“And while the Ultra Nintendo's latest 3D platformers are inferior emulations of Super Mario Dimensions, it's the Saturn's platforming hits that are innovating and taking the genre to new heights. It's one of the greatest ironies in gaming today, and what makes the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 5 the year's most anticipated game.”
-from the Sonic the Hedgehog 5 page on “Savage Stan's Saturn Source”, posted on January 28, 1999
“What was once Telenet Japan's flagship series has turned into one of the most generic game franchises on the market. The first SNES-CD Valis revived the series and held infinite promise. Ultra Valis is just another cookie-cutter 3D game. Telenet Japan's creative energies are clearly being spent elsewhere.”
-from the 2.75 review of Ultra Valis: Knight Of Light in the February 1999 issue of GamePro
“I think both companies, Nintendo and Sega, have done a lot of things right over the last decade. Video games are in so many homes now, they're a big part of the culture. That's why Microsoft Windows has such a strong focus on games as a big selling point for our computers. We know people love to play games. Our customers work hard, and we think they should get to play hard too.”
-Bill Gates, in an interview in the January 1999 issue of PC Gamer
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(Author's Note: I'm changing things up a bit with the reviews. For the last few “years” of this timeline, I've been doing SNES-CD and Ultra Nintendo Electronic Gaming Monthly reviews exclusively. I'm retooling the reviews and instead of Electronic Gaming Monthly only, I'll be listing two scores: the EGM review average (which is averaged among three instead of four reviews, since EGM began going to three reviewers per game in 1999 IOTL), and the Gamespot review score. I've been doing the EGM scores a bit improperly anyway, I listed the same four guys for every game when of course in reality EGM's Review Crew consisted of about 8-12 people who would review different games during the same month. So with this average score, I don't have to list any names and it's a lot more realistic. In addition, I can now add/remove review sources easily over time, so later on I might add IGN, GameInformer, etc., with Metacritic scores coming in eventually once Metacritic appears ITTL. I'll also begin doing Saturn games, as well as a few Game Boy games on occasion. The rule of thumb is this: I'm going to continue posting reviews of every Ultra Nintendo game, though not EVERY Ultra Nintendo game...even in prior years with SNES-CD games, I imagine there are obscure/annualized/shovelware games that came out but that wouldn't have been reviewed in any source, so I didn't mention them as part of the timeline. I'll also be including Saturn reviews, though the only Saturn games mentioned ITTL are the significant ones, I imagine we cover about 33-50% of North American Saturn releases. So with all that explained, here are this month's reviews.)
Ultra Nintendo:
Beetle Adventure Racing
EGM: 7.0 (quote: “A fairly by the numbers affair, but the courses are nifty and the cars look pretty great.”)
Gamespot: 8.7 (quote: “Really easy to pick up, but ramps up to a satisfying challenge after easing players in.”)
Monaco Grand Prix
EGM: 7.5 (quote: “The cars handle quite well, and though this game doesn't have the variety of a Gran Turismo, it's still very realistic and exciting.”)
Gamespot: 7.2 (quote: “While we would've liked to see more cars, the racing itself is solid.”)
NBA In The Zone '99
EGM: 6.2 (quote: “The graphics are pretty bad considering how strong the Ultra Nintendo is.”)
Gamespot: 7.0 (quote: “The game plays well, but it could've used some visual polish.”)
Shadow Man
EGM: 7.0 (quote: “This game is creepy as all hell, making good use of the Ultra's sound capabilities even if it's pretty generic in terms of gameplay.”)
Gamespot: 7.4 (quote: “We loved this game's horror aesthetic, and it does a good job of adapting the source material.”)
The Curse Of Monkey Island
EGM: 8.3 (quote: “Another fantastic Monkey Island adventure, with better presentation than ever.”)
Gamespot: 7.9 (quote: “Even with the voice acting and animation enhancements from previous games in the series, it still seems a bit primitive for the Ultra Nintendo.”)
Ultra BattleTanx
EGM: 6.8 (quote: “It compares pretty well to Saturn's Desert Tank, but the storyline is only a thin veneer.”)
Gamespot: 5.9 (quote: “It starts out great but quickly gets repetitive.”)
Ultra Harvest Moon
EGM: 8.0 (quote: “There's so much to do that it's easy to get overwhelmed.”)
Gamespot: 9.0 (quote: “A lovely game, full of life and plenty of activities for your young farmer.”)
Ultra Valis: Knight Of Light
EGM: 6.5 (quote: “A decent reboot of the series that does hit a few snags, mostly that it's quite short.”)
Gamespot: 6.8 (quote: “Valis goes the generic platformer route, which is a shame because this series was so fun in 2-D.”)
Swordslayer
EGM: 7.0 (quote: “This game isn't much better on the Ultra than it was on the Saturn, but the animation is a bit smoother.”)
Gamespot: N/A (Saturn port, original received a 7.8)
Hell Freezes Over
EGM: 4.0 (quote: “One of the most unoriginal RTS games I've ever played, and that's before you start seeing numerous glitches.”)
Gamespot: 2.3 (quote: “The title of the game is accurate because I felt like that's when I'd start having fun playing it.”)
Saturn Games:
Orb Puncher
EGM: 7.0 (quote: “While the idea to combine a fighter with a puzzle game is an innovative one, the fighting portion itself is fairly bare-bones, making this somewhat more of a straight-up puzzler.”)
Gamespot: 8.4 (quote: “A superbly fun game that requires rapid reflexes and lots of quick thinking.”)
Zodiac World
EGM: 8.8 (quote: “Maybe the best platformer to ever come out on the Saturn, and that includes Sonic 4.”)
Gamespot: 9.5 (quote: “Some of the challenges are nearly perfect, and the game's boss fights, based on the signs of the zodiac, are some of the most amazing you'll ever play.”)
Fleet: A Dancing Adventure
EGM: 7.5 (quote: “We definitely have to give the battle system credit for being very original for the genre.”)
Gamespot: 5.6 (quote: “While combining RPG gameplay and rhythm game controls is a unique idea, the execution is flawed...at best.”)
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Zodiac World: The Details
The Saturn's first major release of 1999, Zodiac World is released on January 14, 1999. The game, produced by Vectorman developers BlueSky, is a 3-D platformer/adventure title about a boy named Juni who must gather up the twelve ancient Zodiac Stones to battle an ancient evil that threatens his world. The game has a bigger focus on action and combat than a lot of other platformers, as Juni progresses through the world and acquires the Zodiac Stones, he'll gain special powers that will enhance either his movement, melee combat, special attacks, or will give him a special weapon. The game is somewhat more streamlined than a lot of other 3-D platformers, instead of roaming an open world and collecting items, the game is divided into levels that are accessed via a central hub. As each Stone is collected, a new world is opened up. When you enter each world, there's a separate hub that will take you to each level within the world, and each level has its own objective to complete, whether it be reaching the end of the level, finding an item, rescuing a person, or defeating an enemy or enemies. Each world also has a secret level that is opened up via completing a secret objective in one of the world's other levels, complete that secret level and you'll earn a special reward, complete ALL 13 secret levels in the game and you'll earn one more secret level that you can beat to get the game's best ending. The game is compatible with either the base Saturn or the Ring, using the Ring enhances the game's graphics somewhat and also opens up an additional playable mode that makes certain bosses and enemies more difficult and complex.
Zodiac World's plot involves Juni and his family, a family of explorers, discovering an ancient temple ruin. Juni's curious older sister Liza opens a door despite Juni telling her not to, causing an evil energy to rush out into Liza and possess her before rushing out into the entire world. Juni's family is overwhelmed by the energy and Juni is left alone. When he stumbles into the empty chamber he discovers that the only way to stop the darkness is by finding the 12 Zodiac Stones and returning them to the temple. This is the start of Juni's mission, on which he must defeat the evil monsters the dark energy has created, find new friends and allies to help him, and save his family including his sister Liza.
World One: Capricorn
Juni must explore a pasture-like area and help out a young farmer boy save the farm from the dark energies swirling around it. The boss of the world is a mutated goat beast that has crawled out of the river to attack the farm.
World Two: Sagittarius
Juni explores a huge wooded forest area in search of the Dark Hunter, who has begun targeting the forest's innocent woodland creatures as his prey. He finds and defeats the hunter to claim the second stone.
World Three: Scorpio
Juni explores a desert area and must save a beautiful Egyptian queen from being sacrificed to a hideous scorpion monster.
World Four: Libra
Juni explores an ancient medieval city that has been reformed by the dark energy and is being ruled over by an evil judge who sentences innocent people to terrible punishments.
World Five: Virgo
Juni explores a Greek Temple world and befriends a lovely young woman who is not all that she seems...in fact she is the leader of an evil cult, and uses her magic to put young maidens under her spell. Juni must defeat her to claim the fifth Zodiac Stone.
World Six: Leo
Juni crosses into a Roman-like world, where he is eventually forced to battle a great and powerful lion in the Coliseum.
World Seven: Cancer
Juni makes his way to a beach town under attack from a huge and powerful crab monster, he must defeat the crab monster to claim the seventh stone.
World Eight: Gemini
Juni returns to his own home town, which is under siege by a gang of evildoers led by a vicious pair of cruel twins.
World Nine: Taurus
Juni battles his way through a fiery forge world, before battling against a great mechnical bull monster.
World Ten: Aries
Juni ventures up a huge mountain, all the while helping the people and creatures he finds there. Once he reaches the summit he must come face to face with the evil spirit of the mountain, a great and powerful ram beast.
World Eleven: Pisces
Juni goes deep under the sea to help an undersea city of mermaids under siege by a hideous sea monster.
World Twelve: Aquarius
All the while that Juni has been collecting the twelve Gemini Stones, he's been pursuing his sister Liza, who has been the one causing many of the dark and evil events that Juni's had to prevent. He finally pursues his sister through a portal, to a dark and twisted false utopia where his family is being held prisoner. He is forced to battle Liza herself, exorcising her possession and gathering the last Zodiac Stone.
World Thirteen: Serpentarius
Juni has saved his family and now he must save the world. He returns to the temple and places the Zodiac Stones, but the darkness has grown too strong...he must go deeper into the temple, completing the final few levels to battle the darkness incarnate in the form of a terrifying snake monster. Once he defeats the darkness, the world is truly saved.
Zodiac World gets extremely good reviews for its gameplay length and combat complexity, and is regarded as Sega's third great family platformer in three months, after Commander Keen: Mars' Most Wanted and Spare Parts. It eventually becomes Sega's best selling platformer since Sonic the Hedgehog 4, even outstripping sales of Keen and Spare Parts. A Saturn platformer bundle which consists of the Saturn, the Ring, Sonic 4, Sonic Jam, Commander Keen: Mars' Most Wanted, Spare Parts, and Zodiac World is eventually announced at that year's E3, retailing for $299.99, which is regarded as a spectacularly good deal for new Saturn purchasers (especially since the base Ultra Nintendo with just Super Mario Dimensions is still retailing for $299.99) and becomes one of the best-selling Saturn bundles ever put on sale.
“There's been a bit of a role reversal of sorts as of late, which the recent release of Zodiac World seems to accentuate. The family-friendly platformer joins a series of platformer hits released for the Saturn over the past year or so, giving Sega's machine a reputation for producing quality platforming games. In contrast, the Ultra Nintendo is preparing to release Metal Gear Solid, one of the year's most adult-oriented games, and this follows the M-rated Parasite Eve in the company's recent release schedule. Could the Saturn be rebranding itself as a family machine, especially with Sonic 5 in the pipeline? Is this their new strategy, or just a temporary aberration? We'll keep an eye on these trends in the coming months.”
-from an editorial in the February 1999 issue of Next Generation magazine
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With its graphical enhancements and the addition of voice acting, a series first, The Curse Of Monkey Island was one of the most beloved PC games of 1997, and it was only inevitable that it would get a release on the Ultra Nintendo, with the two previous games having been big hits for the SNES-CD. The Curse of Monkey Island was ported nearly unchanged to the Ultra, with little in the way of additions or enhancements, though it was still a fantastic game and it was thought that it would be one of the biggest hits of early 1999 for the Ultra. But while Curse sold quite well, indeed, it was comfortably the best selling new Ultra Nintendo title of January 1999, it continued the trend established by 1996's port of LeChuck's Revenge by having declining sales from the previous port. Indeed, it became the first Nintendo Monkey Island game not to achieve a million sales.
It certainly wasn't the game's fault. Curse of Monkey Island was a perfect port, and critics scored it highly...though not as highly as they did the PC version. Many critics thought that Curse seemed a bit primitive on the Ultra Nintendo, that maybe a more streamlined, modern remake of the game as opposed to the point-and-click gameplay would have been preferred (of course, many of these same critics criticized Ultra Detective Club for NOT being a point-and-click title...guess there's just no pleasing some people). Still, the game was hardly a critical flop, it averaged solid 8s and 9s from most outlets, and MTV's popular GameTV gave it a fairly glowing 9/10 review, including a perfect 5 from Lyssa Fielding. Perhaps Curse of Monkey Island's lukewarm sales performance was just part of the overall post-Christmas, pre-Metal Gear Solid slump that the Ultra Nintendo was in at the time, the first since its North American release back in November 1997. Those who actually played Guybrush Threepwood's third grand adventure on the Ultra Nintendo generally weren't disappointed.
-excerpted from “Monkey Island On Nintendo: An Adventurous History”, an article on Kotaku.com
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Which brings us to Ultra Valis: Knight Of Light, Telenet Japan's 3-D reboot of their popular hack and slash adventure series. This game takes Yuuko into a brand new world, the Eclipsis Peaks, to battle a swarm of demons and harpies threatening the great mountain kingdom there. While in Eclipsis, Yuuko must rescue the beautiful princess Kyuri and defeat the Dark Lord Skullfractur to save the kingdom. It's chock-full of anime cutscenes, though it's somewhat light on innovation: it's essentially a standard platforming action title with cutscenes as a bridge between play sequences. After working on two major RPGs (Tale Lemuria and Strange Seed: The Tree of Life), the company's creative energies seem to be a bit burned out, though the company does have Soulqueen 2: The Beyond coming out later this year (it recently released in Japan to excellent reviews but somewhat disappointing sales). Soulqueen 2's announcement for the West came as a shock to some. The performance of Soulqueen in North America was disappointing for the company, and the most of the sequel's hype is coming from internet sites and not from the mainstream gaming press. Still, Telenet Japan seems confident that the cult fanbase around the first game will propel greater sales here. The company has two other titles releasing this year in Japan, though only one of them, a quirky 2-D platformer called Cyringe, has been announced for a Western release. Work has already begun on the next game in the Tale series, and that's sure to get the company back in the attention of the mainstream gaming press. At one time, Telenet Japan was poised to become Nintendo's top second party game publisher, but the surging success of Rare has pushed Telenet Japan way out of the spotlight, and other companies have passed it even for the number two position. It seems likely that only the strong sales of Tale Lemuria are keeping Telenet Japan in a good financial position.
-from an article on Gamespot.com, published on January 23, 1999
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Natsume's Ultra Harvest Moon introduced voice acting to the series for the very first time, though only in specific animated cutscenes such as wedding proposals or significant milestones in your farming career. The game essentially followed the same basic gameplay as the SNES-CD Harvest Moon, only with 3-D graphics, an expanded town, and more activities for your farmer to perform. You could even build enough windmills to sell off excess electrical power to the town! A notable addition to Ultra Harvest Moon was the scenario mode, which kind of operated like the scenario modes in the SimCity games. You were put on a farm with a specific goal to accomplish and you had a limited time in which to do so. Some, like acquiring a certain amount of money with a fairly limited farm set-up, were quite simple. Others, such as extricating yourself from a romantic entanglement with one girl in order to marry another, were quite tricky. These scenarios added another layer of gameplay to the typical Harvest Moon experience, and became a staple of the series, eventually leading to a fully structured Story Mode later on that separated itself completely from the normal, freeform Harvest Moon gameplay. Ultra Harvest Moon was a strong seller. In fact, it was the third best selling new video game of the month, behind Zodiac World and The Curse Of Monkey Island. It established new trends for the series that continue to this day, and also placed the series firmly on the North American radar, one of the few quirky Japanese game franchises to really make that leap.
-from an article on Gamesovermatter.com
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Super Smash Bros. Roster Revealed!
Well, at least the first 12 characters, anyway. With six secret characters to unlock, that gives Super Smash Bros. a total of 18 playable characters. From what we've seen of Japanese footage of the game, here are the initial 12:
Mario
Yoshi
Donkey Kong
Pikachu
Fox McCloud
Link
Zelda
Samus Aran
Kirby
Captain Falcon
Shad
Woofle
We'll be sure to give you information on the unlockable characters once they're revealed! A growing rumor is that Cloud Strife is available in the game immediately if you have a Final Fantasy VII save on your memory card and that Simon Belmont is available immediately if you have a Castlevania: Symphony of the Night save on your memory card, but how to get these characters through normal gameplay has yet to be found through our first hour or so of playing!
-from an article on gaming-age.com, posted on January 27, 1999
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Ted Crosley: Zodiac World sort of reminded me of The Three Caballeros in its scope. There's so much of this game, and the levels are pretty short and sweet.
Alex Stansfield: Right, it's a kind of “bite size gaming” that stands in contrast to the larger, more open levels of Super Mario Dimensions and The Dreamers. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but in Zodiac World, it really works.
Ted: Yeah, though some of the attempts to kind of “force” the zodiac are a bit lame. I mean, some of the zodiac signs like a bull or whatever make awesome boss fights, but the very first boss is this...water...goat thing?
Alex: For Capricorn, yeah.
Ted: I mean, couldn't they have come up with something else for that? And then for Libra, the boss is an evil judge.
Alex: Sometimes an evil judge works. Like Judge Doom in Roger Rabbit.
Ted: Yeah, but this wasn't that.
Alex: Or Judge Judy, she's pretty evil.
Ted: *laughing* But apart from the silly bosses, this was one of the best platformers I've played in a long time. I'm giving it a 4.5.
Alex: I'm gonna give it the same, a 4.5. This game is highly recommended, absolute must play for anyone who loves a quality action game.
-excerpted from the January 12, 1999 episode of GameTV
(…)
Adrian Fry: It's good to see that even after Gran Turismo came out and made all other racing games on the Ultra Nintendo obsolete, that developers are still trying new things.
Brittany Saldita: Wait, are we talking about the same game? Because Monaco Grand Prix is the same cookie cutter racing experience that pretty much every F-1 style game has delivered over the past couple years. The track editor mode is too hard to work with and the career mode is a pretty poor facsimile of the great single player mode in Gran Turismo. This game is skippable, at best.
Adrian: I actually liked how streamlined it is compared to Gran Turismo, it's just a pure Formula One racing experience and one of the best around. Especially if you use the steering wheel accessory, the controls are stellar. The graphics are lovely, the cars look great, this is a really, REALLY good game.
Brittany: And everything you just said can also be said about Gran Turismo. Look, Monaco Grand Prix is made technically well, but if I'm going to play a racing game, it's gotta be different. Look at Beetle Adventure Racing, that game actually tries a bit of innovation. Here, it's the same game as every other Formula One racer made before it. Try something new!
Adrian: Monaco Grand Prix, I thought was really fun and I'm giving it a 4.0
Brittany: *groaning and shaking her head* Nope, you can pass on this game fairly safely. It gets a 2 out of 5 from me.
Adrian: You don't even like racing.
Brittany: True, not a fan of any of it. Racing games are fun though. Not this one, but some of them are.
(…)
Lyssa Fielding: Aside from the killer tunes, Fleet: The Dancing Adventure definitely isn't the BEST RPG, but can we give it credit for trying something new?
Gary Westhouse: You know, as a rhythm game, it's really good. It made me deliberately want to get into battles so I could fight enemies and use my moves on them.
Lyssa: Some of the best attacks are SO tough to get, but if you're great at Parappa or Spice World, you'll nail your button presses and just be hitting for massive damage every single time. That DOES make the game, even the final bosses, a bit too easy, but it's still fun if you've got a lot of skill.
Gary: And if you suck at rhythm games, you can just use items to compensate for your lack of rhythm.
Lyssa: Just like chugging a beer in real life!
Gary: Although you probably would have to be drunk to get much enjoyment out of the....really...really cheesy storyline.
Lyssa: It's campy! ...but yeah, it is pretty bad.
*A quick scene from the game is shown, where the main character Fleet is being told by the Great Rhythm Guru, a guy with a huge afro, that he has to collect the Disco Ball of Destiny*
Gary: Is....is this what game developers think is “groovy”?
Lyssa: *rolling her eyes* They should've just let me write this thing.
Gary: If you're into rhythm games and RPGs, check this one out. It's a solid 3.5 out of 5 in my book.
Lyssa: I'll give it a 4, I had a ton of fun playing it even if the RPG aspects were no Final Fantasy.
Gary: Although NOW I wish someone would do a Final Fantasy with the dancing battle system. Maybe in Final Fantasy VIII, your giant robots can get down?
Lyssa: Oh that would be AMAZING!
(…)
*Ted and Lyssa are sitting on the couch on either side of Stone Cold Steve Austin, who's being interviewed as part of the promotion for January 24's Royal Rumble.*
Lyssa: It's such an honor to have you here, Stone Cold.
Stone Cold Steve Austin: Well, I don't play any video games, so I ain't gonna be talkin' about them, but if you wanna hear about how I'm gonna be whoopin' some sumbitches at the Royal Rumble, I can sure as hell talk about that.
Ted: Actually, that's exactly what we want to talk to you about, since I know for a fact you want your WWF Championship back.
Stone Cold: More than anything in the world. Right now, the Rock's got it, and if he's the guy who's ass I gotta kick at Wrestlemania to get my title back, then so be it. But first I gotta win the Royal Rumble, and there's not a damn soul alive who's gonna stand in my way.
Lyssa: Well, if you DO know about any video game characters, I would like to ask which one you see yourself as the most?
Stone Cold: I've played Mortal Kombat a few times before, and Sub-Zero is one stone cold son of a bitch, just like me. So I'd have to say him, but if the two of us were in the ring together, I'd whip his ass just like everyone else.
Ted: You know, Owen Hart's been talking quite a bit about winning the Rumble himself.
Stone Cold: Owen Hart's a good friend of mine, I helped him get his job back after he pissed off Vince at Wrestlemania. But the Rattlesnake's not afraid to tussle with anybody. That's why I'm always saying, “don't trust anybody”. Now I've run with Owen before, but I don't trust him, and he shouldn't trust me. And if I'm in position to toss him out of the ring, you bet your ass I'm gonna do it.
Lyssa: But he's your friend!
Stone Cold: Little missy, there's one thing you need to know about Stone Cold, is that Stone Cold don't have any friends, and that's the bottom line, because Stone Cold said so!
Lyssa: Well, I hope he's not watching the show right now, if he heard that-
Stone Cold: I bet he is watchin' it, I see him back in the locker room sometimes playin' on his little Nintendo, so I'm sure he's got his eyeballs on the television screen right now. *looks right at the camera* And I'll tell you this, Owen, if you're watching. I ain't afraid to work with ya in the Rumble. I ain't afraid to help ya toss some of them big sumbitches out of the ring. But if you turn your back on me for one second, you're gonna get bit same as everybody else who turns his eyes away from the Rattlesnake.
Ted: So let me change the subject a bit. You know former WWF wrestler Jesse Ventura almost became governor of Minnesota, he lost to Norm Coleman by just a few thousand votes up there...do you see a future in politics in the cards for yourself?
Stone Cold: *laughs* I ain't getting' into no damn politics, I think they're all a buncha mealymouth sumbitches cryin' and moanin' about stupid crap that don't even matter. The only thing that matters is how big a can of whoopass you can open up on somebody. But I'll say this, if I was president, the national bird would be the finger. *flips off the camera with both hands*
Lyssa: Well, it's been lovely having you on the show, Stone Cold, is there anything else you'd like to say?
Stone Cold: Got any beer?
Ted: I think we do over here in the fridge!
*Ted takes Stone Cold over to the fridge where he takes out a couple of beers, smashes them together and begins guzzling them down in typical Stone Cold fashion, getting beer all over the place*
Lyssa: Oh, he's making a huge mess!
Ted: *shrugs and grabs a couple more beers, tossing one to Stone Cold before toasting with him and guzzling one down with him as Stone Cold's entrance theme begins to play and the show goes to commercial as Lyssa just sits there on the couch shaking her head*
-excerpted from the January 19, 1999 episode of GameTV
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Ultra Nintendo Power Charts: January 1999
1. Killer Instinct Ultra
2. Final Fantasy VII
3. Twisted Metal 2
4. Super Mario Dimensions
5. Tale Lemuria
6. Metal Clash
7. Ballistic Limit 2
8. Kid Icarus: Guardian
9. Gran Turismo
10. Ultra World Of Color
The Official Saturn Magazine Buzz Charts: January 1999
1. Virtua Fighter 3
2. Zodiac World
3. Shenmue
4. Sonic The Hedgehog 4
5. Arbiter Of Sin
6. Spare Parts
7. Turok 2: Seeds Of Evil
8. Tomb Raider III
9. Shining Force IV
10. Commander Keen: Mars' Most Wanted
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The Green Bay Packers entered their 1998-99 NFL campaign looking to win their third straight NFL championship, repeating the feat that the Dallas Cowboys had accomplished earlier in the decade. But when Brett Favre went down with a season ending injury in only the second game of the season, the Packers' hopes were ultimately dashed...which is a shame, because it would have been nice to see if they could have stopped the unstoppable Minnesota Vikings, who achieved the first perfect season since the 1972 Miami Dolphins, going 16-0 during the regular season en route to a Super Bowl victory. The Vikings had one of the most dominant units in NFL history behind the ferocious arm of Randall Cunningham, who had established one of the league's best QB-to-WR hookups with Cris Carter. Carter's 25 touchdown season remains an NFL record, and propelled the Vikings to an incredible 530 points worth of offensive. Combined with one of the league's stiffest defenses, and the Vikings couldn't be stopped. In fact, their opponents only managed to finish within a touchdown of the Vikings twice out of the 19 games they played. That year's other compelling story was the revivification of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers started with a 3-5 record, and Ryan Leaf was looking to be one of the biggest busts in NFL history. But after what's reported to have been a “heart to heart” talk with coach Tony Dungy, Leaf emerged as that year's second best offensive rookie behind only the Saints' dynamic Peyton Manning. The Buccaneers won seven of their last eight games, losing only to the perfect Vikings, and ended up as a wild card at 10-6. Once there, the Buccaneers upset the Dallas Cowboys in the wild card round and the dynamic “Dirty Bird” Falcons in the divisional round to make it to the NFC Championship, where they'd face the Vikings (who'd just finished mopping the floor with Peyton Manning's Saints in the divisional round, picking him off five times en route to a 42-10 victory). Though Leaf's Bucs would come up short, 30-17, the Buccaneers hung in the game until midway through the fourth quarter, and Ryan Leaf proved to be one of the year's most inspiring sports stories. On the AFC side, the Denver Broncos finally broke through after knocking off Dan Marino's Miami Dolphins in the conference championship, setting up a showdown between a pair of teams that had lost four Super Bowls but had never won one. And in the end, the Vikings proved why they'd been the NFL's best team all year, beating the Broncos 35-14. John Elway would remain with Denver for one more year to continue chasing a Super Bowl ring, but for the moment, the Minnesota Vikings were the NFL's best team, and looked to be strong favorites to repeat in 2000.
In that year's NFL Draft, the New England Patriots had the top pick after a disastrous 1998-99 campaign. They used the pick to draft quarterback Donovan McNabb, passing over Tim Couch, who was picked up by the Philadelphia Eagles at #2. Ricky Williams went to the St. Louis Rams at #3. The Green Bay Packers, who'd been left reeling after Favre's injury, ended up with the #7 overall pick, which they used on running back Edgerrin James.
-excerpted from the article “NFL Recap: 1999” on Bleacherreport.com
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January 31, 1999
“This damn Super Bowl sucks!” shouted a party goer as he watched John Elway throw his third interception of the game. “John Elway's a washed up bum!”
“I think Rich had money on the Broncos,” whispered Tom Kalinske's wife to her husband as the two sat on the couch together at Kalinske's home. The Kalinskes were hosting a Super Bowl party, and though Tom had invited a few fellow Sega employees to his house to watch the game, most of the attendees were either family members or friends from outside work.
“That or he's had one too many drinks,” Tom whispered back. “Just hope he doesn't start swearing too much, the kids are in the room.”
Tom's daughters seemed mostly uninterested in the game, though Ashley had seemed fairly invested in it before it became a blowout after an 89-yard interception return before halftime put the Vikings up 21-7. With the game now nearly out of reach for the Broncos, Tom thought it safe to go into his office and check a couple of e-mails from work. The news from Sega had been positive, for a change. The Ultra Nintendo had seen its steepest month-to-month North American sales decline since its release there, while the Saturn, bolstered by the strength of Zodiac World, had dropped much more modestly. The success of games like Zodiac World and Spare Parts was exactly what Kalinske had needed to see: something to build upon, in this case, the Saturn's growing library of quality 3-D platformers. That would be the thrust of a new marketing push for the company that would carry them all the way to the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 5.
“Saturn: A Family System,” thought Kalinske. It certainly wouldn't be the next tagline for commercials, but it was an idea to carry forward. Sega had momentum, something it hadn't had in a long time, and Kalinske was prepared to seize upon the opportunity. He opened up the two e-mails. The first one was a congratulations from Hayao Nakayama on the successful launch of Zodiac World. The second was a company directive. “....damn.”
Kalinske read the e-mail. The scheduled layoffs hadn't been scaled back...he was going to have to let a few dozen employees go. He let out a sigh and slumped back in his chair. One of the people he'd been planning on laying off was someone he'd invited to his Super Bowl party. He was one of the last on the layoff list, if the layoffs had been scaled back, Kalinske would've been able to retain him...but he'd have to go in the very next morning and let him know that he was being fired.
And then he'd have to lay out his new strategy for the company's new platformer-centric marketing strategy in a meeting immediately afterward. The meeting would also address the upcoming multiplatform launch of Tomb Raider III and how Sega would be doing their best to make their version of the game seem better than the Ultra Nintendo's. They wouldn't be discussing Metal Gear Solid...yet. But with its release just three weeks away, it loomed like a dark cloud over the horizon.
“Tomorrow's gonna be a hell of a long day,” he thought to himself as he walked back out to the living room. His wife scooted over to make room on the couch, but he shook his head. “I think I'm just gonna head upstairs to bed, got a long day tomorrow...”
“But honey, it's your party,” said his wife, giving him a look of concern. “Just stay down here until the end of the game, there's only seven minutes left in the fourth quarter.”
Kalinske sighed and sat down on the couch next to his wife, looking across the room at the employee he was going to have to fire tomorrow.
“Hey Tom, thanks for having us over to your house, it's been really fun even if the game's a blowout.”
“Sure thing,” Kalinske replied, trying to keep a smile on his face. “We have momentum now...just remember...we have momentum...Sonic 5 is coming...momentum...”
If Kalinske's plan worked, it wouldn't matter if Metal Gear Solid was a Temple Of Time-esque hit. And how ironic would it be if the Saturn's best weapon to take down Mario was the kind of games that Mario had made so huge in the first place?
Those were the thoughts he'd focus on to get to sleep that night, so he could forget how much he liked the man he'd have to fire on Monday.
