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Official Sega Saturn Magazine 026 - December 1997 UK
Official Sega Saturn Magazine 026 - December 1997 UK
N0.1FOR
SATURN ssraii
ISSUE 26 £4.50
DECEMBER 1997
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G A I
DEAD OR ALIVE
BATTLING BABEIEST!
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INSIDE!
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NO CO? DEMAND SATISFACTION FRO
YOUR NEWSAGENT IMMEDIATELY!
|
VYYYYYYYYYYY TTtTtTtTTTTTT
QUAKE, BURNING RANGERS, PANZER DRAGOON SAGA, ENEMY ZERO, GROG,
PLUS! SONIC R, MORTAL KOMBAT TRILOGY, SEGA TOURING GAR... AND MORE! ^E^images
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T«a NORM
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ijer, remember:
it's only Fovemnerl
A/* Christmas comes eai
for SSM readers!
SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE 2BW
EDITORIAL
Editor
Deputy
Richard leadbettei
Editor Matt Yeo
Features
Art Editor Jason McEvoy
Deputy Art Editor Nick Paterson
Staff Writers Lee Nutter, Guy Cutlack
16 Burning Rangers
Contributor "Manual" Daniel levons
Sonic Team's latest introduces new standards in
Japanese Editor Wmtn Hanod
Cover Art Dead 01 Alive by Tecmo
gameplay and graphics! SSM investigates...
ADVERT1SIHG
Michelle de Soma
Editorial Assistant
Scitex Manager Saiah Best Touring Car Rally? see page 34!
Editorial 37 39 Millhaiboui,
The Isle Of Dogs, London, E14 9TZ.
Telephone: (0171) 971 6700 (NO tips calls)
may occur-
magazine, the
made
\
Exclusive >
and
in
errors that
following issues.
corrections will be
The Sonic Team is BACK!
Copyright 199s EMAP Images/Sega.
Burning Rangers is great!
Reproductionin whole or part without prior written
Competition roles
EMAP Images staff and their families are
SUBSCRIPTION KATES
UK £33.00 Airmail Europe £46.00 Airmail Zone 1
emap images
Previews
Panzer
26 Maximum Force
28 Albert Odyssey
Reviews Saga w.
Move over Final Fantasy VII -
50 Sonic R
Panzex Saga is AWESOME!
54 Formula Karts
56 Sega Touring Car Championship
60 Enemy Zero
62 Croc
66 Trash It
Regulars
06 News
30 Back Issues
31 Subscriptions
32 Virtua Writer
34 Q+A
88 Coin-operated
96 Out Now
First Look
Playing Tips Full-on haidcoxe coverage of the^
sexiest fighting game evex!
78 Small Tips
80 Duke Nukem 3D, Part 1
#6, packed with stunning NEW demos including the excellent Steep
Slope Sliders. You'll also notice that our reviews section is bigger
than ever with some cool third party stuff arriving at long last. It's
just a shame Touring Car didn't turn out to be as good as every-
one hoped... Still, with Sonic R being so drop dead AMAZING at
least we aren't without a stunning racing game this Christmas...
Rich Leadbetter,
Editor
Upgrade Update
Virgin Territory?
Capcom's 4MB Mystery
Confusion reigns over Saturn upgrade cart Hardware costs may delay release of Capcom titles
Future of Virgin titles to be determined Importers set to make a killing Sega speaks!
QUESTIONS HAVE BEEN RAISED THIS existing 1 MB version, usually
month over how and when favoured by SNK, although cur-
Capcom's future Saturn rently only Capcom has
titles will actually arrive announced its intention to
in the UK. The Street use the new hardware.
Fighter creator recently However, as Sega Europe has
unveiled an enviable only just released the 2MB
line-up of 2D beat 'em cart in the UK (bundled with
ups at this year's E3 with the King of Fighters '95), plans for
announcement that forth- Capcom's hardware upgrade
coming games would be remain undetermined. Vampire Savior: arcade smash comes home. The 4MB cart is the key to future Capcom hits.
Will UK Saturn owners ever get their hands on Capcom's awesome X-Men vs Street Fighter? exclusive release only on Sega's to Sega Europe.
first." So while the will sell by the truck- Virgin have continued to support lended taking your Saturn to an
desire to release these load, although probably the Saturn with two new releases nport shop and having a 6oHz
titles is certainly at a greatly inflated price. that are quite frankly unmissable witch added - this way you benefit
there, a number of While UK Saturn owners
important issues must be may have to wait
addressed before UK Saturn longer than their brought over from Japan that snd you also get to play
owners receive any of Japanese counterparts demand purchase (we rate both at the way that Capcom
these awesome games. to sample Capcom's wares, a ntended. We can't really
If Sega fails to pick-up Capcom's coin-op con- The likes of M5H vs SF proves that the Saturn ittom of the screen. ings, but a 95% score is still impressive.
versions, there'll be a lot of unhappy fans. is the only console capable of top 2D action!
lew uame
Wrestling: Featuring Virtua. drivers, body slams and grapple holds, unlikely to pick it up for release in the
As the title suggests, the game not all running in the Saturn's high-resolu- UK. Due to the unfamiliarity of the All
only features real-life members of the tion mode. The effect is quite spectacu- Japan Pro Wrestling league (there's no
All Japan Pro-Wrestling league, but two lar, with each of the thigh-slapping pro- Hulk Hogan I'm afraid) this is likely to
of the characters from AM2's awesome tagonists looking and moving just like remain on import only Still, we'll bring
Virtua Fighter series have crossed-over the real thing. you more coverage next month.
While past wrestling games have been complete disasters, Sega's own effort is a lot of fun. Jef fry's worrying 'Nazi Salute' may be removed if the game receives a UK release. Only joking.
New Game
Blast
AS WE MENTIONED IN LAST MONTH'S
extensive Tokyo Game Show
From The Past
fans of the series,
Hudsonsoft
it's obvious that screen shots
have been reduced
it's clear that the levels
from their
report, is attempting to introduce in size
Hudsonsoft is updating its classic the game concept to a new audience- 2D counterparts perhaps to take
Bomberman series with yet another Saturn Bomberman; Fight! is cur- advantage of new 3D special effects
Saturn outing. However, this time our rently 75% complete with loads of cool and the new rotated viewpoint. Also
explosive expert has been blasted out levels already in place and the missing from this version of
of his traditional 2D overhead world promise of more ingenious stages to Bomberman is the six competitor
into a madcap 3D setting. Although come before the game's Japanese multi-player mode, taken down to a
this move may alienate long term release in early December. From these more limiting four player game. Still,
Featuring a new 3D isometric viewpoint, Saturn Bomberman: Fight! should be a winner. Expect new power-ups and character abilities. move on and chuck those damn bombs!
New peripheral
Steeling
SPECTRAV1DEO HAS RELEASED A
new, super-realistic driving wheel Fed up of the Arcade
SENSATION
called the Logic 3.-. and it's compatible
with the Saturn, PlayStation and Racer? This new add-on
Nintendo 64! If you were disappointed
with the quality of Sega's own Arcade brings extra realism to
Racer, this piece of kit could well be the
decided to put it to the Next up we cheats, even the ana- offers good quality. And the fact that
test for games old and tested out the logue pad doesn't you can use the same piece of kit on a
new. First up we Logic 3 with the all * work! That worked PlayStation or N64 (should you have
loaded the epochal Sega new Sega Touring Car fine. Overall, for £69.99 one) adds to the value still further.
Rally Like the Arcade Racer Championship. Again, super- respon- this is pretty good value. It might Check it out, but try to get a "road test"
before it, it takes a long time to get to siveness forced us to fiddle around with be more expensive than the Arcade before handing over the cash...
WHA'T
YIO U ID CO
WITH I
THATGCOUN.TS
P0WIR. THE NEW WAR BOARD GAME THAT HAS EVERYTHING
J
THI GAME THAT'S TAKING 0VER THE W0RLD *±M
|ll| |vV|o|
TV and Toys
Directing
the Dead
Internet news
^ 1
YES, THIS IS ONE OCCASION YOU REALLY SHOULD LOOK UP TO YOUR OLDER BROTHER. NEW
CLEARASIL COMPLETE FACEWASH IS JUST WHAT YOU NEED TO HELP PREVENT ZITS. USED
EVERYDAY IT WILL HELP KEEP YOUR SKIN FEELING CLEAN AND FRESH.
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Bust and Slash, SNKese for Good and Evil. Enormous sprites 'R us in Shodown 4!
mediocre import titles from Japan this which denotes an ancient Japanese
month from ancient shoot 'em up war god, or "Bust" (villainous), which
clones to poor Virtua Fighter represents a Japanese demon.
wannabes. However, there is one little Depending on which personality play-
gem amongst the crap and that's ers select for their fighter determines
SNK's Samurai Shodown 4. Set a num- the outcome of matches and the path
ber of years after the events in of destiny down which they'll pro-
SS3, this latest outing looks set ceed. Thanks to the presence of
to be the final 2D version of swords and other razor-sharp
the series now that the 3D weapons, rounds are often more
power of the Neo Geo skill-based than the usual run
64 arcade board has of the mill beat 'em up with
been revealed. players required to parry (or
Samurai Shodown 4 block) incoming blows, often at
is the latest in a long line the expense of losing their own
of Neo Geo titles that have weapon.
been converted to other plat- Locked swords are separated
forms. Along with King of by rapidly tapping punch but-
Fighters and Fatal Fury, tons, players are capable of dis-
Samurai Shodown's weapons based combat is Graphics like this seem to be the province of SNK's Samurai series has arming themselves and fight-
better than ever in this new game. SNK only. Capcom's style is very different. gained a reputation for hand-to-hand, a side-
featuring unique charac- "V'' step option acts a handy
ters, experimental game dodge and skilled
play techniques and characters can
completely over-the-top even stop a
special moves. However, weapon slash
what makes the series with their bare
special is its use of hands before
edged weapons returning a
and fantastic killer blow.
feudal settings. The While it's clear that
fourth game features a selection of Samurai Shodown 4 won't appeal to
weary warriors including the entire most Saturn owners, those of you
SS3 cast and the addition of the broth- with converted machines who are
ers Kazama, the samurai master keen to follow the exploits of Galford
Yagyu Jubei, French fencer Charlotte (he's the American ninja with the dog)
and the mysterious masked Tarn Tarn. and his pals could do worse than give
Gameplay is standard 2D beat 'em up this a try. Okay, so this is starting to
fare with POW! gauges taking the turn into a mini review here, but the
place of super meters and Rage point is that SNK's latest 2D title is a
Explosions enabling players to inflict decent Neo Geo conversion well worth
massive amounts of damage. Also the asking price. A UK release is
At the moment, any sort of official European release for SNK's titles that require the 1MB RAM unique to this series in recent editions unlikely, but Sega has surprised us in
cartridge is not likely. What is more likely is that Sega Europe will pursue the new 4MB cart that is the option to play as good or evil the past with the likes of King of
will run the forthcoming X-Men vs Street Fighter and Vampire Savior. versions of each character. Players Fighters '95 so you never know.
News In Brie
Tecmo's amazing Dead or Alive (see page 40) has shot straight to the top of the
Japanese Saturn charts. Released in Japan on October gth, Dead or Alive com-
pletely sold out, shifting a staggering 92,000 copies in just under 12 hours! With
a special edition pack proving to be a hit with collectors and fans alike, Tecmo
looks set to have the biggest selling Saturn title of '97.
Although absent at the 35th JAMMA show, the much-rumoured Sega Rally 2 is
still in production. Resisting the urge to release an early version to the prying
eyes of the press, AM3S eagerly-awaited driving sequel will be under wraps
until the new year. Our source confirmed that the majority of the original devel-
opment team are working on the title, but gameplay specifics remain top secret.
should sign on as an official third party within the next few months.
New Game
CUE]
HMV CHARTS # Send us your top ten titles and you could win a tree Saturn game! Post your choices
SATURN MAGAZINE, 37-39 MILL HARBOUR, ISLE OF DOGS, LONDON EM 9TZ. We give
to
away
READER CHARTS, SEGA
exclusive pre-pro-
NEXT MONTH.
WMT> Let's face facts, when it comes to senses-shattering Saturn demo software
there is literally only one place you can go: SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE. If this
month's Christmas NiGHTS extra isn't enough, you
can look forward to another ace CD next is
with THREE ALL-NEW demos! We're talking
quality as well with Worldwide Soccer
Look mate, the only way I can get hold of these exclusive demo
discs is if you hold onto a copy of SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE for
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MING SOON
COMING SOON
,li
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isasier area.
and super computers have made our lives a par- ingly detailed 3D world.
S
!SR
Hose down fires and save innocents. Is a mysterious arsonist behind the city's fires?
:
CHARACTER PROFILES:
NAME: Chris Partem NAME: Lead Phoenix NAME: Tillis NAME: Big Landman NAME: Shou Amabane
SEX: Female SEX: Male SEX: Female SEX: Male SEX: Male
AGE: 24 AGE: 22 AGE: 19 AGE: 35 AGE: 21
NOTE: The leader of the NOTE: A cool character NOTE: When she was just NOTE: He was raised in NOTE: He's always in good
Burning Rangers team with a passion for his a child Tillis lost both of the Africa and dearly loves spirits but a little naive.
and their navigator. She's work. His conduct reflects her parents in a disaster. plants and animals. He He's bold and daring and
smart and never overlooks the fact that he values a She's a kind-hearted girl doesn't change his mind his behaviour constantly
a mistake. When she was life. However, he also val- who never ignores a per- once he's decided to do surprises all around him.
13 her father, a previous ues his own life and won't son in need, but because something and he'll When he was 10 years-old
generation Burning risk it on reckless rescues. she's very cute it's difficult always carry it out to the he would have lost his life
Ranger, was killed in a This ace Ranger's shooting for those close to her to let very end. He wants to pro- if he hadn't been saved by
failed rescue mission. is top class! go of her. tect all living things. the Burning Rangers.
GAME SYSTEM
Using the incredible Burneer Pack carried on their backs, the
Burning Rangers are able to freely move in stunning 3D environ-
ments using swift and agilemovements. This speed and control
is vital for players to pass through disaster areas safely as burn-
ing buildings collapse around them.
In order to assist players as they move around the
plex 3D playing areas, the game's characters are equipped with
the Auto-Jump and Navigation systems. The Auto-Jump prevents
hi-tech equipment. characters from accidentally falling off ledges or through col-
lapsing floors by automatically "jumping"them out of harm's
way. The Navigation system supports the player's progress
through complex maze-like buildings by indicating the best
iuute to take and gives information about the conditions of each
a««a in fart the game's controls and systems are so simple that
ginners can pick up the basic movement sys-
_1
1 while experts will be able to operate the
1 precision.
The Burning Rangers team consists of five people. Chris Parton is the lead rigator. Shou
Amabane and Tillis a: :ters that are initial-
ly selectable. Lead Phc aie the two support
" o selectable
characters' abilitk
other characters still function in real time as part of the team. One
of the many mysteries still surrounding Burning Rangers is the
numbering system. Each character is numbered from one to seven,
When "
a floor collapses the yet there are no numbers ft
Auto-jump feature propels a are more Burning Rangers
Burning Ranger into the air To add even more drama to the Navigation System, Sonic
Team has employed the some of Japan's more famous anin
voice actors. As the Burning Rangers explore each stage, they'll
ro ™"'e tipsand guidance from their headquarters. While these
«u.«i won't be used for the English version of the game, it's pos-
Sega may use equally famous people for the UK ver-
sible that
sion as well.By the way, at the Tokyo Game Show the real voice
actors' voiceshad yet to be recorded so all the voices in the game
Out or the frying pan and into the Tire! The Burning Rangers face Tear every day. were those of the Sonic Team development staff!
ensure that all of the game's gadgets have a believable edge to used to execute a 2-stage jump for even higher or
them and that each piece of kit has a specific function. further leaps. Using the semi-permanent energy
"Master Blacksa" (a recently discovered new ener-
*
note that these equipment specifications are based on early gy-fuel of the future), it can be used for extended
designs and may alter in position and usage depending on the periods of time without the need for recharging.
character* Itprobably also supplies energy to the shield
device as well. Although it doesn't allow the Rumours are already flying regarding hidden
wearer to actually fly it does allow some degree of characters and "evil" Burning Hangers!
Ranger's equipment The Fire Extinguisher Unit is point landings on narrow ledges and platforms.
held in the hand or mounted on the arm and used This unit's size obviously varies for each Burning
like a gun. All the male players carry this device Ranger which would seem to indicate that it has
while the female players have it built into their been designed and calibrated to take account of
arm units. Whether the different gun types utilise each character's size and weight.
different features isn't yet known but it's likely
that, as a team, each member will have a specif-
2.SHIELD UNIT
Wom on the body, this shield generating vest pro-
body
tects not only the chest area but the entire
explaining why the Burning Rangers don't wear
any protective helmets or bulky fire fighting suits.
The shield system is completely effective against
both heat and flames so the wearer can approach
even the most dangerous areas of an inferno with
impunity to carry out their rescue missions. It's
3. AUTO-JUMP UNIT
In the hazardous environment of a disaster, there
isalways the danger that the building will collapse
around you. With this useful auto-jump system,
players are protected against the problem of floors
giving way beneath them. As soon as this danger is
detected, an auto-jump is executed, propelling the
Burning Ranger to safety. Should a large area of
floor collapse, you'll need to perform a two-stage
jump to take you further away from the danger
system is also activated if you
area. This
walk over the edge of a ledge or hole so
skilled players can use this to their
advantage by executing precision timed
jumps. As you no longer need to
judge where a ledge ends is
when jumping, you can just
run to the edge and you'll be
automatically propelled into
the air by the unit.
(
$"3 ^ We'll have more red-hot Burling Rangers coverage next issue!
hining Force was one of the premiere Megadrive with the latter. From what we've seen of Shining Force 3,
role-playing experiences, held in extremely high we're in for something REALLY special...
regard by its thousands of fans across the globe. You
might be wondering why it's taken Sega and Team A TRUE SUCCESSOR
Sonic three years to produce a Saturn sequel. The answer is star- Despite being a sequel to Shining Force, this new game is far,
only now do the team believe that they have the know-
tling: far more advanced. It could be argued that Shining Wisdom
how and the ideas to make this game truly great. (and maybe even Holy Ark) could have been achieved on the
The Shining franchise is split in two. Original games such Mega-CD such was their lack of technical innovation. Not so
The imagination shown in the as the 93% rated Shining the Holy Ark constitute one aspect of with Shining Force 3.
graphics the series- Shining Force and its sequels are
is quite special... the other. Team Of course, the graphics been completely overhauled and
Sonic tend to experiment with the former (hence the huge dif- moved lock, stock and barrel into the third dimension, but the
ferences between Shining Wisdom and Holy Ark) and excel real innovation is in the gameplay. The whole system used in
Shining Force 3 will blow you away. To begin with, it's actually
Alter the epochal Sh.inin< Team THREE games! The programmers' aims were to create a game
Sonic are back with, potentially rj
thatwas both a true successor to Shining Force on the
Megadrive, but also as revolutionary as the original series was in
revolutionary adventures ever conceived! its day. Of course, they have succeeded.
A very bizarre town indeed by the look of it. No... we're not too sure what's going on here either... i The rendered activities of Holy Ark are back - and better - in Shining Force 3.
ferent scenarios. The typical RPG Trilogy game usually has each Shining Force actually
scenario following another with the events from one game but can
affecting the next story. Quite often the next game in the series
is the next generation so that the entire adventure then spans
in the others.
three generations.
Of course, Shining Force uses a new and original tuous real-time 3D you can see from our exclusive
visuals... as
approach. Although the scenarios use different characters in screenshots. The map areas of the game also benefit from some
different locations, all the scenarios take place at the same seriously sexy rendered action.
time, hence the name "Synchronicity". Naturally
the outcome of one scenario effects the other THERE'S MORE... MUCH MORE
scenarios because they are all part of the Shining Force 3 is going to big. And Sega know it. That's
same adventure. All you are doing is experi- why they're being just a bit secretive about the rest of the
encing another part of the same adventure game's content - they don't want to show their hand to the The combat system should be
from a different position. All your actions in sce- opposition (and there's a huge amount of it about in Japan). absolutely spectacular!
nario one has a direct influence on scenariostwo What we do know is that the game is going to be incredible.
and three. In Japan, the games will be released We were blown away by Shining the Holy Ark but this time
a few months apart and form a huge, ongoing we're being promised a revolution! Not surprisingly, SEGA
adventure of unprecedented proportions! SATURN MAGAZINE aims to follow this one through to its
conclusion. Expect hugely expansive coverage in forthcom-
3D TO RIVAL GRANDIA! ing issues of the mag.
Much has been made of the stunning 3D visuals
seen in Game Arts' forthcoming Grandia as well as
PlayStation Final Fantasy VTX Shining Force 3 has
the potential to seriously out-quaff both of these
games such is the sophistication of the 3D on offer.
Just like Final Fantasy, when the action
shifts into combat (a seriously important aspect
of every Shining game to date), you're treated to sump
Just how of the characters interact remains to be seen, but we're promised BIG things in this regard...
The full 3D map scenes are a step up from Shining the Holy Ark.. all
t w
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»^|^V Saga, and the result is, amazingly, one of the most
fun and entertaining games we've ever played.
think about
adventure game
RPG I've ever
how tough it would be playing
encountered. Just
a 'traditional'
if it was all in Japanese! No such problem with
Regular readers will be expecting an intense RPG Panzer Dragoon Saga. Of course, players expecting another
with the odd shoot 'em up battle sequence, but shoot 'em up in the style of previous Panzers will be disappoint-
there's much more fun than just that. Much more... ed, but wipe away those tears • there's still plenty to shoot in
Team Andromeda's big adventure.
(Above) Game graphics or FMV
sequence? It's tough to tell MIND AND SENSES PURIFIED
with visuals of this quality! There's now a rendered intro in place, and in typical Panzer
style, it's completely incomprehensible! What is clear though, is
that several new characters are being introduced to the Panzer
fair few flashbacks regarding her during the game as well. focuses on exploration and scene-setting action, but once the
Readers who have been following our cool Panzer Dragoon first rather simple puzzle has been solved, Azel leaps right
Saga coverage will already know that the finished into the action!
s game will cover a mammoth four CDs, and there's a A menu appears, allowing the player to pick from six or
*
"V good reason for that the game is packed
-
seven different attack scenarios, each with a different attacking
throughout with this super-cool FMV! But it's enemy, and each requiring a different tactic and weapon to
tV-
X^ not just the FMV that tells the huge story. defeat it. They're not all offensive weapons either one option
-
^ In a similar way to Panzer Zwei, much of allows Azel to sacrifice an attack opportunity to boost his hit-
^^^^^^\^ the between level narration and points up to a safer level if he's been taking a bit of a hammer-
scene-setting is achieved simply by ing. Once you're at ease with the controls and weapons, it's time
to party with the big boys!
Panzer Dragoon Saga amless and incredibly HAPPY PLASTIC - IT'S FANTASTIC!
high level of presentation. The huge enemies are stunning. It's not just Azel and his pet
Dragoon that are beautifully animated and light-sourced, but all
-:
BY THE HAND of the fantastic beasts that players face along the journey are
e've received is a handy traininj dripping with polish and special effects. Actually, they're proba-
feature that pops up after a while, and guides players bly dripping with slime and stinking alien puss, but thanks to
through the range of different attacks that the friendly the huge amount of detail, slime and alien puss has never
Dragoon has at its disposal. The first hour or so of playing looked this good before!
The game's presentation has been polished up as well, to
such an extent that it's genuinely difficult to tell the difference
between some of the gorgeous in-game footage and the FMV -
*>
:n monsters on screen.. mt one of them is usually enough to give poor Az(
(To be continued...)
(Right) A nice collection of pictures of the various monsters Azel has to face in
Panzer Saga. The weak-point of each alien is helpfully pointed out as well.
ers also need to position themselves out of danger while s the kind of attention to detail and amaz-
the battle is taking place (some enemies fire forwards, ing depth that even puts Shining the Holy Ark
some fire sideways and have specific attacks), and wait ne, and the 'almost' turns-based fighting
for the right moment to strike. When the fire button is syaieiu is certainly the easiest I've ever come
pressed, a target sight appears. This is used to target a spe- across in an RPG. The aliens are all incredible,
cific enemy or find one of their weak Combine this with some outstanding in- and 100°o glitch-free as well.
spots, but, and this is the impor- game visuals and presentation, mix in some of the best Panzer Dragoon Saga WILL be
tant bit, the longer players wait |~ and most detailed FMV that we've ever seen, and add
before pressing the fire button a a dash of an incredibly complex and inventive storyline,
second time to unleash the shot, the id it looks like Panzer Dragoon Saga will really be an
more the power gauge builds up and fhen a plan comes
the more powerful the shot fired. This is where the together? Stay tuned for more coverage of the fully
'almost' turns-based bit comes in, because waiting translated European version, before the game's
longer to unleash a more damaging attack obvious- planned January UK release.
ly leaves the player open to a counter-strike from
the enemy! Clever, eh?
of the Panzer engine. Check out this sequence: (1) This poor character is being chased by (2) this massive monster,
which smashes through the mountain to get al him! Fortunately for him, Azel arrives and lets rip with his laser
(3), and we then go into a standard battle scene (4) between Azel and this awesome creature. The monster isn't
too bright though, and manages to get its head stuck in the rock when lunging for Azel (5). exposing the weak-spot
on its butt! Take him from behind Azel! (6) Our new mate is grateful for the help, and no-doubt tells Azel something
we saw the last version. Smart, eh? dead useful, but it's all in Japanese. Arggh!
MAXIMUM FORCE
A Virtua Cop game using full-motion video? It's been done before with the lacklustre Area 51. And here is the new, improved sequel!
No please, your excitement... it's too much!
H
FvUUM |uiLLIAMS t's a good idea in theory. Just imagine
the action and excitement of Virtua Cop
all of
HTS^B'
^m |fTBA but with the added attraction of full-
motion video! Done properly you could
fTRHHi
^* |SH00TING have the gameplay of AM2's classic along with super-
realistic visuals. Nothing could top it. After all, it's not
rnuna |tba like Virtua Cop has huge amounts of interactivity - just
like full-motion video you can't choose where you go, it's
-LthMH
Iu'"7Sl^b£
.
-*'
^^y*~"
mm
MMMJU'tmi ^^^B
some bizarre metal tubing stuck to your face. This
time though it isn't too intrusive, so it's definitely a
case of "A for effort"in that regard. In terms of actu-
•j gameplay though, Maximum Force remains
^^ al
sprites do tend to stick out a bit on occasion. extremely similarto Area 51, albeit with some
almighty knobs added on.
You take on the daunting mantle of a "top
counter-terrorist agent", formerly working for the
US government but now taking on missions on a
BRING ON THE PSYCHOS! the money going to go once it's free? Presumably
Maximum Force has three distinct missions, the FLF haven't thought that far ahead.
each based around a counter-terrorist strike
against a different enemy. The scenario behind 3. THE SOMNOLIA CARTEL
the game features some most amusing made- The most taxing mission to date sees you travel-
up baddies. Forget SPECTRE, these guys truly ling deep into the jungle. The Somnolia Cartel has
are quite frightening! been developing an all-new snack food that turns
everyone who tastes it into mindless sheep, ready
1. GROUND ZERO to do their nefarious bidding. Big deal: our editor
These animal-loving radicals have built up a manages to do this on a monthly basis and no
vast nuclear arsenal "underneath" Easter snack foods are used whatsoever.
Island and plan on raining nuclear death on
everyone so that the lickle bunny wabbits and
so forth can claim the world for their own.
Yeah right. As if fluffy animals are bomb-
And what about all the worms callously
proof.
murdered when they burrowed out Easter
Island eh?
The sequel to the lacklustre Area 51 arrives courtesy of Williams... BONUS ACTION!
And this time you don't have a fence stuck to your face! Like Area 51 before it, Maximum Force features
a great deal of secret stuff to discover within
freelance basis. Information comes you part of the game that has improved since the confines of its three missions. One of the
way concerning three new terrorist Area 51 is the amount of destructible most bizarre things we've found is a strange
groups and you decide to singlehand- scenery -just about everything you'd underwater shooting gallery bonus section.
edly (or dualhandedly if you want to want to explode is explodable, mak- Blast away the sharks and keep the swimming
make use of the simultaneous two- ing for a pretty enjoyable experience. naked (!) women safe and vast loads of bonus
player mode) take them out in a At the moment, it remains points are yours for the taking!
hail of gunfire. unclear as to whether GT Interactive
Getting into the thick of the (who license Williams' wares for
action, it's clear that conceptually Europe) will pick up Maximum Force for
nothing much has changed since Area a UK release, especially considering how
51. The aim is still to gun down all terror- long it's taken for us to get any info on the
ists in double-quick time, picking up power- h-profile Mortal Kombat Trilogy. Still, when we
ups and letting the innocent people (scientists, ny more news we'll let you guys in on it.
The female innocent bystanders tend to run about in short skirts and skimpy underwear. Fair enough.
ALBERT ODYSSEY
it seems that there's a bit of an upsurge in RPGs at the moment, more specifically, an upsurge in quality RPGs. With Shining the Holy
Ark still confusing us, and the awesome Panzer Saga on the way, these are good times for Saturn RPG fans...
generating a lot of interest, and then sign up the items and experience that the characters in the team have.
of a lad, which lead to him being raised by Harpies in the disintegrate around their pointy elf-like ears, Pike (the
lovely, peaceful village of Harpy. Sounds nice, eh? But only Human in the whole village) finds himself thrown
many years later, as the peaceful village life begins to into the centre of the action as this 'Dark Evil' begins to
threaten all that exists in the world of Eldea.
The rest of the story is pretty standard stuff really.
Gamers are crying out for quality RPGs and with games like
Albert Odyssey and the awesome Panzer Saga, these are happy RPG days!
Pike likes to lie in bed. He should come and work for SSM!
Pike is the only Human in the Harpy village, and as such he's given a bit of a hard time by the fairies and the weird etf-like folk that live there. Above is the baby Pike being rescued by Laia.
All of the graphics are firmly rooted in the 'cute 2D' format, but there's an excellent use of colour, and some cool special effects.
Working Designs have done a great job translating the dialgoue and
the result is a very smooth and detailed game that will appeal to RPG fans
took place between his forefathers many years ago, nasty piece of work called Belnard, and Pike needs to
battles which put an end to the first wave of fighting travel to the next village to enlist the help of a priest
and made the world a more peaceful place, and to save the poor girl.
Pike's role in this global scheme is gradually revealed From then on, it's hardcore RPG action all the way
as he builds a team and uncovers the legend of the through. Hit points, magic points and attack points are
Eldean clan. Special mention must go to the all present as you'd expect, but there are also a
story. Far from just rushing together a ;ood few other options as well - defensive
dodgy translation of the Japanese text, power, which causes battling characters to
Working Designs have really concentrat receive less damage when attacked,
ed on bringing across the atmosphere avoid points which measure the fighters
that made Albert Odyssey such a suc- chances of escaping an attack, wisdom Far from being a hasty translation job, Working Designs have
cess in Japan, and with all the cool dia- points which increases the effect of taken a lot of care with Albert Odyssey. And it really shows.
o§§^ ;
'
&>^& ' &>&^&
"
" isBbSiji i! stbi
rli
'
1* l 1*1 Cop, Firestorm: T' Virtual Golf, Johnny Ba Atom, Darius, Baku Baku Animal, Street Fighter Alpha, Shellshock,
Fighter: The Movie, NBA Jam TE, Hi-Octane, Victory Boxing, Golden Mystaria, Worms. Virtua „<.. Valora Valley Golf, Shining Wisdom,
Robotica, NHL Hockey, Rayman, Axe: The Duel, Mansion of Hidden Oft-World Interceptor. Showcases: Pinball, World Cup Golf. Showcases: Titan Wars. Showcases: Euro 9G,
World Series Baseball. Souls. Hebereke's Popoito, Guardian Heroes, Mystaria, FIFA Vampire Hunter/Street Fighter Legend of Tbor, Street Fighter
"
First ever issue or Sega Sat rSpeedway, Showcased: '96... plus all the secrets of Virtua Alpha, D and all the secret cheats of Alpha, X-Mcn.
' *
i with feati , X- Cop! Plus ultimate Sega Rally cov- Sega Rally! Plus Panzer Zwei AND Panzer Zwei! Plus: VF2
Virtua Fighter 2 and Virtua Cop! n: Children of the Atom. erage... the BEST racing game! ! and Sega Rally guide!
i-Hi'iirai
'& m
JESTRUCTION
1ERBV
-. :*'; ,-JjrjiJ-/
ISSUE #9 JUL 96 ISSUE #10 AUG 96 ISSUE #11 SEP 96 ISSUE #13 NOV 96
1 Cop 2 cuv- NiGHTS: Sonic Team's amazing game Amazing Candy Fighting Vipers Amazing Street Fighter Alpha 2 cov-
erage! Reviewed: Loaded, Need Tor finally arrives! Reviewed: NiGHTS. Cover! Reviewed: VF Kids, Alien Worldwide Soccer '97, Fighting erage! Reviewed: Street Fighter
Speed. Shockwave Assault, Big Hurt Road Rash, Primal Rage, Slam and Trilogy, Athlete Kings, Ei' Alpha 2, World Series Baseball 2,
"
Baseball. Blackfire. WWF. Striker, Jam. Starfighter 3000, Olympic NBA Action, Space Hulk, Keio Flying Derby, Blam! Machinehead, Bubble Tomb Raider, Ea
),
Tennis, Ghen War.
still worth buying today! : NiGHTS! Guardian Heroes Tips! dread arrival of The Master!
Hollywood, MegaMan X3. Tips: To Puzzle Fighter, Space Jam, Return Showcases: Shining Holy Ark,
Hi*=esj
jrsi Back Issues
m £J*& HOW TO ORDER: !
1 1 ISBS^SS^MJ
1
ISSUE #7 MAY 96
FREE! REVIEW AND TIPS BOOK! A
'mm
plus all the X-Meii moves loo!
Complete the form below and send payment to: Sega Saturn
Magazine Subscriptions, Lathkill Street, Market Harborough,
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SUBSCRIPTIONS HOTLINE on
W^ call our
TL
ISSUE #14 DEC 96
World's First Virtua Cop 2 Review!
':
Daytona CCE. Amok.
Street Racer, Hardcore 4x4, Chaos
"
• ALL COVER MOUNTED CDl
"rol, Three Dirty V
#21 JUL 97
aasml
Irow. Sonic Ja re! Double
I
5 '
n SUBSCRIPTION ORDER FORM
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iM3 interviews e Top Skater,
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rt
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^ilWte?! *Ǥ>
We've received several complaints from readers this month complaining that their letters aren't getting published in SSM.
Frankly, it's because they're crap. It takes something a great deal more interesting than "the Saturn is better than the
PlayStation because..." to get into the SSM. Bear that in mind before sending your letters to: VIRTUA WRITER, SEGA SATURN
MAGAZINE, 37-39 Millharbour, Isle of Dogs, London, E14 9TZ, or email us at [email protected]. The sender of the
most entertaining read wins an exclusive VF3 book!
KEEP THE FAITH much if you and everyone knows that you're the best? WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?
Dear SSM OK, so it is quite amusing but you really need to get Dear SSM
My faith in your journalistic skills of late has been off that pedestal you've put yourselves on and concen- I've recently discovered that Tomb Raider 2 is not
put to the test. Reading PlayStation Plus recently, I trate on making the best even better. coming out on the Saturn. I can't believe that Core
couldn't help but notice several small articles men- Secondly, who much about demo CDs? They
cares that are doing this to us, considering the original game
tioning nigh-on complete versions of X-Men: COTA, may be fun for an hour or so but they never make you came out on the Saturn first, it looks pretty cool from
X-Men vs Street Fighter (this is nowhere near com- want to go out and buy any of the games on the disc. the screen shots in other magazines, and I'm even
plete if it exists at all - RICH), a version of Vampire A person with a good eye for games can tell if some- considering getting a PlayStation to play it on. What
Savior planned and the Saturn enhanced Resident thing is any good, if not, they can just read your do you think?
Evil all on the PlayStation. It's not so much Capcom I reviews anyway. Mark Patterson, Liverpool
blame, but your journalistic skills. My God, you prac- Thirdly, when are Sega of Europe going to get their
tically work next to PlayStation Plus' offices. I think arse into gear? We're fed up with hearing the words jjLZ, It's good to see you're keeping up with con-
your faith in Capcom is misled, as is my faith in you. "not being released over here" or "not coming for ^^^ temporary issues, eh Mark? Anyway, we've
Jamie Thomson, Scawby ages", whilst crap like Darius 2 and other such tat are seen Tomb Raider 2 in action, and in no way does it
being released by the truck load. If Sega tried as hard live up to the incredible amount of hype Eidos/Core
4^, Hold on there big fella, X-Men: COTA is most over here as they do in Japan, they wouldn't have lost are ramming down our throats. This isn't just sour
^^^ definitely NOT PlayStation bound due to the out to Sony. grapes on our part, as fellow journalists on our sister
inferior 2D processing capabilities of the machine. Hopefully now that programmers are getting used to publications share our disappointment with long-
PlayStation Plus have subsequently seen the error of the power of the Saturn, creating better effects, peo- awaited sequel. Yeah, Lara can perform a few new
ple will finally realise the Saturn is the only console for acrobatic tricks, but the graphics are remarkably sim-
the true gamer! ilar to the first and the lack of variety in the
Alex Charles and David Metcalf, Luton block/lever pushing gameplay wears extremely thin.
Eidos are no doubt relying on the tits and arse factor
PS Not only can we thrash you gutless wimps at past to sell the game... and the record... and the film. Still,
mentioned games, but we can now add KoF '95 and it's a shame Saturn owners are to be deprived of
Marvel Super Heroes to the list! Lara's scantily-clad antics, though if truth be known,
we'd rather be playing Quake anyway. LEE
it As a general rule, letters which begin with
•^^ sycophantic praise but trail off into mindless NEW SYSTEM BETTER THAN MODEL 3!
insults are rarely met with enthusiasm here at SSM. Dear SSM
You crazy kids would do well to remember that before Firstly, I'd just like to take this opportunity to say
sending us your monthly missives. As for Saturn what an ugly bunch of bastards you lot are. I found
Power, we are trying to refrain from slagging them off, the group photograph featured in issue #24 offen-
as we feel a tad guilty kicking a cripple when it's sive to the eye and subsequently made me throw up.
down. Instead we're concentrating our formidable Were it not for the vision of loveliness featured a few
their ways and apologised for their insolence in a efforts on making the best even better, which pages later in the mag (in the form of those groovy
more recent edition of the mag. As for the other inevitably means more awesome demo CDs. Whilst Virtual Babes) I would desist in buying your mag
games, Resident Evil Director's Cut is pencilled in on reviews give readers a general idea of whether a game immediately. Shame they weren't the full tits-out
Sony's release schedule, but is quite different from is worth purchasing or not, there's no substitute for versions featured in the Daily 5tarthough.
the Saturn version (no battle mode, for example). seeing the game in action and being able to decide for Secondly, congratulations on your excellent Resident
Regarding Vampire Savior (Darkstalkers 3) and X- yourself. And I wouldn't go lumping yourselves in the Evil guide, commiserations on your poor WipEout
Men vs Street Fighter, Capcom announced at the same category as people "with a good eye for games", 2097 guide (what went wrong eh, lads?). But the
Tokyo Power-Up conference last November that both given that in previous correspondence you rubbished
would be Saturn exclusive, purely for the reason that both the AM departments and NiGHTS in a single
Sega's console is the only one capable of producing sweeping statement. Crazy fools. LEE
these games through the combination of internal "If Sega tried as hard over here as they do in Japan,
RAM and the new 4MB RAM cartridge. Taking into they wouldn't have lost out to Sony." Fascinating state-
account that the PlayStation has no internal memory ment, being that the release of Final Fantasy VII put
or RAM upgrade capabilities, it must be said that the the PlayStation ahead of the Saturn in the Land of the
thought of PS versions of these games is something Rising Sun. Sad but true. Yes, there are tons of games
of an office joke at the moment. Make no mistake, for the machine available in Japan, but somehow I
the Saturn is the only console for playing decent ver- doubt the likes of "Roommate - Summer Vacation",
sions of Capcom's finest. LEE "Princess Maker 3" and its ilk are liable to catch on
over here. By the way, it's good to see that our reviews
TEDIOUS DEVIANTS RETURN... have gone up in your estimation since your first mis-
Dear SSM sive to us a few months ago went on about how biased
Before you say anything, we never said Saturn Power we are. As for your witless "challenge"... look lads,
was better than your mag. However, whilst we're on haven't you embarrassed yourself enough over the last
the subject,why do you bother slagging off SP so few months with your inane ramblings? RICH
LETTERS
main reason for my writing, is regarding the specifi- /i ASy As of yet there is no official news, screen
^^^
cations for the new Sega system which recently
appeared on the Internet. Several different sites tem
shots or specifications
to report. All that exists at the
on the new Sega
moment for us to
sys-
Briefly...
claimed to have an actual manual for the new sys- tell you are the rumours flying around on the
tem, which boasts a Model 3-beating 1.5 million poly- Internet, which you've pretty much summed up in Dear SSM,
gons per second, courtesy of an advanced Power VR your letter anyway. The problem is however, the Are Sega goingto make a Die Hard Arcade 2 or
graphics chip! Considering Model 3 can only do rumours change so frequently that by the time the some other beat 'em up like it, I hope so because
around one million polygons per second, that means magazine has gone to print, they'll be pretty out of Die Hard Arcade would be a good game if only it
we could have arcade-perfect conversions of VF3, date anyway. It was only a matter of weeks ago that had some more levels and the Saturn's lacking
Scud Race, Le Mans 24 Hour and Motor Raid as early "inside sources" reported that the new Sega system decent Streets of Rage type games which I like.
as Christmas 1998. They go on to state that as of yet, utilised 3Dfx technology, whereas more recently we Please can you tell Sega to get working on one
Sega have neither confirmed or denied this. If these have discovered that to be completely untrue. Of because I really liked Streets of Rage on the
specs are true, shouldn't Sega be shouting about it? course, once the hard facts begin to emerge from Megadrive and I hated giving my Megadrive up
So come on SSM, being the official mag and all that, Sega themselves (not likely for at least another 6 to buy a Saturn. Also, will we get to see Sonic R
can you tell us what's going on? Are these reports months) then SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE will be there before Christmas?
accurate? Have you seen it running? If so, why first with the exclusive story. Until then, you'll just Marc Hull, Somewhere
haven't you printed any shots or news? have to be patient. LEE
Chris Harvey, Essex Sega have a huge amount of Saturns out in the world j6.2n Whilst there are no plans to produce a Die
(like nearly seven million of the beggars) and it's not °^^ Hard Arcade 2 or a Saturn Streets of Rage,
in their interest to reveal anything on their future the dubious future of Fighting Force has now
BOOK WINNER plans until the time is right and the software is been secured, with Sega of Europe snapping up
ready. Rest assured when Sega start shouting about the rights to publish the long-awaited scrolling
BRIGHT AND it, the world will sit up and take notice. Oh yes. RICH 3D beat 'em up over here. As for Sonic R, the game
BREEZY LETTER is now complete and has a tentative release date
RATINGS BACKLASH BEGINS of November 20th. LEE
Dear SSM Dear SSM,
In a previous issue requested 1 There is a letter in issue #24 about decreasing some Dear SSM
that future letters to SSM be games ratings overtime but not others that com- I I bought a Saturn because of the high quality of
"bright and breezy". Well, here is my attempt to pletely agree with. What you said as a reply made games it has. But with games like ISS, Rage Racer
express my brightness and breeziness in the sense, but (using your examples) if VF2 gets 98% and and Street Fighter EX being exclusive to the
form of a poem. Worms gets 91% at around the same time, then VF2 PlayStation, I am wondering if there are any
is 7% better, right? A year later, VF2 is just as much games on the Saturn which could match them
The Saturn is a Marvel and that is a fact, better than Worms as it was when they were both for gameplay.
Even though third party support has lacked, rated. What you say may work a little bit, (comparing Suman Miah, Sonyville
If my Saturn you dare to make cracked, games within one genre) but nothing like Worms is
I'll introduce glass to your digestive tract. out so it makes no sense whatsoever. Oh, well. The A^3 Are you serious! How about SWWS
/
'98,
only way around it is to mark the best game like VF2 ^^^ Sega Rally, Sonic R, Marvel Super Heroes
I know the Spice Girls say they'll be there, on about 90% and decrease all others by 6 or 7% also (a decent conversion that is), X-Men vs Street
But next to the Saturn they just don't compare, and simply let the better games get higher marks, Fighter, Quake, Duke Nukem 3D and Panzer
Except for that posh one with the black hair, rather than decreasing aging ones. You know it Dragoon Saga to name a few. LEE
I wonder if she's got an orifice to spare? makes sense.
Daniel Landes, Somewhere Dear SSM
There are some people who hate it, I'll bet, How much did the VF3 coin-op cost you and how
And it is to them say without regret,
I ^|fc make any
Clearly your rating system doesn't much would it take to get it off your blistered-
"The only mates that you can get, "^^ sort of sense Dan, as there is no way the from-playing-too-much hands?
Are those you buy in a pub toilet". mighty Virtua Fighter 2 deserves a paltry 90% rating. Adam Carrel, Glasgow
What Rich said on the subject a couple of issues ago
This poem is now over, there's nothing else is completely true, in that the whole process of depre- sjLS, It didn't cost us a penny mate. It was on
more, ciating the ratings of certain games is completely *^^ loan from our friends at Sega Operations
Except to end with some hints I implore, subjective. There is no specific formula or mathemat- and has subsequently gone back to their show-
Never tie your shoe laces in a revolving door, ical process we go through in order to do this, but room. But if you're still interested in getting
And fat women make crap snipers. rather reevaluate individual titles with the benefit of yourself one, a stand-up VF3 coin-op will set you
M Away, Cardiff hindsight. Looking back, we can see that maybe we back a paltry £4995, whereas the super-deluxe
were a tad over-enthusiastic about Worms [Lee actu- 50" screen version costs a pretty reasonable
We liked youi little poem, ally loves this game everyone, you should know - £9000. Better get yourself a paper round, eh? LEE
We liked your clever words. RICH), whereas the rating awarded to Virtua Fighter 2 I think the world should know that on one amus-
We liked your use of language, almost two years ago was completely accurate. LEE ing occasion, I beat Lee Nutter twelve times in a
And fantastic taste in birds, Duh! The bottom line is that opinions on games can row on VF3 machine. RICH
change over time and obviously it's a different case
But your chances are quite minimal, with every game. Some titles remain as classic as Dear SSM
With lovely posh spice Vicky, ever (and Virtua Fighter 2 remains an epoch-making In issue #24 of SSM I noticed a reply to a one of the
In fact your chance is zero, piece of software even by today's standards) whereas letters in which you stated that Fighting Force
We hear she's rather picky, others are effortlessly out-quaffedby newer games in would not be available in the UK. Give me a damn
the same genre and thus suffer accordingly (like good reason why Core are not releasing it?
We agree with your opinion though, WipEout, Euro '96 and the rest). Additionally, the I Coodhall, Derby
She would be quite a snag, review team has changed significantly since the old
We'd love to see her naked, days and we're more liable to put our own opinions £X* Following Eidos' decision not to publish
And give her a good... copy of SEGA SATURN in today's mag as opposed to the views of the publi- •^^ Fighting Force in the UK, Sega snapped up
MAGAZINE. cation of yesteryear. Now let that be an end to this the rights to do so and are releasing it in November
GARY discussion. I have spoken. RICH (hopefully). A review next issue, perhaps. LEE
My word, this month truly has been the worst I've yet experienced when it
about five months ago, so do you guys actually read this page or what? Sigh.
ESTING, Q+A, 37-39 Millharbour, London E14 9TZ. Or email the beggars to
TAKING THE BOUT OF BANAL ^ft 1. Duke Nukem 3D, Virtua Fighter 2 (or THE FUTURE EDITOR OF SSM WRITES...
Dear SSM,
"^^ Fighters MegaMix, whatever you fancy), Sega
First of all I'd like to say that your magazine is the great- Rally, Worldwide Soccer '98, Marvel Super Heroes, Dear SSM
est. I would not miss one issue of your magazine. Here Incredible Hulk. Except the last one. 2. Exhumed, Please print this letter etc etc etc {cut by me - RICH)
are some questions. Tomb Raider, Ultimate MK3, Street Racer, Destruction 1. Will any Star Wars games ever come out for the Saturn?
i. Will MDK ever come out on the Saturn? Derby. Virtua Fighter 3 cannot be commented upon 2. 1 was going to get Resident Evil but my mate bought it
2. Is Fade to Black coming to the Saturn? since nothing has been seen yet. 3. Worldwide Soccer and said it was too hard and took it back the very next
3. Are there any plans for Metal Gear Solid? '98 of course. 4. In the fullness of time I'm sure some- day. Is it really that hard?
4. Is there a 64-bit system for Sega called Blackbelt? thing will appear answering to this description. 3. I'll be leaving school soon and I want to be an editor for
Ajz 1 and 2. Both games are unlikely to appear on Dear SSM 4. Finally my Mum says that it's hard to get a job as an
"^^Jl
the Saturn at this time. 3. Konami, on the Please answer the following questions. editor. Is this true?
other hand, plan to bring all of their major games to i.Will House of the Dead be coming to the Saturn and if Matthew Benson, Liverpool
4. Is Destruction Derby 2 coming to the Saturn? Your mum is right. It's extremely tough. True, I was
BECAUSE YOU SAID Toby Hall, Worcester editor of Mean Machines when I was 20, but I guess
DearQ+A I'm the exception that proves the rule. I suggest that
Please answer these questions. ^i^ 1. House of the Dead is being converted to the you read a lot more, write creatively in your spare
1. Why don't Core use the new four megabyte memory for
"•^^ Saturn as we speak and should be a key part time and bone up on your grammar (which really
Tomb Raider 2 because you said that it allows for faster of Sega's early 1998 line-up. 2. Not in my opinion, no. does need some work judging by this letter). Work
speed or more polygons. 3. It's a close call, but I think I would go for WipEout hard enough and you can achieve anything.
2. What is happening with Zap! Snowboarding Trix, 2097. 4. Not to my knowledge, no.
because you had a preview in issue #19?
When be out?
flI
3. will Jurassic Park 2
Thanks for printing this letter, II This here's FAQ, which stands
Mike Coles, Somewheresville fox Frequently Asked
Questions. Basically these aze the ques-
^L^,
l
l- Because Core have signed all rights for Tomb tionsyou lot keep sending in. So let's get
"-^^ Raider and Lara Croft over to Sony. The four on with answering them, yes?
megabyte cartridge would make a TR2 conversion eas-
ier, but the bottom line is that the Saturn as it stands 1. Is Scud Race coming to the Saturn?
without any extra memory could easily replicate the
PlayStation version. When you see the finished game jA%- Considering the power of the Model 3
ly fine on the Saturn. 2. Nothing is happening with powerful machine. We'll have more news as we
Zap! Snowboarding Trix for the plain and simple rea- get it here at SSM Central.
son that Steep Slope Sliders has come along and it is
infinitely superior. 3. The Lost World? You'll find that 2. What's the status of Resident Evil 2?
it's probably out now and is almost certainly A GIBBERING CAPCOH FAN WRITES...
reviewed in this issue. Dear SSM ^j-, After the success of the first game, Capcom
I want to ask you when X-Men vs Street Fighter is coming ^^^ have all but confirmed that they'll be
WHAT GAMES SHOULD I GET? out. If it has been cancelled... NOOOOOOoooool! If has- it bringing the sequel to the Saturn. It might not
Dear 0+A n't, tell me who is in it, when can get it and how much?
I appear at the same time as the PS version, but we
Here am trying
I to fill up some more space in your excel- Simon Wilkinson, Ripon shouldn't have to wait as long as we did for the
lent magazine. first game.
1. 1 am getting a Saturn for Christmas so which games do _^ft-L X-Men vs Street Fighter is coming out on
you think should get? I
"^^ November 25... in Japan. At this time, Sega 3. Can be I a games reviewer, please?
2. Could you please put these games into order from best Europe are debating the issue of releasing the four
to worst: Exhumed, Virtua Fighter 3. Street Racer, megabyte RAM cartridge required to play the game. jA2n ^ vou can wru e coherent, entertaining
"
Destruction Derby, Tomb Raider, Ultimate MK3. Apparently it would cost a lot of money to bring it out "-^^ reviews and features, we might well be
3. What is your favourite football sim of the moment? over here. Here at SSM we find this hard to believe. interested in your services. Send in a CV along
4. Will there be a Virtua Cop 3? Surely the more high profile EXCLUSIVE Saturn titles with examples of your work to the magazine -
Mark Robinson, Drumgor are released officially, the better? we're always on the look-out for "talent".
j
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We told you gays
[Hi
months ago that we had some earth-shattering cover-mounted CDs
je line they're beginning to
-
come
i
to fruition. Exclusive to readers of SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE, this month we have the raqst etide giveaway ever
L# :
can't wait to stick it on, eh? Well, not until you've read this you don't!
Christmas,
Ihristmas NiGHTS is the perfect opportur somewhere around the course (in this case, beneath the
ample the NiGHTS phenomenon. What Christmas tree). Beginners should then return to the
get is an entire levels worth of festive Ni{ start allowing NiGHTS to begin the next course other-
wise he'll plummet to the ground once the flying time
is over. Expert players should use this bonus time to fly
ne of year your Saturn's i around the course and rack up huge scores by collecting
more chips and flying through hoops in rapid succes-
your ranking.
:eks time, giving the game more longe laid out before you, each revealing a symbol when
er. Match up two identical symbols and a
her Elliot or Claris to the imprisoned NiGHTS, 1 Ihristmas NiGHTS. None of the secret stuff in
SfePrpvtijIpig the
&-m.
and time are sst I
""
IT, cerfaiiT secret^ E
i up on »
select dates.Try
f;\iyyi'iriKi HI Jill
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irfill
has been blessed with the first taste of Team Ninja's programming
Lightning-fast gameplay, magic. Previously known for the likes of Tecmo Superbowl and a
super-smooth visuals and number of less-than-impressive shoot 'em ups, Tecmo gave AM2 a
top-heavy tottie... Dead or creative kick up the ass when it released the original coin-op ver-
Alive's got the lot! sion of Dead or Alive. Although harnessing the same hardware
board that powered Virtua Fighter 2, the game itself stunned players »
40 SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE
SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE 41
!
SHOWCASE
I » with its almost Tekken-style gameplay, use of explosive ring-outs 3D COMBATIVE SPORTS
and, most importantly, the fact that the game's foxy female players It's safe to say that Saturn owners will be completely unprepared for
appeared to be carrying a couple of liquid bowling balls in their the graphical excellence of Dead or Alive. We know that it's possible
bras. These girls give new meaning to the phrase "top heavy!" for Model 2 arcade titles to be ported to the Saturn, but sometimes
December release in Japan, Tecmo actually
Originally set for a the finished results aren't quite up to scratch. So while Last Bronx is
wrestling finished its Saturn conversion ahead of schedule, resulting in its a great weapons-based fighter, annoying glitches and occasional
of steel! Imagine sporty recent October 10th release. Fan patience has finally been rewarded slowdown failed to make it the classic it could have been. Dead or
spice with a chest and with a 3D fighting game experience that regularly draws crowds of Alive has no visual faults whatsoever. That's right. Whether it's
looks. Worra hot chick! hormone-fuelled males in the SSM office, thanks in no small part to super-smooth, multiple camera angle match replays or super-
Dead or Alive's healthy dose of zeppelin-chested female fighters. But detailed, zoom-in winning poses, the game's superior polygon
^T
JANN-LEE
RYU
Token ninja and fast as
Right: While basic moves are powerful enough, Dead or Alive features some of the
most hard-hitting combos we've ever seen in a 3D fighter.
Below: Ryu Hayabusa takes out his exact duplicate with a HayouNagiGeri, a spin-
backgrounds may be 2D but such attention to detail as gushing Raidou, is accessible but more on that later) all of whom possess a
water falls, crashing lightning and moving traffic more than make number of incredibly cool and hard-hitting offensive and defensive
up for a lack of 3D effects. moves. The control set-up consists of standard VF punch and kicks
Quite how Tecmo achieved this level of perfection is a mystery which are strung together to form some stunning combos. Basic
even to the talented SSM team. What is clear though is that the attacks and combos are supplemented with more complex moves to
Saturn has been blessed with a grade AAA+ quality title, one that be mastered by expert players. With a little training, and a few
literally oozes playability, demands your constant attention and bloodied noses, players soon get to grips with the game's bewilder-
proves once and for all that Sega's machine is still the world-beater ing array of moves, the sheer number of which almost equals VF2's.
it always has been. As a consideration to Tecmo has incorporated
Street Fighter players,
KASUMI
initially features eight playable characters (a boss,
back tap on the joypad to defend against incoming attacks. Overall
Dead or Alive's controls are extremely accurate and responsive.
i
At17, Kasumi is the youngest member of the Dead or Alive crew.
KASUMI
if Tina is the game's female
^5
1
LEI-FANG
Dead or Alive's very
T
the game's most imp
sive multi-hit and two-in-
REVOLUTIONARY HOLD SYSTEM throw! Simple and effective, this system makes Dead or Alive possi-
As blocking has been relegated to the joypad, the A button now bly the most enjoyable fighting game we've ever played and one
takes on possibly the most vital function in the game. Dead or Alive that proves incredibly accessible.
featuresan amazing hold system allowing players to swiftly block
an opponent's attack and counter with a lightning-fast move of WARNING: DANGER ZONE!
their own. However, unlike counters featured in other beat 'em ups, Bouts take place in a number of exotic locations ranging from
Dead or Alive's system enables players to respond with throws, Zack's sunny beachside setting to Lei-Fang's palace courtyard
two-in-one attacks and even chain combos together for devastat- which bears an uncanny resemblance to Pai's stage in VF2!
ing effect. Both offensive and defensive throws are possible offer- While Ring-Outs have been included, Tecmo has attempted a
ing almost limitless combo potential. twist on this tried-and-tested gameplay feature by surrounding
Likewise, if a player is battering your character with a par- each stage with a lethal explosive perimeter. Send your oppo-
ticularly brutal beating, simply tap H+P+K to perform an nent flying onto the Danger Zone and watch as they're cata-
Escaping Combination Throw. This cool move reverses your pulted into the air by a massive detonation.
opponent's attacks and sends them sprawling with an amazing Used in conjunction with certain moves and floating combos.
BAYMAN
Get too close to this ex-
-* -
Russian combat expr
you'll be dealt a number of Although Dead or Alive's backgrounds are 2D, the attention-to-detail is incredi-
ble. Add a Danger Zone and ring-outs and DOA is even more impressive. Finish a combo with a push into the Danger Zone and watch the sparks fly!
SHOWCASE
it's possible to drain an opponent's energy bar with just a few TIME ATTACK MODE
basic moves. Race against the clock to achieve a top ranking score. Face off
Of course this method is also employed by the CPU which against every other character in the game (including multiple
will attempt to push unsuspecting players onto the Danger Zone costumed versions of each fighter) and then attempt to smash
before delivering a killing blow. Fortunately, it's possible to your own score. permanently entered onto the
Fastest times are
avoid an explosive defeat by simultaneously tapping high score table. Can you beat Team Ninja's awesome times?
Hold+Punch+Kick within the first few falling animation frames IANN-LEE
unharmed.
to land relatively SURVIVAL MODE
Similar to Time Attack mode but this time players begin each
MULTIPLE GAMEPL AY MODES match with a reduced energy bar. By defeating each opponent it's
As well as Arcade and Versus modes, Dead or Alive also features a possible to regain that lost energy and survive to fight another
number of gameplay modes that were never included in the day. Unfortunately, regardless of gameplay settings, your oppo-
arcade game. These additional play modes will hone a player's nents are predictably tough-as-nails. Therefore the Survival Mode
abilities to a razor-sharp level, pit them against a constant barrage is a great place to test your abilities and hone your talents
of opponents and grant access to the game's numerous secrets. against a killer fighter.
They're big, they're round, they're bouncing up and down! Kasumi gets 'em out.. ... and keeps 'em out for the lads. Yeah, we like Dead or Alive alright.
SHOWCASE
SURVIVAL
MODE
takes to beat the best? Try
thorough workout!
KUMITE MODE working out combos in advance and testing gameplay theories, the
Spanning 30, Mode enables players to
50 or 100 rounds, the Kumite Training Mode may also be the key to unlocking yet further secrets.
analyse their overall game performance and improve the weaker
areas. For instance, beating up an opponent in under 30 seconds BURST MODE
might be pretty fast but it may be possible to reduce the number of It's possible to activate the Burst Mode once the game has been com-
blows required to achieve this. Likewise, weaker players will be able pleted with any character. Each stage is now a Danger Zone with no
to improve their win percentages. safe areas for players to stand on.
TRAINING
MODE
Essential for mastering each
CHARACTER SELECT
KUMITE MODE
Improve perforrr
first time. Selecting this option reveals six hidden secrets to play babes and Lara Croft to shame, the lovely Kasumi, Lei-Fang and Tina
around with. We don't want to spoil all the surprises just yet but are a sight to behold. Easily capable of holding their own against
so far we've managed to access two options allowing you to alter
the size of the ring and size of the Danger Zone. Big head mode
anyone? (Let's hope not - Rich)
REPLAYS
After each round, the CPU controlled camera treats players to an
amazing glitch-free replay of the fight's final seconds.
Particularly impressive finishing attacks are presented as multi-
ple angle affairs with the final blow repeated over and over.
SATURN MAGAZINE 47
SHOWCASE
ZONE!!
CARTOON
CHARACTER
HEADS
of those knockers!" and "She's never wearing a sports bra!"
However, it's only when you see these tit-anic teats in motion
that you realise that Tecmo must have spent the last year just work-
toon head appeari] ing on the animation for thesemammoth melons alone. If all this
on-screen. Collect boob-related tomfoolery wasn't satisfying enough we'll now take a
look at some of the game's raunchy and revealing secret costumes...
SECRET STUFF
When it comes to cool hidden features and smart secrets. Dead or
the game's macho male fighters, these battling beauties are the Alive is in a league of its own. Fighters MegaMix and Mortal
proud owners of what can only be referred to as the biggest, bounti- Kombat Trilogy may have the monopoly on secret characters but
we've ever gawped at. And gawped we have. As Dead or
ful breasts when it comes to extra outfits, Tecmo's title wins hands down. By
Alive comes on, so the mob gathers. Led by the lecherous Lee Nutter, completing the game in Extra Hard Mode with each character, play-
the sounds of battle are drowned out by shouts of "Look at the size ers receive an additional costume. Finish the game with this set of
As Dead or Alive runs at a nippy 60 frames per second, players will be left gaw- "Get your filthy hands off me ya perv!" Cutie-pie Kasumi teaches Zack that it's
ping at the hundreds of super-smooth character moves. not polite to creep up on a lady unexpectedly.
SHOWCASE
ZONE!!
was only 16. Now 23, Ryu teaches a ninjitsu style called
"Hayabusa Ninjitsu" at his combination antique shop/doujou on
Vine Street, Cincinnati. His physical strength comes from years
of serious training as a rock climber back in his hometown of
Ashikaga. A true perfectionist, what this diminutive Ninja lacks ALTERNATE
in brawn, he makes up for in speed and careful logic. COSTUMES
Press UP and DOWN 1
clothes and receive yet another. It's possible to repeat this process is literally flying off the shelves. As with most Japanese video game DANGER Vii
until you've obtained a wacking 52 character outfits!
the ladies are blessed with the raunchiest wardrobes we've ever
What's more, releases, Dead or Alive comes as both a standard jewel-cased
well as a limited edition collectors pack. The second version
disc as
is a real
zone!! M:
seen in a video game. We're talking French maid outfits, catsuits, treat for DOA fans as it features cool packaging, the inclusion of a
bunny girl cossies and beach wear that's frankly bordering on the stunning art book and even a sheet of nifty character stickers!
DANGER
ZONE!! ^ w /
BURST MODE
Hold H+P+K before
switching on your
Saturn to activate the
Burst Mode. The entire
Sonic R
Yes, it's finished... and Since the birth of the Saturn it has been
the case that the very best games for the
it's bloody brilliant! Bet system have emerged from within the
secret labs at Sega of Japan. Not any
you want a copy, eh? more. In recent months, an albeit select number of
dedicated third party developers have taken the
Well don't worry, as by Saturn to all-new levels of excellence. Why, this week
alone we've taken delivery of three of the most mind- Sonic R is in the shops any day now. Buy ten copies
the time you've read the blowing games to date on any console, the incredible
Quake, Dead or Alive and more specifically, Sonic R. top British developers Travellers Tales, the game has
next four pages, Sonic R So what's the deal? Well, Sonic R is the first shown incredible promise since it was first unveiled at
game featuring Sega's charismatic mascot to be pro- E3 in May. Now that we have a complete version of
may very well be in the grammed specifically for the Saturn, and as you may the game in our office, we can safely say that Sonic R
have surmised by now it's a racing game. Created by
- lives up to that early promise... and so much more.
shops. Hoorah! the innovative genius of the Sonic Team and coded by Readers who have been following our extensive
coverage of Sonic's latest incarnation over the last
The fade-in scenery is truly astonishing, with no ugly pop-up whatsoever! The lighting effects in Sonic R are truly spectacular.
1 at, os 06
00:00 00
of that there no doubt. Previously revealed levels
is
f#
in The Radiant Emerald track is
valled Saturn expertise to the limits - and the clearly Travellers Tales' take
results speak for themselves. Make no mistake,
\
on Mario Kart 64's Rainbow
Sonic R is an incredible leap forward in Saturn gam- Road circuit, but the effect is
pery in
3D
a vast
More astounding is
of the finest we've ever seen!
7
the Saturn to date (or the PlayStation for that matter). the fact that Travellers Tales have managed to retain
Each of the five different "worlds" are simply breath- all of these fantastic elements for the incredible split-
taking, exhibiting painstakingly detailed 3D environ- screen two-player game with no noticeable loss in
ments, densely packed scenery, seamless and colour- track side detail, but more on the two-player later.
ful textures, the revolutionary fade-in depth-cuing, Once players have recovered from the initial
dynamic lighting, translucent and reflective effects all shock of the sheer quality of the graphics, and believe
running at the Rally-standard 30 frames per second. A me - it takes some time, it becomes apparent that the
remarkable achievement when you consider the vast gameplay is no slouch either. With five characters ini-
amount of polygons that have been stuffed into the tially available, five massive circuits to race around s
fllHGS 00:00.76
00 00 76
00 00OO
tl 40 00
one of the most graphically stunning to appear Sonic R. To compensate for her lack of speed, Amy's car is able to hover across the water sections.
The Regal Ruins circuit is in
and several gameplay variations in the form of the ing each of the courses in first position is only a frac-
self-explanatory grand prix, time attack and incredi- tion of what Sonic R has to offer. Once players become
ble two-player mode, there's certainly plenty of vari- more familiar with the control method and complex
ety to be found in Sonic R. But more importantly, more fun is
lay-out of the multiple-route circuits, far
Sonic R actually plays and feels like a Sonic game, to be gleamed from the massive exploration element
something which was sadly lacking in Travellers Tales' the Sonic Team were keen to include. Deviate from
previous Sonic title. As with the classic 16-bit origi- the circuitand players can roam freely around the lus-
nals, the temptation at first is to leg it through each cious 3D environment, accessing locked sections of
of the levels in a time trial-like way. But as with the the track, discovering secret power-ups, finding short-
Sonic Team's previous Saturn success - IMiGHTS, finish- cuts, collecting rings, gold coins and the usual Chaos
Emeralds located in each
world. There's literally
Sonic R is a game which remains true to its 16 bit roots, whilst tons of stuff to discover,
more than we have
map, but have you seen it? It looks like a ball of spaghetti!
truth be known, have you heard As the fastest character in the game,
guess, we love Sonic R here at it's a crying shame that Travellers Tales have no intention of putting it to further
SSM. Though initially confusing, use themselves, or licensing it out to other developers. Just think what could have
as was Mario's transition into a 3D environment, the been achieved if programmers with this level of expertise had been allowed to pro-
incredible speed, fluidity and familiar Sonic gameplay duce the recent Touring Car conversion. Sigh.
mode. Still, there's no denying that Sonic R has R look more like a Nintendo 64 game!
32-bit machine, Travellers Tales have certainly done tions to the game, allowing players to view the entire race
him justice in this incredible game. from the dramatic camera angles positioned around each of
Every trick in the book has been used to make the most visually
GRAPHICS outstanding racer on the Saturn to date. Simply awesome.
All the usual Sonic samples and some cool dance numbers, though
Finishing the game isn't too difficult. Finishing the game properly
LASTABIUTY is. Tons of secret stuff ensures excellent lastability.
Formula
Karts
All of those millionaire he preview of Formula Karts that we fea-
Go-kart circuit - fancy but do you know what? The finished version is better...
tell you that the frame rate has been well and truly sort-
you do! Playing Saturn ed. So much so that Formula Karts appears to be run-
ning at a slightly smoother pace than Sega's very own
Formula Karts is Touring Car conversion! The two-player mode is very
good as well. Usually, compromises have to be made in contend with, but you know what I mean. Just as
probably the closest us order for the Saturn to get everything running twice, smooth, no clipping problems and all that.
but Formula Karts is the first racing game I've seen The track design is the reason for this. All of the
normal, everyday folk where the visuals in the two-player game are exactly twisty 90 degree turns make things a lot easier for the
the same as they are in the one-player mode. Well, not Saturn to handle, as there are hardly any occasions
will ever get though... exactly the same, because there's the split-screen to where the player can see more than about thirty virtual
Because the tracks are so short, there are always a few other karts on The Japanese circuit is probably the
the track to race against, which makes Formula Karts a lot of fun. best looking race track in the game.
REVIEW
about as far removed from Touring Car as a race game can be (dia-
metrically opposed, language fans). For starters, the tracks are
much shorter, with an average FK lap taking under 30 seconds to
complete. And because the tracks are so short, the game is basical-
ly one sharp corner after another, making for a very different expe-
rience, and one where there's very little time to build up speed and
relax. The Karts handle in a completely different way as well - the
little vehicles spin and slide all over the place, seemingly oblivious
to the player's frantic attempts at joypad control. So in summary,
Formula Karts and Touring Car are completely different, but also
exactly the same. The same because they're both 'quite' good, but
not really the kind of outstanding software that we expect from
the Saturn these days. There's only one racer reviewed in this
month's mag that's an essential purchase - the outstanding Sonic
R. If you can find a shop that rents Saturn games, give Formula
Karts a go for a while though. It's the same as Touring Car - only
different, if you know what I mean.
The view from behind the kart may look impressive, but
because of the way the camera swoops and spins whenever the
kart takes a sharp corner, it's probably best to play using the
in-car view (right). It plays well from this angle and looks
pretty good as well, don't you think? Touring Car is a decent A ...as is Formula Karts. Neither
for,
teams to
plenty of options and
even the promise of a hid-
den extra circuit
race
means
I the Slightly tricky Controls stops
though -try before you buy, you might like it. that appears at the end of the race, and
The karts are very delicate and annoyingly skid all over the
PLAYABIUTY place, but isn't that how go-karts handle in real life?
You can't go wrong with eight tracks, even if they're all very
LASTABILITV short. The enjoyable two-player mode will last for ages.
After the dodgy preview version and the ropey Touring Car, this
Sega Touring
ANALOGUE PAD Car Championship
OUT NOW!
As possibly the most k^BH e'll be the first to admit that our enthu- posrai
I " V I siasm at times gets the better of us. It's OfS
eagerly awaited arcade- _A__4 not our fault, we're just passionate
(0H<F !H0K>
31"633
iHLHLH about our work and Sega games alike.
(T
1^
IV ^**t
*SE^-
and stuffed it into the Saturn conversion. This
One immediately
Championship is
off-putting aspect of Sega Touring Car
the "realistic" handling of each of the high-
I Ahhli... the handling of the vehicles is most frustrating!
powered production vehicles, which invariably has players rico-
cheting from one side of the track to the other. Frankly, if real
touring cars handled like that, the ensuing crashes would make
Saturday afternoon's Grandstand a damn-sight more entertain-
ing. Nevertheless, this is where the custom car option comes into
play, allowing drivers to tamper with certain aspects of their cho-
sen jalopy to suit their individual driving style. From the steering
severity to tyre compounds, suspension and braking, adjusting
each drastically affects the overall performance of your vehicle,
potentially shaving thousands of a second off lap times. Now,
whilst this option wasn't really necessary in Sega Rally, given
that each of the cars handled superbly to begin with, it really is a
life-saving option in Touring Car. A little tweak here, a little
tweak there - and hey presto! No more slewing into barriers
uncontrollably, or flipping out wildly at the slightest undulation One of the few redeeming features of Touring Car is the
in the tarmac. Cool... but only just. awesome speed the game runs at. Oh, yes.
This is made
is the Weakest Model 2
considerably worse by the distinct
conversion vetj
intensive rear-view mirror - a first for a Saturn racer. lack of visual refinement in Touring Car. Polygon
A good thing too you may be thinking - and I'm glitching is a regular occurrence, with shadows
willing to concede that this makes for some pretty appearing and disappearing at random and there's
spectacular screen shots dotted around these some terrible polygon warping on the track, espe-
pages. But the vast amount of detail has put a when adopting the in-car perspective. This is
cially
strangle-hold on the Saturn's internal processors, compounded by some poor texturing which gives
slowing the screen update down to an unbearably the game a very "rough" look, a far cry from the hi-
sedate 20 frames per second, making for an incredi- res and seamless textures of the visually astound-
bly jerky racing experience. ing Sonic R. But what irritates me most is that none
All the impressive architecture from the coin-op has made it into the Saturn version. The rough textures and polygon glitching contribute to the shabby appearance of STCC.
REVIEWI
^yposmon
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1 IXW402 "? (OOBE »(MD
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of the graphical cock-ups I've already mentioned are Sega of Japan has crammed in all the usual over-the-
evident in the two-year old Sega Rally! Now, consid- top gameplay variations and additional secrets to
ering the vast advances made in exploiting the true ensure that the Saturn incarnation of Touring Car is
potential of the Saturn's hardware (to which Quake a lasting home experience. Aside from the straight-
and Sonic R are testament), this really is totally forward arcade mode, players can now look forward
unacceptable. What it basically boils down to is to the all-new Saturn mode, replete with champi-
sloppy programming - pure and simple. As a small onship, grand prix, time attack, exhibition, ghost
compensatory factor though, the PAL conversion is mode, customisable car option and a pretty decent
one of the best I've ever seen, with all the speed two-player mode. Cool.
and full screen display of the NTSC versions The problem players will almost certainly
retained. But when the game looks like a dog's din- encounter though, is that like its arcade brethren,
ner - who cares? the game's learning curve is just too damn steep.
More worthy of praise however, is the game- This stems from the unfeasibly tricky handling of
play. Asis demanded for the home console market, the vehicles, with the cars exhibiting large
amounts of oversteer
Saturn, naturally there are quite a few decent rac- gameplay. Beating SSM's Gary in Rally's awesome
ing games available. So which titles get the golden two-player mode is the most fun to be had with your
handshake and which get the golden shower? clothes on. Everyone MUST own this game! If only the programmers of Touring Car had used the
Here's where you find out. Rally engine, it could have been a serious contender.
**% ranion
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ed gameplay, you
never feel completely Santa this Christmas, I'd CrOSS it Off post-
in control of your vehi-
cle, with an element of
luck apparently playing a key role in determining version, especially under the banner of one of this
your success. Precision control is made a tad sim- year's big Christmas games. The jerky frame update,
pler when using the analogue pad, allowing for glitchy graphics and unpredictable car handling cul-
smoother turning and so forth, but even so, the car minate in a most disappointing racing experience. I
handling is finicky to say the least. would however, like to take this opportunity to
As you've no doubt gleamed by now, we came emphasise what a great game Sega Rally is. A quick
away very disappointed with Sega Touring Car compare and contrast exercise over the weekend
Championship. It defies logic that in the face of stiff- with both titles, rejuvenated my interest in Sega
ening competition from Sony and Nintendo, that Rally - and I haven't put it down since.
Sega would want to release such a poor Model 2 con- LEE NUTTER
Slewing into the barriers is a regular occurrence. What Sega game would be complete without secret cars? Analogue control is essential for those nasty bends.
Some excellent throaty engine samples, but the techno tunes are
SOUND i^i^k^'B
a after a ^^^yjj^^H
Mildly playable racing antics, but the lacklustre frame rate and
PAYABILITY i^iff^B
ugly glitching detract from the enjoyment of the game. ^^Xjr^^H
Enemy Zero seems to sequences of the action, featuring of course, a naked girl.
have all of the elements life, hence that rather over enthusiastic preview. But
we're in review territory now, and you need cold, hard
required to become a facts this month. Facts like - how does it play?
as an interesting around to the left, turn right and Laura's viewpoint FMV, which easily makes Enemy Zero the best looking
smoothly moves over to the right, all in high quality FMV, adventure game we've ever seen, but does it make for an
Interactive Movie'? and with no noticeable disc accessing at all! If you fancy interesting game?
examining an item up close - no problem, a clip will cut Well that depends what you're after. We're not real-
in showing Laura rifling through the drawers, or access- ly big fans of thinking' games like this, but the sci-fi
ing the computer. a door needs to be opened with an angle to the story and the excellent design makes Enemy
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO LAURA If
access card, players select the card and press a button, Zero stand out. Running through tunnels, avoiding the
and watch as a clip of Laura swiping the card is played. invisible aliens that have taken control and trying to get
Here's a little sequence of pics that show how the Smart. The 3D corridors and rooms are all presented in the station back on line is a very tough task, and one that
video clips link together: (i) We start the game in
Laura's quarters. (2) Pressing left shows us one corner
of her room. (3) Pressing right shows us the computer.
{4) Pressing forward takes Laura closer to the comput-
er console, and she activates it. All in glorious FAAV,
and all nice and smoothly linked together. Lovely.
The quality of the FMV is outstanding, with well over an hour of clips. Re-activating the ship's power supply.
0800
Ask
317778.
in
cf^s-
31 December
store for details. For details about
As you can tell by the score, we're pretty keen on Enemy Zero here
at SSM, despite the fact that we're usually pretty harsh on these
types of 'thinking' games. The reason Enemy Zero stands out is
cover more secrets about Laura as well as the normal mission, and
the twisty-turny complicated sub-plots (about Laura's love-life and
personal history) will keep sci-fi fans well entertained throughout,
as we try to find out what's happening, and even what Laura herself
is doing on the ship in the first place. Will you enjoy the game?
Well, if games like Shining the Holy Ark seem a bit daunting, and
you'd like something with a bit more substance than the usual
fighting and racing games, Enemy Zero should easily fill that empty
gap in your games collection. And it won't spoil your dinner!
This nice pic is just one frame taken from a sequence. Imagine the amount of work put into this game
The elevator links the game's many sections. The battery-powered game save device.
[ much more
impressive FMV and Story make for an entertaining game
;
allows access to the elevator, of the ship is There's also a choice of modes easy and normal,
-
revealed. And what a lovely ship it is too -it's quite with the easy mode giving a few extra clues, and increas-
astounding how much effort has been put into these ing the performance of Laura's gun for a slightly easier
FMV sequences - every room is jam-packed with detail, ride. But it's the attention to detail and quality of presen-
and has many different viewpoints and scenes. tation that makes Enemy Zero so impressive - and then
there's also the massive challenge spread over three CDs
(the game will come on four CDs -disc one contains the
introand combat training mode). Basically, if you're look-
ing for a challenging game that will last for absolutely
ages, and give you a few scares and headaches along the This section of the tunnel links the lift
Delicate little ambient tunes soothe players into the action, and
a decent selection of sci-fi beeps and clangs are also present.
A massive and very tough challenge set over four CD's makes
LflSTABILITY Enemy Zero a huge game... if you're up for the challenge!
FOX INTERACTIVE
ANALOGUE PAD
leapin' lizard finally we all know, fans of Sony's machine are a superficial
lot who have certainly earned their nickname for
makes it to Saturn, but being "graphic tarts." So while Croc may not be the
most visually impressive console title around, it's
have they bitten off more charm and payability are elements that seem to
have been mysteriously overlooked.
than they can chew? There were few Saturn games at this year's ECTS
that managed to compete with the impressive crowd
of onlookers gathered around Fox Interactive's Croc
stand. With other booths boasting semi-naked
women and floor-to-ceiling video walls, a game had
to have a real edge in order to impress at this cut-
throat show. Fortunately for the assembled punters,
and Fox, Croc was an instant hit and it's obvious to
see why. Developer Argonaut has taken the relatively
new concept of 3D platformers (pioneered by Mario
64, but don't expect any comparisons here) created a
cute title character and combined them with some of
the coolest game ideas possible. It's certainly not
ANALOGUE ACTION
the first level. Each boss has its own attack pattern.
/
gamers hopefully
;
older
appreciating the explo- to the gills with trademark ItlOVeS and animation
ration and puzzle-solv-
ing elements of the title.
While it's clear that Fox is trying to reach as wide a been created. Still, it's the game itself that will have
range of Saturn owners as possible, more mature started the ball rolling and thanks to Argonaut, Fox
gamers may well be put off by Croc's cartoonish should have a winner on its hands.
qualities and stripped down visuals. Adding fuel to So how does this 3D platformer differ from tra-
the fire is the promise of a Croc animated show, t- ditional 2D offerings? Well for starters, Croc's six
shirts and toys and it's clear that a merchandising main worlds are solid, realistic environments just
monster of Earthworm Jim proportions may have begging to be explored and, thanks to the game's
encounters a whole heap of them right from the around and grab a few items affair. Instead they've
To use the handy remote camera, hold word 'go!' Red devils, speed demons, flaming tun- crafted Croc's levels in such a way that players will
the Y button down and move the D-pad. nellers... and those are just for starters. Later levels really want to explore and navigate their way around
each section for fear of missing precious items and
elusive power-ups. Later stages take 3D construction
to further levels with suspended gratings to swing
Later stages take 3D Construction to extremes from, revolving platforms, huge cogs and elevators
and analogue
contain huge creatures that most games would usu- In keeping with Croc's glossy visual presenta-
REPTILE ROUTES ally reserve for boss status so you can probably imag- tion, Argonaut has produced an audio experience
ine just how huge Croc's level guardians are. that must be pumped through full Surround Sound
One of Croc's most enjoyable features is the option But it's the 3D levels that are the real stars of speakers to be fully appreciated. Combining digi-
for players to exit each stage via a number of alter- Croc and Argonaut has obviously concentrated on tised speech, foot-tapping tunes and some fright-
CROCODILE TEARS
Collecting crystals is vital for Croc's continued survival. No shiny baubles equals early grave
Thumbs up for the use of analogue control, thumbs down for some
PLAYABILITV frustrating gameplay. Rewarding levels and creature encounters.
6T INTERACTIVE
MULTI-TAP
OUT NOW
Trash It
We know it's rubbish, GT ust like cows lying down and a red sky in
'forgot' to send us an aster. Not only that, but making us break into the
advance review copy. game for once makes things look even worse, and
stacks the odds even higher against poor old Trash It. allow the player to buy a bigger hammer and do even
Now we can reveal to the But no-matter how bad things look, they get worse more damage. And on the surface, having a game
once the game has loaded. where players get to run around smashing things up
world just how rubbish The idea behind the game isn't too offensive -
with a huge hammer sounds pretty cool, but there are
smash lumps of the scenery up with a hammer, collect- so many problems with Trash It's gameplay that any
Trash It really is... ing bonus points along the way, which will eventually potential has been lost somewhere between the terri-
features a lot of brown, which is generally a bad idea. replayed as often as you like, but once is enough for me.
But it's not just the brown bits that offend us, basical-
ly the entire game could easily have been put togeth-
er on a Megadrive, which is a huge disappointment
for us Saturn owners who expect a little bit more care
and attention to be lavished upon our games. Of
course, we can enjoy games with 'retro' 2D
still
The character can't run while he's holding his hammer, which slows
the game to mind-numbing levels - players either trundle really slow-
ly across the screen or go through the hassle of putting the hammer
away every time (how a five foot sledgehammer fits into his pocket
order to get enough points to buy a better hammer, and the amount
of loading players have to endure is amazing, especially considering
the bland nature of the game's graphics. And if you think I'm being a
little harsh on the game, you're wrong - it's terrible!
that nobody in their right minds would buy them. What's going
warped back to the start point and has to run back mode. Imagine the embarrassment caused by asking
to the action. It's this incredibly repetitive gameplay your friends round for a multi-player gaming ses-
that's the real problem - it really is a case of just sion, and then producing Trash It for their enjoy-
walking along and pausing sometimes to press a ment. It's not going to happen.
button to smash a few lumps of scenery. The hero of This game is so disappointing. We could forgive
the game (predictably named Jack Hammer) can the bland graphics if the game was fun to play, but it's
vacuum is
a
The presentation is okay actually. The FMV 'bargain' price of £34.99, but that's probably more out of
intro and the option screens all look very nice, with shame on GT Interactive's part, ratherthan an attempt
a half-decent multi-player mode as well, with up to to release a great value game. The best thing about
four players taking part thanks to the Saturn multi- Trash It is the pretty option screen - which certainly isn't
tap, but the basis of the game itself is too far gone worth £35 of anyone's money. Sorry.
to be saved by a few pretty screens and a battle GARY CUTLACK A Phew. The last caption. Can I play something else now?
Very rough, very brown, very dull, but not really very good. The
GRAPHICS humble MegaDrive has easily done a lot better in its time.
Some dinky little tunes and the sound the hammer makes, but
Much more of a chore than a pleasure really, with all the levels
PAYABILITY being incredibly samey and uninspired. Not much fun at all.
There's a fair few levels, but players will have to force themselves
LASTABILITV to trudge through after the first couple have been completed.
The word that comes to mind is "why"? Why release It, why
OUERALL would people buy it, and why have we wasted two pages of our
glorious magazine covering it? Sigh. 39%
SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE 67
/fi& REVIEW
GT INTERACTIVE
Mortal
Kombat Trilogy
Thought you'd seen the name Matt and have con y is I a terrible everyone drools over the latest Capcom release
I " I make: Mortal Kombat fession to I'm a (myself included), there's always a part of me that
last of Mortal Kombat? 4_Aj may sound, there fan. Yep, sad as it yearns for the krazy days of fatalities, the "Toasty!"
I always be my will a place in heart man and phone calls from irate parents complain-
Think again! MK Trilogy Midway's gory beat 'em up for series. I just ng about how Mortal Kombat has turned their lit-
can't explain it. Whether it's the godawful tle Johnny into an axe-wielding maniac. Alas, you
brings the series to a pallette-swapped characters, cheesy combo can't turn back the gaming clock but CT
system or ludicrous finishing moves - cre- Interactive is still going to give it a try.
konclusion with more ators Ed Boon and John Tobias can do no Mortal Kombat Trilogy finally arrives this
wrong in my book. With the recently released month and with it come groans of "Oh yeah, I
kharacters, more kombos MK4 exploring new 3D territory, CT is having remember this" and "Are they still making these
one last 2D swing at the Saturn with the ulti- ames?" Now to be fair to the game's critics, MK
and more words that mate Mortal Kombat kompilation. logy does indeed look dated when compared
Of course I'm definitely in the minority to such awesome 2D fighters as Marvel
start with a "k"! as an MK devotee in the 5SM office. While Super Heroes and Street Fighter Alpha 2.
Robo-ninja Cyrax unleashes his nasty energy net. Rain and Ermac: all-new kombatants.
FATAL ATTRACTION
WiHIOO "»•*"
WtftS.00
mm -
[
so it's surprising that Saturn
owners have had to wait so Kombat Trilogy certainly delivers the goods
long for their own version. It's
nut i n« trim
%
-
whiim
variety of playable characters, areas where Mortal missed on out on previous incarnations of the series,
Kombat has always fallen flat. Likewise, Mortal this kompilation manages to cover all the bases. Every
Kombat fans are gearing themselves up for the 3D characters from the previous four games has been
potential of MK4 with console releases due in early squeezed onto the disc as well as such new fighters
'98. So where does that leave MK Trilogy? Well, the as Rain, Ermac, human Smoke, Noob Saibot and
"You smudged by lipstick you arse!" good news is that for those of you who may have playable bosses. In addition, virtually every back-
ground has been included with Pit
"Just a little off the sides sir?" Trainee hair stylist Baraka gets it slightly wrong again. Back from the dead. Movie star Johnny Cage gets the resurection treatment.
YOU'RE HISTORY!
really lost its shock value. Endless limb removals and kool ways to end a match! video gaming history.
decapitations just aren't what they used to be folks. Standard arcade and versus modes are backed
As a counterpoint to all this violence, MK's fatalities up with tournament and 2-on-2 team battles but
have always been supplemented with more both options are merely included as an attempt to
humourous finishing moves. Babalities, Friendships increase the game's longevity. As usual, the CPU
and animalities all make an appearance here provid- cheats like a seasoned poker player performing moves
ing players with a seemingly endless supply of meth- and kombos with the kind of speed and precision that
ods with which to dispose of defeated foes. With human players are unable to pull off. Yet this level of
seven finishing moves per character and roughly 32 difficulty has always been present in the MK series
and many first time players have often been put off
by one too many humiliating defeats. The key to mas-
tering and enjoying any Mortal Kombat game lies in
selecting one character and sticking with them until
perfection is achieved. Learn the abilities of one char-
acter and you're guaranteed to win as any character.
Outdated and frustrating it may be but the series has
The Lost
world
Despite the vast plethora ornething has survived" declared the slo-
movie tie-in game suffer Michael Crichton's novel is the enormous computer-gen-
erated dinosaurs, so you may well be expecting the
a similar fate? much-hyped game to follow suit. However, this couldn't
be further from the truth, as despite DreamWorks SKC parts, exhibiting a real lack of variety and featuring some
being given access to the actual CG dinosaur models and incredibly dull backdrops. Of course, this wouldn't matter
sets used in the recent movie, The Lost World's visuals so much if the centrepiece dinosaurs were up to scratch,
are well below par. Adopting the Pandemonium-style but as you can tell from the accompanying screen shots,
2.5D viewpoint, each of the tropical island settings are they clearly aren't. Despite using a "revolutionary tech-
devastatingly sparse imitations of their movie counter- nique" whereby a skin is stretched over a 3D model, the
dinosaurs look and move most unconvincingly, being as
MB 4
A GAMING MONSTROSITY
me screaming at my television
ficulty setting. Some
do despise about The Lost World game which had
set, is the absurdly unpredictable
of the levels are very simple indeed, requiring
dif-
JC^ (-)
the frame rate isn't quite as smooth either, slowing down quite
'
the incredibly similar and One of the f CW redeeming features of The Lost World is the
/ ;
repetitive gameplay
throughout. Whether it be cool orchestral soundtrack and rumbling dinosaur effects.
collecting strands of DNA,
avoiding herds of
Brontosaurus' or simply surviving, it all basically boils trating stages which appear to require elements of luck
down to leaping from one platform to another and bat- more than skill to complete, heightened by the sluggish
tling the continuous onslaught of CPU dinosaurs, whom and at times unresponsive controls.
incidentally are completely devoid of any intelligence In fact, one of the very few redeeming features of
whatsoever. This is made worse by some incredibly frus- The Lost World game is the orchestral music which is top-
have my name associated with such dross. and I'm going to gobble you all up for my
LEE NUTTER dinner. Grrrrrrrr!
Like the movie of the same title, The Lost World fails to live up
Quake
The greatest PC game in d software invented the first person
perspective blaster when they released
the world ever hits the Doom to the world. There may have been
similar games before but nothing could
Saturn - EXCLUSIVELY! match the overall Doom package it was the game
-
this megagame justice? software to outquaff themselves, with the release of play Quake. Surely the Saturn, a three-year-old con-
the incredible Quake. sole, couldn't hope to match the original? Well, yes it
shadows so real you can hide in them), more detailed second to none. Their first game of the year, Duke
monsters, a firmer grasp of the laws of physics, that's Nukem 3D, raked in a massive 97%. It is the best game
what Quake is all about. Oh, and mindless, rampant released in 1997. They can do things with the Saturn
violence with high-calibre weaponry. that nobody else can. Their reputation remains as
This game is so advanced that when it came out impressive as ever with this Quake conversion.
on PC last year, it took a meaty Pentium class machine Upon loading the game up it's clearthat
- a state of the art technomonster of a PC - in order to Lobotomy have succeeded in bringing Quake's visuals
produce visuals of this quality. aim in the last few weeks of production was to min-
In the last issue, we showcased an unfinished imise the slowdown and this they have achieved. In
stage), Lobotomy have ripped them out of the Saturn ing out every monster on each stage) number one videogame and it does irk me that
game, replacing them with stages of their own requires a bit more brain than Duke Nukem. the Saturn version doesn't have it.
design. The results are pretty spectacular actually • The only criticism you can level at But to be honest, you've got to sit down
remember, Lobotomy know how to get the most out Quake concerns DeathMatch. The single- and think about this property. As a machine, the
of their 3D engine
- and seeing the guys able to flex player mode is cool (and the amount of bad Saturn is out-dated technology compared to the
their creative muscles with such an amazing technol-
ogy makes you wonder just how stunning a
Lobotomy designed Quake Mission Pack would be...
PC platforms on which
Quake runs. The mere
presence of a Saturn The most advanced PC game ever arrives on satumi
translation is
boggling enough
this
mind-
99 machine to
successfully replicate
- for
RICH LEADBETTER
Saturn. When you consider that the only other way to play the
m a
PAYABILITY
All the fun of exploding zombies and gunning down hideous mon-
^^^^WB
^K^^r^^H
sters in cold blood remains intact from the PC original.
LASTABILITY
You're getting around 30 levels of hardcore gaming - the real
^^^^^B
challenge is killing EVERY monster and finding EVERY secret. ^^^r^J
The most ambitious conversion in Saturn's history - Lobotomy
OVERALL have performed the impossible with this game. Now go out, buy
92%
SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE 77
SEGA SATURN " tips
I used to live in the future. It was nice living on the Moon and wearing tin foil underpants, but the thing I really missed was the
tips pages in magazines. You see, in the future, magazines are beamed by satellite straight into your head -
tips pages don't
exist! I set about constructing a time machine to travel back, back to 1997, and the SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE Tips Department,
37-39 Millharbour, Isle of Dogs, London E14 9TZ
WIPE0UT2097
As if this game wasn't cool enough, we've now got IN CAME -ALL WEAPONS
an absolutely huge stack of groovy codes for this ace Hold Top Left + Top Right + Down, and press A A to give
futuristic racer. All of the codes are activated by hold- your car a constant supply of weapons to use.
ing Top Left + Top Right + Down, so you'll need one of
those rare joypads with two functioning top buttons! RECHARGE ENERGY
Hold Top Left + Top Right + Down, and press B Bto
COMEDY VEHICLES charge the car's energy to maximum.
Hold Top Left + Top Right +- Down while
the game is loading, and the vehicles will - ^ EXTRA TIME
be changed to 'comedy' racers
snails and cute
like bees, ^ •^
Hold Top Left + Top Right + Down, and
little press C C to alter the race clock to See that new icon? That means that the vehicle is now
piggies! Ahhhh. 9:99 and stop it from counting down. equipped with some cool automatic machine guns. Destroy!
WIREFRAME MODE
ACCESS ALL TRACKS PER CLASS Hold Top Left + Top Right + Down, and press Z Z to acti-
Hold Top Left + Top Right + Down at the vate an ultimately useless, but nonetheless quite inter-
class and track screen, then press X X Y Y Z Z esting wireframe mode.
to race all of the tracks in each class of racint
AUTOPILOT ENGAGE!
GAIN THE SECRET EXTRA TEAM Hold Top Left + Top Right + Down, and press XYZXYZ
Hold Top Left + Top Right + Down at the team select XYZ to whizz through all the tracks on autopilot mode.
screen, then press AX B Y C Z to access the top secret Press C to activate the autopilot once you've inputted More Wipeout cheat action, the message "Phantom track
Piranha teams extra vehicle. the code. cheat active" shows that the Phantom track cheat is active!
SECRET TEAMS
For the die-hard US football fanatic there are a few LEADERS - All Time Leaders
hidden classic teams, ail of which are very formida- COACH All Time All Madden
-
ble teams. It's a shame the players in the 70's team ORRS HEROES • EA Sports Team
don't have huge afros, flared trousers and platform LOIN CLOTH Tiburon Team
-
trainers - a comedy opportunity sadly missed by the PAC ATTACK- All 6o's Team
Madden coders! Enter thesenames at the PLAYER STEELCURTAIN - All 70's Team
CREATION screen to uncover the teams: GOLD RUSH - All 8o's Team
Apologies due from the Master get Cammy press Start a couple of times on M Bison
days if we didn't have at least one Shining tip... the south-east village of Ninja and talk to the impor- games, what with us being the 'official' Sega
tant people there, before Doyle will appear as a tree magazine and all that, but as a such a huge num-
back Desire village. ber of people (well, two actually) have phoned
SCARY FAIRY BELL in
Once you've found all of the fairies, go back to the asking for help with this ace import platformer,
we thought it would be helpful to print the codes
Forest of Confusion and check the mono-
lith. Hold down the C button as if
to bring up the full armourfor both characters.
you're sending the fairies off to attack, We're nice like that.
whopping 400 points of damage! d-pad SIX TIMES, then hold the LEFT and RIGHT
shift buttons and press start to select MegaMan.
JOIN US DOYLE
You've got to get Doyle. He's a wor- ZERO'S BLACK ARMOUR
Highlight Zero at the character select screen. Hold
black armour.
VEF ! B HD
AGl ! BO jJCJEHEVifc
Points til level
Helody advances
to level 3!
Hell blast magic mastered!
We're not supposed to encourage people to buy import
games, but MegaMan X4 is only available on import. Agony!
Understand Shining the Holy Ark? Haven't got a clue myself.
zmm-
NUKEM 3D
The Guide 3533
The best Saturn game released this year, maybe even ever! That's Lobotomy's stunning Duke Nukem 3D, a we now
title intend to tip
into oblivion (oh yes). What follows is a deceptive walkthrough of this senses shattering title, including a look at the major secret
areas of each level. First of all, though, we start off with a real treat for owners of the analogue pad...
THE JEVONS CONTROL METHOD! game and press YYZZXXYZX. Unpause and you'll
find that you can use the analogue pad to look
The analogue pad holds many opportunities for around with Y, X, B and C used to walk about. The
awesome controllability, but it has to be said left shoulder button fires, the right jumps. But
that the default options are a bit lame.
In PC here's the really cool bit: the normal D-Pad is now
Duke, turning and looking around are controlled redundant, but you can use it for selecting weapons
with the mouse, forwards, backwards and strafe (with left and objects (with up and down).
or right)
left/ right achieved with the keyboard. Jevons Press X to activate the chosen object. It takes a little
Control Method is a cheat in Duke Nukem (so while to get used to it, but once you've done so,
named after our own "Manual" Daniel Jevons you'll never go back to the normal limiting controls.
who relentlessly impressed the importance of Hopefully this control method will make it into
this control method to a beleagured Lobotomy!) Quake... Dan's certainly kicked up enough fuss
to achieve a similar effect. At any time, pause the about it with the Powers That Be...
jump onto the ledge next to the sign and pick up a go to the poster at the end of the room. There are
rocket launcher! some steroids inside.
2. Using the same crate, jump up onto the ledge 4. When you enter the main building, fight your
way through the auditorium into the area with the
cash register. Use the register and an alcove opens up
on a wall to the right. You'll need a Jetpack to get that,
but that's no problem - you get it from a later secret.
8. A bit of a cunning secret area, this one. On the Nukem arcade machine to open up an area with a hid-
main street where you started, there is a palm tree den Holoduke...
next to the main theatre doors. Use your Jetpack to fly 11. On the bridge that leads across to the end of the
of you. This super-secret area is packed with weapons! vate the Jetpack and fly up. There is a point on the
9. After you get secret three, you can go out one of wall to the right where bullets seem to be flying at
the windows facing the theatre. Stay on the ledge to you from nowhere. Let loose with a RPC shot or two
get an Atomic Health power-up. and then follow the explosions to find a cunningly
10. When you get to the arcade, use the Duke hidden secret area!
7 1 ^S
"Hail to the king, baby!" Duke Nukem truly is the finest Saturn
LEVEL TWO: RED LIGHT DISTRICT thing. Also, the corridor at the end can be blasted
There's nothing too big or indeed clever about this open for instant access to the latrines. The wall
level. As soon as you enter the level, go through the between the mirror and the bog holds a secret. Just
door directly to the left to enter the "adult" bookshop. press the wall.
After you've beaten the aliens inside, it's time to do Now go back to the main cash register area.
some looting. In the row of bookshelves on the far Unlock the door (the combination is actually just to
wall, press the very middle. There's a secret here with turn the far left and right switches on). Once inside
some cool weaponry inside. Additionally behind the don't let the dark keep you away from a pseudo- hid-
cash register is an atomic health and a holoduke on den passage to the right. The leads you to an atomic
top of the shelf. Jump up and get it. Now go to end of health. Return to the first corridor and go up the lift.
the room and systematically open each peep booth. This leads to a room with a Blue Key Card inside a clos-
There is a decent power-up in each room - blast every- et in the wall. There's also a chaingun here. Now jump
out of the window and go to the door NEXT to the
door where the yellow keycard is required. Inside a
ers (plunder them for plenty o' power-ups!). Now check the bar to find the Red Card. Retrace your steps
return to the Yellow Door and enter! Inside gun down and take the furthest entrance. Take out the pigs and
the alien pigs then enter the room with the snooker open the door to get to the Dance Floor. This is the
stiffest challenge yet as you get swarmed by bad guys.
STAGE THREE: DEATH ROW sunk into the ground. You can jump in and get a shotgun
First things first - run forwards as quickly as possible. and some ammo. Now it's time to kick ass. Blow down
You're being electrocuted, so be quick about it. Now open the window, kill the aliens (there's a medpack at the end
the room to the right, kill the pig cop (with your Mighty of the hall) and move deeper into the complex.
Foot - all of your other weapons have been taken) and On the left you'll see a shrine - a church if you
press both switches. Also, get your pistol from a closet Will. Enter it and gun down the aliens. Shoot both
behind you. You will now notice that the electric chair has stain glass windows - steroids are behind the right :
one, and a secret door is behind the left. Co through indoors and find the red door (it's just across the roonV
the left door and shoot the DOOMed marine for a This leads to a largish area where they are two small
chaingun. Also, notice the Heretic Monk in the church. rooms, each with a switch. These two switches open up
You can gun him down for an extra Atomic Health. the forcefields which get you to the actual cells. There are
Continue into the complex and a wall should two strips of cells - at the end of one is a room with a
suddenly explode to your right. Once inside, loot the poster. This poster leads to a tunnel which takes you out-
area for health and power-ups. This area also leads to side to the sub. Swim underneath it to locate the exit.
a white room wherein you'll find the Blue Card. Return
to themain corridor and you'll find the lock you use
your newfound card on.
You're now in a big, grey area. The key here is to find
your way to the top of the room, where you'll find the
Yellow Card. This opens a door at the bottom which leads
outside. In turn, this gives you the Red Card! Return
grabbed by the cranes and hoisted up into the roof area. There are several computer rooms you pass - the lock. This causes the Shrink ray to fire. Take the left
first has the Red Card (needed for later on) whilst later corridor, flick the switch and head back. You'll find
you'll find one with two tubes in it. The right tube has the door that was locked before is now open, lead-
Atomic Health in it - but you can jump up in the left ing you on to part two of level.
one to get even more! You'll also pass some red A new underwater section is now
slime next to a grating. The wall on the left can loaded. Shoot all of the mines - one of
be opened to find some chaingun ammo. tjhem opens up a secret cave. Now sur-
Now you can drop down and enter the face and look about for a single
room just off the main one and activate the red switch. It opens up another door
underwater, so jump back in. There's
another switch to pull at the end of
the passage, which opens up yet
another passage (with more
Octobrains). This leads through to
a computer area. We won't bore
you here because the rest of the level is extremely
straightforward. We shall say just this: there is a
stress point on the wall near the beginning of the
river. Blast this open to find a secret room. Soon
you'll reach asewer/ slime area. There's a fan right
at the beginning of this which yields yet more
secrets. AND just before the exit is another stress
point. Blast this open to find the secret exit to the
hidden level - the Launch Facility!
8JM| I
H.i II
(there's a nasty Octobrain inside). In the main room, this opens the door, allowing to flip a switch and
run up the ramp until you get to the locked door. grab a card. The switch opens up a secret in the pool
marker. Touch it to bring down a section of check the slime waterfalls in the area.
wall. Aha! One of them (it is some health in front of
Once through, scout around a bit. leads the way to a hidden Shrink Ray!
it)
There's a path on the left which leads Now it's just a case of following the
to a huge pit with a fire in it. Curiously path forward until you find some lava with
enough, the fire is actually a teleport some rock platforms in it. There's a red
which leads you to a super-weird place packed hand on the wall that opens up a cavern Believe us, this is the calm before the storm. You're about to
with power-ups and what-have-you. The fire which takes you to the first boss! meet your first end-of-level boss and he's a mutha!
>w 4
. r "
?
SAH AUDREAS
FMLT
_ "
."-
MARVEL SUPER
HEROES
Ultimate Guide 3353 3
Here at SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE, we love Marvel Super Heroes. Why? Because we know how to play it properly. MSH's combination attack
system is very accessible to beginners and devastating when in the hands of the Masters. This month it's Beginners Time. We reveal all of
the methods of combination attack and who can do what. Then, in the next two issues, we tell you how to get the best out of each fighter!
COMBOS: HERE'S THE DEAL chain any attack into a higher power move immedi- essentially three different types of chain combo:
Chaining attacks together is the key to mastering ately (for example, low kick into medium punch ground, air and super jump combos. The first is a
combinations in Marvel Super Heroes. This basically into heavy kick). Characters like Wolverine can do combo begun on the ground, the second is one that
means initiating another attack immediately after more complex strikes: how does low punch-low takes place when you jump. The third requires the
the first has hit. Typically, any character can chain a kick-medium punch-medium kick-heavy punch- use of a super jump and is usually preceded by a
normal attack into a special move. Additionally, all heavy kick sound? Additionally, you can get more move that sends your opponent flying into the air.
characters have different types of chain combos hits by dashing at your opponents (pressing MSH's combo system is so advanced that one
when it comes to just using normal attacks. For towards twice) before beginning your attack. combo can consist of multiple styles! The basic
example, Spider-Man and Captain America can Another thing to remember is that there are combos on offer are detailed here.
PLAYERS GUIDE
Shuma Gorath
right hands. The
it
what you might
combo here is
call quite "tasty"
or heavy
t SBB
^3? ^M punch or
GROUND? The
kick. Simple.
AIR COMBOS: NOW THE CARNAGE BEGINS! AIR COMBO #1: JUMP IN
Marvel Super Heroes really gets scarily spectacular A staple style of combo since the days of Street
when you've mastered the art of air combos. You can Fighter 2. Jump towards your opponent and strike.
combine these with the ground variant, so basically You can maybe get in one, two or even three hits
you smack your opponent about on the ground, send (if your opponent is very tall like Blackheart or
them flying into the air, following them up and con- Juggernaut) then continue the combo once you
tinuing the carnage! Smart, eh? Now we begin! reach the ground.
Small, nimble characters facing tall colossal fighters have a real advantage. Here we see Spidey getting in three hits (low, mid and heavy kick) coming down from just one little jump! >
PLAYERS GUIDE
LAUNCHER TECHNIQUES
So... what techniques does each fighter have for
smacking you up into the air? We'll go into a lot more
depth in the next issue of SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE,
but for the time being, these moves should be able to
sort you out:
Spider-Man: Standing
mid-punch.
Iron Man: Crouching mid-punch, Standing heavy kick. Hulk: Crouching heavy Shuma Gorath: Standing Blackheart: Standing mid-punch.
punch. mid kick.
site scale,
And he'll
Psylocke really
come down quicker.
flies up! Additionally,
On the oppo-
the
afterwards. Cool. Score extra hits by activating Infinity Gems at close range. width of a character determines how many hits you
can get in from a dashing combo. And finally onto
height: this rules how many hits you can strike with a
AIR FINISHERS jumping combo.
These are air-based attacks that send your opponent HEIGHT (Tallest to Shortest): Blackheart, Juggernaut,
flying back into the ground or across the screen. Hulk, Shuma Gorath, Magneto, Iron Man, Captain
They are characterised by the sheer distance America, Psylocke, Spider-Man and finally, Wolverine.
involved: your opponent flies across the screen leav- WIDTH (Fattest to thinnest): Juggernaut, Hulk,
ing you behind. Once on the ground, you jump back Blackheart, Shuma Gorath, Magneto, Captain America,
into view and the action continues. To perform an Air Iron Man, Wolverine, Psylocke, Spider-Man.
Finisher just complete your air combo with a heavy Lighter characters such as Psylocke suffer greater damage WEIGHT (Lightest to heaviest): Psylocke, Spider-Man,
punch or heavy kick (this works for everyone except when hit with Air Finishers than big fellas like Juggernaut. Wolverine, Shuma Gorath, Captain America, Magneto,
Blackheart and Iron Man). However, heavy fighters drop like a lead balloon. Iron Man, Blackheart, Hulk and then Juggernaut.
In this example we see Spider-Man using his "Stronger" (pics 1 and 2). This is Spidey's Launcher move, which immedi- follow them into the air and then press light punch (pic 3),
combo series to chain together a light punch into a mid-punch ately sends his foe flying into the air. Immediately press UP to mid-punch (pic 4), heavy kick (pic 5). Cool, eh?
towards your foe and hit them with a light punch, a mid-punch
kick! This sends them into the air. Follow with UP and then con-
tinue the carnage with a light punch, THREE mid-punches and
then a Drill Claw (or just a heavy punch). It's tough, but dead-
kick, then a crouching heavy kick and quickly end the combi- (Above) A simple jump into ground combo is achieved again using Wolverine. Jump in and you should be able to tag your foe with both a
- a cool five
nation with a Shield Slash (using the low punch button). heavy punch and then a heavy kick. On the ground you can do what you want really - we've gone for a Tornado Claw hits!
NEXT MONTH!
We put all of the techniques learned in this four page
tery of Model 3 technology with a number of superb sequels. If this line-up of hot games ever receives the home
conversion treatment, Sega fans are gonna be blown away! Japanese correspondent WARREN HARROD reports.
1 3D MECH FIGHTING |
Virtuaroids and texture-mapped scenery already ton. You can cancel the Dash by pressing the Turbo !y pressing one of the Turbo Buttons and the Shot
look fantastic. We expect even more detail to be Button a second time. Trigger you can increase the strength of your attack
added to the stages and 'bots as work continues. (ii) The Guard is no longer activated by performing a Turbo Shot.
with the joysticks, instead you
press both Turbo Buttons at The finished version of Virtual On OT
the same time. willhave 12 Virtuaroids, four more
(iii) You can throw your than the original game, and each one
opponent by getting in close will have even more unique
and pressing the Right Turbo characteristics to enhance
Button and both Shot game play. Needless to say, all
Triggers at the same time. have been redesigned and upgraded to take
By pressing both Turbo
(iv) advantage of the power of the Model 3
Buttons, and operating the levers ^^HL board. All the new Virtuaroid
when close to your opponent, you \(| jffr
_J designs have been done by
can perform a "QUICK STEP." This
^HuB Hajime Katoki, a very famous
allows players to quickly ^^3 j| and respected designer in
move to the side where Japan, so you can expect some
Witness the power of Model 3 technology! AM3's much-antici- they can dodge attacks. very cool creations from his pen. At the
pated Virtual On sequel already looks red-hot. (v) By simultaneous- JAMMA Show six of these Virtuaroids
were fully playable: TEMJIN, RAIDEN,
. APHARMD, FEI-YEN, GRYS-VOK and
^ CYPHER with six more to come.
In addition, new stages are
also being planned with maybe even one
underwater level as well! Sega wants to increase
the game's realism by having more interaction
with the stage areas. So for example, running
through water will slow you down. However, the
contents of the final stages are still top secret so
we can't be certain yet what surprise features will
be announced.
While many elements of Virtual On OT are
still under wraps,AM3 has said that there won't be
out the new enhanced version of Temjin. Cool or what? The game's 3D stages are packed with incredible detail. a three or four multi-player version of the game.
88 SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE © SEGA ENTERPRISES. LTD. 1997,'CHARACTER DESIGN: HAJIME KATOKI
Heavy metal! Raiden and his fellow Virtuaroids are back in the
WINTER HEAT
AM5
ST-V (TITAN)
SPORTS
100%
] "
If you ever wanted to ride your toys
The key to accessing the hidden racers lies with the new fifth Go kat! As easily the most ridiculous secret character in Scud
track. Can you find the tin toys and the cat? Race Plus, this fantastic feline is a perr-fect player (groan...)
1
AMI
|P10DEL 3
F I SHI NG SIN
Mi |
]
4 07. With the power of the Model 3 board, Get Bass! is more
realistic than realife. What a great game!
One of the surprise hits of the JAMMA Show
was Sega's unexpected use of the Model 3 board
to create the most realistic fishing game ever.
Bass fishing is an incredibly popular sport in
Japan and so it wasn't surprising to see vast
crowds of people swarm around this game.
With long queues of prospective anglers all angles and dramatic camera-work. This includes
waiting for an opportunity to reel in those poly- not only the traditional first person perspective
gon fish, Get Bass couldn't fail. views from your boat, but also great underwater
Obviously, the Model 3 board has been scenes where you are able to see the actual fish
used to excellent effect to capture all the excite- swimming around your lure.
ment of fishing with imaginative viewing However, the best feature of the game is the
actual fishing rod controller that you hold. Not
only do you have a proper reel to turn, but a real
fishing line extends from your rod into the main
cabinet. Depending on your reeling action and the reel the fish out of the water you can feel the
fish's movements, the line's tension and move- rod's line being pulled strongly from side to
ment is altered accordingly. So for example, as you side as the fish fights to escape!
larger fish. Pick inferior equipment and you'll lose your catch.
- JiHLf "
""««
100%
One of the many popular Sega games on display at which to attack your rival bikers. With sharp bends,
the JAMMA Show was this futuristic racing battler. deep dips and quick rises you need to keep both eyes
As one of four competitors in this new inter-galactic carefully glued to the track ahead to avoid crashing.
sport you have to race around challenging courses at However, this is tricky when you already have at least
high speed, armed with a deadly weapon with one eye on a coming up fast from behind!
W^
rival biker
100%
beginner to advanced, with each and right to control direction and by lift-
stage set in a completely different ing your heel you can jump as well.
area. The Beginner course sets you However, for those acquiring the basics
near a beautiful South Pacific island the challenge still remains with vari-
where players can race with the dolphins ous jumps and tricks to be mastered.
|AM2
JmODEL 3
RfftM
mm |beat'em up
HJilJIUJ 1
1 00%
ety and in particular it will appeal to beginners enabled or disabled. Besides the main tag battle (i) The action in the subway and construction
who like to try out lots of different characters. game enhancement and new character attacks, AM2 scenes has been zoomed in by a ratio of 1.69.
During the fight you can select the same fighter has also taken the opportunity to incorporate vari- (iij Pressing the E Button during a reply acti-
more than once, although this option can be ous new features: vates a "Slow-motion Replay."
(iii) Shun's intoxication level is now indicat-
ed with a number next to a gourd icon on the
screen. What an old drunk!
(iv) New stages, such as Jeffrey's moon-lit
tropical island and a sunny desert scene, have
also been added.
(v) When battling the CPU. you can switch
—
I
*"" ^-"""
i^ri
s^ -
SKI CHAMP
30%
new Ski Champ where the true forces of nature Keep your eyes peeled for the mast lethal danger... the moose! Multiple camera angle replays show all your cool moves.
This is a super
enhanced ver-
sion of the Lost
World arcade's
"Shock Wave
Theatre" movie experience.
Using a giant 80" projector
screen with four even more
powerful speakers, the two
players are completely sub-
merged into the game.
Currently only located at
Joypolis in Japan, this amaz
ing attraction is going to be
massively popular over here. The only
downside is the cost of a game although
they can last up to 10 minutes. Look out for our
special Lost World feature next month for full
details on this amazing new version!
This game
awaited Saturn
is
94%
to recommend
SWWS '97.
version, this
But
is
this
if
without
gameplay
if you already
you don't
a
is
it's
own
shadow
nigh-on
difficult
the
own
of a
last
year, Sega stunned the world with Sega doubt the best soccer sim on Saturn.
Worldwide Soccer '97 - a football game We had ruck-loads of fun playing
STREET FIGHTER COLLECTION that redefined expectations of the con- this game and it is brilliant - one of the
BY CAPCOM £44.99 95%
sole rendition of our nation's finest best games for the Saturn, but it's not
Since the heady days of 1992, Capcom sport. In terms of both graphics and perfect and only slightly better than its
have ruled the 2D fighting game genre gameplay, Worldwide was unstoppable predecessor. Keep that in mind when
with the power of Street Fighter 2. A - a fact that Konami readily admit (their you consider handing over your cash. As
vast amount of sequels have cropped ISS on Nintendo 64 was designed to for SWWS '99 - here's a couple of ideas
up in the intervening half-decade, cul- better Worldwide). But there were prob- for Sega: get the Premiership ioo%
minating in the stunning Street Fighter lems with the game. Ridiculously stupid accurate, put a lot more special moves
Alpha 2. Now the masters of 2D have goalkeepers for starters. in and get the Match of the Day license.
compiled the very best of SF in one This 1998 edition was the chance Then watch it fly.
This brilliant package contains iron out the niggly little things that
three awesome fighting experiences. were irritating in the last game and
BUSH-MOVE 3
BY ACCLAIM £39.99 91%
For starters you get Super 5treet truly make the greatest footballing sim-
Fighter 2; The New Challengers. This is ulation money can buy. This one's fun. Shooting coloured bubbles
a reworked version of the old SF2, with In many ways Sega have achieved up the screen to form groups of bubbles
all-new artwork and sounds plus a of the same colour, which then explode
quartet of eponymous new fighters. and remove any blocks underneath them.
This game was cool in its time but was That sounds like the simple-yet-fun idea
surpassed scant months later by the behind a puzzle game, doesn't it? No
epochal Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo - doubt the game "takes a moment to
a faster, sleeker version of SSF with learn and a lifetime to master"? Well,
new moves (including Supers) plus a Bust-a-Move 3 isn't that complicated, but
the greatest Street Fighter experience Players take control of one of the
ever: Street Fighter Alpha 2 Cold. A sort cool cartoon characters that take part in
of enhanced version of Street Fighter the game, each one being modelled on
Zero 2 Alpha (a coin-op never released outside of Japan), this game is just amazing. just that. The goalkeepers are much a typically cliched arcade game style -
Imagine the Street Fighter Alpha 2 we all know and love but with more secrets plus improved in the new game, there are there's a Ryu-style fighter, a psychic for-
a kind of all-new character (for the Alpha series) in the form of Cam my and we're two new stadia to run about in, the tune teller and a powerful robot warrior
looking at a frankly senses-shattering experience. game is faster and slicker. And for us - all of which have no effect on the
There are only two possible complaints any sane individual could have against Premiership fans, Sega have included game whatsoever! The little character
these finely crafted videogames. First of all, why have Super Street Fighter 2 on-board this year's soccer heroes. So, yes, you can just watches you while you play, and
when it becomes largely inconsequential with the sequel included? Why not have the be Alan Shearer or Gianluca Vialli. You issues encouragement and tells you to
original Street Fighter 2, or better still, Street Fighter 2 Turbo: Hyper Fighting? can control the fortunes of the top hurry up when things start to look
The other complaint you could imagine is along the lines of "What if I already English soccer clubs. Great eh? messy. They've also got a range of cool
own Alpha 2? Is this collection worth buying?". For the average gamer, the answer is There's no doubt that this is a little special moves which they use to
unfortunately no. The Super Street Fighter games are great and are worth having if great football game one - of the best.
1
Z "
you're a real Capcom fan, but for the non-fanatic, Alpha 2's brilliance more than But despite the fact that Sega have had
eclipses the old SF experience. Additionally, although Alpha 2 Gold is the best Street a year to get it right, there are still some
Fighter ever, its additions are little more problems. A couple of sweet spots on
than cosmetic to be frank. the pitch can guarantee goals, the
So... if you're lacking a Street 'keepers still aren't bright enough. The
Fightergame YOU NEED TO BUY THIS national teams are still the old fictional
COLLECTION! If you're a SF fan YOU sides of the last edition.
NEED TO BUY THIS COLLECTION! If you What irritates most is the lack of
just want to own a really cool 2D fight- detail seen in the implementation of
ing game and you already own Street the Premiership. My (Rich) experience of
Fighter Alpha 2 YOU NEED TO BUY MAR- footie comes down to watching Match
VEL SUPER HEROES! That's the bottom of the Day and a bit of Sky Sports now celebrate a decent spell of play, and a
line, really. and again. However, even know that I massive selection of funny little
Beckham wears a number 7 shirt and screams and yelps that stand out nicely
LeBoeuf has no hair. These are just two from the extra-cheesy elevator backing
errors taken out of the blue - there are music. Cute beyond belief.
tons more. Surely if you want to control But there's also a decent game
your favourite team you should be see- behind the cutesy graphics, with Bust-a-
ing close replicas of your soccer heroes? Move 3 having a good selection of levels
It's just niggling little things like to play through (one- player mode and
this - things that could easily have been one-player versus the computer battles),
sorted by a real soccer fan - that stop but it's the two-player mode which will
this from being the best footie game in win the game the most fans. Players
the world ever. That being the case, con- have one side of the screen each, and if
one manages to link up a large number score updates, leaving John to get
of their bubbles, a number of extra bub- excited about the action on the pitch.
all
ESSEHML SATURN
bles are dumped onto the opponents To be honest, there's no point in Games we especially like fold or new) are bundled into this all-new section. Every
screen for major two-player mayhem! buying this update if you already have a month we'll be highlighting three games that you MUST have in your collection.
There are a few special bubbles that Madden game in your software collec-
appear sometimes as well - some destroy tion, because most of the improve-
same colour bubbles on the
of the
DUKENUKEM3D
all ments are pretty minimal, and a sequel
screen, while some just smash through a of this kind just isn't worth owning in BY SEGA, £44.99, 97%
whole line on their way up to the top. addition to last year's game. However, Lobotomy Software's finest hour, Duke Nukem 3D is an amazing example of Saturn
This is definitely one of the finest we marked this game on its own merits, programming. Replicating Duke Nukem on a powerful Pentium class computer,
puzzle games around, and with the extra- and it's still got the classic Madden Duke is the greatest example of the first person shooting game genre available on
cool two-player mode, and large selection payability inside, which makes it a pret- any console. Whether Lobotomy have actually bettered this with their senses shat-
of new screens to play, puzzle fans should ty damn essential purchase if you're still tering Saturn rendition of id software's classic Quake is an answer you can find in
be more than satisfied with the brilliant- a Madden virgin after all these years. the reviews section this issue. Regardless, Duke Nukem is in an elite, almost cosmic,
bubble-busting-Bust-a-Move 3- Shame on you. class of game which is frankly the best Saturn title released this year bar none.
It's that time of year again folks. Widely regarded as one of the most
Games magazines across the country playable and addictive videogames of all
are packed with simple explanations time, JVC have finally published the
of the rules of American football, long-awaited Saturn rendition of the
while games journos struggle to find classic Tetris. Reviewed way back in
any new features in the latest EA issue #15 of SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE,
Sports Madden update, conveniently the classic block-arranging puzzle game
released in time for Christmas. What's was awarded a very respectable 78%,
new this time then? and it's not hard to see why.
Well, there are a few new features In its most basic form, Tetris is
- the player rota has obviously been remarkably simple -fit the falling BY CAPCOM, £44.99, 95%
updated with the current '97 stats, coloured blocks together to make lines, Street Fighter 2's ace, isn't it? But what if Capcom introduced superior graphics,
there's a Custom Draft option which the more lines you get at once, the tons more action, and some of the greatest Marvel Comics characters ever? The
allows potential Maddens to build more points you are awarded. As you results are spectacular. The original coin-op was a stunning achievement and the
their own team, while the computer play the speed picks up to a frantic Saturn version is nigh-on identical (and far superior to the PlayStation game too).
pace, and if the blocks reach the top of Capcom's stunning gameplay nous is coupled with the best 2D Saturn graphics to
the screen, it's game over. An assort- provide an unforgettable gaming experience. Even if you own X-Men or Street
ment of play modes have also been Fighter Alpha 2, Marvel Super Heroes remains a must buy.
added to the classic puzzle romp,
including classic, puzzle and two-play-
er modes of play, adding to the
longevity somewhat.
However, several minor irritations
pleting (and winning) a whole season the greatest 3D fighter in existence. For the average gamer, MegaMix provides
should keep you all entertained for a more thrills, but for the hardcore gamer, you cannot beat this title - still the best-3D
very long time. become slightly jerky on the Saturn, and fighting game on any home system almost two years on from its release. Shop
As usual, the presentation has an irritating time lag between blocks around for a better price - you should be able to pick it up for £20.
been polished up some more. The FMV landing and actually sticking leads to
clips of Madden giving help and advice some frustrating mistakes.
are really impressive, and the commen- As it stands though, Tetris Plus is a
tary must have one of the widest worthy addition to the Tetris family.
ranges of comments we've yet seen in a Despite the minor flaws mentioned
sports game. If you watch the US foot- above, puzzle fans should find little to
ball on Channel 4, it'll be a great sur- moan about, with Tetris Plus being as
prise when you realise that even John playable and addictive as it ever was.
Madden's co-commentator Pat As to whether it's up with Super
Summerall has been recruited, and he Puzzle Fighter, Bust-a-Move 3 or Baku
provides the more serious analysis and Baku... well, no, sorry.
Psycho liber-babe!
1
n the considered opinion of SEGA SATURN
MAGAZINE, Sarah Bryant is one of the
most brilliant creations in the world of
videogames. Why? Think about it: first of
all, Sarah is a brainwashed maniac, using unparalleled
fighting skills in the service of f
used
about our
many polygons for Sai
many as in the arcade versi
belo'
THEY'LL HAVE YOUR EYES OUT.. INTRODUCING... PSYCHO SPICE! BIGGER... BETTER... BOUNCIER!
Sarah's status as Sega mega-babe was c onfirmed with AM2 went hell for leather (well, plastic) in VF3. If s
*u
? mind-blowing VF2. Her skin tight bliLie costume (or tight black plastic, thigh length boots or hot pant:
tter still her Spice Girls style midriff-e xposing crop- your thing, Sarah will keep you more than enter-
top) combined with her awesome comb'ination attacks tained. Plus her ever- expanding chest benefits frc
made her a knockout... in more ways th.an one! even more polygons. Outstanding - literally!!?
14
llllllll
RDPII
III FUJI
I I I
14 RDPC - t 39
.P-13B Id
98 SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE
2
./m&*
£27 99 E.G. Sega Rally Daytona, etc £34.99
World S;i is Baseball . £17.99 Multi-Player Adaptor allows you to connect up
Golden Axt rw Duel . £24 99
World St> fs Bhih.. 2 £19.99
Grid Run.. £32 99 to 6 i0ypads together fob multi-pl* fe! games £28.99
Worms. £19.99
Guardian Herois £22 99 cdx convertob - j'. .;«.'. aoa'io- which allows
gungriffo" £21 99
WWF In Your Hol-SI £24 99
piai intomed oaves on rout LK Saturn
you to £19,99
HAR0CORE4X4 £21 99 PGA Tom Gon -97 £21.99 Sega Memory Caitiiike 4v.R- £37.99
HtXEN Premier Managir 98 £30.99
£27 99 Datel High Capac " Mimcrt Carthoge 6m5:' £22.99
Highway 2000 £2199 PowERplat HOCREr £2499
RF Unit [Sffl RNCCWS smi /.- •>" om
.
£14,99
Impact Rac no £35 99 Primal RaGE £22 99
Sega Light Gjn >or Virtua Cop £23.99
Independence Day £36 99 Pro PiNtAU The Wie £32.99
Predator light Gjn note o-. PSX i. Saturn £17.99
Jonah Lomu Rugby £33.99 Rayman £22 99 1 RESIDENT EVIL
KingoftheFigh-hs-95 £33 99 Reloaded £32.99 2 WIPEOUT 3097 Dust Com £7.99
Resident Evii .. £36.99 3 WARCRAFT 2 Photo CD Cartridge ....£14.99
DAYTONA USA CCE MANXTT FIFA 97 Road Rash £24.99 4 DIE HARD TRILOGY ..£1299
Sea Bass c
shno £29.99 5 THEME PARK
£24.99 6 SONIC JAM Da-el Acton Rerut Cheat Cartridge-
Sega Raih £22.99
7 JONAH LOMU RUGBY M*N' S-iJiTCfEAVORlKS WCR"tO
Sega Touring Cars E36.99
8 SEGA W/WIDE SOCCER
'98
Sega Worldwidi Soccir '97
.
9 DRAGOHFORCI uAVbi wh i.n LA.N BE ADDED TO BT SIMPIY
M
£19.99
Phase 9 Graduate Pad - Turbo-fire,
AVAILABLE AT
Internationa. Sg-persrar Soccrr Deluxe £31.99 ooitaim'c
Mega Games 1 • World Cup Itaua '90, AUTO-FIRE & SLOW MOTION £11.99
Columns, Super Hang On
32X Console + Doom +Virtua Fighter.£49.99
£12.99
Doom
NHL Hockey '95
PGA Tour Golf 2
£12.99
£19.99
M II IN
£121,99 Golf
£6.99
£6.99
PGA Tour Golf 3 £19.99 £25.99 Formula 1 '97 £38.99 Stellar Assault £6.99
Phantom 2040 Columns Micro Machines 3
£19.99
Ernie Els Goif
£27.99 Toughman Boxing £6.99
Premier Manager '97 £35.99 Oddworld: Abe's Odssee..£31.99 Virtua Fighter £6.99
Rugby World Cup '95 £21 .99 Tomb Raider £29.99
V Rally SPECIAL OFFER!!
free membership- £35.99
BUY 2 32X GAMES AND PICK 1 FREE!!
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Item description P«'CE I
- . out this order form and post to:
DUII
^MEPLAY '
ENTERTAINMENT HOUSE, _
£
*
CROSS QWKELLOR STREET, LEEDS, LS6 2TG £
£
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order by credit card, cheque, postal ]WE PROVIDE ONE OF THE FASTEST DELIVERY
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are unhappy with your purchase for Ooiionol piFXT DAY DFLMRY ™iil n W» fi.Ofl i™ In £
any reason, simply return the item in CLASS DELIVERY FREE OF CHARGE TO item plus £1.00 for nek subsequenT «fp.
T/\T ML
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perfect condition within 48 hours of MAINLAND. OPTIONAL NEXT DAY - £2.50 per HtHVt, £
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