WPTV and WSM to become ABC affiliation in the 80s

[DucNguyen0131]

Now, here's a recap of TTL's 1990-91 network TV season.

ABC:

ABC is doing strong, with freshman shows like Twin Peaks, Life Goes On, Family Matters, Doogie Howser, M.D. and America's Funniest Home Videos returning, new rookie hits for ABC were Streets of Oklahoma, a show about a fictional police squad at the Oklahoma City Police Department, from Steven Bochco, Music Street (TTL's version of Cop Rock, which outright succeeded unlike OTL, with much improved dialogue), a musical police show, and Going Places (IOTL it flopped after one season), a new sitcom from Miller-Boyett Productions, that was a vehicle for Allan Ruck. Also debuting were a new Sunday night vehicle America's Funniest People, which is based on America's Funniest Home Videos, which also happens to follow the program.

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CBS:

CBS is doing decently this season. Although hits like Knots Landing, Wolf, Murphy Brown and A Peaceable Kingdom returned, hit series Dallas and American Crime is looking to come to an end. New rookie shows include World Quest (TTL's version of E.A.R.T.H. Force, but with a slightly improved dialogue), WIOU, a show about a fictional television newsroom and The Flash, which is based on the DC Comics superhero. The other new shows were Evening Shade, a new comedy vehicle for Burt Reynolds and The Trials of Rosie O'Neill, a new starring vehicle for Sharon Gless (of Cagney & Lacey fame). World Quest and The Flash were the first CBS shows in the new Thursday lineup to draw viewers away from NBC's Thursday night sitcoms The Cosby Show and Cheers.

-

NBC:

NBC is doing great, but freshman shows like The Young Family, Mancuso, F.B.I., Hardball and Hound Town returning, and other shows that looking to come back were The Golden Girls, A Different World, The Cosby Show and Cheers, both of them slipped in the ratings, bounced back and both of them underwent went retooling. New rookie hits were Blossom, a show that starred Mayim Bialik, Law & Order, a rookie crime show from Dick Wolf, who had starting to rise, and put them on the map, and Chicago's Last Night, another new rookie crime procedural show that was set in the suburbs of the Chicago Police Department, which came from television producer Stephen J. Cannell, who also succeeded with the show Hunter.

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FOX:

FOX is hitting big with the handsome return of both The Simpsons, Married...with Children and Hockey Night in Canada, both freshman programs, but one of the newest rookie hits were D.E.A. (Drug Enforcement Administration) (IOTL it flopped after one season and 13 episodes), which is a hybrid format of scripted and unscripted formats, Parker Lewis Can't Loose, another television sitcom that was set in high school, Beverly Hills, 90210, another high school-led drama and Against the Law (another OTL failed show), about a Boston lawyer who left to get his own firm.

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Our top 25 rated network TV programs of the 1990-91 season.
1. Cheers (NBC)
2. 60 Minutes (CBS)
3. Roseanne (ABC)
4. A Different World (NBC)
5. The Cosby Show (NBC)
6. Hound Town (NBC)
7. Murphy Brown (CBS)
8. World Quest (CBS)
9. Chicago's Last Night (NBC)
10. Monday Night Football (ABC)
11. America's Funniest Home Videos (ABC)
12. Hockey Night in Canada (FOX)
13. America's Funniest People (ABC)
14. Full House (ABC)
15. Family Matters (ABC)
16. The Flash (CBS)
17. A Peaceable Kingdom (CBS)
18. WIOU (CBS)
19. American Crime (CBS)
20. Streets of Oklahoma (ABC)
21. Against the Law (FOX)
22. Major Dad (CBS)
23. L.A. Law (NBC)
24. Doogie Howser, M.D. (ABC)
25. Matlock (NBC)

 

[DucNguyen0131]

As the timeline nearly came to an close, some of the elements could be discussed in other sections, as the Summer CES 1991 is already discussed in other areas, mostly focusing on third generation consoles and some areas of the rest of the generations.

THQ to go Genesis

THQ, Inc., who made them a dual Sega/Nintendo licensee is officially announcing a new video game based on the book Where's Waldo? for the NES and the Genesis. Other Nintendo titles planned were Home Alone, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes and The Flash, and both Nintendo/Sega titles were Rap Quest and Swamp Thing. Both of these were demonstrated at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show 1991.

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Pit-Fighter heads to home this fall

The recent Atari smash hit Pit-Fighter is arriving to both the NES (with both the Cassette, Disk and Compact Disk System addons), TurboGrax-16 (and its CD add-on) the SNES (with Disk Drive), the Game Boy (with enhancements on the Game Boy TV Adapter) and the Game Gear, courtesy of the folks at Tengen, a subsidiary of parent company Atari Games. The home conversions, namely the SNES and the Genesis will be faithful to the arcade originals (while all of the pitfalls of OTL's SNES version by THQ has been butterflied away). This title was announced at the Summer CES 1991, and Pit-Fighter being Tengen's own spotlight.

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Nintendo's new title is out!

Battletoads, the newest game title is finally out this stores, developed by Rare, Ltd. and published by Nintendo of America, Inc., as part of an exclusive development agreement (all other ports for the Sega and Amiga systems has been butterflied away), for the Nintendo Entertainment System's Disk System adapter. It was a platform scrolling beat 'em up combined with elements of racing, climbing and vehicle-based obstacle courses. This game put Rare on the map, becoming the company's first breakthrough hit in video game history, ever since the launch of R.C. Pro-Am.

Also that month, Nintendo is releasing their sequel/portable version of Snake, Rattle 'n Roll, Snake Rattle 'n Roll Land (TTL's version of Sneaky Snakes), which was part of Rare's exclusive deal with Nintendo, for the Game Boy, with enhancements on the NES Game Boy TV Adapter. Instead of the 3D isometric perspective, it was a 2D side-scrolling platformer game, with identical gameplay.

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"Battletoads is the most addictive title ever came from Rare's exclusive agreement with Nintendo. Using the game engine we developed for the Captain N video game, it was about a series of three anthropometric toads who had to defeat the evil Dark Queen on her planet and rescue all of their kidnapped friends. Nintendo also had several other titles in the works."
-Howard Lincoln, president of Nintendo of America, on the day of Battletoads launch at its headquarters at Redwood, WA, June 1, 1991

 

[DucNguyen0131]

Sonic to hit big

Sonic the Hedgehog, which had just came out a month ago had just been grew up to include its merchandise, and decided to do well in both the European and the Japanese markets, which also had been out this month, and decided to cover the entire world, including the Japanese Mega Drive systems. It was promising that Sega president Tom Kalinske, who was previously of Matchbox could earn fortunes in revenue.

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Super Game Boy in development

Nintendo, in cooperation with Sony, who had unveiled the SNES-CD at the Summer CES 1991 said they would develop the Super Game Boy for the SNES (IOTL, it did not actually came out until 1994), and allows you to play Game Boy on a TV, in the same function as the previous Game Boy TV Adapter for the NES. Because the SNES is backwards compatible with the NES via the Super Adapter, it allows to use the enhanced palettes from all Game Boy games via the Game Boy TV Adapter on the NES for pre-existing Game Boy software. Nintendo said they hoped to came out in 1992.

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Battletoads to have handheld adaptation

The smash NES hit Battletoads is receiving a handheld adaptation for the Game Boy, courtesy of the folks at Nintendo of America. Rare said they were working on the game for the Game Boy, along with SNES adaptations of the NES hit titles Snake, Rattle 'n Roll and R.C. Pro-Am (IOTL these latter two came out for the Sega Genesis), due to Rare's exclusive agreement with Nintendo of America. Nintendo representatives hoped that Battletoads, which had put Rare on the map, which should be out in Japan for the Family Computer in the winter of 1991.

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R.B.I. Baseball 3:
Steve: 6
Ed: 5
Martin: 7 ("The most addictive sequel to the original cartridge games, now in floppy disk and other medium form. If you're on a compact disk or cassette, you have likely to see FMV all along.")
Sushi-X: 5

Shuuz:
Steve: 4
Ed: 3
Martin: 4
Sushi-X: 4 ("The most disappointing console adaptation of an Atari smash hit. Tengen strikes it again with their own incarnation of the horse-racing game that did not fare well in arcade machines too.")

High Speed:
Steve: 6
Ed: 7 ("I like pinball games and this one is a good representation of the classic. There are a lot of good features not found on other flippers, and I especially liked the bonus levels. There is always something to shoot for and the enemies are a nice touch to make it play harder.")
Martin: 5
Sushi-X: 5

Smash TV:
Steve: 6 ("The quarter-muncher is great, but this version just doesn't do it justice. The graphics are poor and microscopic. It's not bad, but it's not that good either. The game plays better with two controllers, or four in the two player game.")
Ed: 6
Martin: 4
Sushi-X: 5

ThunderJaws
Steve: 8
Ed: 7
Martin: 8
Sushi-X: 8 ("Tengen does it again with that amazing arcade port. I like that unique shark character, but it could be controller, either at one player or two player, but the graphics and soundtrack are very fun. ThunderJaws is the most amazing translation of the arcade game ever.")

-From EGM's "Review Crew" section of this month's July 1991 NES/Nintendo Cassette System/Nintendo Disk System/Nintendo Compact Disk System games on the July 1991 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly

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New SNES multitap

Sony announced its plans to develop a multitap accessory, the Super Four Score, for the SNES (TTL's version of the Super Multitap), which was scheduled for release in the November 1991 with the launch of a proposed SNES adaptation of the futuristic football game Cyberball, from Tengen as well as a new four-player title Nintendo Play Action Football, from Nintendo. It functions like the original NES Four Score, but there is an option to switch between two-player and their own four-player modes. The launch coverage of the SNES begin next month!

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Burnham to buy TV stations

Burnham Broadcasting Company announced that they would purchase WTVD in Durham and KFSN in Fresno, for a record price of $500 million. These two were ABC's smallest television affiliates by market size. The addition to the Durham and Fresno stations to the Burnham station portfolio helps them an increasing coverage in the television market area.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

A quick recap of SNES' launch can be found there. Other SNES-related events after launch came it in.

SNES launch accessories

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is giving them new accessories. Among them was Super U-Force, from THQ, which functions the same way the original U-Force for the NES by Broderbund had. Other had Turbo Glove, from Mattel, functioned in the same way the Power Glove had, a videocassette and a floppy disk adapter, the Super Adapter, from Nintendo, developed and designed by Sony, designed to play 8-bit NES games, in the same function Sega did with the Genesis with their Power Base Converter add-on, and the Super Keyboard Adapter, designed to go with a keyboard. Upcoming accessories for the SNES beside the CD-ROM add-on included the Super Game Boy, which was released in 1992, and the Super Scope 6, a new light gun accessory.

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Upcoming SNES titles

Among the upcoming SNES titles after launch were Super R.C. Pro-Am, which was a Rare-developed title for Nintendo (TTL's version of Championship Pro-Am for the Genesis), scheduled for launch in October 1991, and Super Snake, Rattle n' Roll, another Rare-developed and planned title (IOTL this was released as an European-only Sega Mega Drive title as Snake, Rattle 'n Roll), which was due out in January 1992. These new Rare games were 16-bit renditions of the originals on the NES. Other SNES titles planned for release later that year were HyperZone, from HAL Laboratory, Rings of Power from Sony Imagesoft, The Chessmaster from Mindscape, Super R-Type from Irem and RPM Racing from Interplay, among other titles.

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Nintendo to acquire HAL America

Nintendo of America had signed a letter of interest to purchase HAL America, Inc., in order to double its SNES, NES and Game Boy library up to several titles. HAL America's operations, and future game titles, such as HAL's Hole in One Golf, would be obtained by Nintendo of America, and HAL would eventually go on to become a second-party developer for Nintendo themselves.

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Pit-Fighter to have television advertisement

Tengen Inc. is setting up movie-like billboards for the upcoming home console release of Pit-Fighter, which came for over five platforms who supported the game, the NES, the SNES, the Sega Genesis, the Sega Game Gear and the Game Boy, along with versions for the IBM PC and Amiga. It would became the biggest console event, with the planned launch date of November 5, 1991, tentatively calling it "Pit-Fighter Day".

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Broderbund to acquire company

Broderbund Software is reentering the video game business after THQ bought out the previous video game division New Ventures in 1990, in order to acquire Oklahoma City-based publisher RazorSoft, Inc. in hopes of developing titles for CD-ROM add-ons for the SNES, TurboGrafx and the Sega Genesis. In order to do the inventories led by Broderbund, the most notable of which were the Carmen Sandiego and the Prince of Persia games.

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Nicktoons launched

The first three Nicktoons officially came on the air. These were The Ren & Stimpy Show, a show created by John Kricfalusi, a Canadian animator and cartoonist, Rugrats, the first Nicktoon from Arlene Klasky and Gabor Csupo, Hungarian writers, via Klasky-Csupo, Inc. and Doug, a brand new cartoon that was created by Jim Jinkins. These three cartoons came on the air on August 11, 1991. Both of these Nicktoons spawned a potential merchandise.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

New game show

The newest game shows premiered this month is out! Ruckus would made its debut on FOX daytime, and on syndication via WNBC-TV in New York City. That's My Dog also debuted this month with Steve Skrovan as host, premiered on The Family Channel. The Grudge Match would eventually made its debut, also on FOX daytime via a new daytime game show block, with Jesse Ventura as host, and Steve Albert as co-host. Studs was highly profitable in its FOX daytime debut ever since March 1991, so does a new iteration of The $1,000,000 Pyramid.

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THQ to release title

This month, THQ is releasing their game Where's Waldo? for the NES and Genesis. There are two different versions of the game. The NES version is about that Waldo is setting out for the moon, with multiple levels, while the Genesis version was closer to the book in plot, starting from the town to fairground in over twelve levels, with bonus characters being added. Although Maryland-based Bethesda Softworks handled the NES version's development, the development of the Genesis version were assumed by Microsmiths, Inc. in Boston, who previously handled Bimini Run for the system.

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Hydra
Steve: 6
Ed: 4 ("The home version for the Nintendo system is a bit disappointing. The controls are weak, but the translation is too poor. The speedboat graphics are really decent, so does they would defeat enemies in order to finish with the money.")
Martin: 5
Sushi-X: 5

Defense Squad
Steve: 8 ("Definitely the best game concept, it was a defense squad around the suburbs of Chicago. We are the most attractive game that helps players making all of their minds and defeat their enemies in order to retain the status as title of defense.")
Ed: 7
Martin: 8
Sushi-X: 8

Unreal
Steve: 9
Ed: 8
Martin: 8
Sushi-X: 9 ("Unreal is definitely the best puzzle platformer. It was a very good home computer-to-video game console translation, but it still looks otherwise amazing, but it was to get the high score to maintain your own health.")

Wings
Steve: 8
Ed: 8
Martin: 8 ("The best computer-to-game translation ever, and this is the best way to follow that it was a fighter pilot in World War I, hung up over missions and take their strategy over their military scenario.")
Sushi-X: 8

-EGM's review excerpt of Nintendo Disk System/Nintendo Cassette System/Nintendo Compact Disk System games from this month's edition of Electronic Gaming Monthly

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Under construction

A new mouse game came in development for the SNES, Mario Paint, to be bundled with the SNES Mouse itself. It could let players to draw in the picture, for pure 16-bit gamers, and decided that they would be fun and hard to imagine with their software interference. It was developed from the Japanese branch of Nintendo itself.

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GamePro TV debuted

A competitor of sorts of Warner's long-running and popular EGM: The Show, Samuel Goldwyn Television heads to arrival with the debut of GamePro TV, a weekly series about tips of new and upcoming games, and send in recordings for tips and codes of the games, and viewer mail are headed on-air, in a similar format trend of various video game weekly computer game shows ever since 1988. J.D. Roth is the host of the series.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

HAL to adapt NES game

HAL Laboratory Inc., a Japanese-based developer said that they would receive an exclusive development agreement with Nintendo Co., Ltd. Under that deal, HAL Laboratory Inc. would adopt the hit NES classic Battletoads for the Japanese Super Famicom, and it would be development on what would be the first Kirby game for the Game Boy. HAL's adaptation of Battletoads (TTL's version of the Genesis Battletoads by Arc System Works) will follow the source code of the original NES game by Rare Ltd., by translating them onto the new powerful 16-bit machine. Nintendo would also acquire HAL's publishing operations in Japan and Europe.

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ABC Monday Night Football
Steve: 5
Ed: 5
Martin: 6 ("The most appreciate adaptation of the hit ABC show you are watching Monday night, with the most accurate challenge. We score several touchdowns, but with a mostly appreciated football license, but the lack of NFL is a bit disappointing.")
Sushi-X: 5

Horror Zombies from the Crypt
Steve: 4 ("A bit of a disappointment, the home translation of the computer game for the television set is weak, but the 1950s homage is fun and exciting, but of the weak controls, it could do all of their all-action horror scenes.")
Ed: 3
Martin: 3
Sushi-X: 4

Links: The Challenge of Golf
Steve: 7
Ed: 9 ("The most faithful simpler 8-bit home computer-to-console translation, but with the decent controls and graphics, it could feature the realistic aspect of the golf, but this time they could do right very well in their line.")
Martin: 8
Sushi-X: 9

Super Space Invaders
Steve: 8
Ed: 8
Martin: 9
Sushi-X: 9 ("A good upgrade of the late 1970s arcade game, Taito did it again with that amazing adaptation of that 1990 arcade game for a home conversion on the NES, but it still fits quite very well with the mechanics.")

Side Arms Hyper Dyne
Steve: 7
Ed: 7
Martin: 7 ("The best home incarnation of the hit arcade smash, it could translate very well with similar tokens to 1943, and Capcom did it right with their best efforts in their own gaming method.")
Sushi-X: 7

-excerpt from EGM's reviews of the Nintendo Compact Disk System/Nintendo Cassette System/Nintendo Disk System games from the November 1991 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly

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Tengen license expires, console goes to Nintendo

It is officially announced that Tengen's original console rights license of Tetris would expire, and notified that Nintendo would receive a new contract for both the console and handheld rights to Tetris, in order to free up all of the future Tetris games for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, in order to notify all plans that all future console Tetris games would be published by Nintendo by itself. Tengen also planning on to release Pac-Mania, for the SNES, converted by NovaLogic, and Ms. Pac-Man, also for the SNES, converted by game developer Equilibrium, who also did some contract work for THQ, to be out by early 1992.

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Rare reworked SNES development

After two upcoming SNES games Super Snake, Rattle 'n' Roll and Super R.C. Pro-Am, Rare Ltd. announced that they would rework their SNES development of future games to rely on Silicon Graphics workstations, with the impressive 3D technology models, with models being rendered for the artists and their sprites using digitized pre-rendered video game graphics.

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This month in history

THQ is releasing Home Alone for the Nintendo Disk System, which was developed by Bethesda Softworks. The upcoming Game Boy and SNES versions would be developed and engineered by Imagineering Inc. of Glen Rock, New Jersey, a software developer that was focused on developing NES games, as well as their successful software for the upcoming Game Boy products.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

Now, they will bring you a recap of what's happening in November 1991.

Egypt
Steve: 8 ("Another great puzzle game in the tradition of Tetris, and control the jewel and move with the pad, and step except for a wall, an object or an arrow. Taxan strikes it again with the newest game title ever and our adventure was lost.")
Ed: 8
Martin: 8
Sushi-X: 8


Crisis Force
Steve: 9
Ed: 9
Martin: 10 ("Typically the best Ultra Games shooter, which plays one or two player ships, with amazing and beautifully welcomed score, but Ultra did it right, and had various multi-colored power-ups for special levels.")
Sushi-X: 9

Arctic
Steve: 7
Ed: 8 ("The most addictive puzzle title. If you like either Tetris or Dr. Mario, then Arctic would be the fun game FCI would be enjoying the greatest game and decided to switch and loop all around the ball.")
Martin: 7
Sushi-X: 6

Zeliard
Steve: 8
Ed: 8
Martin: 9
Sushi-X: 9 ("The best home video game translation of the Japanese hit computer game by Sony Imagesoft. The controls are good, but I really like the story that went happing for 115 days and they devastated the kingdom.")

All-American College Football
Steve: 7
Ed: 7
Martin: 8 ("The best implementation of college football, it plays to coach their own college football team, and featured 140 categories for 80 teams, but don't worry Activision would be satisficed of their college representation.")
Sushi-X: 7

Pit-Fighter
Steve: 8
Ed: 8 ("Pit-Fighter is the most newest addictive game from Tengen, where two fighters could fight, and then eliminate several rounds in two-player mode. Hopefully, this would be an awesome game for all of their fans.")
Martin: 8
Sushi-X: 8

-EGM's review of this month's Nintendo Cassette System/Nintendo Disk System/Nintendo Compact Disk System titles from the December 1991 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly

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New SNES title is out!

The newest SNES title is out, Super R.C. Pro-Am (TTL's version of Championship Pro-Am for the Sega Genesis). It has 5 opponents rather than 3, still spelling it NINTENDO (from the NES version) and it featured enhanced 16-bit graphics, making it Rare's first-ever SNES video game. The title was also out for Game Boy, with enhancements on the Game Boy TV adapter on the NES.

You can keep your high-tech Formula One racers and your massive Indy cars. The hottest racing cars are around smaller than a shoe box! Super R.C. Pro-Am is the breakneck SNES version of the action-packed NES car racing game R.C. Pro-Am. Like the Pros, you whip a small radio controlled model car around 24 tracks against four computer-controlled opponents and you have a blast at doing it!

Pro-Am's graphics are lean and mean, but they get the job done. A Car Cam follows your racer around the track, giving you a ¾ overhead view. You can't see the entire track, which ups the challenge to your R.C. driving skills and gives a clear advantage to your CPU-controlled computers. Helpful on-speed info includes Laps, Speed and an overhead view of the race track that monitors the pack as it tears up the road. Keep your eyes glued to the road, however or this cart will knock you out of the race! Even though the car sprites and the scenery won't knock your socks off, the outrageous speed and response of your car to the controls give this game visual pizazz. The game also supplements the auto-racing fun by mounting some simple strategic challenges. To keep on the championship path, you must soup up your car on the fly by picking up icon upgrades, such as Super Sticky Tires and Turbo Acceleration.

Super R.C. Pro-Am packs plenty of worthwhile racing entertainment into a single-player cart, but this game cries out for the multi-driver challenge that unfortunately doesn't exist on the Super NES. But don't squeal about things that are out of your control, just have some radio-controlled fun with Super R.C. Pro-Am.

Graphics: 3.5
Sound: 3.5
Control: 4.0
FunFactor: 4.5
Challenge: Intermediate

-excerpted from the December 1991 issue of GamePro

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WTAF to expand news operation

WTAF, the Fox affiliate for Greater Philadelphia, owned by Cox-Taft Broadcasting is expanding their news operation to mimic the format used by KTVU, with their noon newscast as operating, and wanted to do their greater operation. All of KTVU's themes were brought over to the WTAF news operation, and decided that they would insist their morning news by early 1992.

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Nintendo to double up games

Nintendo of America is doubling their game inventory, by acquiring Taxan U.S.A., Inc. video game division, and will assume responsibilities for Taxan's existing Nintendo-licensed and upcoming carts such as Burai Fighter, Low G Man, and their upcoming titles, KickMaster, John Smith, Special Agent and G.I. Joe: The Atlantis Factor, which Taxan is about to publish their own titles, guideline by Ken Lobb, president of Taxan.

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"We absorbed Taxan's video game consumer division into Nintendo's American branch. We will see the best of all us by bringing you the most upcoming titles, under exclusive contract delivery. We will join us at Nintendo of America, as soon as possible, with the Taxan library but it didn't last long, as Lobb moved himself to Namco."
-Ken Lobb, president of Taxan, from an interview with NintendoEverything.com, April 2, 2017

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Pit-Fighter Day!

It's Pit-Fighter Day! Pit-Fighter arrives in stores this month (November 5, 1991) by Tengen, Inc., for five platforms, the NES, the Sega Genesis, the Game Boy, the SNES and the Sega Game Gear. The representatives at Tengen, Inc. would welcome the launch of the newest game, which are closer to the arcade original, from parent company Atari Games, and decided that they would go towards a different direction.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

Now, here's a recap on December 1991. The SNES' holiday sales are already out on the article here.

ABC joins early prime treatment

ABC is joining the early prime treatment with the affiliates KOVR-TV in Sacramento, O&O KGO-TV in San Francisco, and WRTV in Indianapolis, all designed to have an "early prime" treatment where they had to run the schedule one hour earlier. This joined in the ranks of CBS and NBC for having the "early prime" experiment, all of which thought that they wanted to succeeded very well.

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Off the Wall
Steve: 4
Ed: 3
Martin: 4 ("The most disappointing home port of an Atari arcade game, Off the Wall is a newer Breakout iteration in which all of the most colorful bricks would eliminate all the way to one of the greatest scores ever made!")
Sushi-X: 3

ABC Wide World of Sports Boxing
Steve: 5 ("The most accurate adaptation of the greatest television show allows you to start their own champion, and decided that they would make their boxing, but nothing in all of the efforts compared to Punch-Out!")
Ed: 4
Martin: 5
Sushi-X: 5

Hockey Night in Canada
Steve: 7
Ed: 8 ("One of the greatest television shows, now on FOX is going underway a game version on the Nintendo system formats, whether if its cassette, compact disk or a floppy disk. An accurate representation of the NHL rules for Canadian players.")
Martin: 7
Sushi-X: 7

Sharkey's 3D Pool
Steve: 8
Ed: 7
Martin: 7
Sushi-X: 8 ("An accurate representation of the sport pool, it was a 3D experience that pushes it all over to the Nintendo systems, and it brought it all of the world's greatest pool players throughout all of the seven levels.")

Rick Dangerous
Steve: 6
Ed: 8 ("The greatest action platformer going throughout 100 screens, but still as good as what A Boy and His Blob doing. It was the amazing treasure the Nazi base and the pyramids of Egypt ever had.")
Martin: 7
Sushi-X: 6

-EGM's excerpt review of Nintendo Cassette System/Nintendo Disk System/Nintendo Compact Disk System games from the January 1992 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly

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New titles attend Winter CES 1992

Nintendo is making their new titles available for Winter CES 1992. Among them were Super Snake Rattle 'n' Roll, a remake of the popular NES title Snake Rattle 'n' Roll, Arcana, Battletoads and NCAA Basketball, both for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and Day Dreamin' Davey for the NES. Also on the deal, Nintendo is planning their new Mouse and Super Scope accesssories for play on the Super NES.

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Battletoads to have merchandise

Nintendo of America announced an agreement with DiC Enterprises for the cartoon, Valiant Comics for the comic book rights and Tiger Electronics for the toy rights to Batltetoads, which had just came out in Japan this month by Nintendo Co., Ltd., and decided that Nintendo would release Battletoads for the SNES and arcade systems, as well as potential sequels. Nintendo and Rare received an exclusive development agreement ever since 1990.

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Hockey Night in Canada is out!

Data East USA, Inc. is releasing their newest video game based on the hit FOX show Hockey Night in Canada for the Nintendo Entertainment System, plus addons for the Nintendo Disk System, Nintendo Cassette System and the Nintendo Compact Disk System, throughout all formats. Hockey Night in Canada was licensed from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and it was a 8-bit hockey game, not unlike Ice Hockey.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

Now, here's our bonus recap, here's the TTL Nintendo Power covers of 1991.

January 1991: Mega Man III (as in OTL)
February 1991: StarTropics (as in OTL)
March 1991: Keef the Thief: A Boy and His Lipstick (OTL: Metal Storm)
April 1991: Lightspeed (OTL: Power Blade)
May 1991: Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday (OTL: Vice: Project Doom)
June 1991: Battletoads (as in OTL)
July 1991: R.B.I. Baseball 3 (OTL: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves)
August 1991: Mega Man in Dr. Willy's Revenge (as in OTL)
September 1991: Super Mario World (as in OTL)
October 1991: Super Space Invaders (OTL: Star Trek: 25th Anniversary)
November 1991: Pit-Fighter (OTL: Final Fantasy II)
December 1991: Metroid II: Return of Samus (as in OTL)

 

[DucNguyen0131]

Some update on the SNES-CD can be documented here.

Winter CES 1992 Announcement

Nintendo is doing some great announcement for the 1992 Winter Consumer Electronics Show. Nintendo had announced the release of the Super Game Boy, to be backward compatible with pre-existing enhanced Game Boy TV Adapter palettes for older Game Boy games, and all other Game Boy games would feature newer Super Game Boy enhancements, in addition to pre-existing Game Boy TV Adapter modes, for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Other titles include Super Snake, Rattle 'n' Roll, NCAA Basketball, Battletoads, Mario Paint and Super Scope 6, as well as the newest Legend of Zelda game ever. Tengen, an authentic Nintendo licensee offered SNES adaptations of such recent Atari hits as Steel Talons and Off the Wall.

-

"In 1992, we have some upcoming accessories for the SNES, such as the Super Scope, the SNES Mouse, and several four-player accessories, and even though there is a CD-ROM application made for the system. We have both notified that the SNES and the Genesis would have their own CD-ROM accessories."
-from Computer Chronicles coverage of the 1992 Winter CES, January 13, 1992

-

Kung Fu II
Steve: 5
Ed: 5 ("A bit of a disappointment, Kung Fu II does not go along in charm of the original. Some good kung-fu action, some good decent controls, even though it was fairly an average game of any quality and standards.")
Martin: 6
Sushi-X: 4

Ys 1+2+3
Steve: 8
Ed: 8
Martin: 9
Sushi-X: 10 ("The best of any Ys book, collected into several floppy disks, several CDs or several videocassettes, but not on cartridge form, but the story is collected into their amazing series of their own books.")

Dragon Wars
Steve: 10 ("The best adaptation of Interplay's game, now by Kemco. It has a party of four characters, like with The Bard's Tale, and it must collect the role-playing experience. Whereas the whole entire graphics looked beautiful.")
Ed: 9
Martin: 10
Sushi-X: 10

Rampart
Steve: 8
Ed: 8
Martin: 9 ("Definitely the best console adaptation of Atari's greatest hit, it could definitely build good puzzles in order to turn well into castles. Otherwise, it was the most accurate arcade-to-home console translation ever.")
Sushi-X: 9

Cyberball
Steve: 7
Ed: 8 ("The greatest home translation ever, but Tengen hit its wall again with the newest robotic and futuristic title, a cycle of futuristic robots playing their football game, with their own amazing score.")
Martin: 7
Sushi-X: 8

Panza Kick Boxing
Steve: 6
Ed: 5
Martin: 4
Sushi-X: 6 ("Though not a bit much of a disappointment, Panza Kick Boxing is still otherwise one of the best boxing games, but unlike Punch-Out!, it has superb animation, and it has totally the best animation ever.")
-EGM's review excerpt of NES/Nintendo Cassette System/Nintendo Disk System/Nintendo Compact Disk System games from February 1992 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly

-

New title is out!

Sony Imagesoft is releasing two new titles Ys 1+2+3, a compilation of Ys books originally for the Famicom, for the Nintendo Disk System, Nintendo Compact Disk System and Nintendo Cassette System, and Naughty Dog's newest title Rings of Power for the SNES (IOTL this was published by Electronic Arts for the Sega Genesis). Other Imagesoft titles in the next few months, which are Hudson Hawk for the NES and Smart Ball for the SNES.

-

New Sega licensees

New Sega licensees are underway, which are Acclaim Entertainment and GameTek, two of the original Nintendo licensees. Sony thought they strongly disagreed with the licensing direction of the Sega Genesis and Game Gear, so Sony wanted to focus more on Nintendo with its upcoming CD-ROM add-on for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and wanted to help improve Nintendo's coverage. THQ already entered its Sega licensee through its purchase of Nuvision Entertainment, and released its newest Sega Genesis title Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, the newest game designed and engineered by Microsmiths of Boston.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

Rare to develop new title

Rare Ltd. announces that new titles in the works for all three Nintendo platforms. These were CyberHoops, a futuristic sports game that was set in 2042 with a futuristic world of basketball, for the SNES, Super Golf, a golfing game for the SNES and the Game Boy, R.C. Pro-Am II for the NES, the sequel to the hit title R.C. Pro-Am, and Battletoads II, the Battletoads sequel that was to be for the upcoming SNES add-on. Rare received an exclusive development agreement with Nintendo ever since 1990, with Solar Jetman being the first game to come out of the deal. These new titles were announced at the Winter CES 1992.

-

Starship Pinball
The newest and addicting pinball game that plays well with the futuristic pinball theme. You can get flippers immediately, and scoring several jackpot points. Although cassette and compact disk versions are the best, it would have worked well with digitized speech. This game came out for NES and all three platforms, meaning the same game is at multiple Nintendo formats, with the futuristic space theme found it appealing.

Graphics: 4.0
Sound: 5.0
Play Control: 4.0
FunFactor: 4.0
Challenge: 3.0

Simon
The newest home iteration of the board game is one of the best and most addictive home translations ever, for the Nintendo Disk System. Simon is the most simulated board game adaptation. You could say Simon with the red light, the green light, the blue light and the yellow light, in order to say the user to repeat the sequence. Repeat the sequence scored extra points, very well.

Graphics: 3.5
Sound: 4.0
Play Control: 4.0
FunFactor: 4.0
Challenge: 4.0

-from GamePro's reviews of this month's Nintendo Cassette System/Nintendo Disk System/Nintendo Compact Disk System games from the February 1992 issue of GamePro

-

Starship Pinball
Steve: 9 ("The best thing that the concept of pinball in the future looked really interesting, but the flippers include the Moon and the Saturn, both of the planets that came from the Solar System through the Earth.")
Ed: 8
Martin: 9
Sushi-X: 9

Simon
Steve: 8
Ed: 8 ("Truly the best version of the home game ever, it is about a player who helped Simon to speak through the black circle, and decided to interact with the controls. Still quite as fun as the home game, but isn't it?")
Martin: 7
Sushi-X: 8

Rules of Engagement
Steve: 8
Ed: 7
Martin: 8 ("Another space simulator, that has the adjusted star system, captains and aliens, but this is another good home translation of the game running on computers. Still a decent game and have fun excitement.")
Sushi-X: 8

Tony La Russa's Ultimate Baseball
Steve: 9
Ed: 9
Martin: 8
Sushi-X: 9 ("Another best baseball simulation on the NES, though just as good as R.B.I. Baseball and the other baseball hits, though still one of the best game concepts, with the likeness of Tony La Russa, the baseball player.")

Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp
Steve: 8 ("Sunsoft did it again, with their amazing sequel that converts well into the full-motion video territory. Time Warp is still one of the best and most addictive full-motion videos games on the Cassette and Compact Disk Systems only.")
Ed: 7
Martin: 8
Sushi-X: 7
-EGM's review of this month's Nintendo Compact Disk System/Nintendo Cassette System/Nintendo Disk System games on the March 1992 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly

-

News department unveiled

KITN, the independent station is eyeing to do a primetime newscast, called "News 29 at 9", produced by station WMNC-TV in Minneapolis/St. Paul, a NBC network owned-and-operated television station. WMNC is a NBC network owned-and-operated station that covered the Greater Twin Cities region. The first newscast would be on the air this month and it covered mostly gaming events.

-

Simon is out!

Simon is recently out, as the newest Nintendo title ever made. Hailing from developer Software Creations Ltd., as part of an exclusive development agreement with Nintendo of America, Inc. and it was based on the board game, of which Howard Lincoln optioned the rights to. GamePro liked Tim & Geoff Follin's soundtrack as the best element of the game. Simon succeeded and however falls in line with such Nintendo puzzle games as Tetris and Dr. Mario. Another new planned puzzle game for the Summer 1992, was Yoshi, which was announced at the Winter CES 1992.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

KDVR to launch primetime newscast

KDVR, the Fox affiliate for the Denver market, whose news operation failed to compete with KWGN, is launching a new primetime newscast, produced by Denver's NBC owned-and-operated television KCNC-TV, using KCNC's anchors and reporters for the newly minted "Fox 31 News at 9", which has in hopes with competing with KWGN-TV for their newscasts. Both KDVR and KWGN were the most and strongest of the independent television stations ever. KCNC had the highest output of any local news for the Greater Denver area.

-

Robozone
Steve: 6
Ed: 6
Martin: 8 ("The most and average of the greatest computer games, Konami did it again with that amazing port of the awesome computer game, and wanted to destroy the square, and wanted to destroy the emitter.")
Sushi-X: 7

Rolling Thunder 2
Steve: 8
Ed: 8 ("Typically the second best home incarnation, for the Compact Disk System, with much of an improvement over Tengen's original game. I honestly liked the Sega Genesis version, and that controls are even though good.")
Martin: 7
Sushi-X: 8

Hammer Boy
Steve: 3 ("It was sort of a disappointment. It was another very bad game that was originally coming out for the European market, and now the weakest Nintendo game ever played by all choices.")
Ed: 3
Martin: 3
Sushi-X: 3

Violence Fight
Steve: 10
Ed: 9
Martin: 10
Sushi-X: 10 ("The best arcade-to-home translation ever made. Certainly, the controls are just fine as you can, but the 1950s setting looks really perfect, and decided that they would fight and win against several fighters.")

Growl
Steve: 9 ("Typically the best home console port of all time. Growl is really a cute game that was typically against Nintendo's limitations, with the best controls, but I like the four of the characters, and had to stop the animals.")
Ed: 8
Martin: 8
Sushi-X: 9
-excerpted from this month's Nintendo Cassette System/Nintendo Disk System/Nintendo Compact Disk System games from the April 1992 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly

-

RBI Baseball 4 announced

Tengen announced that RBI Baseball 4: Relief Pitcher would be out for the SNES, NES, Game Boy and the Sega Genesis, spanning all four platforms who played the game. It was certainly endorsed by the Major League Baseball Players Association. It will be planned as a home version of Atari's coin-op title Relief Pitcher. Other new titles proposed by Tengen/Atari Games were Road Riot 4WD, and as announced at the Winter CES 1992, Steel Talons.

-

New Pit-Fighter line proposed

Tengen, Inc. is launching merchandise for Pit-Fighter, including a comic book series by Marvel Comics, toy lines/action figures by THQ, and an animated cartoon series by Film Roman, all scheduled to be made for FOX Kids. Pit-Fighter was one of Atari's best-selling home console products of 1990, which gained revenue and successful enough for a merchandise vehicle, including an animated cartoon, comic books and toylines, in the same manner they had done with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
-excerpted from a March 1992 issue of GamePro

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SNES to get new Four Score

Having already shown success in Japan, Nintendo has officially confirmed that a new Super Nintendo Four-Score was in the works in the summer of 1992, with a new four-player Play Action Football game, and the certain hopes of a CD-ROM adapter, which would came out in the December of 1992 (BTW, the PlayStation has been completely butterflied away, opting for a straight SNES add-on). The new Four-Score would function the same way the original NES Four Score had.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

New game is out!

Rare's newest game, Super Snake, Rattle 'n' Roll is out for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It was a one-or-two player game that was essentially a remake of the original NES version of the game Snake, Rattle 'n' Roll. Nintendo of America has an exclusive development agreement with Rare Ltd. ever since 1990 and they are planning on to do more games for the NES, SNES and the Game Boy. (OTL's Genesis version, was however got butterflied away).

-

Crystal Caves:
Steve: 6
Ed: 8 ("The most addictive port of the computer game, Broderbund strikes it again with the most amazing port of the home version, especially with digital sprites, and several of the episode chapters.")
Martin: 8
Sushi-X: 8

MegaTraveller 1+2
Steve: 8 ("Collecting the two MegaTraveller books into several disk formats, the futuristic epic is really amazing, and THQ strikes best with that amazing conversion for a much weaker 8-bit platform.")
Ed: 6
Martin: 7
Sushi-X: 6

Sword Barbarians
Steve: 7
Ed: 8
Martin: 10 ("The most addictive game, but still better than Conan, Sword Barbarians hold up to its distance, but they had to attack it by swords and their gods, but among them were one of the heroes. Still a good RPG.")
Sushi-X: 8

The Last Legend
Steve: 7
Ed: 9
Martin: 8
Sushi-X: 9 ("Definitely the best concept ever, The Last Legend is the most ambitious RPG ever made, with the most amazing challenge we have taken, but still as good as other Japanese RPGs that definitely worth the wait.")

-Electronic Gaming Monthly's reviews of this month's Nintendo Cassette/Disk/Compact Disk System games from the May 1992 issue.

Super Snake Rattle 'n' Roll
Steve: 8
Ed: 10 ("The newest incarnation of the Rare snake heroes are back, but this time they have gone 16-bit, with the wonderful controls, and beautiful graphics. Gameplay still looks as addictive as what you can see on the NES.")
Martin: 9
Sushi-X: 9

Super Rolling Thunder 2
Steve: 9 ("Still just looks as good as the Genesis and NES versions, Super Rolling Thunder 2 is another great home translation of the arcade game, which was served by memory as a one-or-two player game.")
Ed: 7
Martin: 9
Sushi-X: 9

Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe
Steve: 10
Ed: 10
Martin: 10 ("If you played the Genesis version the best, Konami lives up to its hype again with the most addicting home port of that computer game. It's Klash Ball all over again with more brutality.")
Sushi-X: 10

Super Zapper 6
Steve: 5
Ed: 3
Martin: 5
Sushi-X: 6 ("Super Zapper 6 is an excellent idea that I fear will turn out to be another Light Gun fiasco. Nintendo had a reputation for not supporting these accessories with games that suit them. While the accuracy is dead on, the 6-in-1 cartridge is not very exciting and doesn't promise a very bright future ahead.")

Super Four Score Baseball Challenge
Steve: 6 ("If you have saw the original Baseball, we have the new Super Four Score, four players in one Super Nintendo game, with that newest baseball game. Nintendo had a decent reputation for having the accuracy of the Super Four Score Baseball Challenge for the new Super Nintendo.")
Ed: 4
Martin: 4
Sushi-X: 5

-Electronic Gaming Monthly's this month reviews of Super Nintendo games, from the May 1992 issue

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Data East to get SNES game

Data East USA, Inc. is getting a new SNES version of the Canadian CBC game show Hockey Night in Canada, now on FOX. The gameplay would look exactly identical to the one that was playing on the Nintendo Entertainment System. They would follow the rules of their hockey, but with the scenario Data East is giving them strongly with their licensee given to the NHLPA, the National Hockey League Players Association, who had endorsed the game, but not with the NHL themselves.

-

New Power Pad

Nintendo of America is unveiling the new Super Power Pad for the SNES. It plays like the Power Pad from 1987, only to be more compatible with the SNES. The original Power Pad was included among the lineup of SNES backward compatibility with the NES. Project will be overseen by both Gunpei Yokoi and Sony Interactive Entertainment, responsible for designing software kits.

-

ESPN to pick up Hockey

After a three-year contract with FOX ended, ESPN announced that they would pick up Hockey Night in Canada for a three-year agreement via ESPN's NHL coverage. Hockey Night in Canada most recently failed to go along on Saturday nights to go head-to-head with NBC, CBS or ABC, but it was once successful for two years ago. Hockey Night in Canada however ran under license from CBC.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

Now, a recap of May 1992. Some other Spring 1992 details can be found here.

FOX without Hockey?

The Fox Broadcasting Company is looking to refresh the identity for the upcoming 1992-1993 network TV season. Now without Hockey Night in Canada, which had just been defected to ESPN, they are picking up the new American soccer season for Sundays to go head to head against CBS' NFL and MLB games, as a counterattack against these two gaming efforts that fit very well. Fox's Saturdays would have now gone unscripted, and added in was a new Tuesday lineup.

-

New arcade game out!

RBI Baseball 4: Relief Pitcher is already out for the arcades by Atari Games. This was because Atari wanted to merge the two baseball games, which are the arcade Relief Pitcher and the home console RBI Baseball 4. A home version for the SNES, Genesis, NES and Game Boy were planned by the end of 1992. RBI Baseball 4 would mark its first arcade game entry in the smash hit RBI Baseball franchise. Jack Buck provided the game's commentary, and it would be endorsed by the Major League Baseball Players Association.

-

Pizza Pop
Steve: 7
Ed: 6
Martin: 6
Sushi-X: 7 ("Another successful Japanese game arriving in stores, it could cost $10,000 in prizes and decided that they would be hungry, and all boss have been defeated and there are several minigames while getting all around various pizza pieces in order to save the budget.")

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Dragons of Flame
Steve: 8 ("The best home iteration of the computer game, it was another game at its best. FCI is doing that all great, but with their beautiful music and their graphics, all controls will work all the way fine.")
Ed: 8
Martin: 8
Sushi-X: 8

Metal Max
Steve: 9
Ed: 9 ("The best looking game concept ever. It can choose the mission, and it was another best Data East RPG ever, and we could travel from town to town in order to upgrade their tanks in order to score al the way and decided to make it in order to make out their own modifications.")
Martin: 7
Sushi-X: 8

Over Horizon
Steve: 8
Ed: 8
Martin: 10 ("RazorSoft/Broderbund strikes it again, and it could be an arcade space fighter unlike that of R-Type or Gradius, and decided to customize the ship through the edit mode, and all of the bosses could be defeated in order that they helped them to save their universe.")
Sushi-X: 9

-reviews of this month's Nintendo Cassette/Disk/Compact Disk System games from the June 1992 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly

Super Cyberball
Steve: 9 ("Definitely the best looking home incarnation of the game. If you played it on both the Genesis and the NES, Super Cyberball marked as the best home console version of the original arcade game, with their unique Mode 7 graphics, while robot football still happens.")
Ed: 9
Martin: 8
Sushi-X: 8

Future Wars: Adventures in Time
Steve: 8
Ed: 8
Martin: 10 ("RazorSoft/Broderbund did it again with that amazing port of the home computer game from Amiga. It could click up the verb menu, and it could help us saving the future in the 44th century, in order to go back to where it would be in the future.")
Sushi-X: 9

Road Riot 4WD
Steve: 10
Ed: 10 ("Definitely Tengen strikes the bolt again with another home iteration of the arcade game. This time it pushed the limits of the Super Nintendo with its own unique 3D graphics, while they had to race it all over again, but with the four-player technique, it was still amazing.")
Martin: 7
Sushi-X: 8

Starglider II
Steve: 8
Ed: 9
Martin: 9
Sushi-X: 10 ("The best home iteration of the game, Nintendo did it right with a sequel to the true vector game with their own 3D graphics that pushed the limits of its own unique software and helped them to feature their own amazing graphics, and with the 3D graphics, you are absolutely right.")

-EGM's reviews of this month's Super Nintendo games, from the June 1992 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly

-

Super Cyberball hits the air!

Super Cyberball, the SNES version of the popular arcade game Cyberball 2072, is now hitting it out for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Converted by the Japanese branch of Tengen (Jun Amanai, Kenichi Nemoto, Kenji Yokoyama), it retains the gameplay of the original Cyberball, like what you saw in an arcade cabinet. Now, it was supplied by the new Super Four Score controller, it allows you to play up to four players simultaneously, with each player serving as a team member of the Cyberball futuristic football team.

-

Sonic 2 prepared

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is about to be prepared in two iterations, one for the Genesis, and the other for the Genesis VHS Adapter, which served as memory to play their own videocassettes. It was a sequel to the highly popular Sonic the Hedgehog, where it was a two-player cooperative mode, and the VHS version featured some animated cutscenes to play between each level.

-

New shows at the Summer CES 1992

While Tengen was on exhibit with their new roster of SNES games like Marble Madness and Peter Pack-Rat, and their Genesis titles like Road Riot 4WD, as well as the cross-platform RBI Baseball 4: Relief Pitcher, Nintendo is working great with the new Mario Paint for the SNES, as well as the SNES Mouse, and the launch of the Super Game Boy, with Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, which was to serve as the debut title, but because of the backward compatibility with the NES through the Family Adapter, it allows you to feature the pre-existing enhanced palettes of the Game Boy TV Adapter, its predecessor for the NES, developed by Sony.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

And now, a recap of TTL's 1991-92 network TV season.

ABC:

ABC is doing great. With Twin Peaks, Life Goes On, Family Matters, Doogie Howser, M.D., Streets of Oklahoma, and America's Funniest Home Videos returning, and MacGyver and Who's the Boss? jumping into the final season, and although most of the new shows bombed, the only five new series from the fall season that survived into next season included the half-hour comedy Home Improvement, which appears to be a vehicle for Tim Allen, Homefront, a drama that was in River Run, the drama Civil Wars, a legal drama, an action-adventure drama Futuristic Man, and D.P.D., a show about the elite streets of Denver.

CBS:
As Knots Landing, A Peaceable Kingdom, WIOU and Wolf continues to decline, while Murphy Brown, World Quest and The Flash is doing strong, CBS is offering newer series, most of them bombed, with the exception of two new series River Hill, a unique drama that draws away viewers from NBC's sitcoms on Saturday nights, and Stephen J. Cannell's new program, Recruitment Force, another Saturday night action/adventure series about a group of recruitments who led a fictional elite team that recruits to be a detected secret agent. Both of the two new shows on CBS gained attractive and dismal successes.

NBC:
Although Cheers went into slip and dumped most of the unpopular characters last year, and when NBC is about to say goodbye to The Cosby Show, and the introduction and successes of the two midseason shows Wings and Seinfeld, other freshman hits like Sisters, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Blossom, Chicago's Last Night and Law & Order are returning, while The Young Family, Mancuso F.B.I., Hardball and Hound Town went into declining ratings. The only four hits NBC offered were I'll Fly Away, a new drama that was set in the 1950s and early 1960s, Reasonable Doubts, a police drama about the D.A. and detective, and two new comedies Pacific Station, a show all about their cops (IOTL it bombed after one season, but the dialogue would be improved), and Towelhead, a show about a group of wacky friends in a towel.

FOX:
Although several of FOX's shows like Against the Law, D.E.A., The Simpsons, Beverly Hills, 90210, Parker Lewis Can't Loose, Cops and America's Most Wanted returning, and the network said goodbye to Hockey Night in Canada (that show would eventually move to ESPN), and although Fox had only three new hits, the sitcom Roc, which is about the ups and downs of a garbage collector, Herman's Head, which came from a magazine publisher, and Rivercreek, the show that was in the sense of primetime soap operas, that would eventually do well.

TTL's top 25 listings of the 1991-92 network TV season:
1. 60 Minutes (CBS)
2. Roseanne (ABC)
3. Murphy Brown (CBS)
4. Towelhead (NBC)
5. Home Improvement (ABC)
6. Cheers (NBC)
7. Designing Women (CBS)
8. Full House (ABC)
9. Murder, She Wrote (CBS)
10. Major Dad (CBS)
11. Chicago's Last Night (NBC)
12. Rivercreek (FOX)
13. Hockey Night in Canada (FOX)
14, Recruitment Force (CBS)
15. World Quest (CBS)
16. The Flash (CBS)
17. D.E.A. (FOX)
18. Sisters (NBC)
19. A Different World (NBC)
20. The Cosby Show (NBC)
21. Futuristic Man (ABC)
22. D.P.D. (ABC)
23. Wings (NBC)
24. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (NBC)
25. NBC Monday Movie (NBC)

 

[DucNguyen0131]

Now, here's a quick recap of the kids TV of the 1991-92 television season.

ABC:

ABC is looking promise to kids TV, with several new shows, quite a few didn't last long and didn't want to survive on the air. First we kicked ABC off with The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, then a new version of the 1970s NBC show Land of the Lost, followed by Darkwing Duck and Beetlejuice, then with Hammerman and Hanna-Barbera's newest action/adventure television series The Pirates of Dark Water, then with returning animated favorites The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show, Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters, now cut down to a half-hour show and the ABC Weekend Special.

-

CBS:

CBS is doing well with newer animated/live-action programs. First off were Riders in the Sky and the new animated show Mother Goose and Grimm, then hour-long runs of Garfield and Friends, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and then with Back to the Future, the newest Universal animated cartoon based on the movies of the same name, followed by Where's Waldo?, then Jim Henson's Muppet Babies, now cut down to a half-hour show, and then with CBS Storybreak, until it was dropped for an entirely new animated show based on the 1990s rapping band Digital Underground, produced by DiC Enterprises.

-

NBC:

Although NBC quickly declined with children's programming, these programs did not fare well. First off it was Chip and Pepper's Cartoon Madness, followed up by the new and campy Hanna-Barbera cartoon Yo Yogi!, then with the new cut-down half hour Captain N and the New Super Mario World, then two new DiC programs ProStars and Wish Kid, followed by Space Cats, then with the returning Saved by the Bell and a new live-action show produced by Peter Engel, The Vanilla Ice Show, that starred the hip-hop rapping band Vanilla Ice, and then with NBA Inside Stuff, the freshman NBA basketball show. Some of them bombed, just as previous live-action efforts like Team Defense Force and Guys with Kids tried to appear in the last two seasons and failed, but Vanilla Ice ultimately survived the next year.

-

FOX:

Fox is the strongest performing, becoming the leader in programming. Although Fox already had the soap Tribes, and several game shows, as well as Beetlejuice weekdays, Fox is offering newer Saturday morning shows, the three returning shows Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, Bobby's World, Tom and Jerry Kids, the new Warner Bros. cartoon Taz-Mania, the newest Marvel Productions cartoon, based on The Little Shop of Horrors, Little Shop and a newer DiC animated cartoon, that of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures, different from what we got on CBS last season.

-

Syndication:

There are some new shows that came on the air in 1991. These were first-run syndicated shows, like The Pirates of Dark Water, Darkwing Duck, Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars, and the strip James Bond Jr., and Hanna-Barbera also had the syndicated cartoon Young Robin Hood in cooperation with CINAR. Darkwing Duck was part of a lineup of shows that were in the Disney Afternoon block.

-

Cable Networks:

Nickelodeon has been just on the rise in 1991 with three new Nicktoons, Rugrats, The Ren & Stimpy Show, and Doug. Nickelodeon also has new programs already out, these were Fifteen, Clarissa Explains It All, Welcome Freshmen and Salute Your Shorts, these three were teen programs. The other animated cartoon The Legend of Prince Valiant made its debut on The Family Channel. Speaking of The Disney Channel, it offered an imported show The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and even newer episodes of Kids Incorporated, which has been a staple of since 1986.

-

And now the top 10 most popular kids shows:
1. Darkwing Duck (Syndication)
2. The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show (ABC)
3. Rugrats (Nickelodeon)
4. Doug (Nickelodeon)
5. The Ren and Stimpy Show (Nickelodeon)
6. Saved by the Bell (NBC)
7. Muppet Babies (CBS)
8. Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters (ABC)
9. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (CBS)
10. Tiny Toon Adventures (Syndication)

 

[DucNguyen0131]

Now here's a recap of Summer 1992, but other events are shown here.

-

The Old West
Steve: 6 ("The western setting for the NES is nice, though the controls are a bit good, but still lack of a disappointment, and otherwise help them in order to be more astonishing to their experiences.")
Ed: 7
Martin: 6
Sushi-X: 6

Lexi-Cross
Steve: 7
Ed: 8 ("This makes Smash T.V. looked like Wheel of Fortune, in a robotic world of game shows, but Interplay strikes it yet again with the newest game show for their whole hangman with Scrabble elements.")
Martin: 6
Sushi-X: 7

Ultimate Fast Racer
Steve: 8
Ed: 7
Martin: 9 ("The most addictive fast racing game is the most challenging Nintendo game, though not unlike RC Pro-Am, but entirely in 3D and had high helps in order to get th fast racing experience done.")
Sushi-X: 8

Scorched Earth
Steve: 5
Ed: 4
Martin: 3
Sushi-X: 5 ("The most, but a bit disappointing port of a computer game introduced a year ago, but THQ strikes it hit big again with the most combat strategy game for the Nintendo system, and it was a bit interesting.")
-EGM's reviews of this summer's Nintendo Disk/Cassette/Compact Disk System games from the July and August 1992 issues of Electronic Gaming Monthly

Strike Force
Steve: 8 ("Acclaim's Super NES take on Defender is quite a bit polishing, but otherwise it was addictive and fun, but it has the old gameplay formula of the classic Defender, which happens to be a classic good arcade translation.")
Ed: 7
Martin: 7
Sushi-X: 8

Xerex
Steve: 9
Ed: 10 ("The best home translation of the arcade game, it would might be a successor to Gradius, but it is quite fun and decided to do well with the shooting and decided to gave them their own mechanics.")
Martin: 8
Sushi-X: 9

Welltris
Steve: 8
Ed: 8
Martin: 9 ("Nintendo hits it again with the most accurate home port of that home computer game, which was indeed the Tetris successor and decided to go into a three-dimensional experience.")
Sushi-X: 8

Battletoads
Steve: 8
Ed: 9
Martin: 8
Sushi-X: 10 ("An accurate port of the original Nintendo game done by the Japanese programming team, it retranslates the script into the most addictive assembly game, with the HAL team doing a great job at doing the most accurate 16-bit conversion ever.")

RBI Baseball 4: Relief Pitcher
Steve: 8
Ed: 9 ("The most accurate concept, which was first utilized for the arcade territory. RBI4 has gained their charm and reputation for the baseball territory, with it eventually striking all the way to be the relief pitcher.")
Martin: 6
Sushi-X: 6
-EGM's reviews of this summer's 1992 Super Nintendo games from the July and August 1992 issues of Electronic Gaming Monthly

Sneak preview of new animated cartoon

Film Roman would offer a planned animated cartoon was to debut for the fall of 1992, Pit-Fighter, which was based on the video game by Atari Games/Tengen, for Fox Kids. The cartoon would follow the adventures of Buzz, Ty and Kato through his fighting experiences and decided that they would decided that they would help them eliminate. 13 episodes were ordered for the new animated cartoon, which is scheduled for debut in the fall of 1992.

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New soap made its debut

A new transitional soap opera, Swans Crossing, was made for syndication, aimed at a teenage audience, like what Fox is doing with Tribes. It was created by Ned Kandel and Mardee Kravit, who also served as executive producers, written by Steven Phillip Smith, Penina Spiegel, Chris Steinbach and Andrew Stoll, directed by Noel Black, Robert Scinto and Joshua White and starred Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shane McDermott, Brittany Daniel and Mira Sorvino. It also comes with action figures from Playmates Toys, and hopes it would succeeded very well.

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Nintendo to release new titles

Nintendo of America is releasing several new titles for the NES, SNES and Game Boy. Nintendo would release Day Dreamin' Davey, a title designed by Sculptured Software, and two new titles, Battletoads, converted by HAL Laboratory for the SNES, and Kirby's Dream Land, designed and developed by HAL Laboratory for the Game Boy, with enhancements on the Game Boy TV Adapter. The Super Game Boy is also out with Wave Race as its first title with SGB enhancements, with future games like Super Mario Land 2 featured SGB support in addition to pre-existing Game Boy TV Adapter support. Nintendo also had Welltris, converted by Intelligent Systems, for the SNES this summer.

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RBI 4 launches on SNES

RBI Baseball 4: Relief Pitcher, which marked the franchise's first entry onto the arcade market is gearing up for the SNES for the first time. Being a merger of two unrelated titles, the home console RBI Baseball 4 and the arcade Relief Pitcher, it follows the gameplay of the classic R.B.I. Baseball formula, along with commentary from Jack Buck, the sportscaster (all the pitfalls from OTL's SNES version of Relief Pitcher by Left Field has been butterflied away). It will follow with versions for the NES, the Game Boy and the Genesis, which also came out later that year.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

Several more final posts, and that would be the end of that time. The Japanese launch of SNES-CD was discussed here.

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Steel Talons
Steve: 8 ("Move over, Hard Drivin! The 8-bit version of the classic 3D polygons game would be the most impressive, and technical port, even for the Nintendo Compact Disk System, with stunning Super Cartridge adapter and graphics.")
Ed: 8
Martin: 7
Sushi-X: 8

Tank Tech
Steve: 9
Ed: 10 ("The best game about tank, they would make their own construction set in order to build their technology, with their controls and their special adapter to build their own technology.")
Martin: 8
Sushi-X: 9

The Taking of Beverly Hills
Steve: 8
Ed: 9
Martin: 9 ("RazorSoft did it again with that adaptation of the movie of the same name, and it followed that they would follow on the richest residents and decided that they would become the nicest thing in town.")
Sushi-X: 8

Space 1889
Steve: 10
Ed: 10
Martin: 9
Sushi-X: 10 ("The best home port of that one computer game of the same name, this is an otherwise amazing game, with the best mechanics, and decided that they would follow on the pencil and paper roleplaying game.")
-EGM's reviews of this month's August 1992 Nintendo Cassette/Disk/Compact Disk System games from the September 1992 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly

Super Steel Talons
Steve: 9
Ed: 10 ("The best home version of the game, giving its edges over the NES and Genesis versions, Steel Talons is still the most impressive and more accurate home translation of the arcade game with the 3D graphics.")
Martin: 8
Sushi-X: 9

CyberHoops
Steve: 10 ("Cyberball meets basketball, this is the futuristic sport of basketball, and we have their robotic slam dunks, and decided to throw their futuristic hoops in their own world grand final tournament of stunning 16-bit basketball.")
Ed: 9
Martin: 8
Sushi-X: 9

Wild West World
Steve: 7
Ed: 8
Martin: 8 ("This is a wild west game, but RazorSoft did it again with that great western game, and the controls are much a bit confusing, but still otherwise more addictive gameplay and have fun.")
Sushi-X: 7

Xenon 2: Megablast
Steve: 8
Ed: 9
Martin: 9
Sushi-X: 10 ("The best home version of an European computer game, Mindscape strikes it again with that impressive 16-bit home version with the most stunning graphics and several hip-hop music for addictive challenge players.")
-EGM's review of this month's Super Nintendo games from the September 1992 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly

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Lunar Chase to get 3D cartoon

In what would be the world's first computer-animated television special, Lunar Chase: Squadron X, the upcoming Nintendo Game Boy game is planning on to have an animated special that was timed in with the game's release on the Game Boy by Nintendo of America. Christopher Brough of Mainframe Entertainment is producing the special, in association with DiC Animation City, and was set to be released by Bohbot Entertainment for local stations. This computer-animated special loosely followed the plot of the game, and had high hopes of going into series by the fall of 1993 if the special succeeded.

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Steel Talons is out!

Tengen is releasing Steel Talons for the NES, SNES, Sega Genesis and Game Boy. Although most other ports were designed by Tengen, Argonaut Software would handle the duties of the Game Boy version of the same name, using the impressive 3D engine that was designed by Argonaut themselves.

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Nintendo to get new titles

Nintendo is releasing Super Play Action Football and Mario Paint for the Super NES, along with CyberHoops, Rare's newest sports title, that was equipped with the Super Four Score. CyberHoops utilized Silicon Graphics technology and featured 3D models for the robotic characters that would play basketball, in what would be the futuristic setting of 2022, 30 years later than the game's release. Also out was Kirby's Dream Land for the Game Boy, to be compatible with the Game Boy TV Adapter for the NES, and the Super Game Boy for the SNES, with enhanced graphics on these systems.

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Should Swans Crossing to come back?

After an interesting success of 65 episodes, Swans Crossing was picked up once again for an additional 65 episodes, becoming the most successful teen soap opera and transitional soap opera ever. Accompanied by a video game tie-in for THQ, and a toyline adaptation from Playmates Toys, this show would became the top-rated kids show of the year, and become the most successful teen soap.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

Might be the next-to-last post, as we did a recap on September and October 1992!

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"Rad Racer GB is a fun addictive game. Our friend Dylan Cuthbert had reverse engineered the Game Boy on Lunar Chase with Nintendo staffers, and now we reverse-engineered the Game Boy, with the third Rad Racer game. I programmed it at the Square headquarters in Japan, and I worked at Argonaut Software of London for programming. I used the skills he picked from the Lunar Chase software and made the 3D video game engine we are using for the game, using their own outlining models and we used a development kit from Square to utilize it and be familiar with the hardware impressed by Lunar Chase. We used a Final Fantasy Legend cartridge in order to observe the kits for Rad Racer GB"
-Giles Goddard, programmer of Rad Racer GB, from an interview with IGN, 2001

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Nintendo to prepare shopping

Nintendo of America announced that they would release Squadron X: Lunar Chase in November 1992, for the Game Boy, and be enhanced with the Game Boy TV Adapter on the NES. This game is a rail shooting game in vein of Starglider, and features isometric 3-D gameplay. It will feature cutscenes featuring an isometric man who helped with the captain in order to read their lines, which will feature digitized speech within the Game Boy TV Adapter. Although it will feature wireframed gameplay, the Game Boy TV Adapter, which was that, in full-color, will offer full-color 3D gameplay, in order to spent worth of total experiences and fun. Other Nintendo titles were R.C. Pro-Am II, Rare's newest title, and Super Golf, the 16-bit incarnation of one golf game.

-excerpted from an October 1992 issue of Nintendo Power

(OTL's cancellation was butterflied away, and asked Sony to help and assist with the North American release, in order to change the decision's minds.)

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By this fall, newly-bounded Squaresoft will have the third Final Fantasy Legend, for play on the Game Boy, with enhanced gameplay, in full-color on the complete colorful Game Boy TV Adapter, with many details, following on the strict formula as with the Final Fantasy games. There even had the new Rad Racer GB for the Game Boy. Argonaut Software, who previously assisted with Nintendo on Lunar Chase is on board to program and design the newer 3D Rad Racer game, which handled the game design and programming, and it will be enhanced with the Game Boy TV Adapter.

-Excerpted from the September 1992 issue of GamePro

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October 13, 1992

Rad Racer GB is the third installment in the Rad Racer series, and the first to offer 3D gameplay. Developed and programmed by Argonaut Software and published by Square, as a follow-up to the two Rad Racer games on the NES. The gameplay used a strict variation on the Rad Racer formula, that pushed the technology hardware as shown, according to Giles Goddard, who designed and programmed the game. Although Argonaut only handled design and programming, most of the other aspects had gone on to Square themselves, including Masanori Hoshino, who designed the graphics, and Ryuji Sasai who handled the sound of the game. It will handle one or two players, according to each aspect of the game themselves. Square also developed an internally-developed Super Rad Racer for the SNES, with Mode-7 gameplay, and the whole programming team is done by Square of Japan themselves.

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Super Rad Racer

The newest and third installment in the Rad Racer franchise, this time for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it takes up to the Mode 7 formula that F-Zero is using. It will be a four-player cooperative game, and it has super fun and excitement, for the third entry in the Rad Racer video game, second only to the Game Boy installment, and to the two prior Nintendo installments. This is a far better game within than with F-Zero, which only offers only one player.

Graphics: 3.5
Sound: 2.5
Control: 3.0
FunFactor: 4.0
Challenge: Expert

R.C. Pro-Am II

The sequel to R.C. Pro-Am comes to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Bolstered by its Mode 7 gameplay and its four-player co-operative mode unlike the isometric gameplay with the prior Super R.C. Pro-Am on the SNES, it will take a while for Rare to get the programming done, and with the intermediate gameplay, with their own excitement and within their four-player challenge for computer-controlled cars.

Graphics: 4.0
Sound: 3.5
Control: 5.0
FunFactor: 4.5
Challenge: Intermediate

Die Hard 2: Die Harder

Activision offers the newest sequel to the hit Nintendo game, this time for the newest and most-advanced Super Nintendo Entertainment System. All terrorists return and we have to shoot all terrorists by invading the Washington's Dulles airport and they would let them for the civilizations and we had to shoot. Based on the second movie of the same name by 20th Century Fox, released two years earlier, Die Hard 2 retains the same fun and charm the older Nintendo game had, even with a Super Adapter. Everything else is much of an improvement over the first game, which is already out on the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Graphics: 4.5
Sound: 5.0
Control: 4.0
FunFactor: 3.5
Challenge: Beginner

-Excerpted from GamePro's reviews of October 1992's SNES games from their December 1992 issue

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New replacements is out!

The newest game shows are out on the Fox Broadcasting Company. Studs would return, so does a newer version of You Bet, Your Life, which was hosted by Bill Cosby themselves, and Tribes would return. Among the replacement cartoons on Fox were on the Fox Kids block. were Tiny Toon Adventures and Batman: The Animated Series, along with Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny and Friends. On Saturday mornings, we have Dog City, The Plucky Duck Show, Eek! The Cat, Super Dave: Daredevil for Hire, and the newest action-adventure entry, Pit-Fighter, based on the Atari Games video game of the same name, produced by Film Roman, of Bobby's World fame, under license from American game developer Tengen. NBC, like OTL is out of the Saturday morning cartoon business, inserting several live-action series in, and what was kept was the Vanilla Ice series, slotted at 11:00 am, along with newer shows like California Dreams, Name Your Adventure and Double Up.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

This is the final post that covered in the timeline. More details could be found there.

Squadron X: Lunar Chase

Squadron X: Lunar Chase is the world's first ever 3-D space shooter for the Game Boy. Designed by Argonaut, handled by Dylan Cuthbert, it is about the starship VIXIV, with completing missions assigned by the Training Academy, and protect the planet Tetamus II from being taken over by a mysterious alien race. This game was originally released in Japan as X, and would eventually see Western release as Lunar Chase, which was enhanced by the more powerful Game Boy TV Adapter, this month, on Thanksgiving Day 1992, as a surprise for gamers who discovered it for the first time, being shopped well for the Christmas shopping season. Lunar Chase becoming the world's first ever graphical game ever on the Game Boy, even beating Rad Racer GB in sales for the first time.

For the Game Boy:

For the Game Boy TV Adapter (enhanced):

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EGM's coverage:

Lunar Chase
Steve: 10
Ed: 10 ("Definitely the best game that was in full 3-D, in time for the Christmas shopping season, it's definitely worth the fun to wait, with the most amazing graphics that pushed the Game Boy to its own limits.")
Martin: 10
Sushi-X: 9
-From EGM's review of the game on the December 1992 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly

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Sonic 2 is out!

After the blockbuster success of the first Sonic the Hedgehog game, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is finally out, and decided that they would worth the wait to release the game, in both the cartridge or cassette versions. The cassette version had some anime-esque cutscenes in between level scenes. It was also released for the Game Gear in a different version, with mild success, and decided to go for a bigger direction towards all of the audiences.

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The world's first CGI TV cartoon!

Squadron X: Lunar Chase, the world's first 30-minute computer-animated television special hit the airwaves this Thanksgiving on Fox stations, as well as independent stations. Written by Ian Pearson and Gavin Blair and Mark Hoffmeier, it was produced by DIC Entertainment and Mainframe Entertainment, Inc., in association with Reteitalia and Telecinco, and syndicated by Bohbot Entertainment, it followed the plot of the game. Despite the fact it tanked on most stations, its success did clear the way for the creation of the first computer-animated cartoon ReBoot.

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New SNES game is out

Nintendo is releasing Super Golf for the SNES, described as a 16-bit version of the popular Nintendo game, Golf, which also happened to be popular on the NES and the Game Boy. Super Golf consists of extra features that were not present in Golf. Rare Ltd. is the development team that went behind the title, clearing the way for a new SNES sequel to Battletoads.

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EPILOGUE POST:

This is the epilogue of the post. From the beginnings when WPTV and WSM were converted to ABC as the network was number one in 1980, to its resounding success of game shows and video games, this served as the epilogue of the post.

Some of the success went throughout station ownerships, and be less focused on TV, as it was focused more on gaming, such as addons for popular home systems, such as the NES, Genesis, TurboGrafx-16 and the Game Gear.

THE END!