commodore 64, quickly ported to the Apple II, and eventually found its way to Atari, Amiga, Amstrad and Sinclair computers. The game was never ported to the PC.

In Activision’s ground breaking title, you serve as a researcher for the Little Computer People Research Project. Each copy of the program comes with a virtual three-story home. The home, loaded with ammenities, is designed to “lure” a little computer person (LCP) out of your machine and onto your screen. Within a couple of minutes of loading the program, a LCP should arrive and, assuming he likes what he sees, will move right in. Activision used what they called “Digital DNA” to randomly assign your LCPs unique features, including hair color, clothing colors, and names. It’s said that no two LCP are exactly identical. Mine was named Ogden.

The virtual home included on your disk has several rooms for your LCP to explore. There’s a kitchen and dining room, a living room, a computer room, a restroom, a bedroom, and a large upstairs den. Each of these rooms contain different items for both your new friend and yourself to interact with. Little Computer People is a combination of direct interaction, exchanges and observation.

There are several keystrokes that will allow you to directly interact with your LCP’s environment. For example, CTRL-F delivers food, CTRL-W refills his water cooler, CTRL-D drops off cans of dog food (even LCPs need pets!) and so on. There are also “entertainment” related commands as well. CTRL-C calls your LCP on the phone, CTRL-P pets your LCP, and CTRL-R and CTRL-B deliver records and books to his front door. (Note that in the Commodore 64 emulator VICE, “Tab” is used instead of “CTRL”.)

Even more interesting are the things your LCP will do when you’re simply observing him. As you watch your LCP throughout the day there’s a chance he’ll put on a record and start exercising, watch television, take a nap, go to the restroom/wash his hands/brush his teeth, cook a meal, type on the computer, or any number of other random things.

Little Computer People also included a two-line text parser, which allowed you to talk directly to your LCP! As a young child, this was THE most amazing thing I had ever seen. “Ogden,” I would type, “would you please play me a song on the piano?” Ogden would look at the screen, nod in agreement, and head over to the piano. Requesting actions wasn’t always successful, but throwing in “please” and “thank you” seemed to increase your odds.

The only downside to Little Computer People is that it doesn’t take that long to see everything your LCP is capable of doing. There are only so many trips up the stairs, word games and exercise routines you can watch before you feel like you’ve seen it all. Within a couple of one hour sessions, I’d venture that gamers will have seen the majority of what their LCP is capable of. Despite that, the game retains a certain amount of magic. I was thrilled every time Ogden would go to his typewriter and type me a letter, or go down to the kitchen table and challenge me to a game of poker. Little Computer People was probably the first computer program I ever “bonded” with. It’s a fascinating program every Commodore 64 user should own.

Lego Star Wars
PS2/Xbox/GCN (2005)

The majority of my youth was split pretty evenly between playing with videogames, Star Wars toys, and Legos. Between the ages of 4 and 14 (at probably beyond), it’s safe to say that I played with at least one of those three things every single day. To say that I was predisposed to like a videogame named Lego Star Wars goes without saying. That being said, what follows is my fair, unbiased, un-fanboyish review of this game.

OH MY GOD THIS GAME RULES!

In Lego Star Wars, one or two players can play their way through the new trilogy of Star Wars films, Episodes I, II, and III. From the sandy dunes of Tattooine to the raging seas of Kamino and the bustling skies of Coruscant, Lego Star Wars takes you chronologically through all three newer Star Wars films, including the as-of-yet unreleased Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. While this review contains no spoilers, be warned that the game itself does.

Players begin the game in Episode I, Level I, with Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi. In one player mode you can choose one or the other (and swap between them freely), and in two-player mode everybody gets to play. With these characters you’ll learn the basic controls. You can jump, draw your weapon/attack, put away your weapon, switch between characters, and use the Force. Items that can be Force-controlled will glow when you approach them. Throughout the game you’ll need to move objects around to build bridges, flip switches and levers, and do all perform various other tasks. The Force can also be used to shake down trees, planters, and other objects throughout the game to find hidden “studs”. Studs (Star Wars Lego coins) are collected throughout the game and can be used to purchase items in between levels (everything from fake moustaches for your characters to invincibility). In Lego Star Wars you get infinite lives, but every time you die you lose all your studs.

There are three basic types of characters – Jedi (who have lightsabers and can use the Force), Shooters (who have blasters and can use grappling hooks), and Other (droids who can open doors, for example). Many of the puzzles presented throughout the game involve simply figuring out which character to use in a particular situation. For example, you may need to use a Jedi’s Force power to build a ladder out of Legos, and then climb the ladder with a shooter to shoot a bull’s eye target, which in turn reveals a keypad that R2-D2 can use to open a portcullis. The puzzles rarely take more than a minute or two to figure out.

As you play through the game you’ll collect not only studs but Lego figures as well. You get to keep each character you encounter throughout story mode, so before long you’ll have a little drawer full of Lego people. In Story mode the game decides which characters you get to use, but if you go into free play mode you can pick any character from your stable and use them anywhere in the game (you’ll need to do this later if you plan on completing the game 100% — man can that Jar Jar jump!).

Graphics and sound are superb. All the ships, people, and objects you’ll see throughout the game are completely made of Legos. Take one too many shots from a Battle Droid and your character will explode into a pile of Lego pieces. Playing with Legos has never looked, sounded and felt so good. For the record, I own the Xbox version and rented the PS2 version and found any differences between the two negligible.

The biggest fault with Lego Star Wars is its length. With unlimited lives and simple puzzles, it shouldn’t take an adult most than an afternoon of gaming to beat the game. Completing it to 100% may take slightly more time, like say a weekend. Kids may get a bit more length out of it due to the puzzles and a few difficult jumps. My 3-year-old son has played through over half of the game so far and has had no difficulty in figuring out the controls. One really nice feature for parents is the drop-in/drop-out mode, which allows you to not only join a game by pressing start on a second controller, but also allowing you to unjoin a game and return control over to the game. This comes in handy when your kids need a quick hand in solving a puzzle or beating the blasted Pod Race and you don’t want to spend all afternoon tagging along behind them.

Despite its short length and simplistic controls, Lego Star Wars is one of the most enjoyable games I’ve picked up in quite a while. Although I was able to waltz through the entire game over a weekend, I still haven’t collected 100% of everything in the game. I highly recommend Lego Star Wars to all fans (however remote) of Legos, Star Wars, or platformers in general.

Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction
PS2/Xbox/Gamecube (2005)

Within five minutes of launching this game for the first time, I had destroyed a dozen tanks with my bare fists, knocked two helicopters out of the sky by throwing boulders at them, and killed an enemy soldier by beating him to death with a cow. If that’s not a recipe for fun, I don’t know what is.

Many superhero-based videogames are as predictable and linear as the films they’re based upon. In games like Spider-Man, Batman, X-Men and even The Incredibles, you’ll have to first learn how to harness all the powers your hero is capable of (usually by working your way through a tutorial level) before heading off into the big city to face your nemesis and his hoard of evil henchmen. And in that respect, The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction isn’t much different than its counterparts. Where Ultimate Destruction stands out is in the, well, ultimate destruction.

While The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is ultimately another level-based superhero game, Vivendi has gone out of their way to make the levels (which are large) as interactive as possible. If you see a rock, you can pick it up and throw it. If you see a vehicle, you can smash it. If you see a soldier, you have several options — punch him, attack him with a combo, pick him up with one hand and pummel him with the other, throw him as far as possible, or pick a target and use the poor screaming fellow as a projectile weapon. And yes, if you see a cow, you can even pick it up and use it as a weapon (melee or projectile — your choice). Once the action begins, the game plays like one big three-dimensional version of Rampage. And unlike the previous current-gen Hulk game, there are no wimpy Bruce Banner levels to be played here. This time around, it’s all about breaking stuff as the green guy.

A big plus for this game is the uncomplicated controls. While there are combos and other complicated moves which can be learned and mastered, my eight-year-old nephew did pretty well by simply button mashing his way through levels. The targeting system for throwing projectiles is simple to learn (pull the right trigger to cycle through targets) and easy to use when things get frantic. On more than one occasion my nephew would do something like pick up cars and use them as boxing gloves. When I would ask him how he did that, he would just shrug his shoulders and say, “I have no idea.” The variety of moves and weapons is so great that I often found myself surprised at what the game would let me do (tree + Hulk = batter up!).

The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is a blast to play — of course, with hundreds of tanks, army men, helicopters and other enemies closing in on you, you won’t have too much time to think about it until long after you’ve quit playing. Fans of the comic books will appreciate the in-game references to characters, while casual gamers won’t need a history lesson in order to enjoy the mayhem. Hulk smash, indeed.

Easy to learn controls combined with open-ended gameplay and interactive levels make for a smashing good time. One of the best comic/superhero games available on the market.

Impossible Mission
Nintendo DS (2007)

“Another visitor! Stay awhile … staaaaaay … hey, wait a minute! Weren’t you the guy who was here 20 years ago?”

Chances are, if you were a Commodore 64 owner, it was you. It has been almost twenty-five years since Epyx released Impossible Mission for the Commodore 64, which was quickly ported to several other home computers and videogame consoles including the Apple II, Atari 7800, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Sega Master System. Followed by two sequels (Impossible Mission II and Impossible Mission: 2025), Impossible Mission is remembered not only for its innovative style of game play, but also its groundbreaking speech synthesis. Twenty-five years later, Impossible Mission (thanks to Warner Bros. and System 3) has found its way to the Nintendo DS.

The Nintendo DS port of Impossible Mission contains three modes of play — Classic, Merged, and New – although they aren’t as different as they first sound. Classic is, for all intents and purposes, a clone of the original – down to the old digitized speech. Of course it wouldn’t be a DS game if players weren’t required to use the system’s touch pad in some fashion, and this game is no exception; minor portions of the game (like accessing the in-game computer monitors to reset lifts and put robots to sleep) have been changed to utilize the handheld’s touch screen. Merged is simply the classic game but with updated graphics, and New is the same as Merged but with a choice of three different characters (just like Impossible Mission: 2025). While it sounds like buyers are getting three games, technically they’re getting one game with three skins.

…

For those unfamiliar with Impossible Mission, players must search for puzzle pieces in Elvin Atombender’s lair while avoiding killer robots, a giant electrified ball, and bottomless pits. If you manage to collect all the puzzle pieces before time runs out, they can be assembled to reveal a secret pin number which can be used to defeat Elvin. Part of Impossible Mission’s appeal is that the placement of searchable items, puzzle pieces, and even room location is randomized each time you play, so no two gaming sessions are identical. One thing that has made Impossible Mission so popular throughout the years is its combination of action (searching the rooms) combined with strategy/puzzle-solving (fitting the puzzle pieces together).

Impossible Mission stands the test of time. The room layouts are as diabolical as ever, as are Atombender’s homicidal robots. Although the cartridges three versions play virtually identical, the choice between graphic styles will please both new and retro gamers. Although Impossible Mission’s overall design may be simpler than newer platformers, it’s still a challenging game that delivers on all levels. Stay awhile, indeed.

IK+
C64, System 3 (1987)

IK+ is considered by many to be the best fighting game available for the Commodore 64, but the history leading up to the game is almost as interesting as the game itself. IK+ is actually the sequel to International Karate, released by System 3 in the UK in 1986. International Karate is a one-on-one fighting game with many similarities with Data East’s game, Karate Champ. In both games, two fighters dressed in red and white uniforms battle. Both games use the same scoring system, awarding either half or full points to successful moves and declaring the first combatant to reach two full points the winner. Both games feature a scoring judge and backgrounds featuring different locations.

System 3’s International Karate sold few enough copies that it was able to remain under Data East’s radar. Later that same year, System 3 System 3 licensed the game to Epyx for US distribution. The game was renamed World Karate Championship and became very popular — so popular, in fact, that Data East thought that the game was a rip-off of Karate Champ, and filed a lawsuit against Epyx over copyright infringement. Data East won the lawsuit, and Epyx was forced to pull World Karate Championship from store shelves. Later, a higher court reversed the decision stating that the games were similar but not identical, and Epyx began selling the game once again. Meanwhile, System 3 was hard at work on the game’s sequel, IK+.

In IK+, System 3 set out to create a fighting game that kept the action and fun of International Karate, but distanced itself from Karate Champ. This was done with three major changes. First, the scoring system was revised. Players now play to five points, with moves varying between one and two points. Second, many new moves were added, including head butts, backflips and split kicks. But the most noticable addition to the game is that of a third opponent. In IK+, it’s now one-on-one-on-one action.

Regardless of whether one or two human players are playing, there are always three fighters on the screen (a new blue-suited fighter has been added). The first fighter to get to five points wins the round and gets a point bonus to boot. The second best fighter also advances to the next round. For third place, it’s “sayonara”. As the levels advance, so do your computer opponents, continually increasing in skill and speed. By the time you reach black belt status, your enemies will be extremely accurate and quick.

System 3 managed to cram 18 different moves for players to use in the game, which is amazing considering the limitations of a joystick and one fire button. There are different attacks to use depending on the distance between you and your opponents. There are also several attacks to use to take out enemies sneaking up behind you, including backward kicks and reverse leg sweeps.

With literally hundreds of fighting games for the Commodore 64, IK+ managed to fight its way to the top of the list with innovative gameplay and a variety of moves. IK+ also features fluid character animation and another dazzling soundtrack from legendary C64 musician Rob Hubbard. If you’re looking for a fighting game with plenty of action, it’s hard to go wrong with IK+. It’s fun, easy to figure out and extremely addictive. One of the best fighting games for the Commodore 64.