A year after the release of Ridge Racer, Namco released the follow-up game, Ridge Racer Revolution. The sequel cleans up the graphics a little bit and adds a much-needed rear view mirror. Everything that made Ridge Racer a great game is still present in the sequel, as Namco did little to mess with a winning … Read more
Grid Runner is a capture-the-flag style game in which two players face off against each other on a maze-like grid. To win each round you must capture a pre-determined number of flags, which are placed around the grid, before your opponent does. Throughout the game, one player is “it”, and while “it” the player can … Read more
Ridge racer was a North American launch title, and is a port of the arcade game of the same name. The game features three variations of the same track, a short, easy track and two successively longer and more challenging track variations. While it would have been nice to have three completely different tracks (like … Read more
I’ve probably spent more time playing NHL 97 (albeit on the Playstation) than any other hockey game on any system. In fact, it was one of the main reasons that I finally upgraded to a Playstation from the Sega Genesis. When it came time to review the Saturn version of this game, I was worried … Read more
While NHL 97 looks very bad compared to subsequent EA hockey games, for its time the game was a real leap forward from the 16-bit generation. The players are all large and fully polygonal, but the low polygon count takes away a lot of the detail. The glass over the boards looks more like a … Read more
The first time you fire this game up, you’re greeted with a full motion video highlight reel of big hits and big goals from the NHL that gets you psyched to play some hockey. Unfortunately the game that follows will leave you feeling unfulfilled. All-Star Hockey allows you to play a single game, a full … Read more
The Sega Saturn was originally scheduled to launch on “Saturnday” September 2nd, 1995, but Sega of Japan insisted on an early launch to get the jump on Sony’s Playstation, also launching that fall. On May 11th at E3, Sega of America CEO Tom Kalinske announced that the Saturn was available immediately at select retailers, 4 … Read more
Released as a launch title on the Saturn, Daytona USA was a home port of Sega’s wildly popular 1993 arcade hit of the same name, and is one of the defining titles on the console. The arcade-style racer includes three tracks of increasing difficulty and the option of a stock car with either an automatic … Read more
Boxing Legends of the Ring is a boxing simulation released for the SNES, presumably as a more realistic alternative to arcade-style boxing games like Punch-Out. The game features 8 real life boxers, including Sugar Ray Leonard and Jake LaMotta (of Raging Bull fame.) You can fight through a single bout, a career mode where you … Read more
Legend is a medieval hack-and-slash game that seems like it should be a lot of fun (think Golden Axe or Knights of the Round.) I consider myself to be a huge fan of the genre, so I was excited to play this game. The game’s crisp graphics and large, detailed sprites leave a good first … Read more
If NHL 94 is considered to be the hallmark of the series, then NHL 95 is the red-headed stepchild. Fans of the NHL franchise consider this game to be the low point of the series on the 16-bit platforms. EA chose to take the series in a slightly new direction by speeding up the game … Read more
NHL ’94 enjoys a cult following, and is even hailed by some as the best hockey game ever made. For this third installment Electronic Arts brought in a new programmer, Mark Lesser, to develop the game. Lesser had previously worked in the industry designing handheld electronic games for Mattel including Auto Race, which was … Read more
NHLPA Hockey ’93 is the second game in the franchise, and the follow-up to 1991’s NHL Hockey. The game was renamed to reflect the addition of actual player names instead of just using their numbers. While this is a welcome addition, EA apparently felt that they could only afford to pay for one license, so … Read more
Gun.Smoke is a pretty unique game in that it has all of the game play mechanics of a vertically-scrolling shooter, but you don’t fly a plane or a space ship. You play the role of a wild west vigilante who kills the leaders of various groups of bandits who have been harassing the town of … Read more
In the early days of the NES, Excitebike was *the* game to have, and it’s easy to see why. Excitebike is a dirt bike-based racing game in which you race against the clock in either a time trial format or in a group of other riders. The object of the game is to navigate your … Read more
In Urban Champion, you fight an opponent who looks just like you but has bright green hair. Your ultimate objective is to knock him down a manhole, and this is accomplished through a series of fights. Each bout takes place in front of a building, and the objective is to keep hitting your opponent so … Read more
Donkey Kong was released as part of Nintendo’s early “Arcade Series”, in which they ported their own arcade titles to the NES. Although not a launch title, Donkey Kong was one of the original 30 games that were packaged in black boxes. For those who have never played the game, the object of Donkey Kong … Read more
NHL Hockey was the first hockey game to be released on a true 16-bit console, and until its release hockey fans had to make do with games like “TV Sports Hockey” on the Turbo Grafx 16 and “Blades of Steel” on the NES. NHL Hockey was a huge step forward from all previous hockey games. … Read more
Contra: Hard Corps should be one of the best games on the Genesis. In 1994, only a handful of memorable games were released for the system, and the Genesis could have used the help against the Super Nintendo’s increasing market share. Hard Corps has some of the most detailed and colorful graphics of any game … Read more
Today Mutant League Football’s violent game play seems silly and cartoonish, but back in 1993 it landed the game in hot water. MLF was caught up in the same furor as other titles like Mortal Kombat during the first real video gaming backlash in the early 90’s. Underneath the blood and guts however lies a … Read more