System Shock 2 was PC only though. I don't know how much the PC hardware market has been changed by the butterflies. Graphically I'd think it'd be about the same.
Player Two Start: An SNES-CD Timeline
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System Shock 2 was PC only though. I don't know how much the PC hardware market has been changed by the butterflies. Graphically I'd think it'd be about the same.
So was Fallout during the Interplay Era, and I remember there being a console port in TTL. With console tech improved from OTL I don't see why System Shock couldn't have a console port in TTL. Thankfully we have only a few more posts before we see if SHODAN can make the leap to the console.
A successful console port of System Shock could lead to interest in developing a sequel. Presumably with a bit more time and money, especially considering that a console port five years later would entail quite a bit of a graphical upgrade. I personally have no love for System Shock 2. It's the character of SHODAN that I really have affection for. She was GLaDOS long before Valve had created Portal basically as an afterthought. So I don't mind if we don't see OTL System Shock 2 so long as they logically follow a (presumably) successful port with a decent sequel (or two). A System Shock 2 where your left arm isn't just as hypothetical as your legs would be great.
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Another question will the Elder Scrolls series be coming to the Ultra? As a port of the first two games or an earlier Morrowwind like game?
We're thinkering with that idea, more details would be spoilers but Betsheda will have something for console so stay tuned in that detail
We're thinkering with that idea, more details would be spoilers but Betsheda will have something for console so stay tuned in that detail
Awesome cannot wait to see.
What about my question about cannabis legalization on the last page?
I think that (at least) both of us had questions on the last page that got lost in the shuffle. Although mine might end up being answered in an update proper...
Cannabis legalization isn't coming for a while yet, even with the more leftward stance of America's political landscape. It MIGHT be legal by TTL's 2015 or it might not be, we're not even sure about that one yet.
Does anyone have any thoughts about Killer Instinct Ultra or Tale Lemuria? We always prefer seeing comments on the current update as opposed to questions about stuff that will be revealed in future updates
Does anyone have any thoughts about Killer Instinct Ultra or Tale Lemuria? We always prefer seeing comments on the current update as opposed to questions about stuff that will be revealed in future updates
Cannabis legalization isn't coming for a while yet, even with the more leftward stance of America's political landscape. It MIGHT be legal by TTL's 2015 or it might not be, we're not even sure about that one yet.
Does anyone have any thoughts about Killer Instinct Ultra or Tale Lemuria? We always prefer seeing comments on the current update as opposed to questions about stuff that will be revealed in future updates
My question was if medical legalization is on scheldule. Around the current timeframe ITTL it was legalized in several states OTL.
I would ask more questions but you do such a great job of explaining most everything in the updates that I don't have much more to say but damn that game sounds awesome.
I do have a list of games I am mentally compiling for future ITTL youtube reviews and KIU is on it.My question was if medical legalization is on scheldule. Around the current timeframe ITTL it was legalized in several states OTL.
I would ask more questions but you do such a great job of explaining most everything in the updates that I don't have much more to say but damn that game sounds awesome.
In that front not that different in OTL, with less conservatie backslash maybe is more accepted, maybe later expanded more states willing to do it, but mostly like ry say would be long term butterflies.
That is pretty nice, that is way you should comment about it, would be nice seeing how you'll play Ballistic Limit, Tale Lemuria, KIU,etc
When I was reading the write-up for Tale Lemuria, I thought it sounded a bit familiar; then you had some in 'verse people compare it to a 'watered down' Fairytale clone, and I was like "oh yeah, well there we are then." Still sounded good though.Does anyone have any thoughts about Killer Instinct Ultra or Tale Lemuria? We always prefer seeing comments on the current update as opposed to questions about stuff that will be revealed in future updates
I feel like my TTL self would notice the dated voice acting though. How bothered by it I'd be would depend on how good-or-not it objectively was.
Does anyone have any thoughts about Killer Instinct Ultra or Tale Lemuria? We always prefer seeing comments on the current update as opposed to questions about stuff that will be revealed in future updates
I can imagine my alt-self being annoyed with the nasally voice acting in Tale Lemuria, but not quite being able to articulate why it's a problem. I was never into fighting games, so I'd page past Killer Instinct in my copy of Nintendo Power.
Yeah, ITTL, Working Designs' propensity to hire local amateurs and friends of the producer to do voice work on their games is exposed as amateurish a lot sooner here due to the much faster prevalence of professional voice acting. They had some good actors (Ashley Angel, John Truitt, Jenny Stigile), but there's a vast gulf between the voice acting in their games and in something like modern day Arkham City, it's not even remotely close, so yeah, with Squaresoft games to compare to, it's noticed a lot sooner.
I hope I didn't come off as too much of a jerk in my previous post, obviously we do like questions and welcome them, but just remember that the farther ahead something is asked the more likely we'll have to dance around it because it's a spoiler. Questions pertaining to recent months or about things in the next few months are better since we might have forgotten some things or not covered some things well enough!
Ah nepotism. Some things never change.
No, you didn't. We understand not wanting to give spoilers. If someone starts guessing though, you simply tell them: this.
By no means do I think you are jerk. I love your TL and your responses. I just wanted to clarify that I was asking about something that was happening at the time ITTL. But as Rodger said it got lost in the shuffle and I understand. Though I do ask questions about future events from time to time. But I don't expect an answer or spoiler. It is more of a suggestion for future updates and to make you think about it. I hope you didn't think I was being a jerk for my response either. Again I love this TL and your attitude toward your audience. It would be really hard for me to think negatively of you.
In regards to Pokemon, I think Nintendo had a working beta for Gold and Silver at 1998's Spaceworld if memory serves. This is more an observation than anything else, but methinks we won't see the series on the Nova until the third generation. However, it will be interesting to see how butterflies will affect the second generation in regards to OTL unused designs and Pokemon. One thought I have is whether or not Gold and Silver will be a numbered sequel as was originally planned and if the game will be exclusively for the Color.
You Touch a lot of good points and a lot of things to do, as GS would still be in scheduele(being forward or backward in scheduele is TBD) somethings would change, that is issue we're thinking too, so the rest, things will be different, otl games depedendt a good set of butterflies who may or may not happen.
So yeah something to give a good explanation soon.
October 1998 - Nova At Shoshinkai
“So what we're trying to do with Mars' Most Wanted is create the next evolution of the Commander Keen series and create a unique platformer that fits the Saturn.”
-Tom Hall, in an interview at E3 1998 with GameTV
“The Ultra Nintendo had a lot of games, a lot of really serious games and a lot of great platformers. But what Sega always seemed to do better than Nintendo was creating platformers that had both real heart and that kind of edgy, subversive quality to them. Sonic, Commander Keen, you name it, Sega trounced Nintendo at those kinds of games, and it won them a nice little contingent of fans.”
-Blake Harris, in a 2015 interview about his book The Chase
“One of the weirdest damn games I ever played. And one of the hardest, and one of the most controversial. Was Nightsyren Kenji Eno's masterpiece? Depends on who you ask, but plenty of people, including me, believe it was the most 'Eno' of Kenji Eno's games. If that makes sense.”
-Steve Harris, in a “Top 5 Kenji Eno Games” column in the December 2014 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly
“Yokoi-san and I had many discussions about what kind of project this should be. Our philosophies...they clashed, of course! We made compromises. But...once Spaceworld '98 came, I couldn't have been happier with how it turned out!”
-Ken Kutaragi
“Oh, we're not waiting for that. We're gonna bust him out.”
-Princess Lindsay, Commander Keen: Mars' Most Wanted
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NBA Live 99
Dan: 5.0
Shawn: 7.5 (quote: “The NBA Live series has always been quality on the SNES-CD, and it's still great even in the twilight of the system's lifespan.”)
Crispin: 6.0
Sushi-X: 6.0
Matsuki Zanna
Dan: 6.5 (quote: “A really weird little adventure/visual novel game, it's not for everyone but I enjoyed certain parts.”)
Shawn: 7.5
Crispin: 8.0
Sushi-X: 8.0
-reviews of October 1998's SNES-CD games, in the December 1998 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly
Azure Dreams
Dan: 7.0
Shawn: 4.5
Crispin: 4.0
Sushi-X: 5.5 (quote: “Some decent challenge in this game, but the graphics look almost last-gen.”)
Dynasty Warriors
Dan: 7.0
Shawn: 7.0
Crispin: 7.5 (quote: “There's some nice strategic gameplay in this hack-and-slash, proving that Koei is still the king of the console RTS.”)
Sushi-X: 7.0
Twisted Metal 2
Dan: 9.0 (quote: “This is what the first game should have been. Outstanding graphics and some spectacular weaponry make for great vehicle combat action.”)
Shawn: 9.0
Crispin: 8.5
Sushi-X: 8.5
Kid Icarus: Guardian
Dan: 7.0
Shawn: 8.0 (quote: “A really good game with lots of exploration, though it could have been quite a bit longer.”)
Crispin: 8.0
Sushi-X: 6.5
NBA Live 99
Dan: 8.0
Shawn: 8.0 (quote: “Another solid basketball sim from EA.”)
Crispin: 8.0
Sushi-X: 8.0
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Dan: 4.5
Shawn: 9.0
Crispin: 6.5 (quote: “The game is beautiful, but it doesn't really capture what made the anime great.”)
Sushi-X: 5.0
Blue Nexus
Dan: 7.0 (quote: “Sci-fi RPGs are getting more common these days, but this one's really fun.”)
Shawn: 8.0
Crispin: 7.0
Sushi-X: 7.0
Ultra Spinout
Dan: 7.0
Shawn: 6.0
Crispin: 5.0 (quote: “Some spectacular tricks are in this racing game, but there's not much else here. The soundtrack is a slight redeeming factor.”)
Sushi-X: 5.0
Phasewar
Dan: 8.5
Shawn: 8.5
Crispin: 8.0
Sushi-X: 8.0 (quote: “It's a really fun, if really wild shoot-em-up.”)
Ultra World Of Color
Dan: 9.0
Shawn: 9.0
Crispin: 9.5 (quote: “The year's best puzzle game and maybe the Ultra Nintendo's best four-player title.”)
Sushi-X: 9.0
Metal Clash
Dan: 8.5 (quote: “This game's single player campaign is surprisingly robust, nearly Pokemon-like in its scale.”)
Shawn: 8.0
Crispin: 9.0
Sushi-X: 9.0
-reviews of October 1998's Ultra Nintendo games, in the November and December 1998 issues of Electronic Gaming Monthly
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(Authors' Note: Much of the Commander Keen content in this update, including the Segata Sanshiro commercial and GameTV Mr. Hiller segment, was inspired by Pyro. Also, as a refresher, here's the Commander Keen: Mars' Most Wanted update he did that details the game: https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=11399275&postcount=2371 )
*A bunch of kids are hanging out in a library studying.*
Boy: This homework assignment is so boring.... why can't we be at home playing the Saturn?
Girl: Tell me about it.... *groans*
*Suddenly, a huge pile of books is piled up in front of the kids by a stern-looking librarian.*
Librarian: Shhhhh! No talking! Study!
Boy: But-
Librarian: Shhhhhhhh!
*A pair of feet are seen silently entering the library. The librarian turns to see a very angry looking Segata Sanshiro staring at her.*
Kids: Segata Sanshiro!
Librarian: Shhhhh!!
Segata Sanshiro: *lets out a scream and flies at the librarian, his foot coming at her, the next thing we see is a librarian-shaped hole in the wall with lots of destroyed books around it and a bunch of ripped out pages coming down near the hole, the librarian pokes her head out of the hole and lets out a groan* Sega Saturn...shiro!
*Scenes from Commander Keen: Mars' Most Wanted play on the screen.*
Narrator: It's hard to be quiet when the year's loudest game has just crash-landed on the Sega Saturn. Commander Keen is back for another space adventure. Join Commander Keen and his friends as they liberate Mars from an evil tyrant, then join up with friends for the game's new multiplayer mode. Commander Keen: Mars' Most Wanted, out now, only for the Sega Saturn.
*Segata Sanshiro is seen meditating on a stack of books as the two kids play Commander Keen on a TV nearby.*
*Cue the SEGA! Scream*
-from the commercial for Commander Keen: Mars' Most Wanted, which began airing in October 1998
Mars' Most Wanted was a breath of fresh air, and once news of its success began to filter into Sega of America HQ, everyone, including Tom Kalinske, found themselves breathing a sigh of relief. Sales had surpassed expectations considerably, even after the hype generated by the game's favorable reception at E3. Now, the company had breathing room, and with Nintendo set to launch its biggest game of the year against Sega's Ring release, they needed all the good news they could get. The decision to put Sonic in the game had paid off: not only did Sonic get to show up in a Saturn game after a nearly year-long absence, but the mystery of how to obtain him was generating serious buzz in the online community. Mars' Most Wanted had been expected to be roughly even in sales with Kid Icarus: Guardian, the Ultra Nintendo's new game centering around their angelic bow-wielding hero Pit. But Kid Icarus had disappointed, and first reports indicated that Mars' Most Wanted was not only smashing Kid Icarus in both sales and rentals, but was probably the biggest action title in sales since The Dreamers back in June. It had scored more sales in its first week than King Crab and Z-Stomper had combined, and was undoubtedly the Saturn's biggest success of the fall.
“Now we've got some momentum.” Tom Kalinske smiled and placed the sheet of paper displaying Blockbuster's rental charts on the table. “Let's keep it up for the Ring launch. This is our year, not Nintendo's.”
The others in the room with Kalinske weren't so sure, of course. Kid Icarus was one thing, but Zelda was another. That game had already scored a perfect 40 in the venerable Famitsu publication and had topped the sales charts for five straight weeks in Japan.
“Remember the Mega Charger,” Kalinske reminded them. The success of the Mega Charger was the biggest reason the Ring even existed. The Saturn's future still hinged on the Ring, but thanks to Commander Keen, the panic gripping Sega on both sides of the Pacific had given way to a general unease. The situation was still dire, but at least for the moment, the water had stopped rising.
-excerpted from The Chase: Sega's 20 Year Struggle To Take Down A Giant
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Kid Icarus: Guardian was one of two big first-party games Nintendo released in October 1998. Along with Metal Clash, both games were supposed to be moderate hits for the company to bridge the gap between Killer Instinct Ultra and Temple of Time. On that front, Metal Clash succeeded. But Kid Icarus was a disappointment, with underwhelming sales and mediocre reviews. What happened? On paper, Kid Icarus: Guardian looked to be a very good game. It was to pick up where the excellent Kid Icarus CD left off, and generated buzz at E3 due to its excellent graphics and fun new characters. But when the game was released, it was significantly less epic than expected. The graphics were great and the soundtrack was excellent, and new characters Achilles and Phaedra (not to be confused with Enix's RPG heroine) were well-received by fans and are still popular staples of the series to this day. Where the game faltered was in its structure and length. Kid Icarus CD, while not quite comparable to its contemporary, the SNES game Super Metroid, in terms of scale, was still a serviceable and fun Metroidvania-style game. But Kid Icarus: Guardian was a much more straightforward affair, with very few backtracking opportunities. Instead, it structured itself in the vein of a Treasure-style platformer, with hidden secrets within the levels encouraging the player to find them. But these secrets often forced random searching on the player, with very few hints as to where they were. This got to be frustrating, as many of Pit's bow upgrades were hidden in this way, leaving many players barely able to damage some of the later bosses. The game was also short...very short, with just 10 levels in all. While secret items were used to pad the length of the levels, it paled in comparison to some of the other Ultra Nintendo platformers such as Serratopia, and ultimately the game gained a reputation as being short, which it was for most players despite having to play with underpowered bows.
Among the new characters, as mentioned before, Achilles and Phaedra were popular. Achilles was a brash, arrogant warrior who helped Pit during some of the levels, though he often got himself into trouble and had to be bailed out. Still, he was quite funny, and seeing him could be a welcome thing when enemies were overwhelming Pit. Then there was the princess Phaedra, who often ended up as a damsel in distress, but after learning how to use a spear from Palutena later on, she ended up being a major asset to Pit's journey and in particular helped him fight the boss of level nine. The villainess, Nemesis, was not so well-received. She was obsessed with revenge on humanity, but her reasons for revenge were petty and cliched, and she was hardly a compelling villain at all, leaving us clamoring for Medusa (who was a complete no-show in this game). Kid Icarus: Guardian is the big reason why we wouldn't see any more Kid Icarus games for a long time afterward. A common reason that the fans cite as why the game was such a disappointment is that Gunpei Yokoi didn't have much of a hand in it, having been spending much of his time working on Game Boy Nova games at the time. Of course, we would later find out what Yokoi had really been working on in 1998 (and would continue working on through 1999), and the consensus among fans was that it was a fair trade-off.
-from an article on Gamesovermatter.com from 2013
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Metal Clash
Graphics: Metal Clash's colorful 3-D visuals do a nice job of conveying a big world for the protagonist to adventure in, and there is some excellent detail on the robots you create during the game.
Play Control: Depending on what kind of robot you create, the controls can be either simple or complex, though they tend to get more complex as you progress through the game and build bigger robots. We thought the controls were intuitive enough, but certain weapons were mapped to awkward buttons initially. You can customize the controls any way that you like.
Game Design: There will be some comparison to Pokemon here, but there's a lot more customization. Then again, you don't visit too many places over the course of the game, even if the game makes it seem that you do. You'll spend most of your time either fighting in the arena or customizing your robot, finding parts is a fairly simple matter.
Satisfaction: Metal Clash, despite being a bit too simple at times, is a really fun game, a combination between an action game and an RPG. The single player mode is robust and challenging while the multiplayer is some of the best fun we've had on the Ultra Nintendo.
Sound: The music is a bit of a weak point for the game, but the sounds as the robots battle in the various arenas are very entertaining.
Comments: Paul- I had a lot of fun with this game, especially once I found a combination of robot parts that worked really well with my playstyle. Jessica- This game is more silly than realistic, but that's what makes it fun.
Score: 8.1/10
-from the Metal Clash review in the October 1998 issue of Nintendo Power
And while the sport of combat robotics in the real world remains mired in a fierce legal battle between England's Robot Wars and American event organizer Marc Thorpe, there's a brand new robot video game being released this month by Nintendo. Metal Clash is the company's newest original game, where a young boy competes in a series of robot combat events throughout the land, finding and buying parts to make his creations more and more powerful. Though the game tends more toward fantasy than realism (the game starts with the boy building small bots like one would typically see in a Robot Wars event and ends up with huge machines larger than the boy), it's the first video game to introduce the sport of robot combat to gamers all over the world, and most robot builders are supportive of the game even if it's not an entirely accurate representation of the sport.
“You know, I've seen footage of the game, it's pretty cool that Nintendo would be so enthusiastic about the sport,” said robot builder Carlo Bertocchini, whose robot Biohazard has competed in a number of events. “Wish we could get 'em to sponsor a robot or two, but one thing at a time I guess.”
“Oh yeah, I've definitely been wanting to play that game,” commented Grant Imahara, another combat robot enthusiast. He's been working on a robot to compete in the next event once all the legal issues have been cleared up, and has been playing video games in the mean time, with Goldeneye as a recent favorite. “It looks really neat, like Pokemon with robots, and hopefully I can apply some of the robot building skills I use in the real world to this game.”
-from an article in Popular Mechanics, October 1998
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“Aww, you gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me! I leave that other chick back at the damn water treatment plant, I get all the way to the end of the chapter, and I fuckin' fail and gotta go all the way back because she died like an idiot? This is worse than Baby Moses on the NES, at least there I KNEW that was a bad game. This game's supposed to be good, it's not supposed to do this shit! There goes like an hour of my life, totally wasted. What a shitload of fuck.”
-from The Angry Video Game Nerd, episode 82, “Nightsyren”
“And why's that such a surprise? I don't make any of my games to be 'accessible', I make them to be good. In Nightsyren, you have to work together. You have to keep your partner in mind. If you forget that for one moment, you lose. That's the object of the game.”
-Kenji Eno, in a March 2002 interview with IGN.com when the subject of Nightsyren came up
Kenji Eno's Nightsyren might have been the scariest game of 1998, and in a year that saw Resident Evil 2 and Parasite Eve, that's definitely a challenge. But what Nightsyren had going for it was the level of fear you felt for another character. In Nightsyren, you controlled the character Michiko, who was trapped in a city after a blackout and an invasion of creatures from the sewers. From the beginning of the game, Michiko was paired up with Asuka, a nurse who, like Michiko, was trapped in the city and needed to escape. The two characters were completely dependent on each other, needing each other to battle enemies and complete puzzles. While the game wasn't an “escort mission” in the traditional sense, you had to keep Asuka alive at all times. Asuka could hold her own in combat, but it wasn't combat where you had to keep her safe most of the time....you'd be confronted by repeated decisions about where to go and what to do, and many times these decisions would either lead to Asuka's death or lead to a situation where you'd need to save her. Sometimes, you'd need her to save you, you'd be captured by a gang of enemies and unable to escape and you'd need Asuka to show up, having made decisions beforehand to put her in the right place to save you, or you'd be trapped in a room with rising waters and would again need Asuka's help. The game's final chapter had three different endings, depending on your actions throughout the game....either you would kill Asuka, Asuka would kill you, or the two of you would escape the ordeal together... and very small choices made early on in the game determined which ending you would get.
And here's the rub: Nightsyren did not have save points. The game was divided into six chapters, and ONLY between chapters would your progress be saved. If at any point during a chapter you died, you'd have to go back and do the entire thing over again. Chapters were short, lasting between 30-60 minutes even for new players, but you would definitely need to repeat them more than once over the course of the game. Combine that with the somewhat erotic elements, plenty of violence, and lots of horror, a mix of dark psychological horror and jump scares, and you had a game that proved to be one of the most controversial to appear on the Sega Saturn (which had a LOT of controversial games). There are those who consider it one of the worst games ever made, and those who consider it one of the best. It was quintessentially Kenji Eno, and even moreso than D, made its mark on the video game landscape in more ways than one.
-from the article “Top 10 Horror Games Of 1998- #7: Nightsyren” on Gamescares.com, posted on September 29, 2012
Nightsyren
Dan: 4.0
Shawn: 5.0
Crispin: 8.5 (quote: “This game is absolutely not for everyone, but for those who have strong stomachs and don't get frustrated easily, it's one of the most rewarding experiences you'll have while holding a Saturn controller.”)
Sushi-X: 7.0
-from the Electronic Gaming Monthly review of Nightsyren, in the November 1998 issue
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The 1998 Major League Baseball season was one of the most exciting ever, largely due to the home run battle between Mark McGwire and Ken Griffey Jr. as they together challenged Griffey's 1996 record of 62 home runs. Both men slugged their way into the history books, with McGwire hitting 68 and Griffey hitting 65 (and toward the end of the race, a late surge by the Cubs' Sammy Sosa brought him to 63). As the home run kings dueled, their teams excelled, with the Cardinals going 114-48, and the two-time defending champion Seattle Mariners going 107-55. It seemed almost inevitable that the two teams would meet in the World Series, and indeed, they did, after the Cardinals swept both the Atlanta Braves and then the New York Mets en route to the Fall Classic. The Mariners didn't have it much tougher, sweeping the Boston Red Sox in the opening round before beating the Yankees 4-1 in the ALCS to meet the Cardinals in a World Series for the ages.
Game 1: Mariners, 7 @ Cardinals, 6
The Mariners took the first game and home field advantage, with Griffey hitting a grand slam home run in the third inning to put the Mariners on top for good. The Cardinals would rally but it wouldn't be enough.
Game 2: Mariners, 5 @ Cardinals, 12
The Cardinals roared back with a huge win, setting the tone early by going up 6-0 in the first inning and putting the Mariners in a hole they couldn't crawl out of.
Game 3: Cardinals, 3 @ Mariners, 2 (10 innings)
It was largely a defensive struggle, the game featured no home runs and went scoreless through four innings before the Mariners opened things up with a two-RBI double. The Cardinals would score one run each in the sixth, seventh, and finally the tenth inning to win a tight Game 3.
Game 4: Cardinals, 4 @ Mariners, 7
The Mariners came back in a big way with a seven-run eighth inning after the Cardinals got up 4-0 and threatened to take a 3-1 series lead. Griffey went hitless but the rest of the team stepped up with crucial hits.
Game 5: Cardinals, 3 @ Mariners, 5 (12 innings)
The longest game of the series saw Ken Griffey Jr. win it for his team with a two-run shot at the bottom of the 12th with two outs.
Game 6: Mariners, 0 @ Cardinals, 10
Game 6 was a rout, the second such game of the series. Todd Stottlemyre was the hero with a two-hit pitching performance.
Game 7: Mariners, 4 @ Cardinals, 5
The Cardinals closed out the Series and ended the Mariners' three-peat bid. Mark McGwire was the hero with two home runs, including the go-ahead home run in the eighth inning to put the Cardinals up for good.
-from “World Series 1998” on Sportsrecaps.com
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Now we come to the next two games in our review of the Ultra Nintendo's top games of 1998: Blue Nexus and Phasewar. While Blue Nexus is known as a true cult classic sci-fi RPG, Phasewar was a shooter that actually managed to outsell Squaresoft's Einhander, at least in North America, and was one of the Ultra's most successful releases of October 1998.
Blue Nexus is unique in that nearly the entire game took place inside of a spaceship, a very large spaceship that is left nearly deserted after a strike from a mysterious energy weapon leaves its entire crew of thousands of people dead...save for four (later revealed to be six) survivors who must make their way through the city-sized ship, all the while avoiding incursions from invading aliens and also diving into the ship's very strange computer simulation program known as the Blue Nexus in order to uncover the mystery of just what kind of threat they're facing. The game was compared to Atlus' Shin Megami Tensei series, particularly its game Soul Hackers which appeared on the Sega Saturn to somewhat less North American success (as in, nearly none), though the action-based combat system was different and the game was significantly easier. Developed by Tecmo, the game was a far better effort than their previous title Secret of the Stars, and they hired a special North American team to handle the translation. They also kept the original Japanese voice acting in the game rather than spend a significant amount of money to hire English language dubbers. The result was an RPG that seemed destined to be obscure, but it remains a heavily desired title among Ultra Nintendo collectors, going for up to $150 on Ebay and far more for a sealed copy.
Phasewar was the first major shooter to attempt a Gradius-style shoot-em-up in full 3-D. Though the production values were somewhat less than Starfox 2, the game had a very slick look, and allowed the player to determine which path they'd take through the game. The plot was very straightforward, about an alien invasion from another dimension, which led to massive armies of strange alien beings and thousands of ships swarming the player's very nimble and surprisingly powerful flying ship. You flied at a rapid pace through different cities and planets with only a minimal amount of dialogue from various characters, none as silly as that found in Starfox 2 but the dialogue really did give the game a very “arcadey” effect, and the soundtrack, a strange mix of techno beats and rhythms, was one of the most distinctive to appear on the Ultra, a style that would continue in later installments in the series. Phasewar was rated highly by critics and sold quite well, nearly passing Nintendo's first-party title Kid Icarus: Guardian in sales that month. It was ultimately regarded as one of the best, if not the best, shoot-em-ups of the year, and though it, like Blue Nexus, is somewhat underappreciated today, it and games like it show that the Ultra Nintendo had no shortage of great games, even the ones that didn't become blockbuster hits.
-excerpted from “Ultra Nintendo: The Hits (1998)”, an article on Gamesovermatter.com
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Sony's latest, Twisted Metal 2, is a massive game, taking the suicidal, homicidal racers all over the globe, to 14 different arenas. Indeed, there are more combatants than there are arenas, with 12 in all, two of them unlockable. The game's graphics have significantly improved, from the clunky 3-D of the Super Nintendo CD to the smooth, quick 3-D to the Ultra Nintendo, the draw distance is enormous and the weapons light up the screen, creating massive fireballs and fully collapsible buildings (though not every building is collapsible, you'll quickly learn which ones are, collapsing buildings can cause major damage to racers unlucky enough to be caught underneath them). The game also features a storyline, a series first, with Sweet Tooth, Bella Donna, Marcus Kane, and others appearing in cutscenes between levels depending on which one you select. Of course, the real appeal of this game is its multiplayer mode, featuring eight different arenas based on the levels you encounter in the single player game, and support for up to four players at once. Unlike the first game, which was a slow affair with a limited amount of arenas, the four-player multiplayer in Twisted Metal 2 runs very smoothly, and each arena has different gimmicks and tricks to spice things up (though at times, the arena can play TOO much of a role...fortunately, the option is there to turn off arena hazards). Twisted Metal 2 is extraordinarily fun and is our Game of the Month here at Next Generation. It's only on the Ultra Nintendo, so if you have the system, check it out!
Score: 46/50
-excerpted from the review of Twisted Metal 2 in the November 1998 issue of Next Generation magazine
While Emergency was shown off very recently at the Tokyo Game Show, we've got some exclusive news on Sony's newest Ultra Nintendo game to pass along. A 1999 release in both Japan and North America is expected, and the game is said to have a massive amount of voice acting, with cinematic scenes interspersed throughout the game. Sony revealed that they are looking to create a full cinematic experience with their hospital horror title, and they're positioning the game as one of their biggest hits of the year. They also revealed the nature of the outbreak...it's different from the one that's featured in Resident Evil, as it won't mutate its victims into hideous creatures, at least not all of them. We saw footage of certain humans under the influence of the strain who were completely identical to normal human beings in appearance, but they committed evil deeds under its influence. Without revealing too much, Sony indicated that Emergency won't be like any other survival horror title before it, and it's quickly becoming one of our most anticipated titles of 1999.
-excerpted from an article in the November 1998 issue of Next Generation magazine
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And while Korn's “Follow The Leader” continues to be the leader on the rock charts, the controversial Marilyn Manson is nipping at their heels with his new album, “Mechanicolocaust”. While the current top two rock acts in the country are making headlines for their controversial, violent lyrics, the band that looks to have the most anticipated rock album of 1999, Nirvana, is promising a mellower sound for their new album, though not because they're trying to steer clear of controversy. According to Dave Grohl, “we're all just in a different place than we were a few years back, and the new stuff reflects that. Everyone's in a better place right now, the whole world's in a better place.” Of course, if you ask Marilyn Manson if that's true, he'd respond with a resounding “no”, and would probably add a profanity or two for good measure. His new album deals with the issues of drug abuse and self-harm, a satirical tour-de-force that will immediately shock the uninitiated, but for Manson, that's just part of the message he's trying to send. Another band courting controversy, this one looking to burst onto the mainstream scene, is Slipknot, whose demo tracks have been gaining notoriety through distribution on music-sharing services online. This notoriety has made their demo album, set to release early next year, among the most anticipated rock albums of next year, right alongside Nirvana's next album. Another of 1999's most anticipated rock album debuts is that of Alison Pipitone, whose performance was reported to have stolen the show at this year's Lilith Fair. Her debut album, “The Lilting Tree”, might just be the biggest female rock debut since Alanis Morisette's “Jagged Little Pill”.
The biggest rock story of the past few weeks has been the sudden announcement that Soundgarden has come back together to work on a new album, with bassist Justin Chancellor replacing Ben Shepherd. Chancellor, of course, has been a prominent solo performer for the last few years, with a Grammy nomination just last year. It's impossible to know what he brings to Soundgarden until we get a sample of their new work, but their new album should come out sometime next summer. As acts like Korn and Marilyn Manson grow rapidly in prominence, a rift appears to be forming in rock between the edge-pushing hardcore rock and the more mainstream alternative sound, words that would have been an oxymoron just a couple short years ago. Next year will see several bands that helped to establish the current mainstream rock sound release new albums, whether or not these albums can challenge the controversial new faces of rock will determine the direction music will take as we head into the new millennium.
-from “Rick's Music News”, a Tripod.com website, update posted on October 24, 1998
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Hurricane Lisa Now Strongest Since Gilbert
Hurricane Lisa has achieved Category 5 status in the Caribbean Sea. The hurricane has intensified rapidly, from barely a Category 2 just yesterday afternoon, to a huge Category 5 monster with sustained winds of 185 miles per hour. The pressure has dropped to 893 millibars, which is the lowest of any Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. That hurricane impacted Mexico with powerful winds and serious flooding, killing hundreds. Right now, Hurricane Lisa is forecast to impact the Yucatan Peninsula, but is projected to weaken somewhat before then.
-a Yahoo! News weather update from October 23, 1998
Hurricane Lisa Slams Into Cancun As A Category 5 Hurricane
Hurricane Lisa has made landfall in Cancun with winds raging at 165 miles per hour, re-intensifying after an eyewall replacement cycle caused the storm to temporarily weaken to a Category 4. Due to a major evacuation and the storm striking at an off-time for tourism, Lisa's impact is unlikely to result in a large number of deaths or injuries, but monetary damage could be in the billions as the storm's powerful winds ravage Cancun's resort hotels.
-a Yahoo! News weather update from October 25, 1998
Tampa Residents Prepare For Hurricane Lisa
Hurricane Lisa may have weakened after making landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula, but the storm is still a Category 1 hurricane with winds of 85 miles per hour, and is forecast to hit the Tampa, Florida area later today. Some fluctuations in the hurricane's path are expected, but residents are taking no chances. There has been a mandatory evacuation, and those who are choosing to ride out the storm have cleaned out supplies from local stores.
-a Yahoo! News weather update from October 27, 1998
Tampa Cleans Up After Lisa
The storm may be over, but Tampa residents are left with lots of damage to clean up after the hurricane struck as a Category 2 with 100 MPH winds. The hurricane, which caused five deaths in Mexico after slamming into Cancun as a Category 5, has caused four deaths so far in Florida alone, and coastal flooding from the storm's trip up the Atlantic coast has caused at least six more. Hurricane Lisa is estimated to be the most damaging hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Hurricane Andrew, with early estimates of damage ranging from $6-8 billion. The eyewall went directly over the Tampa Bay area, causing many skyscrapers in the downtown area to be heavily damaged and an estimated wind driven storm surge of 8-10 feet in the bay. The storm has also caused the cancellation of door to door trick-or-treating in the city, though the city has set up several events for children returning from evacuation to have alternate Halloween festivities.
-a Yahoo! News weather update from October 31, 1998
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Brittany Saldita: This game though, was leaps and bounds better than the previous Saturn Keen game. And that was 3 games in one!
Alex Stansfield: Yeah, I think they've found their groove now, it helped that this game was made for the Saturn from the ground up.
Brittany: What I appreciated was that it wasn't just a Mario clone. It ends up being its own game, and...I'll tell you, it almost kind of reminds me of a more open 3-D Zombies ate My Neighbors. It's that kind of game with that kind of gameplay, and difficulty, and humor.
Alex: I think it's its own game for the most part. It's kind of a hodge podge of different genres, but it stands by itself and it really is better than I thought a Keen game could be. It embraces what it is and that's what makes it so great.
Brittany: *laughing* And while I DID think Princess Lindsay was a great subversion of the common “save the princess” cliché... is it possible to be too MUCH of a subversion, to the point where it's predictable and it loses some of its impact? Not a knock on the game, which is great, but just a thought I had.
Alex: Yeah, and then the multiplayer...I mean, they kinda just tossed it in there but it's still pretty fun. That's what Commander Keen: Mars' Most Wanted is. Just raw fun, kind of difficult but not too much so, I think it's the perfect action game for the Saturn and I'm giving it a 4.5.
Brittany: I loved it and I agree, a 4.5. It's got some flaws but they're few and far between, for the most part, this is a fantastic game and highly recommended by GameTV.
(…)
Ted Crosley: *sitting on the couch with Alex, Brittany, and Gary* and that's it for GameTV, but before we go, let's fire up Commander Keen one more time for a little game I like to call “Get Hitler”.
Alex: Hitler, being of course, history's biggest (bleep)hole, is sort of in this game. He's actually Mr. Hiller, who looks pretty much just like him, and guess what? You can be him in multiplayer.
Brittany: So what we're gonna do is make Gary be Hitler, and not do anything except run around while we chase him and kill him over and over again!
Gary Westhouse: Why do I have to be Hitler?
Ted: You do the best German accent.
Gary: No I don't, you guys do way better German accents than me!
Ted: *doing a German accent* No, no we don't, this is a lie!
Alex: *also doing a German accent* Why are you lying? This is punishable by DEATH!
Brittany: *she is also doing a German accent* Now START PLAYING!
Gary: *lets out a yell and starts running around as Mr. Hiller, getting blasted as all of them do silly German accents, with Gary's easily the worst sounding out of all of them, the screen shows “Hitler” dying multiple hilarious deaths*
-excerpted from the October 6, 1998 episode of GameTV
(...)
Gary: Time Crisis 2 was pretty good. I mean, if you liked the first one, you're gonna like the second one.
Ted: Yeah but with that said, the Saturn's showing its age with this one, the arcade version looks way better. Now, with the Ring coming out next month, I mean...hopefully it looks a little bit better on the Ring but as for right now, just know what you're getting into. The gameplay's solid, though it's pretty much the same as the original, just a bit longer and maybe a bit tougher.
Gary: Time Crisis was never my favorite lightgun series, that's probably Point Blank....
Ted: Virtua Cop for me but yeah, Point Blank's a good one. Look, I mean...you're shooting bad guys, saving hostages, it's par for the course. This game, if you've played Time Crisis and didn't love it, you probably don't need to play this one.
Gary: It's good but definitely not great. 3.5 out of 5 from me.
Ted: And I give it a 3. So, when's the next REALLY fun light gun game gonna come out? At this point it's honestly more fun and exciting just to chase your friends around with your light gun. Remember when that was gonna be the next big thing? The light gun?
Gary: Does the Ultra Nintendo have a light gun game?
Ted: Like one or two, and neither one was any good. I wouldn't mind playing Star Fox with a light gun though.
(…)
Adrian Fry: So what's Metal Clash supposed to be? An RPG? An action game? A fighting game? I wasn't entirely sure.
Alex: Hey, I really enjoyed it. I loved how much customization you could have, if you want to make a humanoid robot with a giant saw on its face and big flamethrower arms, you could!
Adrian: I tried to make a robot dog....it didn't go so well.
*The screen shows Adrian's robot dog limping along as it gets pounded by a massive hammer from another bot*
Adrian: And when I went into the arena with you, it went even worse!
*The screen shows Adrian's robot dog on its back, flailing around as Alex burns it with both flamethrower arms*
Alex: Yeah, after that one I thought the ASPCA was gonna come and bust me. Now, this game wasn't perfect, the single-player quest had a lot of cliches, like that rival of yours who shows up, the one who's like Gary but ten times more obnoxious. Pokemon Gary, not our Gary.
Adrian: Right, and some of the bosses were really cheap, it's easy to get pinned against the wall and if you don't know what you're doing, it's really hard to control your bot.
Alex: Yeah, I did feel I was kind of limited in what I could do due to the controls being really crappy with certain bot designs, so watch out for that.
Adrian: You know, in the end it's a pretty good game. It's got its problems and even though you have a LOT of customization options, there's not as much freedom as you'd think, I still found myself having fun a majority of the time I played with it and that's enough to get a 3.5 from me.
Alex: I'm giving it a 4, it's another great first-party Nintendo game and I think it's gonna be another hit for them.
-excerpted from the October 13, 1998 episode of GameTV
(…)
Gary: Okay, so can we admit it was a mistake to release Fighting Vipers 2 before the release of the Ring? It's clear this game was meant for the Ring because the Saturn version is nigh-unplayable. It looks like crap, it STILL runs slow...why even BOTHER releasing this for the Saturn and allowing you to play it without the Ring?
Adrian: Yeah, I get not wanting to limit the number of people who can play it but this just sends a bad impression.
Gary: That said, I have NEVER been a big fan of Fighting Vipers. Aside from Emi, there's really nothing that stands out about this game anyway. It's just average and then you get to the fact that this is a crippled port....
Adrian: I hope...I HOPE that not all Ring-enhanced games are like this. Great with the Ring, unplayable without it...
Gary: I think it's just this one. I HOPE it's just this one. Virtua Fighter 3 played just fine without the Ring at E3! I mean, it didn't look quite as good but it still looked great and played great. So this is just a lazy port.
Adrian: Should we do another review once the Ring comes out?
Gary: Honestly, I don't think we should. Anyway, as it stands now...0.5 from me. And the .5 is just for Emi.
Adrian: Yeah, I can't give this more than a 1. I mean...look at it.
*The game is shown again on the screen, one of the character is moving extremely slow while using his combo, which looks almost glitchy as it gets executed. The background looks really plain and everything just looks muted from the arcade version.*
Adrian: It's a total mess. I hope it plays better when the Ring comes out.
-excerpted from the October 20, 1998 episode of GameTV
(…)
Brittany: *dressed like Jem from Jem and the Holograms for the Halloween episode* You know, and for me, who's actually seen the Evangelion anime, this game's kind of a mixed bag for me. I wasn't a HUGE fan of Evangelion, but I liked it, and this game doesn't capture much of the feel of the show. That said, it's a beautiful looking game and some of the giant mech fights are pretty fun, when you're not fighting a bunch of repetitive drones.
Lyssa Fielding: *dressed like Kimber from Jem and the Holograms* Apart from the repetitive fights, I had a lot of fun with this game. Of course, I've never seen Evangelion, I've been meaning too....you know Sailor Moon is more my speed. *smiles*
Brittany: Well yeah, mine too, I mean, come on.
Lyssa: And that game was crap! Why can't they make a GOOD anime game?
Brittany: Hopefully next year's Sailor Moon game is better. I can't believe we're finally getting the Sailor Moon RPG! But enough about that, let's talk more about Evangelion. The little cinematics that pop up during the levels, I enjoyed, though again, a lot of them get kind of repetitive after a while.
Lyssa: So much repetition! It's like they made this really pretty game, with really fun giant robot fighting, but they couldn't think of enough stuff to fill 18 missions, so a lot of the gameplay during the missions is the same kind of stuff you encountered on previous levels, just more of it, or tougher.
Brittany: So many games have that problem! It really pisses me off! So yeah, I can't give this game more than a 3.
Lyssa: I'll be a little nicer and give it a 3.5, because I DID have fun with it, it's just....
Brittany: If you don't have enough stuff for eighteen missions, do like ten missions?
Lyssa: *mock gasps and puts her hands up to her cheeks* Outrageous!
-excerpted from the October 27, 1998 episode of GameTV
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SNES-CD Power Charts: October 1998
1. The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Dreams
2. Tale Phantasia
3. Chrono Trigger
4. Sphere Soldier
5. Super Mario World 2
6. Donkey Kong Country 4
7. Donkey Kong Country
8. Secret Of Mana
9. Tales Of The Seven Seas 2
10. Victory 2
Ultra Nintendo Power Charts: October 1998
1. The Dreamers
2. Final Fantasy VII
3. Super Mario Dimensions
4. Fairytale
5. Gran Turismo
6. Quixsters
7. Goldeneye 007
8. Quake
9. WWF War Zone
10. Ultra Mario Kart
The Official Saturn Magazine Buzz Chart: October 1998
1. Commander Keen: Mars' Most Wanted
2. Virtua Fighter 3
3. Sonic the Hedgehog 4
4. Tekken 3
5. Turok II: Seeds Of Evil
6. Quake
7. Shenmue
8. Arbiter Of Sin
9. Z-Stomper
10. Nightsyren
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“A decade ago, we introduced the Game Boy to the world. Since then, it has become the most successful gaming handheld of all time, with 75 million units sold. In 1996, we introdued the Game Boy Color, and brought a new world of color to our handheld platform. The Game Boy remains the most successful handheld on the market, and with the recent worldwide introduction of Pokemon, Game Boy sales continue to be strong. But, as we have seen with our home console platforms, technology and innovation continue to march on, and in Nintendo's constant effort to bring fun and entertainment to players all over the world, we never stop innovating. Now, in cooperation with our partners at Sony, I am proud to bring you the next generation of handheld gaming. I am proud to introduce for the first time anywhere... the Game Boy Nova.”
-Hiroshi Yamauchi, from his keynote speech at Spaceworld '98, October 22, 1998
“Hello again, friends! As Yamauchi-san said before, the Game Boy Nova is a handheld device for the next generation of players. Nintendo and Sony have worked on this for nearly two years, and the result is what I believe to be the most amazing handheld electronic device ever created! You're going to be...absolutely blown away by what the Nova is capable of. For the first time, we have home console-level technology inside a small handheld device. We have a next-generation chip inside this little thing, and it's capable of playing some fantastic games. Did you ever imagine you would see proper 3-D graphics on a handheld? Some of the things you will see this weekend, I think, will astonish you, much like the Super Nintendo CD astonished you when we first showed it off seven years ago. I see that some of you remember!”
-Ken Kutaragi, from his keynote speech at Spaceworld '98, October 22, 1998
SPACEWORLD: Nintendo's Big Show
It's been nearly two-and-a-half years since Nintendo last had a big show at Shoshinkai, but we're finally back and Nintendo made some major announcements at this year's show, while exhibiting more than a dozen new games for its various platforms.
First and foremost, of course, was the announcement of a new piece of hardware from Nintendo: the long-awaited successor to the Game Boy and the Game Boy Color. The new handheld is called the Game Boy Nova, and it's a true quantum leap from anything that's come before it. The new system, which has a clamshell design, with the screen (a wide screen in fact!) on top and the controls on the bottom. The rectangular handheld has controls similar to those found on the Super Nintendo, with four face buttons, the familiar A, B, X, and Y, along with two shoulder buttons, a Start button, a Select button, and a D-pad. The graphics are superb, this system is capable of anything the Super Nintendo CD could do, and some games even approached a few lesser Saturn titles in graphical fidelity. The games were divided between detailed 2-D and some nice 3-D, and the 3-D on some games exceeded what we saw in Squad Four: Eclipse, considered to be the best 3-D on the SNES-CD. And what games am I talking about? Well, first up, there's Super Mario Nova, a new platforming Mario game that resembles a much prettier Super Mario World 2. It's not in 3-D, but the colors pop to an extraordinary degree on the backlit screen, and the game features moving backgrounds like in the Donkey Kong Country games. Only two levels were playable, but they were both quite fun, and Super Mario Nova is expected to be a launch title. But there was a game even bigger than Super Mario Nova at the show.... Nintendo officially announced Pokemon Sun and Moon, the sequel to Pokemon Red and Green, and the game is a mix of 2-D and 3-D, with some 3-D used in the overworld and buildings, while battles appeared in fully animated 2-D, with highly detailed Pokemon. So far, most of the Pokemon that appeared in the game were of the original 150, but new Pokemon including a funny-looking owl and a fierce-looking dog were shown to appear in the game, along with a new Bug type that resembled a ladybug. Nintendo and Gamefreak, which is owned by Sony, promise to reveal more about Pokemon Sun and Moon in the coming months, but what I saw and played was amazing. The Game Boy Nova will also see a few ports, including Super Metroid, which Nintendo showed off at Spaceworld on the Nova (unfortunately, it was the only Metroid game that appeared at the show). What amazed me was the port of Resident Evil that was running on the Nova, it wasn't quite as good looking as the Saturn version of the game, let alone the Ultra version, but it still looked fantastic, beyond anything I thought a handheld was capable of before seeing it for myself. Among the technical specs that were revealed about the Nova was that it will use cartridges as a storage medium (CDs were considered, but the movement of a CD reading mechanism would have been a drain on the Nova's battery life). This might present a problem, considering that several SNES-CD ports are planned for the Nova, but with compression and the removal of animated cutscenes, the cartridges (estimated to hold between 4-64 megabytes of data, with more possible down the road as memory prices come down) should be sufficient enough for most SNES-CD games, let alone games designed specifically with the Nova in mind. The battery life clocks in at 6-8 hours on the handheld's rechargeable battery, which is relatively astonishing considering that Sega's less powerful Venus got about 2 hours on 6 AAs (with less than one hour on some Mega Charger games). Sony is rumored to have put a lot of money into the research of rechargeable battery technology specifically for the Nova, and it's likely to pay off once the Nova is released. The system is priced at an estimated 21,000 yen, with a Japanese release expected by the end of 1999, and a North American release likely either at the end of 1999 or sometime during 2000. The Nova looks truly amazing, but with Pokemon still going strong on the original Game Boy, its sales should remain robust even after the Nova's launch.
Nintendo was also showing off lots of Ultra Nintendo software at Spaceworld. Perhaps the most intriguing title was Super Smash Bros., a fighting game starring Nintendo characters facing off against each other! Yes, you heard that right. Mario, Link, Pikachu, Donkey Kong, Samus, Yoshi, Kirby, and a number of others who have yet to be announced will all throw down in this four-player fighting game, and even though I didn't get much time to play before having to step aside for the next person, the game looks incredibly fun. Surprisingly, no North American release has been announced as of yet, though the game will be releasing in Japan in December and I have to imagine it'll show up on our shores sometime in 1999. Nintendo also showed off the new F-Zero game, F-Zero: Ultracharged, which is coming out in Japan at the start of next year. Captain Falcon returns with a number of new racers, and the game not only boasts 18 all new (and very pretty) tracks, but it also features a course creation mode that will allow the player to design their own track and then bring it to a friend's house with the Ultra Nintendo's Controller Pak. Ultracharged looks incredibly fun and will definitely build off of the momentum that F-Zero CD created all the way back in 1994. There was a new Mario-based golf game and also Mario Party, a four-player board game that looked somewhat silly but should add to the Ultra's roster of really fun multiplayer games.
X: Tactics, the next game in the X series that includes the Super Squadron X titles, was announced at Spaceworld for the Ultra Nintendo. It takes a more deliberate approach to the popular tank war game, requiring players to plan out their attacks on a massive battlefield before engaging in tank skirmishes with the enemy. It combines elements from strategy games with the X series' tried-and-true tank fighting, and should be quite a hit when it launches in Japan in the spring. Speaking of strategy titles, the new Fire Emblem game, which now has a subtitle, best translated in English as The False Princess, was shown off at Spaceworld, though only with a small video trailer and a brief demo of gameplay. The fully 3-D battlefields look great, and characters seem to come to life with excellent animation and a series first, voice acting. Fire Emblem: The False Princess is still some time away but could appear in North America as early as next year. Masahiro Sakurai, who was there to show off his Smash Bros. game, also showed off a Kirby title for the Ultra, though only a small gameplay demo was available, showing Kirby moving around and sucking up enemies in a fully-3D world. Kirby showed off a couple of new powers, including the ability to transform into a Starfox-like ship, and Rick from the Dream Land games also made a brief appearance. We'll be sure to see more of the new Kirby game over the upcoming months. And finally, Nintendo announced the next Squad Four game, though again, only had a short gameplay demo to show off at Spaceworld. This demo, however, was extremely expressive. You controlled Shad, who was running around fighting guards in some type of prison area, and the demo showed off the game's impressive lock-on system. Basically, Squad Four has gone completely off the rails. It's now a fully 3-D adventure title, and the demo left me clamoring for more. Indeed, Spaceworld 1998 left most attendees begging for more and excited about the future, which is pretty much the hallmark of any successful trade show. 1999 is going to be a very fun year for Nintendo fans.
-excerpted from an article on Gamespot.com, October 28, 1998
-Tom Hall, in an interview at E3 1998 with GameTV
“The Ultra Nintendo had a lot of games, a lot of really serious games and a lot of great platformers. But what Sega always seemed to do better than Nintendo was creating platformers that had both real heart and that kind of edgy, subversive quality to them. Sonic, Commander Keen, you name it, Sega trounced Nintendo at those kinds of games, and it won them a nice little contingent of fans.”
-Blake Harris, in a 2015 interview about his book The Chase
“One of the weirdest damn games I ever played. And one of the hardest, and one of the most controversial. Was Nightsyren Kenji Eno's masterpiece? Depends on who you ask, but plenty of people, including me, believe it was the most 'Eno' of Kenji Eno's games. If that makes sense.”
-Steve Harris, in a “Top 5 Kenji Eno Games” column in the December 2014 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly
“Yokoi-san and I had many discussions about what kind of project this should be. Our philosophies...they clashed, of course! We made compromises. But...once Spaceworld '98 came, I couldn't have been happier with how it turned out!”
-Ken Kutaragi
“Oh, we're not waiting for that. We're gonna bust him out.”
-Princess Lindsay, Commander Keen: Mars' Most Wanted
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NBA Live 99
Dan: 5.0
Shawn: 7.5 (quote: “The NBA Live series has always been quality on the SNES-CD, and it's still great even in the twilight of the system's lifespan.”)
Crispin: 6.0
Sushi-X: 6.0
Matsuki Zanna
Dan: 6.5 (quote: “A really weird little adventure/visual novel game, it's not for everyone but I enjoyed certain parts.”)
Shawn: 7.5
Crispin: 8.0
Sushi-X: 8.0
-reviews of October 1998's SNES-CD games, in the December 1998 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly
Azure Dreams
Dan: 7.0
Shawn: 4.5
Crispin: 4.0
Sushi-X: 5.5 (quote: “Some decent challenge in this game, but the graphics look almost last-gen.”)
Dynasty Warriors
Dan: 7.0
Shawn: 7.0
Crispin: 7.5 (quote: “There's some nice strategic gameplay in this hack-and-slash, proving that Koei is still the king of the console RTS.”)
Sushi-X: 7.0
Twisted Metal 2
Dan: 9.0 (quote: “This is what the first game should have been. Outstanding graphics and some spectacular weaponry make for great vehicle combat action.”)
Shawn: 9.0
Crispin: 8.5
Sushi-X: 8.5
Kid Icarus: Guardian
Dan: 7.0
Shawn: 8.0 (quote: “A really good game with lots of exploration, though it could have been quite a bit longer.”)
Crispin: 8.0
Sushi-X: 6.5
NBA Live 99
Dan: 8.0
Shawn: 8.0 (quote: “Another solid basketball sim from EA.”)
Crispin: 8.0
Sushi-X: 8.0
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Dan: 4.5
Shawn: 9.0
Crispin: 6.5 (quote: “The game is beautiful, but it doesn't really capture what made the anime great.”)
Sushi-X: 5.0
Blue Nexus
Dan: 7.0 (quote: “Sci-fi RPGs are getting more common these days, but this one's really fun.”)
Shawn: 8.0
Crispin: 7.0
Sushi-X: 7.0
Ultra Spinout
Dan: 7.0
Shawn: 6.0
Crispin: 5.0 (quote: “Some spectacular tricks are in this racing game, but there's not much else here. The soundtrack is a slight redeeming factor.”)
Sushi-X: 5.0
Phasewar
Dan: 8.5
Shawn: 8.5
Crispin: 8.0
Sushi-X: 8.0 (quote: “It's a really fun, if really wild shoot-em-up.”)
Ultra World Of Color
Dan: 9.0
Shawn: 9.0
Crispin: 9.5 (quote: “The year's best puzzle game and maybe the Ultra Nintendo's best four-player title.”)
Sushi-X: 9.0
Metal Clash
Dan: 8.5 (quote: “This game's single player campaign is surprisingly robust, nearly Pokemon-like in its scale.”)
Shawn: 8.0
Crispin: 9.0
Sushi-X: 9.0
-reviews of October 1998's Ultra Nintendo games, in the November and December 1998 issues of Electronic Gaming Monthly
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(Authors' Note: Much of the Commander Keen content in this update, including the Segata Sanshiro commercial and GameTV Mr. Hiller segment, was inspired by Pyro. Also, as a refresher, here's the Commander Keen: Mars' Most Wanted update he did that details the game: https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=11399275&postcount=2371 )
*A bunch of kids are hanging out in a library studying.*
Boy: This homework assignment is so boring.... why can't we be at home playing the Saturn?
Girl: Tell me about it.... *groans*
*Suddenly, a huge pile of books is piled up in front of the kids by a stern-looking librarian.*
Librarian: Shhhhh! No talking! Study!
Boy: But-
Librarian: Shhhhhhhh!
*A pair of feet are seen silently entering the library. The librarian turns to see a very angry looking Segata Sanshiro staring at her.*
Kids: Segata Sanshiro!
Librarian: Shhhhh!!
Segata Sanshiro: *lets out a scream and flies at the librarian, his foot coming at her, the next thing we see is a librarian-shaped hole in the wall with lots of destroyed books around it and a bunch of ripped out pages coming down near the hole, the librarian pokes her head out of the hole and lets out a groan* Sega Saturn...shiro!
*Scenes from Commander Keen: Mars' Most Wanted play on the screen.*
Narrator: It's hard to be quiet when the year's loudest game has just crash-landed on the Sega Saturn. Commander Keen is back for another space adventure. Join Commander Keen and his friends as they liberate Mars from an evil tyrant, then join up with friends for the game's new multiplayer mode. Commander Keen: Mars' Most Wanted, out now, only for the Sega Saturn.
*Segata Sanshiro is seen meditating on a stack of books as the two kids play Commander Keen on a TV nearby.*
*Cue the SEGA! Scream*
-from the commercial for Commander Keen: Mars' Most Wanted, which began airing in October 1998
Mars' Most Wanted was a breath of fresh air, and once news of its success began to filter into Sega of America HQ, everyone, including Tom Kalinske, found themselves breathing a sigh of relief. Sales had surpassed expectations considerably, even after the hype generated by the game's favorable reception at E3. Now, the company had breathing room, and with Nintendo set to launch its biggest game of the year against Sega's Ring release, they needed all the good news they could get. The decision to put Sonic in the game had paid off: not only did Sonic get to show up in a Saturn game after a nearly year-long absence, but the mystery of how to obtain him was generating serious buzz in the online community. Mars' Most Wanted had been expected to be roughly even in sales with Kid Icarus: Guardian, the Ultra Nintendo's new game centering around their angelic bow-wielding hero Pit. But Kid Icarus had disappointed, and first reports indicated that Mars' Most Wanted was not only smashing Kid Icarus in both sales and rentals, but was probably the biggest action title in sales since The Dreamers back in June. It had scored more sales in its first week than King Crab and Z-Stomper had combined, and was undoubtedly the Saturn's biggest success of the fall.
“Now we've got some momentum.” Tom Kalinske smiled and placed the sheet of paper displaying Blockbuster's rental charts on the table. “Let's keep it up for the Ring launch. This is our year, not Nintendo's.”
The others in the room with Kalinske weren't so sure, of course. Kid Icarus was one thing, but Zelda was another. That game had already scored a perfect 40 in the venerable Famitsu publication and had topped the sales charts for five straight weeks in Japan.
“Remember the Mega Charger,” Kalinske reminded them. The success of the Mega Charger was the biggest reason the Ring even existed. The Saturn's future still hinged on the Ring, but thanks to Commander Keen, the panic gripping Sega on both sides of the Pacific had given way to a general unease. The situation was still dire, but at least for the moment, the water had stopped rising.
-excerpted from The Chase: Sega's 20 Year Struggle To Take Down A Giant
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Kid Icarus: Guardian was one of two big first-party games Nintendo released in October 1998. Along with Metal Clash, both games were supposed to be moderate hits for the company to bridge the gap between Killer Instinct Ultra and Temple of Time. On that front, Metal Clash succeeded. But Kid Icarus was a disappointment, with underwhelming sales and mediocre reviews. What happened? On paper, Kid Icarus: Guardian looked to be a very good game. It was to pick up where the excellent Kid Icarus CD left off, and generated buzz at E3 due to its excellent graphics and fun new characters. But when the game was released, it was significantly less epic than expected. The graphics were great and the soundtrack was excellent, and new characters Achilles and Phaedra (not to be confused with Enix's RPG heroine) were well-received by fans and are still popular staples of the series to this day. Where the game faltered was in its structure and length. Kid Icarus CD, while not quite comparable to its contemporary, the SNES game Super Metroid, in terms of scale, was still a serviceable and fun Metroidvania-style game. But Kid Icarus: Guardian was a much more straightforward affair, with very few backtracking opportunities. Instead, it structured itself in the vein of a Treasure-style platformer, with hidden secrets within the levels encouraging the player to find them. But these secrets often forced random searching on the player, with very few hints as to where they were. This got to be frustrating, as many of Pit's bow upgrades were hidden in this way, leaving many players barely able to damage some of the later bosses. The game was also short...very short, with just 10 levels in all. While secret items were used to pad the length of the levels, it paled in comparison to some of the other Ultra Nintendo platformers such as Serratopia, and ultimately the game gained a reputation as being short, which it was for most players despite having to play with underpowered bows.
Among the new characters, as mentioned before, Achilles and Phaedra were popular. Achilles was a brash, arrogant warrior who helped Pit during some of the levels, though he often got himself into trouble and had to be bailed out. Still, he was quite funny, and seeing him could be a welcome thing when enemies were overwhelming Pit. Then there was the princess Phaedra, who often ended up as a damsel in distress, but after learning how to use a spear from Palutena later on, she ended up being a major asset to Pit's journey and in particular helped him fight the boss of level nine. The villainess, Nemesis, was not so well-received. She was obsessed with revenge on humanity, but her reasons for revenge were petty and cliched, and she was hardly a compelling villain at all, leaving us clamoring for Medusa (who was a complete no-show in this game). Kid Icarus: Guardian is the big reason why we wouldn't see any more Kid Icarus games for a long time afterward. A common reason that the fans cite as why the game was such a disappointment is that Gunpei Yokoi didn't have much of a hand in it, having been spending much of his time working on Game Boy Nova games at the time. Of course, we would later find out what Yokoi had really been working on in 1998 (and would continue working on through 1999), and the consensus among fans was that it was a fair trade-off.
-from an article on Gamesovermatter.com from 2013
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Metal Clash
Graphics: Metal Clash's colorful 3-D visuals do a nice job of conveying a big world for the protagonist to adventure in, and there is some excellent detail on the robots you create during the game.
Play Control: Depending on what kind of robot you create, the controls can be either simple or complex, though they tend to get more complex as you progress through the game and build bigger robots. We thought the controls were intuitive enough, but certain weapons were mapped to awkward buttons initially. You can customize the controls any way that you like.
Game Design: There will be some comparison to Pokemon here, but there's a lot more customization. Then again, you don't visit too many places over the course of the game, even if the game makes it seem that you do. You'll spend most of your time either fighting in the arena or customizing your robot, finding parts is a fairly simple matter.
Satisfaction: Metal Clash, despite being a bit too simple at times, is a really fun game, a combination between an action game and an RPG. The single player mode is robust and challenging while the multiplayer is some of the best fun we've had on the Ultra Nintendo.
Sound: The music is a bit of a weak point for the game, but the sounds as the robots battle in the various arenas are very entertaining.
Comments: Paul- I had a lot of fun with this game, especially once I found a combination of robot parts that worked really well with my playstyle. Jessica- This game is more silly than realistic, but that's what makes it fun.
Score: 8.1/10
-from the Metal Clash review in the October 1998 issue of Nintendo Power
And while the sport of combat robotics in the real world remains mired in a fierce legal battle between England's Robot Wars and American event organizer Marc Thorpe, there's a brand new robot video game being released this month by Nintendo. Metal Clash is the company's newest original game, where a young boy competes in a series of robot combat events throughout the land, finding and buying parts to make his creations more and more powerful. Though the game tends more toward fantasy than realism (the game starts with the boy building small bots like one would typically see in a Robot Wars event and ends up with huge machines larger than the boy), it's the first video game to introduce the sport of robot combat to gamers all over the world, and most robot builders are supportive of the game even if it's not an entirely accurate representation of the sport.
“You know, I've seen footage of the game, it's pretty cool that Nintendo would be so enthusiastic about the sport,” said robot builder Carlo Bertocchini, whose robot Biohazard has competed in a number of events. “Wish we could get 'em to sponsor a robot or two, but one thing at a time I guess.”
“Oh yeah, I've definitely been wanting to play that game,” commented Grant Imahara, another combat robot enthusiast. He's been working on a robot to compete in the next event once all the legal issues have been cleared up, and has been playing video games in the mean time, with Goldeneye as a recent favorite. “It looks really neat, like Pokemon with robots, and hopefully I can apply some of the robot building skills I use in the real world to this game.”
-from an article in Popular Mechanics, October 1998
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“Aww, you gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me! I leave that other chick back at the damn water treatment plant, I get all the way to the end of the chapter, and I fuckin' fail and gotta go all the way back because she died like an idiot? This is worse than Baby Moses on the NES, at least there I KNEW that was a bad game. This game's supposed to be good, it's not supposed to do this shit! There goes like an hour of my life, totally wasted. What a shitload of fuck.”
-from The Angry Video Game Nerd, episode 82, “Nightsyren”
“And why's that such a surprise? I don't make any of my games to be 'accessible', I make them to be good. In Nightsyren, you have to work together. You have to keep your partner in mind. If you forget that for one moment, you lose. That's the object of the game.”
-Kenji Eno, in a March 2002 interview with IGN.com when the subject of Nightsyren came up
Kenji Eno's Nightsyren might have been the scariest game of 1998, and in a year that saw Resident Evil 2 and Parasite Eve, that's definitely a challenge. But what Nightsyren had going for it was the level of fear you felt for another character. In Nightsyren, you controlled the character Michiko, who was trapped in a city after a blackout and an invasion of creatures from the sewers. From the beginning of the game, Michiko was paired up with Asuka, a nurse who, like Michiko, was trapped in the city and needed to escape. The two characters were completely dependent on each other, needing each other to battle enemies and complete puzzles. While the game wasn't an “escort mission” in the traditional sense, you had to keep Asuka alive at all times. Asuka could hold her own in combat, but it wasn't combat where you had to keep her safe most of the time....you'd be confronted by repeated decisions about where to go and what to do, and many times these decisions would either lead to Asuka's death or lead to a situation where you'd need to save her. Sometimes, you'd need her to save you, you'd be captured by a gang of enemies and unable to escape and you'd need Asuka to show up, having made decisions beforehand to put her in the right place to save you, or you'd be trapped in a room with rising waters and would again need Asuka's help. The game's final chapter had three different endings, depending on your actions throughout the game....either you would kill Asuka, Asuka would kill you, or the two of you would escape the ordeal together... and very small choices made early on in the game determined which ending you would get.
And here's the rub: Nightsyren did not have save points. The game was divided into six chapters, and ONLY between chapters would your progress be saved. If at any point during a chapter you died, you'd have to go back and do the entire thing over again. Chapters were short, lasting between 30-60 minutes even for new players, but you would definitely need to repeat them more than once over the course of the game. Combine that with the somewhat erotic elements, plenty of violence, and lots of horror, a mix of dark psychological horror and jump scares, and you had a game that proved to be one of the most controversial to appear on the Sega Saturn (which had a LOT of controversial games). There are those who consider it one of the worst games ever made, and those who consider it one of the best. It was quintessentially Kenji Eno, and even moreso than D, made its mark on the video game landscape in more ways than one.
-from the article “Top 10 Horror Games Of 1998- #7: Nightsyren” on Gamescares.com, posted on September 29, 2012
Nightsyren
Dan: 4.0
Shawn: 5.0
Crispin: 8.5 (quote: “This game is absolutely not for everyone, but for those who have strong stomachs and don't get frustrated easily, it's one of the most rewarding experiences you'll have while holding a Saturn controller.”)
Sushi-X: 7.0
-from the Electronic Gaming Monthly review of Nightsyren, in the November 1998 issue
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The 1998 Major League Baseball season was one of the most exciting ever, largely due to the home run battle between Mark McGwire and Ken Griffey Jr. as they together challenged Griffey's 1996 record of 62 home runs. Both men slugged their way into the history books, with McGwire hitting 68 and Griffey hitting 65 (and toward the end of the race, a late surge by the Cubs' Sammy Sosa brought him to 63). As the home run kings dueled, their teams excelled, with the Cardinals going 114-48, and the two-time defending champion Seattle Mariners going 107-55. It seemed almost inevitable that the two teams would meet in the World Series, and indeed, they did, after the Cardinals swept both the Atlanta Braves and then the New York Mets en route to the Fall Classic. The Mariners didn't have it much tougher, sweeping the Boston Red Sox in the opening round before beating the Yankees 4-1 in the ALCS to meet the Cardinals in a World Series for the ages.
Game 1: Mariners, 7 @ Cardinals, 6
The Mariners took the first game and home field advantage, with Griffey hitting a grand slam home run in the third inning to put the Mariners on top for good. The Cardinals would rally but it wouldn't be enough.
Game 2: Mariners, 5 @ Cardinals, 12
The Cardinals roared back with a huge win, setting the tone early by going up 6-0 in the first inning and putting the Mariners in a hole they couldn't crawl out of.
Game 3: Cardinals, 3 @ Mariners, 2 (10 innings)
It was largely a defensive struggle, the game featured no home runs and went scoreless through four innings before the Mariners opened things up with a two-RBI double. The Cardinals would score one run each in the sixth, seventh, and finally the tenth inning to win a tight Game 3.
Game 4: Cardinals, 4 @ Mariners, 7
The Mariners came back in a big way with a seven-run eighth inning after the Cardinals got up 4-0 and threatened to take a 3-1 series lead. Griffey went hitless but the rest of the team stepped up with crucial hits.
Game 5: Cardinals, 3 @ Mariners, 5 (12 innings)
The longest game of the series saw Ken Griffey Jr. win it for his team with a two-run shot at the bottom of the 12th with two outs.
Game 6: Mariners, 0 @ Cardinals, 10
Game 6 was a rout, the second such game of the series. Todd Stottlemyre was the hero with a two-hit pitching performance.
Game 7: Mariners, 4 @ Cardinals, 5
The Cardinals closed out the Series and ended the Mariners' three-peat bid. Mark McGwire was the hero with two home runs, including the go-ahead home run in the eighth inning to put the Cardinals up for good.
-from “World Series 1998” on Sportsrecaps.com
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Now we come to the next two games in our review of the Ultra Nintendo's top games of 1998: Blue Nexus and Phasewar. While Blue Nexus is known as a true cult classic sci-fi RPG, Phasewar was a shooter that actually managed to outsell Squaresoft's Einhander, at least in North America, and was one of the Ultra's most successful releases of October 1998.
Blue Nexus is unique in that nearly the entire game took place inside of a spaceship, a very large spaceship that is left nearly deserted after a strike from a mysterious energy weapon leaves its entire crew of thousands of people dead...save for four (later revealed to be six) survivors who must make their way through the city-sized ship, all the while avoiding incursions from invading aliens and also diving into the ship's very strange computer simulation program known as the Blue Nexus in order to uncover the mystery of just what kind of threat they're facing. The game was compared to Atlus' Shin Megami Tensei series, particularly its game Soul Hackers which appeared on the Sega Saturn to somewhat less North American success (as in, nearly none), though the action-based combat system was different and the game was significantly easier. Developed by Tecmo, the game was a far better effort than their previous title Secret of the Stars, and they hired a special North American team to handle the translation. They also kept the original Japanese voice acting in the game rather than spend a significant amount of money to hire English language dubbers. The result was an RPG that seemed destined to be obscure, but it remains a heavily desired title among Ultra Nintendo collectors, going for up to $150 on Ebay and far more for a sealed copy.
Phasewar was the first major shooter to attempt a Gradius-style shoot-em-up in full 3-D. Though the production values were somewhat less than Starfox 2, the game had a very slick look, and allowed the player to determine which path they'd take through the game. The plot was very straightforward, about an alien invasion from another dimension, which led to massive armies of strange alien beings and thousands of ships swarming the player's very nimble and surprisingly powerful flying ship. You flied at a rapid pace through different cities and planets with only a minimal amount of dialogue from various characters, none as silly as that found in Starfox 2 but the dialogue really did give the game a very “arcadey” effect, and the soundtrack, a strange mix of techno beats and rhythms, was one of the most distinctive to appear on the Ultra, a style that would continue in later installments in the series. Phasewar was rated highly by critics and sold quite well, nearly passing Nintendo's first-party title Kid Icarus: Guardian in sales that month. It was ultimately regarded as one of the best, if not the best, shoot-em-ups of the year, and though it, like Blue Nexus, is somewhat underappreciated today, it and games like it show that the Ultra Nintendo had no shortage of great games, even the ones that didn't become blockbuster hits.
-excerpted from “Ultra Nintendo: The Hits (1998)”, an article on Gamesovermatter.com
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Sony's latest, Twisted Metal 2, is a massive game, taking the suicidal, homicidal racers all over the globe, to 14 different arenas. Indeed, there are more combatants than there are arenas, with 12 in all, two of them unlockable. The game's graphics have significantly improved, from the clunky 3-D of the Super Nintendo CD to the smooth, quick 3-D to the Ultra Nintendo, the draw distance is enormous and the weapons light up the screen, creating massive fireballs and fully collapsible buildings (though not every building is collapsible, you'll quickly learn which ones are, collapsing buildings can cause major damage to racers unlucky enough to be caught underneath them). The game also features a storyline, a series first, with Sweet Tooth, Bella Donna, Marcus Kane, and others appearing in cutscenes between levels depending on which one you select. Of course, the real appeal of this game is its multiplayer mode, featuring eight different arenas based on the levels you encounter in the single player game, and support for up to four players at once. Unlike the first game, which was a slow affair with a limited amount of arenas, the four-player multiplayer in Twisted Metal 2 runs very smoothly, and each arena has different gimmicks and tricks to spice things up (though at times, the arena can play TOO much of a role...fortunately, the option is there to turn off arena hazards). Twisted Metal 2 is extraordinarily fun and is our Game of the Month here at Next Generation. It's only on the Ultra Nintendo, so if you have the system, check it out!
Score: 46/50
-excerpted from the review of Twisted Metal 2 in the November 1998 issue of Next Generation magazine
While Emergency was shown off very recently at the Tokyo Game Show, we've got some exclusive news on Sony's newest Ultra Nintendo game to pass along. A 1999 release in both Japan and North America is expected, and the game is said to have a massive amount of voice acting, with cinematic scenes interspersed throughout the game. Sony revealed that they are looking to create a full cinematic experience with their hospital horror title, and they're positioning the game as one of their biggest hits of the year. They also revealed the nature of the outbreak...it's different from the one that's featured in Resident Evil, as it won't mutate its victims into hideous creatures, at least not all of them. We saw footage of certain humans under the influence of the strain who were completely identical to normal human beings in appearance, but they committed evil deeds under its influence. Without revealing too much, Sony indicated that Emergency won't be like any other survival horror title before it, and it's quickly becoming one of our most anticipated titles of 1999.
-excerpted from an article in the November 1998 issue of Next Generation magazine
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And while Korn's “Follow The Leader” continues to be the leader on the rock charts, the controversial Marilyn Manson is nipping at their heels with his new album, “Mechanicolocaust”. While the current top two rock acts in the country are making headlines for their controversial, violent lyrics, the band that looks to have the most anticipated rock album of 1999, Nirvana, is promising a mellower sound for their new album, though not because they're trying to steer clear of controversy. According to Dave Grohl, “we're all just in a different place than we were a few years back, and the new stuff reflects that. Everyone's in a better place right now, the whole world's in a better place.” Of course, if you ask Marilyn Manson if that's true, he'd respond with a resounding “no”, and would probably add a profanity or two for good measure. His new album deals with the issues of drug abuse and self-harm, a satirical tour-de-force that will immediately shock the uninitiated, but for Manson, that's just part of the message he's trying to send. Another band courting controversy, this one looking to burst onto the mainstream scene, is Slipknot, whose demo tracks have been gaining notoriety through distribution on music-sharing services online. This notoriety has made their demo album, set to release early next year, among the most anticipated rock albums of next year, right alongside Nirvana's next album. Another of 1999's most anticipated rock album debuts is that of Alison Pipitone, whose performance was reported to have stolen the show at this year's Lilith Fair. Her debut album, “The Lilting Tree”, might just be the biggest female rock debut since Alanis Morisette's “Jagged Little Pill”.
The biggest rock story of the past few weeks has been the sudden announcement that Soundgarden has come back together to work on a new album, with bassist Justin Chancellor replacing Ben Shepherd. Chancellor, of course, has been a prominent solo performer for the last few years, with a Grammy nomination just last year. It's impossible to know what he brings to Soundgarden until we get a sample of their new work, but their new album should come out sometime next summer. As acts like Korn and Marilyn Manson grow rapidly in prominence, a rift appears to be forming in rock between the edge-pushing hardcore rock and the more mainstream alternative sound, words that would have been an oxymoron just a couple short years ago. Next year will see several bands that helped to establish the current mainstream rock sound release new albums, whether or not these albums can challenge the controversial new faces of rock will determine the direction music will take as we head into the new millennium.
-from “Rick's Music News”, a Tripod.com website, update posted on October 24, 1998
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Hurricane Lisa Now Strongest Since Gilbert
Hurricane Lisa has achieved Category 5 status in the Caribbean Sea. The hurricane has intensified rapidly, from barely a Category 2 just yesterday afternoon, to a huge Category 5 monster with sustained winds of 185 miles per hour. The pressure has dropped to 893 millibars, which is the lowest of any Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. That hurricane impacted Mexico with powerful winds and serious flooding, killing hundreds. Right now, Hurricane Lisa is forecast to impact the Yucatan Peninsula, but is projected to weaken somewhat before then.
-a Yahoo! News weather update from October 23, 1998
Hurricane Lisa Slams Into Cancun As A Category 5 Hurricane
Hurricane Lisa has made landfall in Cancun with winds raging at 165 miles per hour, re-intensifying after an eyewall replacement cycle caused the storm to temporarily weaken to a Category 4. Due to a major evacuation and the storm striking at an off-time for tourism, Lisa's impact is unlikely to result in a large number of deaths or injuries, but monetary damage could be in the billions as the storm's powerful winds ravage Cancun's resort hotels.
-a Yahoo! News weather update from October 25, 1998
Tampa Residents Prepare For Hurricane Lisa
Hurricane Lisa may have weakened after making landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula, but the storm is still a Category 1 hurricane with winds of 85 miles per hour, and is forecast to hit the Tampa, Florida area later today. Some fluctuations in the hurricane's path are expected, but residents are taking no chances. There has been a mandatory evacuation, and those who are choosing to ride out the storm have cleaned out supplies from local stores.
-a Yahoo! News weather update from October 27, 1998
Tampa Cleans Up After Lisa
The storm may be over, but Tampa residents are left with lots of damage to clean up after the hurricane struck as a Category 2 with 100 MPH winds. The hurricane, which caused five deaths in Mexico after slamming into Cancun as a Category 5, has caused four deaths so far in Florida alone, and coastal flooding from the storm's trip up the Atlantic coast has caused at least six more. Hurricane Lisa is estimated to be the most damaging hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Hurricane Andrew, with early estimates of damage ranging from $6-8 billion. The eyewall went directly over the Tampa Bay area, causing many skyscrapers in the downtown area to be heavily damaged and an estimated wind driven storm surge of 8-10 feet in the bay. The storm has also caused the cancellation of door to door trick-or-treating in the city, though the city has set up several events for children returning from evacuation to have alternate Halloween festivities.
-a Yahoo! News weather update from October 31, 1998
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Brittany Saldita: This game though, was leaps and bounds better than the previous Saturn Keen game. And that was 3 games in one!
Alex Stansfield: Yeah, I think they've found their groove now, it helped that this game was made for the Saturn from the ground up.
Brittany: What I appreciated was that it wasn't just a Mario clone. It ends up being its own game, and...I'll tell you, it almost kind of reminds me of a more open 3-D Zombies ate My Neighbors. It's that kind of game with that kind of gameplay, and difficulty, and humor.
Alex: I think it's its own game for the most part. It's kind of a hodge podge of different genres, but it stands by itself and it really is better than I thought a Keen game could be. It embraces what it is and that's what makes it so great.
Brittany: *laughing* And while I DID think Princess Lindsay was a great subversion of the common “save the princess” cliché... is it possible to be too MUCH of a subversion, to the point where it's predictable and it loses some of its impact? Not a knock on the game, which is great, but just a thought I had.
Alex: Yeah, and then the multiplayer...I mean, they kinda just tossed it in there but it's still pretty fun. That's what Commander Keen: Mars' Most Wanted is. Just raw fun, kind of difficult but not too much so, I think it's the perfect action game for the Saturn and I'm giving it a 4.5.
Brittany: I loved it and I agree, a 4.5. It's got some flaws but they're few and far between, for the most part, this is a fantastic game and highly recommended by GameTV.
(…)
Ted Crosley: *sitting on the couch with Alex, Brittany, and Gary* and that's it for GameTV, but before we go, let's fire up Commander Keen one more time for a little game I like to call “Get Hitler”.
Alex: Hitler, being of course, history's biggest (bleep)hole, is sort of in this game. He's actually Mr. Hiller, who looks pretty much just like him, and guess what? You can be him in multiplayer.
Brittany: So what we're gonna do is make Gary be Hitler, and not do anything except run around while we chase him and kill him over and over again!
Gary Westhouse: Why do I have to be Hitler?
Ted: You do the best German accent.
Gary: No I don't, you guys do way better German accents than me!
Ted: *doing a German accent* No, no we don't, this is a lie!
Alex: *also doing a German accent* Why are you lying? This is punishable by DEATH!
Brittany: *she is also doing a German accent* Now START PLAYING!
Gary: *lets out a yell and starts running around as Mr. Hiller, getting blasted as all of them do silly German accents, with Gary's easily the worst sounding out of all of them, the screen shows “Hitler” dying multiple hilarious deaths*
-excerpted from the October 6, 1998 episode of GameTV
(...)
Gary: Time Crisis 2 was pretty good. I mean, if you liked the first one, you're gonna like the second one.
Ted: Yeah but with that said, the Saturn's showing its age with this one, the arcade version looks way better. Now, with the Ring coming out next month, I mean...hopefully it looks a little bit better on the Ring but as for right now, just know what you're getting into. The gameplay's solid, though it's pretty much the same as the original, just a bit longer and maybe a bit tougher.
Gary: Time Crisis was never my favorite lightgun series, that's probably Point Blank....
Ted: Virtua Cop for me but yeah, Point Blank's a good one. Look, I mean...you're shooting bad guys, saving hostages, it's par for the course. This game, if you've played Time Crisis and didn't love it, you probably don't need to play this one.
Gary: It's good but definitely not great. 3.5 out of 5 from me.
Ted: And I give it a 3. So, when's the next REALLY fun light gun game gonna come out? At this point it's honestly more fun and exciting just to chase your friends around with your light gun. Remember when that was gonna be the next big thing? The light gun?
Gary: Does the Ultra Nintendo have a light gun game?
Ted: Like one or two, and neither one was any good. I wouldn't mind playing Star Fox with a light gun though.
(…)
Adrian Fry: So what's Metal Clash supposed to be? An RPG? An action game? A fighting game? I wasn't entirely sure.
Alex: Hey, I really enjoyed it. I loved how much customization you could have, if you want to make a humanoid robot with a giant saw on its face and big flamethrower arms, you could!
Adrian: I tried to make a robot dog....it didn't go so well.
*The screen shows Adrian's robot dog limping along as it gets pounded by a massive hammer from another bot*
Adrian: And when I went into the arena with you, it went even worse!
*The screen shows Adrian's robot dog on its back, flailing around as Alex burns it with both flamethrower arms*
Alex: Yeah, after that one I thought the ASPCA was gonna come and bust me. Now, this game wasn't perfect, the single-player quest had a lot of cliches, like that rival of yours who shows up, the one who's like Gary but ten times more obnoxious. Pokemon Gary, not our Gary.
Adrian: Right, and some of the bosses were really cheap, it's easy to get pinned against the wall and if you don't know what you're doing, it's really hard to control your bot.
Alex: Yeah, I did feel I was kind of limited in what I could do due to the controls being really crappy with certain bot designs, so watch out for that.
Adrian: You know, in the end it's a pretty good game. It's got its problems and even though you have a LOT of customization options, there's not as much freedom as you'd think, I still found myself having fun a majority of the time I played with it and that's enough to get a 3.5 from me.
Alex: I'm giving it a 4, it's another great first-party Nintendo game and I think it's gonna be another hit for them.
-excerpted from the October 13, 1998 episode of GameTV
(…)
Gary: Okay, so can we admit it was a mistake to release Fighting Vipers 2 before the release of the Ring? It's clear this game was meant for the Ring because the Saturn version is nigh-unplayable. It looks like crap, it STILL runs slow...why even BOTHER releasing this for the Saturn and allowing you to play it without the Ring?
Adrian: Yeah, I get not wanting to limit the number of people who can play it but this just sends a bad impression.
Gary: That said, I have NEVER been a big fan of Fighting Vipers. Aside from Emi, there's really nothing that stands out about this game anyway. It's just average and then you get to the fact that this is a crippled port....
Adrian: I hope...I HOPE that not all Ring-enhanced games are like this. Great with the Ring, unplayable without it...
Gary: I think it's just this one. I HOPE it's just this one. Virtua Fighter 3 played just fine without the Ring at E3! I mean, it didn't look quite as good but it still looked great and played great. So this is just a lazy port.
Adrian: Should we do another review once the Ring comes out?
Gary: Honestly, I don't think we should. Anyway, as it stands now...0.5 from me. And the .5 is just for Emi.
Adrian: Yeah, I can't give this more than a 1. I mean...look at it.
*The game is shown again on the screen, one of the character is moving extremely slow while using his combo, which looks almost glitchy as it gets executed. The background looks really plain and everything just looks muted from the arcade version.*
Adrian: It's a total mess. I hope it plays better when the Ring comes out.
-excerpted from the October 20, 1998 episode of GameTV
(…)
Brittany: *dressed like Jem from Jem and the Holograms for the Halloween episode* You know, and for me, who's actually seen the Evangelion anime, this game's kind of a mixed bag for me. I wasn't a HUGE fan of Evangelion, but I liked it, and this game doesn't capture much of the feel of the show. That said, it's a beautiful looking game and some of the giant mech fights are pretty fun, when you're not fighting a bunch of repetitive drones.
Lyssa Fielding: *dressed like Kimber from Jem and the Holograms* Apart from the repetitive fights, I had a lot of fun with this game. Of course, I've never seen Evangelion, I've been meaning too....you know Sailor Moon is more my speed. *smiles*
Brittany: Well yeah, mine too, I mean, come on.
Lyssa: And that game was crap! Why can't they make a GOOD anime game?
Brittany: Hopefully next year's Sailor Moon game is better. I can't believe we're finally getting the Sailor Moon RPG! But enough about that, let's talk more about Evangelion. The little cinematics that pop up during the levels, I enjoyed, though again, a lot of them get kind of repetitive after a while.
Lyssa: So much repetition! It's like they made this really pretty game, with really fun giant robot fighting, but they couldn't think of enough stuff to fill 18 missions, so a lot of the gameplay during the missions is the same kind of stuff you encountered on previous levels, just more of it, or tougher.
Brittany: So many games have that problem! It really pisses me off! So yeah, I can't give this game more than a 3.
Lyssa: I'll be a little nicer and give it a 3.5, because I DID have fun with it, it's just....
Brittany: If you don't have enough stuff for eighteen missions, do like ten missions?
Lyssa: *mock gasps and puts her hands up to her cheeks* Outrageous!
-excerpted from the October 27, 1998 episode of GameTV
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SNES-CD Power Charts: October 1998
1. The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Dreams
2. Tale Phantasia
3. Chrono Trigger
4. Sphere Soldier
5. Super Mario World 2
6. Donkey Kong Country 4
7. Donkey Kong Country
8. Secret Of Mana
9. Tales Of The Seven Seas 2
10. Victory 2
Ultra Nintendo Power Charts: October 1998
1. The Dreamers
2. Final Fantasy VII
3. Super Mario Dimensions
4. Fairytale
5. Gran Turismo
6. Quixsters
7. Goldeneye 007
8. Quake
9. WWF War Zone
10. Ultra Mario Kart
The Official Saturn Magazine Buzz Chart: October 1998
1. Commander Keen: Mars' Most Wanted
2. Virtua Fighter 3
3. Sonic the Hedgehog 4
4. Tekken 3
5. Turok II: Seeds Of Evil
6. Quake
7. Shenmue
8. Arbiter Of Sin
9. Z-Stomper
10. Nightsyren
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“A decade ago, we introduced the Game Boy to the world. Since then, it has become the most successful gaming handheld of all time, with 75 million units sold. In 1996, we introdued the Game Boy Color, and brought a new world of color to our handheld platform. The Game Boy remains the most successful handheld on the market, and with the recent worldwide introduction of Pokemon, Game Boy sales continue to be strong. But, as we have seen with our home console platforms, technology and innovation continue to march on, and in Nintendo's constant effort to bring fun and entertainment to players all over the world, we never stop innovating. Now, in cooperation with our partners at Sony, I am proud to bring you the next generation of handheld gaming. I am proud to introduce for the first time anywhere... the Game Boy Nova.”
-Hiroshi Yamauchi, from his keynote speech at Spaceworld '98, October 22, 1998
“Hello again, friends! As Yamauchi-san said before, the Game Boy Nova is a handheld device for the next generation of players. Nintendo and Sony have worked on this for nearly two years, and the result is what I believe to be the most amazing handheld electronic device ever created! You're going to be...absolutely blown away by what the Nova is capable of. For the first time, we have home console-level technology inside a small handheld device. We have a next-generation chip inside this little thing, and it's capable of playing some fantastic games. Did you ever imagine you would see proper 3-D graphics on a handheld? Some of the things you will see this weekend, I think, will astonish you, much like the Super Nintendo CD astonished you when we first showed it off seven years ago. I see that some of you remember!”
-Ken Kutaragi, from his keynote speech at Spaceworld '98, October 22, 1998
SPACEWORLD: Nintendo's Big Show
It's been nearly two-and-a-half years since Nintendo last had a big show at Shoshinkai, but we're finally back and Nintendo made some major announcements at this year's show, while exhibiting more than a dozen new games for its various platforms.
First and foremost, of course, was the announcement of a new piece of hardware from Nintendo: the long-awaited successor to the Game Boy and the Game Boy Color. The new handheld is called the Game Boy Nova, and it's a true quantum leap from anything that's come before it. The new system, which has a clamshell design, with the screen (a wide screen in fact!) on top and the controls on the bottom. The rectangular handheld has controls similar to those found on the Super Nintendo, with four face buttons, the familiar A, B, X, and Y, along with two shoulder buttons, a Start button, a Select button, and a D-pad. The graphics are superb, this system is capable of anything the Super Nintendo CD could do, and some games even approached a few lesser Saturn titles in graphical fidelity. The games were divided between detailed 2-D and some nice 3-D, and the 3-D on some games exceeded what we saw in Squad Four: Eclipse, considered to be the best 3-D on the SNES-CD. And what games am I talking about? Well, first up, there's Super Mario Nova, a new platforming Mario game that resembles a much prettier Super Mario World 2. It's not in 3-D, but the colors pop to an extraordinary degree on the backlit screen, and the game features moving backgrounds like in the Donkey Kong Country games. Only two levels were playable, but they were both quite fun, and Super Mario Nova is expected to be a launch title. But there was a game even bigger than Super Mario Nova at the show.... Nintendo officially announced Pokemon Sun and Moon, the sequel to Pokemon Red and Green, and the game is a mix of 2-D and 3-D, with some 3-D used in the overworld and buildings, while battles appeared in fully animated 2-D, with highly detailed Pokemon. So far, most of the Pokemon that appeared in the game were of the original 150, but new Pokemon including a funny-looking owl and a fierce-looking dog were shown to appear in the game, along with a new Bug type that resembled a ladybug. Nintendo and Gamefreak, which is owned by Sony, promise to reveal more about Pokemon Sun and Moon in the coming months, but what I saw and played was amazing. The Game Boy Nova will also see a few ports, including Super Metroid, which Nintendo showed off at Spaceworld on the Nova (unfortunately, it was the only Metroid game that appeared at the show). What amazed me was the port of Resident Evil that was running on the Nova, it wasn't quite as good looking as the Saturn version of the game, let alone the Ultra version, but it still looked fantastic, beyond anything I thought a handheld was capable of before seeing it for myself. Among the technical specs that were revealed about the Nova was that it will use cartridges as a storage medium (CDs were considered, but the movement of a CD reading mechanism would have been a drain on the Nova's battery life). This might present a problem, considering that several SNES-CD ports are planned for the Nova, but with compression and the removal of animated cutscenes, the cartridges (estimated to hold between 4-64 megabytes of data, with more possible down the road as memory prices come down) should be sufficient enough for most SNES-CD games, let alone games designed specifically with the Nova in mind. The battery life clocks in at 6-8 hours on the handheld's rechargeable battery, which is relatively astonishing considering that Sega's less powerful Venus got about 2 hours on 6 AAs (with less than one hour on some Mega Charger games). Sony is rumored to have put a lot of money into the research of rechargeable battery technology specifically for the Nova, and it's likely to pay off once the Nova is released. The system is priced at an estimated 21,000 yen, with a Japanese release expected by the end of 1999, and a North American release likely either at the end of 1999 or sometime during 2000. The Nova looks truly amazing, but with Pokemon still going strong on the original Game Boy, its sales should remain robust even after the Nova's launch.
Nintendo was also showing off lots of Ultra Nintendo software at Spaceworld. Perhaps the most intriguing title was Super Smash Bros., a fighting game starring Nintendo characters facing off against each other! Yes, you heard that right. Mario, Link, Pikachu, Donkey Kong, Samus, Yoshi, Kirby, and a number of others who have yet to be announced will all throw down in this four-player fighting game, and even though I didn't get much time to play before having to step aside for the next person, the game looks incredibly fun. Surprisingly, no North American release has been announced as of yet, though the game will be releasing in Japan in December and I have to imagine it'll show up on our shores sometime in 1999. Nintendo also showed off the new F-Zero game, F-Zero: Ultracharged, which is coming out in Japan at the start of next year. Captain Falcon returns with a number of new racers, and the game not only boasts 18 all new (and very pretty) tracks, but it also features a course creation mode that will allow the player to design their own track and then bring it to a friend's house with the Ultra Nintendo's Controller Pak. Ultracharged looks incredibly fun and will definitely build off of the momentum that F-Zero CD created all the way back in 1994. There was a new Mario-based golf game and also Mario Party, a four-player board game that looked somewhat silly but should add to the Ultra's roster of really fun multiplayer games.
X: Tactics, the next game in the X series that includes the Super Squadron X titles, was announced at Spaceworld for the Ultra Nintendo. It takes a more deliberate approach to the popular tank war game, requiring players to plan out their attacks on a massive battlefield before engaging in tank skirmishes with the enemy. It combines elements from strategy games with the X series' tried-and-true tank fighting, and should be quite a hit when it launches in Japan in the spring. Speaking of strategy titles, the new Fire Emblem game, which now has a subtitle, best translated in English as The False Princess, was shown off at Spaceworld, though only with a small video trailer and a brief demo of gameplay. The fully 3-D battlefields look great, and characters seem to come to life with excellent animation and a series first, voice acting. Fire Emblem: The False Princess is still some time away but could appear in North America as early as next year. Masahiro Sakurai, who was there to show off his Smash Bros. game, also showed off a Kirby title for the Ultra, though only a small gameplay demo was available, showing Kirby moving around and sucking up enemies in a fully-3D world. Kirby showed off a couple of new powers, including the ability to transform into a Starfox-like ship, and Rick from the Dream Land games also made a brief appearance. We'll be sure to see more of the new Kirby game over the upcoming months. And finally, Nintendo announced the next Squad Four game, though again, only had a short gameplay demo to show off at Spaceworld. This demo, however, was extremely expressive. You controlled Shad, who was running around fighting guards in some type of prison area, and the demo showed off the game's impressive lock-on system. Basically, Squad Four has gone completely off the rails. It's now a fully 3-D adventure title, and the demo left me clamoring for more. Indeed, Spaceworld 1998 left most attendees begging for more and excited about the future, which is pretty much the hallmark of any successful trade show. 1999 is going to be a very fun year for Nintendo fans.
-excerpted from an article on Gamespot.com, October 28, 1998
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