Crawly Crypt Collection 2

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Cyberaktiv Games On-line December 30, 1994 - Volume 1 / Issue 5 __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ // \ // / // \ // \ // \ // \ // / \\ \ \\ \ // / // /\ \// ///\// /\ \// /\ \// /\ \// /\ \// <___ // \ // \// ///\ // / \/\\ \/ // \/ // \\\// \/ // \/ // __/ // /\/ // /\// /// / / / \\ // /\ _// /\_> / /\ _// /\ // /\ \ // / __/ / // /// / \ \__ __/ /\\ \/| \\ \ \\///| \\/// /\\/// / // / \\ / \\ \/ / \\__/ \\__/ \\__/ \\_> <<_/ <<_/ <<_/ \\/ \\_> \\__/ __ __ __ __ __ // \ // \ // \ // \ // \ // /\ \// /\ \// / \// /\ \// /\ \ -------============--}--*-- -- - - // /_ \// \/ // / / // \\\/\\ \\\/ _ / /< \// /\ // / / // /\_> __\\ \ /\ / ___ / -{-*- - \ \/ /\\/// /\\/ / /\\ \ \\ \/ / / \ | __ / / \ |/__ \\__/ <<_/ \\/_/ \\_> \\__/ \__|\| <__ __/_ |\|\__ ----------------======================-}---*- - - -*)()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()(*- _ _ \ Contents / _ _ \~~~~~~~~~~/ - 1.0 - News - 2.0 - 3DO Game Reviews - 2.1 - Samurai Shodown - 2.2 - Need For Speed - 2.3 - Star Blade - 3.0 - 32X Game Reviews - 4.0 - Jaguar Game Reviews - 4.1 - Iron Soldier - 4.2 - CyberMorph - 4.3 - Jaguar News: John Carmack Of Id Software Comments about the Jaguar! - 5.0 - Game Cheats/Hints - 6.0 - Editorials - 7.0 - Cyberaktiv Games Prices And Ordering Information! - 7.1 - 3DO Titles - 7.2 - 32x Titles - 7.3 - Jaguar Titles - 7.4 - Console Units and Peripherals - 7.5 - How To Order -*)()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()(*- Cyberactiv Games On-Line Staff: Mike : Head of Cyberaktiv Games Bryan : Editor, Writer, Advertiser, Sales Rep. Steve : Editor, Writer, Advertiser, Sales Rep. Dan : Editor, Writer Jeff : Writer __ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /_/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ /(_ _ 1.0 - News _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ \_/_/ -=- ~~~~_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ --- --- ----------------------- __ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /_/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ /(_ _ 2.0 - 3DO Game Reviews _ _ _ _ _ \_/_/ -=- ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ --- --- ----------- __ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /_/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ /(_ _ 2.1 - Title/Company _ _ _ _ _ _ \_/_/ -=- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ --- --- -------------- Samurai Shodown / Crystal Dynamics __ /\ Overview - >~~'~~~~~~`~~~~ I never really got off on the Neo until World Heroes came out, until then the games on the system were quite uninteresting to me(Baseball 2020, NAM: 1975, etc...). However, once World Heroes came out, it proved to me that the Neo could put out some great fighters. Samurai Shodown really helped push the Neo for a while. The unusual characters and the level of animation in the arcade really made this game stand out. Then, at about the same time that we all started hearing about Samurai Shodown ][ for the arcade, Crystal Dynamics(at SCES '94) announced that they had acquired the rights to bring it to the 3DO. __ /\ Options - >~~'~~~~~`~~~~ When you first boot Samurai Shodown, you realize the true meaning of the word "port". This one screams it at full blast all the way through the game. Crystal Dynamics didn't even put their trademark 'Crystal Dynamics' animation at the start and there's not even any previews of upcoming games. Anyway, after a still 'Samurai Shodown' screen loads, you get to see the intro to the arcade redone perfectly on the 3DO. Once you're past that you get a main menu, from here you can choose what level of difficulty to play on(easy, normal, hard, or arcade), resume a save game(ie..it'll save if you don't continue a game), or go to an options screen. The options screen allows some interesting configurations...for example; Deathmatch on/off(timer or no timer), weapons on/off, or blood on/off, or reset the high scores. After that you can begin a game with either controller by pressing the play/pause button. __ /\ Gameplay - >~~'~~~~~~`~~~~ The character selection screen looks exactly like the arcade, and after selecting a character you'll watch your character move about while waiting for player 2 or the cpu to pick your opponent. The defending character will be taunted be their opponent and off it loads the scenery. Up to this point loading had not been a problem to any annoying level. However, after the judge says 'En Garde' it will load. We roughly counted 6 or 7 seconds for this load. After playing Way of the Warrior and SSF2T this started to get annoying simply due to the fact that in these other games, once the environment loads, you're ready to fight and with this it loads, freezing the screen. Its not hideously bad or anything, it just kind of ruins the feeling. The moves and fights are pretty much arcade perfect, and the animation is just as close to the arcade. There is some bogging if there is a lot of movement going on and both players are far away from each other. The level to which this slows down depends mainly on which characters are being used and where you're fighting. Overall, the control is easy to use however I do prefer the way Capcom handled the controls on SSF2T more. In this the A, B, and C buttons will do the weak/strong punches. To do the weak/strong kicks you have to hold in the right shift button. Another downside to this is that you cannot configure the controls on any menu and once again, you really need to have a 'fixed' Panasonic controller or one of the newer controllers from the different companies in order to be able to pull most of the special moves off easily. __ /\ Overall - \~~'~~~~~`~~~~ /\ There has been some disappointment circulating the nets in regards to this game. Mainly from some of the die-hard Samurai Shodown arcade fans. For one thing, I guess that after some fights there are supposed to be quick animations of Anakusa watching your progress. Others have complained of actual 'bugs' in the game. For example during the bonus round, if you play with Earthquake and you jump towards the top of the screen and try to slice the target, he will disappear and reappear on the floor. Also, some of the characters that have special teleporting moves(Hanzo, Galford) when used will sometimes be able to come down from the air and hit you even if you are out of range. Overall, the largest section of the complaints has come in regards to the sound. Rumor has it that Crystal Dynamics was not allowed the digital samples from the arcade from SNK and had to actually go to an arcade and tape record them themselves. The music is of good quality and actually the sound effects are not abysmally bad. However, compared to the arcade, it isn't hard to notice the degraded sound effects. Aside from this, it has been generally concurred(and I agree as well) that compared to all the other home ports of SS to other systems, the 3DO easily outclasses them all. Also, in regards to the frequency of the 'bugs', I had to be told about them, I never found any myself. If you have a 3DO and liked the arcade, most likely I'd say that you won't regret it if you buy it. But if an arcade perfect port is an absolute must for you, I'd suggest trying to find a dealer who has a kiosk running it. Overall - >Graphics - 80% (The artwork is really nice, although afterall it is hand drawn so it doesn't move into the '1000's of colors' notch.) Sound - 70% (I think that the bad quality of the sound was blown a little out of proportion by some users however, compared to the arcade as well as other 3DO fighters, it left a little to be desired.) Control - 85% (The controller is responsive and with one of the newer pads, the special moves aren't too hard to pull off.) Playability - 90% (Its a fun game. Adding weapons to the 2D fighter genre was a good idea. I still haven't beaten it on one player mode and in two player mode, like most fighters, its good fun.) Replay Value - 75% (Unlike other home versions, all the characters are present and with lots of special moves and nice presentation combined with a good opponent you'll be playing this one for a while.) \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ \Total - 80% \/ 2.2 - Need For Speed / Electronic Arts Canada Overview - A few months back, we heard about a game that would be along the same lines of Ridge Racer or Daytona with lots of texture mapped graphics and intense racing action. They called it Need For Speed. But, when Bryan got it a few days back we found very little similarities. It reminded us of Test Drive ][ on the Amiga and PC, but with those special 3DO style graphics found in Road Rash. It does have better color and graphics than Road Rash, it even appears to be faster, if you choose a car with a high top speed. Some people like it and some people hate it. It has its plusses and minuses. Options - Upon booting NFS you see a nice EA intro followed by FMV of the various cars of choice driving around. It appears that this game is sponsored by Road & Track magazine. You eventually arrive at a main menu. Here you can do a number of things; customize multiple in-game options, choose your car (8 different cars like a Lamborghini or Ferrari and others), choose your (optional) opponent's car or a clock, choose the environment for your race (3 environments), or start the race. Choosing a car is very nicely done with a picture of the car displayed along with 2-3 pages of stats, as well as a voice describing the features of the car in a very enthusiastic manner. Also, you can choose to watch a video of the car in full FMV. The options screen allows various things, such as; if your car has ABS breaks enabled\disabled, etc. There are 3 environments to race in each containing 3 different tracks. For a total of 9 race tracks. Gameplay - The control is pretty realistic, the degree to which the wheel is turned can be controlled by the pad, there are 3 views from which you can play the game; in-car view, chase view, and sky view. The in-car view is the best one to use, you'll find yourself reacting better due to the fact that things will come right at you. A downside to this game is that movement to the left and right of the track is very restricted, even if the land around the track looks as if it would permit such movement(darn, I really wanted to hit that moose..heheh). Another advantage to playing from the in-car view is the differences in the dashboards that the different cars have. Each car also turns, accelerates, and brakes with realistically different levels depending on the car you choose. There are two basic styles to racing, against the clock or the opponent. Ultimately, playing against the opponent is really just another car on the track. However, like you his car is exceptional and since the goal of racing against an opponent is to beat the opponent, you'll find yourself driving differently than you would against the clock. Depending on how you fare against the opponent, you'll see a video after the race of him telling you what he thinks of your performance. His attitude really makes you wanna run him off the road. Having an opponent also adds other aspects, for example, he'll drive in front of you and pull away in time to let you get smacked by oncoming traffic. The police are also present in this game forcing you to accelerate to high speeds to keep them from catching up. Try to watch your speedometer, chances to get away from the cops will come up, good driving techniques will keep them at bay more than a fast car. One of the best features of this game is the replay feature. In this mode you can shift between multiple views unavailable during the regular game to watch your own performance. Watching car crashes is the best use for this tho', watching how many times a cop car spins while in the air after a head-on collision with your opponent is really good fun. Overall - This is a title that at first glance I thought had good graphics but had poor playability. This game will be hard when you first start, you just need to get used to the controls and don't get discouraged if you crash a lot. Remember to drive realistically until you get the hang of it. Slow down when going into turns and experiment with the different cars on the different tracks to find which car is the best suited. After I played it for about an hour and got used to the way the controls worked and started playing it from the first person point of view rather than the out-of-car Cruisin USA view, I really started to like it. Now, I play it all the time. There are nine overall races, and you have your own best time on each as well as an opponent to beat, plus 8 cars to choose from to keep the replay value high. Also, rumours say that EA will be releasing expansion disks with more cars and tracks expanding the already richly detailed environments that NFS delivers. Overall - Graphics -93% (Looks like Road Rash with better graphics and cars) Sound -72% (no in game music, I didn't really care for the tunes but the music was of CD quality.) Control -85% (multiple controller configurations and its quite sensitive.) Play -84% (Once you get the hang of it you'll be screaming down the tracks.) Replay -76% (if you really like racers then I'm sure you'll be playing this a lot.) ------------- Overall -82% (Its Test Drive done right. Good graphics and good fun trying to beat others' score.) 2.3 Starblade / Panasonic / Namco Overview - This is the arcade....and then some, one of the best overall conversions of an arcade to a home system ever. Starblade is a first person perspective 3D shooter. You play the role of gunner for the Geostorm, a ship with one primary mission: to destroy the Octopus power generator at the heart of your enemy's home world. Gameplay - Technically, yes this is a point and click shooter. The difference between this and other 'on-the-rails based games is that the way the game is visually presented does not make you feel so much like you're 'on-the-rails'. Also, most games like this use sprites(and very few of them) to give you objects that you can actually interact with and then lays them on top of a rendered movie. The difference? no rendered movie and no sprites, instead you get HUGE massively detailed battle platforms and tons of enormous asteroids which are not part of the backgrounds for you to obliterate. And that's just the environment, also, you get attacked by tons of ships, lasers bursting in full. Also, after bootup you get a choice of which style game to play; Starblade (polygon based) classic which looks identical to the arcade and, Starblade 3DO with fully texture mapped polygons. Visually this game is incredible just as it was in the arcade Overall - This is one of the best conversions from an arcade to home that I've ever seen. When they first announced this, I wasn't sure if they'd make it perfect to the arcade(polygons only) or if they'd really let the 3DO show what it can produce. Well, it looks like you've got the best of both worlds here and the gameplay is just as intense as that of the arcade. Overall - Graphics - 95% (The classic style is just as good as the arcade. However, the 3DO style really blows you away.) Sound - 90% (Just like the arcade you're constantly hearing radio transmissions of orders and status. The quality is also very high.) Control - 80% (I'd have to recommend a 'fixed' controller, also after using the controller at the arcade, I felt that the crosshairs you move with the d-pad was not quite as lightning quick, however, the arcade wasn't using a d-pad. Play - 85% (Its a very intense game, you must keep blasting at all times just for a chance of getting anywhere. Just like the arcade. Replay - 70% (The game saves off high scores and with the number of targets to blast throughout the game, you will probably rebeat yourself many times to come. However, being that it is an 'FMV' game, once you've seen it all, you've seen it all. ---------------- Overall - 84% (Ultimately its a great conversion of the arcade, both play modes will satisfy Starblade purists, and graphics purists alike.) __ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /_/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ /(_ _ 3.0 - 32x Game Reviews _ _ _ _ _ \_/_/ -=- ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ __ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /_/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ /(_ _ 4.0 - Jaguar Game Reviews _ _ _ _ \_/_/ -=- ~~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~_/ _/ _/ _/ --- --- -------- ..::::. .. ... _________ ...:::::::::::. ... ..:::::. :::. / /| .::.. ._________________.'::::. .::::::. :::::::: :::::../________/ |::::::::: |\////////////////|::::'.::::::::::::.:::::::::::::.|O O O O | |.::::.::: |\ | |...:::::::::::::::::::: :: ______'___ | |_______ |\ | '__________________________/_. /|O O | / /| |\____ .___' /////////////////////////////|______/ |_____/___ / | '/__ \ |.---------..--------..---. .---.| | || | / /|_/ | |\ || [ ] || || || \| || |]||[]| / / |#| | |\ || .-. < ===><=== | || |]||[]|/________/ |#'__' .___'\ || | | || || || |\ || |]||[]||[][][][]| / / |\\\\\ '___ ' '___''________''___' `___'| |]||[]|| | /_____/ |\ | ____ __ _ ___ __ __ | |]||[]||[][][][]| |= = =| |\ | <___ | || | \ | | | >| |]||[]|| | |= = =| |\ | || || | > | | |-< | |]||[]||[][][][]| |= = =| |\ | ____''__''__ '_/ _'_'__| || |]||[]|| | |= = =| |\._____________'____________________________' |]||[]||[][][][]| |= = =| |/ \|----------------------- '----------------------------------------------' ___ _ / /_> .-----------------_________________________________\/AGUA/ \_ /| IRON SOLDIER | || $59.95 MSRP | |/| | || By : Eclipse Rated : KA (6+) | || | || Type ........ 3D Shooter/ Size ....... 16 Megabits | || Stratagy | || Levels ..... 16 city- | || Environment . 3D Polygon scapes | || 6-directional | || w/Vertical Players .... 1 Only | || panning | || | || Color ....... 8-bit | || | || Effects ..... Texure Mapping | || Gouraud Shading | || Light sourcing | || | |'____________________________________________________________: '/___________________________________________________________/ .____________________________________________________________ /| | || OPTIONS | || ------- | || * In-game Music and FX volume control | || * Difficulty control (4 levels) | || * Button Configuration control | || * Joypad Configuration control | || * Game Save feature | || * Music test | |'____________________________________________________________: '/___________________________________________________________/ Overview : Industry has taken over the planet. Three quarters of -------- the Earth's surface has been covered with concrete and steel cities and wastelands. The Iron Fist Corporation (IFC) has used military force to conquer governments and create a world-wide military dictatorship. Recently the IFC developed a new weapon for the urban areas; a 45-foot tall piloted robot known as the Iron Soldier. With such a weapon they will have no trouble maintaining their hold on the populace. However an organization has been formed to stop the IFC. This resistance has managed to capture an early production Iron Soldier unit. As a member of the Resistance your job is to pilot this captured Iron Soldier in your war against Iron Fist. ...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10. GRAPHICS ______________/|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| | | '----------------------------------------' | First off it's nice to see that Checkered Flag won't be the | only Jaguar game with a decent menu. You are presented with | a main screen surrounded by 16 smaller screens. Each of the | smaller screens contains a nice hand-rendered image depicting | that level. By moving the joypad around you highlight the level | you want to play. When you move from one box to the next, the | current level will be depicted in the main screen. The main screen | is actually a texture mapped cube and flips around when you switch | levels. | | Next is the arming screen. A 3D representation of your battle- | mech occupies the lower right hand corner. This is where you | position your weapons at. The mech is 3D, and you can angle it | to the left or right for effect. There are six positions to | choose from. There are 8 weapons total, which are contained | in 8 boxes on the left of the screen. As you highlight the | box the weapon rotates. At first I thought theses were rendered | sprite sequences, but they are all composed of gouraud shaded | polygons light-sourced in real time. I don't know how much others | might like it, but I thought the effect was VERY cool. It looks | very realistic. | | The game itself is equally impressive. The landscape uses a | combination of texture mapping, gouraud shading, and real-time | light sourcing. I was expecting (from the demo tape) that only the | enemies would be texture mapped. I was pleasantly surprised to | find that all of the objects and parts of some of the buildings were | mapped too. Mostly it was stuff like gates, doors, and roofs. | However there are a few buildings in the game which are fully | texture mapped. Gouraud shading was used to very nice effect to | accent some of the buildings as well. The power plant actually | looks round and smooth. Even the flat un-shaded buildings looked | good. No simple boxes here; they came in a variety of config- | urations. And you don't just get tanks and helicopters to fight; | there are several different enemies that attack you, including | two other types of tanks, cars, two types of trucks, VTOLs and | Airplanes (which bomb you), fixed Gun and missile turrets, and | even Naval Warships, as well as other IS units. Only the heli- | copters and one type of tank are texture mapped, but every thing | else is light sourced (including the gouraud shading on the IS | units). Blowing up buildings reveals boxes which contain various | power-ups and mission goals and such. all are nicely texture | mapped. | | The explosions were the best though. When you destroy a building | it breaks up into a shower of polygon debris, all light-sourced | in real time accompanied by fantastic fire and smoke sprites. The | debris bounces a few times and then disappears. Destroying the | buildings from a great distance looks even more impressive (the | polygons don't "pop" in and out of existence like in Cybermorph | and Checkered Flag, so you can see stuff from very far away...). | The explosions of the enemies are just as cool; miniatures of the | buildings. When you shoot a helicopter overhead (you can almost | shoot straight up), the debris falls all around you, which | helps to immerse you in the environment. There are a variety of | different buildings, including houses, water towers, control | towers, skyscrapers, power plants, residential blocks, factories, | Fuel tanks and more. | | The camera angle pans in every direction. You can look down at | your feet so you can see yourself squash tanks and houses. The | camera bobs up and down as you walk just like in DOOM, and is | timed to match your steps (so are the "stomping" sound fx). | | More texture mapping is about the only way I think the graphics | could be improved, but it really does look arcade-quality. There | are several variations on the background pics (which are fairly | well done, but could be better), depending on the mission. The | textures were air for the most part, and some of them were quite | good. I'd also like to mention that Atari's little problem with the | manuals seems to be solved. All of the recent ones including | this one look great. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10. PLAY MECHANICS ________/|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| | '----------------------------------------' | Hey, What do ya know. This game ain't just pretty graphics. =) | | There are 16 different missions, and let me tell you, there's | lots more variety here than you think. Each mission is different. | The missions are divided up into groups of four, and you can only | advance after you've passed all four missions in your present group. | You don't get all the weapons either; you get weapons along the | way, but you have to "earn" them by completing the missions (just | like in AvP). At the beginning you start out with the Cassey Assault | Rifle, which is a decent general purpose weapon. Next is the Parker | Chain Cutter (a giant chain saw), The Badger Hand Grenades (which | can destroy several buildings at once if used correctly), Rachels | Gatling Gun (a high speed auto-cannon), the Wolf Pack Rocket | Launcher, The Charlotte Rail Cannon (a heavy autocannon powered by | magnetic superconductors which is very accurate at long ranges), | the Slate Heavy Shield (a shoulder mounted deflector which lessens | the damage you take), and finally the Sable Cruise Missile (my | personal favorite =). | | The AI is done well. Helicopters and other enemies can sometimes | anticipate, and also dodge behind objects and sneak up on you. | The difficulty can be set from the options menu, but it | is very challenging even on "Easy". Challenging *without* | being frustration. Yes, there is a difference. Though it seemed | like it took me forever to beat some levels I never really got | frustrated; I was always having fun. | | It's a blast going through the landscape and blowing stuff up. The | only other game I can think of that felt the same way the first | time I played it was DOOM. The missions are varied enough to keep | it interesting. Ranging from offensives, defense, and timed | tasks, and others. There's something here for everyone. The camera | bobbing combined with the stomping sound effects was nice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10. SOUND _________________/|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| | | '----------------------------------------' | The effects are very well done, and the music tracks fit the | game perfectly (they remind me of Knight Rider for some | reason...). | | When you walk a metal stomping sound accompanies your steps, and | gets louder the faster you go. The explosions are also | louder the closer they are to you. I did not personally notice | any voices canceling each other out. Music also plays during the | menus and the different tracks can be directly sampled via the | options menu. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10. CONTROL _______________/|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| | '----------------------------------------' | The control is, quite simply, a dream. The button configuration | can be changed, as well as the joypad directions (you can set | it normally or reverse, like Cybermorph), but the default is | perfect the way it is. By pressing "C" you can speed up your | head movement a bit, and pressing "C" and "A" at the same time | increases it even more. | | The game comes with an overlay. Each position on the mech's | body has a different number, so switching weapons is pretty | instinctive. Pressing the "2" key allows you to turn the mech's | torso like a turret, so you can shoot to the side while walking | forward. The selected weapon appears in a screen at the lower 7| right hand corner of the cockpit display. An information bar | is at the top of the screen, and displays things like | which weapon you're using and what the contents of the boxes | are. | | The cockpit display is convenient without obstructing too much | of the viewing area. In the upper left hand corner is a diagram | of the IS unit and all the weapons (which match the keypad | overlay. The upper right hand corner is the speed indicator (con- | figured the same way as Cybermorph...you can back up in Iron | Soldier as well...) and a nice radar screen which shows everything | in range (the Rail gun and Cruise Missile are the only weapons | that can fire beyond the radar's range). | | The game save works like DOOM; your game is automatically saved | but only after you complete a set of four missions (except for the | last four, which are saved one at a time). You can load the saved | game or start a new game from the main menu. You can always go back | to any mission you've previously completed, but you only have | to complete it once. | | As with most Jaguar games, you can control Music and Sound FX | volumes separately while in the game by pressing pause. | | This game has better control than any other 3D game I've ever | played. I can't find one flaw. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10. PROGRAMMING ___________/|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| | | '----------------------------------------' | Impressive. The frame rate is very smooth. If you blow up several | buildings directly in front of your face, you will see some | brief bogging. Other than that, it's consistently fast. | | The control and collision are perfect. The graphics and play | mechanics say all that needs to be said. The Jaguar needs more | programming like this. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10. OVERALL/FUN FACTOR ____/|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| | '----------------------------------------' | I've died and gone to 3D heaven. =) | | By far the best game on the Jaguar to date; one which really shows | off the potential of this system. This is only a first generation | game folks, and Eclipse has two more projects in development; | including an Iron Soldier II. | | The game is easy to control and challenging for all skill levels. | If you are not very good at video games, don't worry; even if you | never get past level 1, just running around shooting stuff is fun. | A multi-player option would have increased this game's replay value, | but even as it is I will be playing this game for some time to | come. | | A new high water mark for the Jaguar. Tempest 2000 doesn't look | quite as impressive to me anymore. If you have a Jaguar you must | try this game out. A definite must-buy. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- .---------. ----------------------------< CREDITS >------------------------------ | --------- | | Main Coding ............... Micheal Bittner | | Additional Coding ........ Mark Rosocha | | Graphics .................. Christian Reissmuller, Bleick Beicken, | | and Oliver Lindau | | Building, Enemy, and | | Level Design .............. Sean Patten and and Mark Rosocha | | Music ..................... Mario Knezovic, Joachim Gierveld, and | | Nate Brenholdt | | Sound FX .................. Marc Rosocha, Ted Tahquechi, and Nate | | Brenholdt | | 3D Models ................. Mark Rosocha, Micheal Bittner, Sean | | Patten, and Donald Wang | | Game Concept .............. Sean Patten | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.2 Cybermorph / Atari Corp. / ATD (for Tony Belding) Overview - Ok, this is it, this is what you get as a pack-in game when you buy an Atari Jaguar. Ultimately you have pods, you must retrieve a required amount of pods to continue on to the next world and there are fifty 3D gourad shaded planets for you to explore and obliterate. IMO, this is still the best Jaguar game, there's some large areas to explore and overall, the Jaguar handled it rather well. Gameplay - After inserting Cybermorph, you get presented with a morphing Cybermorph title screen that looks kind of nice considering it's all inside a little cartridge. After that, you are taken to a planet selection screen. The fifty planets have been divided up into small groups based on difficulty. Also, each map has a 4-digit access code which you can use to resume your game. Well, your ship is a cross between a plane and a hovercraft. Also, the ship will change its shape in-flight to adjust itself for whatever action you are trying to perform (ie.. the wings move back when accelerating, etc...). You can control your altitude and direction using the controller pad, as well as your acceleration and choice of weapons with the buttons. There is a good variety of enemies to fight, and although with combinations of them, you may have no choice but just to blast away, ultimately you will need to learn strategies depending on who you're fighting (for example, some of the stationary turrets will miss even if you're standing still, use this to your advantage). Also, don't get discouraged if you can't beat a world. Its advisable to spend a few rounds getting blasted just learning the worlds and where all the pods/enemies are. Overall - I had quite a bit of fun with Cybermorph. Fifty worlds with total freedom of movement and lots of enemies, combined with the basic Rescue On Fractalus(get the pods) plot, it worked out pretty well. Overall - Graphics - 60% (Gourad shading can look nice, but I've seen better and it doesn't compare to texture mapped graphics.) Sound - 50% (Basic sound effects. The talking computer was a good concept, however it was quite possible to hear everything she had to say after only the first 2 planets. Also, there is no music in the game.) Control - 80% (The controls were pretty easy to pick up. The use of the numeric keypad for weapons made selecting them easy.) Play - 85% (Its a fun game executed rather well, however it does slow to a crawl when surrounded by lots of large untexture mapped polygons(ie..buildings).) Replay - 40% (I played it on and off for about 2 weeks until I beat it. After that I didn't really want to play it any more.) --------------- Overall - 63% (I still think its the best Jag game, it just isn't as spectacular as some of the newer games out for the 32-bit systems. The poor graphics and sound really don't help any.) 4.3 Jaguar News ----John Carmack once again defending the Jaguar. ReadiSender: johnc@idcube.idsoftware.com Received: from idcube.idsoftware.com by arl-img-2.compuserve.com (8.6.9/5.940406sam) id AAA26645; Sat, 17 Dec 1994 00:32:37 -0500 Received: from idecesys by idcube.idsoftware.com (NX5.67d/NX3.0M) id AA04912; Fri, 16 Dec 94 23:23:23 -0600 From: John Carmack <johnc@idcube.idsoftware.com> Message-Id: <9412170523.AA04912@idcube.idsoftware.com> Received: by idecesys.idsoftware.com (NX5.67d/NX3.0X) id AA00836; Fri, 16 Dec 94 23:23:27 -0600 Date: Fri, 16 Dec 94 23:23:27 -0600 Received: by NeXT.Mailer (1.100) Received: by NeXT Mailer (1.100) To: 100265.1327@compuserve.com Subject: JagDoom >how the Jag coped with Doom. etc.. Developing on the Jag started out fun, but pushing the jag hard started showing up some architectural problems. The system suffers from a critical lack of balance. The central processor is well over an order of magnitude slower than the risc chips, but the risc chips are not suited to running the entire program because of their small fixed code memories. There is quite a bit of power there, but you have to go through contortions to get a lot of it. The worst problem is that the system has some hardware flakyness when all the processors are banging on the bus at once. This is what causes the network errors (they aren't really network errors, they are game errors that show up by different things happening on the two systems). In hindsight, I should have just run the net game without all the processor overlap. It runs a good deal slower, but it doesn't get the errors. Of cource, I would do several things differently if I was doing the project again. I know for sure how to make the rendering code 50% faster. This would allow you to either increase the horizontal resolution from 160*180 to 256*180, or increase the speed to 20 fps from 15, or run totally full screen at the same resolution with a more complex world. The problem is that Jag DOOM usually becomes speed limited by the game logic, not by the rendering code. The problems of movement clipping and line of sight calculation for all the monsters are more difficult to run efficiently on the risc processors. The basic actor logic is too bulky and spread out to run on one of the risc chips, but it is really a bit too much for the 68k to handle when the rendering is taking up most of the bus bandwidth. We are not working on any more jag projects at the moment (Quake is taking up all my time). We gave Atari a lot of our time and effort, and we are now in a "wait and see" mode. If they hit their sales projections, we will probably do something else late next year. We are probably going to license the jag DOOM code to some other companies though, so you might see a similar game before that. John Carmack __ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /_/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ /(_ _ 5.0 - Game Cheats/Hints _ _ _ _ \_/_/ -=- ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ _/ _/ _/ _/ --- --- -------- We at Cyberaktiv are not responsible in any way for the creation or accuracy of the following list. Atari Jaguar Game Cheats and Codes ____________________________________________________ Compiled by Clay Halliwell Last updated December 18, 1994 Additions/corrections to: ehalliwe@emh.kunsan.af.mil Table of Contents ----------------- JAG Jaguar General Tricks AVP Alien vs Predator BSF Brutal Sports Football CHF Checkered Flag CYB Cybermorph DOO Doom EDD Evolution: Dino Dudes RAI Raiden T2K Tempest 2000 TMF Trevor McFur in the Crescent Galaxy W3D Wolfenstein 3D Conventions used in this file ----------------------------- "Type", or lists of keys separated by commas, means to press the keys in order, without holding them down after they've been pressed. "Hold", or lists of keys separated by plusses, means to press the keys in order, holding each key down until the end of the code. JAGUAR GENERAL TRICKS (JAG) --------------------- Stupid Cube Tricks: When the texture-mapped spinning cube appears, hold down Pause and press the following: Up Zoom in Down Zoom out Left Accelerate left Right Accelerate right 0 Reverse rotation Release Pause to continue boot sequence. Press Reset (*#) or any action button to continue on to the game. Remove "PAUSED" Message: Press 1+3 when paused. Doesn't work with all games. ALIEN VS PREDATOR (AVP) ----------------- Both cheats entered anytime during gameplay. Cheat II is a superset of Cheat I. Cheat I Enable: (enter anytime during gameplay) Hold Pause+Option. Hold 1+3, then release. Hold 2+5+7+9. Predator laugh confirms. Cheat I Codes: Raise Security Level Option+6 Lower Security Level Option+9 Toggle Motion Tracker Option+8 Toggle Weapon Access Option+1...4 Reload All Ammo Option+1+2+3+4 Cheat II Enable: (enter anytime during gameplay) Hold Pause+Option+6+1+3, then release. Type B,A,9,A,9,A ("BANANA") Type *,Option,6 ("STOPS") Type #,* ("POST") Type *,Option ("STOP") Type 2,Option ("TOP") Predator laugh confirms. Cheat II Codes: Toggle Weapon Access Option+1...4 Reload All Ammo Option+1+2+3+4 Toggle Cheat Option+5 Raise Security Level Option+6 Lower Security Level Option+9 Toggle Motion Tracker Option+8 Up Level Option+A Down Level Option+B Note: After entering the Cheat II code, using the Toggle Cheat command will give you unlimited life and ammo (the ammo bars will run down, then refresh themselves; the energy bar will run down to zero and stop). To get unlimited ammo, you must have some ammo in the weapon to start with. The Up/Down Level commands cycle through every sublevel, both alien ships, and all the air vents. Freeze Alien Queen: Anywhere inside Queen's Lair, save game, then reload. Awaken Queen by passing through the entrance. BRUTAL SPORTS FOOTBALL (BSF) ---------------------- Correct League Mode Bug: At password screen, enter-- RMVVKL343 333VZ6387 CHECKERED FLAG (CHF) -------------- Race At Night: At Options menu, highlight "Weather", then type 8,4,7,3. CYBERMORPH (CYB) ---------- Level Codes: Sector 1 1008 Sector 2 1328 Sector 3 9325 Sector 4 9226 Sector 5 3444 Unknown 6009 Unlimited Ammo: At Control Options screen, hold 1+3+5+7+8+9. Sound confirms. DOOM (DOO) ---- All codes entered during gameplay. Level Select: 1- 9 Pause, then 1...9+Pause 10 Pause, then A+Pause 11-19 Pause, then A+1...9+Pause 20 Pause, then B+Pause 21-24 Pause, then B+1...4+Pause God Mode: Pause, then *+Pause Very Happy Ammo Mode (full keys, weapons, armor and ammo): Pause, then #+Pause EVOLUTION: DINO DUDES (EDD) --------------------- Infinite Time: At password screen, enter-- <AC> "TIME STANDS" <OK> (thunderclap confirms) <AC> "STILL FOREVER" <OK> (belch confirms) Infinite Dudes: At password screen, enter-- <AC> "ONCE DEAD" <OK> (thunderclap confirms) <AC> "TWICE BORN" <OK> (belch confirms) Level Codes: Level 1...ROUND ONE Level 2...LIBERTY ISLAND Level 3...STONE WALL Level 4...G MEN Level 5...GO WEST Level 6...LEMON ENTRY Level 7...WAGON WHEEL Level 8...OIL DRUM Level 9...MOON ORBIT Level 10..HARD ROCK Level 11..TRIP AND FALL Level 12..ALARM CLOCK Level 13..BIG COUNTRY Level 14..HOG TIED Level 15..CAN CAN Level 16..CUTE MOUSE Level 17..SPARKY PLUG Level 18..PONY EXPRESS Level 19..PADDED CELL Level 20..LOG PLUME Level 21..CANVAS SAIL Level 22..GOLDEN ERA Level 23..WIDE SEAT Level 24..BAD KARMA Level 25..CRASH BARRIER Level 26..LIME GLASS Level 27..SURF UP Level 28..PENAL COLONY Level 29..RELIEF ART Level 30..TRIBAL DANCE Level 31..SODA FOUNTAIN Level 32..PARKING SPACE Level 33..PIZZA DUDE Level 34..CROW FLIES Level 35..TILED ROOF Level 36..SLATE MISSING Level 37..OPENING TIME Level 38..INNER PEACE Level 39..BAD DOG Level 40..SOUR BELLY Level 41..LARGE MUG Level 42..HALF A BET Level 43..SING SING Level 44..BROWN COW Level 45..IRON HORSE Level 46..WHITE MALE Level 47..BOX OFFICE Level 48..CORNY FUR Level 49..ATOM CAT Level 50..FREE WHEELING Level 51..BUSH FIRE Level 52..CAR BRA Level 53..PORK PIES Level 54..STORMY WEATHER Level 55..STAGE COACH Level 56..QUAY BORED Level 57..SPLASH DOWN Level 58..BUG POLITICS Level 59..SHAKE SPEAR Level 60..SCHOOL ZONE Level 61..PINK MARBLE Level 62..ROLLING PLAINS Level 63..ICON DRIVE Level 64..CARROT TOP Level 65..QUILL PEN Level 66..TUTTI FRUTTI Level 67..PUBLIC ENEMY Level 68..BIG END Level 69..TAN PARLOR Level 70..NEVER READY Level 71..SHARK FANGS Level 72..STOOL PIGEON Level 73..PROM QUEEN Level 74..RED LETTER Level 75..CORN PONE Level 76..BILGE PUMP Level 77..SIXTY FOUR BIT Level 78..HALF MAST Level 79..WALKING BOSS Level 80..SPACE TO LET RAIDEN (RAI) ------ Infinite Lives and Bombs: At first boss, hold 1+4+7+3+6+9+Option. "Extra ship" sound confirms. Works for both players. TEMPEST 2000 (T2K) ------------ Enable Cheats: At the main menu, hold 1+4+7, then press A. "Excellent" confirms. The following cheats are activated: Cheat Commands: (type anytime during play) Level Skip Option Enable Warp Bonus Round 6 Enable Rotary Controller: At the Game Option menu, hold Pause on both controllers. "Excellent" confirms. Pause Bug: At end of the Bacon/Jupiter River bonus round, press Pause just as it switches back to the main game (after approximately two and a half pulses of the "Excellent!" graphic). Invisible Web: Start any Tempest Plus game. Hold down Option (cheats must be active) until you get to the rainbow levels. The web will be invisible during the rainbow levels only. TREVOR McFUR IN THE CRESCENT GALAXY (TMF) ----------------------------------- Enable Cheats: At the title screen, type 1,1,9,3. No confirmation. Cheat Commands: (type on controller #2 anytime during play) Option Skip to next stage Right Speed up enemies/background graphics Left Slow down " " A Speed up foreground graphics B Slow down " " C Fire special weapon without depleting inventory 1 Power up gun 2 Cycle through bomb powerups 3 Mark other moons as completed 4 Toggle invincibility 0 Cycle through sound effects * Play sound effect WOLFENSTEIN 3D (W3D) -------------- Music Test: At "Ball" title screen, press #. Level Select: At main menu, hold 1+3+7+9. Cheat Codes: (type anytime during play or in automap) God Mode 4,6,6,8 Full Inventory 4,9,9,6 Next Level 4,7,8,6 Previous Level 4,6,9,6 Refresh Info 4,8,8,7 __ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /_/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ /(_ _ 6.0 - Editorials _ _ _ _ _ _ _ \_/_/ -=- ~~~~~~~~~~_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ --- --- ----------------- From: Tony Belding To: Steve Bird Subj: Cyberaktiv Games Steve, I see that you are an editor of Cyberacktiv Games On-Line. I just got through reading Vol. 1, Issue 4. I hope you will accept some constructive criticisms and pass them on to the rest of the crew there. First thing I see in issue four is several press releases from 3DO. You must realize putting those press releases in the magazine is rather pointless, since they have already been posted elsewhere by the time the magazine is released. I would prefer that space be cut or else devoted to editorial material, or perhaps new product information from smaller companies that we don't hear so much about. Why hasn't Cyberaktiv reported on the SNES 3DO controller adaptor or the infrared remote controllers, for example? Could it be because y'all don't sell those items? The magazine is beginning to appear extremely biased toward 3DO and against Jaguar -- even moreso than at the beginning. For example, y'all suggested there's nothing "interesting" to review for Jaguar, yet managed to dredge up Crash N Burn, Total Eclipse, and Super Wing Commander for 3DO. That doesn't seem quite fair. Also, the reviews seemed rather "puffy" and failed to mention some well-known shortcomings of the reviewed games. When three other magazines tell me a game is mediocre and Cyberaktiv tells me the game is great, I have to wonder what gives, especially when Cyberaktiv is also in the business of selling games. I was boggled by the list of best Jaguar games. It described Tempest 2000 with one word, "rehash". That's absurd! Tempest 2000 is the best game available for the Jaguar, an experience unlike anything else available on any console, and the most intense shooter I have ever seen. The list also named Alien Vs. Predator as "The biggest let down of 1994." In reality, AvP is a wonderful, engrossing game, probably the second best Jaguar game after T2000. Then, the editorial section used one word to describe Jaguar's prospects: Lynx. That is not journalism. That is a flame. Furthermore, its a dumb flame. The Lynx has been my all-around favorite system for the last few years. It has a library of over 70 games, with remarkably high overall quality. I will be very glad to own a Jaguar if it does as well as the Lynx. In fact, Atari has done almost everything right with the Jaguar. They have promoted it heavily with print and TV ads, and they have priced it well under their competitors. It will always be the least expensive fifth generation console. The recently announced price of $150 for the JagCD is also remarkable. The ONLY thing Atari has done wrong is their failure to crank out new products, namely more games and the CD drive, in a timely manner. Of course, that is one mighty big shortcoming and hard to overlook. That is why I am getting a 3DO. However, I am saying give Atari credit where it is due. They have learned their lesson about advertising, and they are still doing what they've always done best: cut-throat pricing. If you all are serious about the magazine, and if you want to be taken seriously by your readers, there are some things you can do in the future. Let's see some fair coverage when Iron Soldier, Val D'Isere, Rayman and the JagCD arrive for the Jaguar. Or, if 3DO is all you mean to cover, then at least rename the magazine to "Cyberaktiv 3DO" or somesuch. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Although Steve already responded via netmail to Tony, we thought that his letter deserved a response from the magazine by all the editors. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tony, This magazine is not only just uploaded to the Internet and the FIDO netted message bases, we also upload the magazine to bbs' that do not have networked message bases. Also, we do give out printed copies as well to those that request it. This is why you see press releases that you may have already read before. Also, its a lot easier for us and (we imagine) our users to go to our old magazines to get those press releases(for use as reference points or whatever) rather than having to search through a subdirectory for a saved capture buffer. Also, the reason why we don't cover everything, contrary to your given reason is that not all products have press releases or we haven't seen them. No company except Cyberaktiv advertises through us. We receive no money or payment for the work that we do. We've all always wanted to write a magazine on this subject. We finally decided to. At the time that we wrote a magazine with reviews for Crash n Burn, Super Wing Commander, and Total Eclipse, the only new title we had seen for the Jaguar was Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story. Honestly we feel that not reviewing the title was better than reviewing it (g). Actually, none of us own Jaguars and we only had the chance to see Dragon at Mike's house, none of us really wanted to review it and Jeff Pruett had been handling the Jag reviews anyway. Also, the titles we did review are still (IOO) some of the best 3DO has to offer and with Christmas coming up we felt that these titles had been forgotten and shouldn't be. New 3DO owners should not disregard these titles just because they were some of the "1st generation" games. Most of the magazines even agreed with our opinions of these games(ie.. Crash n Burn, Super Wing Commander, and Total Eclipse). Die Hard gave Cybermorph the cover of their mag one month. We thought that this was a good game too(at the time) but does even 5 good games constitute the spending of $250? Another thing you should note, unlike other magazines we pay the price for our video games, we don't get them free. Other magazines get them for free and are very biased towards the companies who give them the most titles and advertise in their magazine. We are not granted these 'privileges'. If the reviews seem a little "puffy" that is due to the fact that we bought these games, like them, and kept them. You will be seeing a review of Microcosm, I sold that game and I think it sucks. You say our reviews were "puffy" and that we disregarded "well-known" shortcomings of 3DO games that other magazines had pointed out. Well, we frequently disagree with the 'published' magazines. For example, when Die Hard Game Fan reviewed Off-World Interceptor, they said it was too hard. Steve agreed when he first got it, however Bryan borrowed it and beat it within 24 hours(as proof, during the ending credits the Colonel or captain guy's head gets edited and placed on everyone in the room's head...it looks really funny). Therefore are we going to say that the game's difficulty is a shortcoming? No way. With some of these games, especially those by Crystal Dynamics, different techniques must be applied to the way you play the game and doing so usually gives the game a new light. Also, our reviews of VR Stalker and Seal of the Pharaoh were pretty much......."do NOT GET THESE games, they bite." You also disagreed with our top ten lists in our last issue(V.1 #4). You said that calling Tempest 2K a "rehash" was absurd and that it is an "experience unlike anything else available on any console and the most intense shooter you have ever seen.". To this day, we have never fully understood what all the fuss was about. You have Tempest, a concept in shooters created in 1981 combined with all the niceties of more modern shooters(bonus levels, power-ups, etc.). Well, at the time it came out most of the Cyberaktiv staff (Steve, Bryan, and Dan) still owned Jaguars and none of us bought it even then. Steve played it for almost an hour at our local Atari dealer looking for something to support all the hype being put out about it. To us it was no big deal. It isn't that graphically impressive and the music hardly sounds better than a 4 voice tracker playing with a couple voices(maybe 2-4) being used for sound effects and announcements. The 'Melt-O-Vision' is hardly at all different from some of the effects that we've seen the 3DO put out from its audio CD player or in Powers Kingdom(heck, there are Atari ST Euro demos that put this effect in Tempest to shame and you can find a used ST for $75). Also, the title screen (the Atari symbol) warbled so slowly that you could easily watch each scanline being shifted to the right or the left and it took it a while to get all the way down to the bottom of the screen. Some users say that this was done for effect, however we think a really fast version of this(or one that sped-up and slowed down) would've been much better and it makes me wonder if Jeff Minter would've liked this effect as well, yet couldn't get the Jaguar to pull it off. You also didn't like us referring to AvP as, "The biggest let-down of 1994". Well, AvP, Checkered Flag 2, Kasumi Ninja, Tiny Toon Adventures, Club Drive, Tempest 2K, and the "Panther" games were announced in October of 1993 along with the original press release for the Jaguar. AvP was (among most users) the most eagerly anticipated Jaguar game and its first scheduled release date was January of 1994. However, Atari started to handle things like they usually do and started moving the release date of this product back along with many others. All the games I listed above were all supposed to be out by (at latest) May of 1994. Also, along the course of waiting for AvP, many 'features' were discussed and the impression was given by Rebellion and Atari that these would be in the game. Features such as:30 fps, 3 player network, 2 player Voice Modem support, lots of RPG elements, and with huge sprites with good animation in a fully texture-mapped 3D environment. Finally in early October 1994 (10 months later than the original release date), we get AvP. Most of the features I listed above were COMPLETELY absent except the texture mapped 3D environment. The 30 fps ended up being about 7-12 and the animation was quite choppy having about 1-3 frames of animation per move made by a character. On top of that, there was no music, it took about as long for the Jag to decompress the upcoming level as it would for a CD-ROM unit to load (some Jag users complain about the 3DO doing this yet they had little probs with AvP's depack time), and the save games don't remember what bad guys were dead and where they were. Saying a game is a big letdown, doesn't necessarily mean its a bad game, if you enjoy it then you enjoy it. However after all the time we waited and all that we were promised, AvP for us did not live up to all the hype that was generated about it and especially considering all that we were promised, after playing it we felt that calling it the "Biggest letdown of 1994" was most definitely warranted. Sam Tramiel stated to some extent that AvP sold to over half of the installed Atari user base. This does not constitute a good game. Lets use a metaphor to explain. Say you're in the desert, there's no water and no food and you're close to death. Then a helicopter drops a crate of muddy water and moldy bread. It would be the best food you've ever had in your life given the situation. Does that make sense? My point; when there's hardly anything to choose from, and you're starving you'll glorify anything you can get. Some of us aren't that financially strapped. Also, a point to remember is that we all have Pcs and a lot of the users out there do too. Everyone kept saying that you can't compare AvP to Doom. We believe that this is untrue. If you have a bunch of people that have had very intense feelings while playing a game and another game comes along in a similar genre that isn't as intense then I think you can say that the one that is less intense deserves to be credited as being so. We have no problem giving any system or game good reviews and when we did the top ten lists, we ordered it in regards for that system only, however the comments made next to the games were more global. If a game on the Jag is good, but a 3DO game of similar fashion is just as good but with texture mapping, a nice intro, or/and the graphics are more detailed(ie..Cybermorph vs. Shockwave) then we'll say that Cybermorph is a good Jaguar game but it sucks compared to Shockwave. In regards to our predictions for the industry in 1995, you claim that our referring to the Jaguar with one word..."Lynx" was a flame, it was not. We just think that it will follow in its footsteps, you will see lots of hype at the start, yet when it doesn't pick up as fast as Atari needs it too, they'll start to let the 3rd parties try and keep it alive. After about 6 years , the Lynx has over 70 games. The technology of the Lynx (even evidenced in the games) was and is superior to all the other mainstream handheld portables around in the States. Yet, Sega's Game Gear has over 200 titles and Lynx is still at 70+. Who's fault is it? We believe it to be the way Atari mismarketed and abandoned the product as a reason for the Lynx's current state. Also, if you don't mind getting 70+ titles(not all of which were that great) over a course of about 6 years for your Jaguar then so be it, have fun. Another thing I should remind you of is that 80% of the consumer market still believes Atari went bankrupt years ago after the failure of the 2600. This is something that pops up in my conversations with other consumers quite often. Sorry to offend you, but it is not 1979, the industry is VASTLY different. You then go on to say that Atari has almost done everything right with their Jaguar. Cutthroat pricing? Try outdated, rehashed technology that offers nothing innovative over the current 32 bit competition. 68000, does the 70's ring a bell to you? On the Jaguar you have 16 games after over a full year, and that's including the four Panther games. The software developers are taking longer to get games out and fit them into a 3-4 meg cart than it is taking developers on the 3DO to write at an equal if not usually better level and fill the CD with rendered animations, or Hollywood level movie footage(you know what I mean). You also say that putting the Jag CD out for $149.99 is remarkable. However, at cost you can get a dual speed CD-ROM drive for the PC for about $100, now do you think that the Virtual Light Machine hardcoded into it really justifies a $50 tack-on? Heck, Cthugha lightshow for the PC CD is shareware. Also, there won't be a pack-in game, this can be good and bad depending on how you look at it, however if its true that the Jag CD won't be out until early/mid January, then good luck finding software as that the release dates for the JAG CD games don't start until late January/early February and that's only if Atari is accurate with its release dates. Hey, wasn't the Jag CD supposed to be out in April of 1994? Also, remember when the Lynx came out, we all saw lots of ads on TV and paper as well. Granted, they ARE advertising, and it looks as if (by the ads and press releases) that they are pursuing a more aggressive posture. However, most of this advertising is centered around..."64-bit, 64-bit, 64-bit!!!". The Jag by all past systems method of determining bits is 64-bit. However, if it is so much more powerful, then how come the average consumer is still not seeing titles that are quadruple the power of their SNES or Genny or double the power of the 3DO. This holiday season has seen a noticeable swing in support for the 3DO on the nets, Internet, as well as sales figures. Most of these people are saying that most of the 3DO games are better than most of the Jaguar games, now how is this if 64-bit is better than 32-bit? Yes, I know its all marketing, but it seems that Atari's only response to potential customers about the quality of the games is that it's 64-bits...its better, it doesn't matter what you see these other systems doing. To be perfectly honest, I think that Atari has realized that this method of advertising is the only way to convince people that their system is the next step up. But don't worry, it looks like Sega is doing the same thing as well. Maybe this can explain Sega having to give $90 million to Atari. $90 million for Atari's marketing strategies? Hahahahah just joking. 32x??? Hahahahah another joke. Your accusation that we do not cover information because we might not sell the item is false. 1)first off, the magazine is almost completely separate from the sales of soft/hardware. We make no money off of this. 2)Nor, are any of us involved in the management of sales. 3)Your comments are made off of an intangible intuition, and not fact regarding this subject. 4)On top of everything above, Mike still continues to carry Atari Jaguar hardware and software. And if this were true, then why do we give thumbs up for the PS-X? Cyberaktiv 3DO? Hmm...we stated in the last mag also that our Jaguar people didn't get the articles to us and that they were waiting for future releases which is something in the last mag you forgot to mention in your response. Flame:Really, that is your interpretation and if you had read our predictions, there should have been plenty of journalism in that for you. Bias:some people may take our coverage as being biased. I can only say, who isn't, and why is it such a big deal. We speak from our preferences based on our experience. If you read carefully in issue #4, "You make the call, we just state the situation as we have observed it from our own eyes and experience. Whether or not we are correct is debatable. As we all know, time will be the ultimate authority. This editorial, is the speculation of data which we have consumed over the past ten years." "Don't get us wrong, we are not the ultimate authority on this industry. To tell you the truth, I don't think anybody is." But obviously you didn't make note of this text.. and take it with a grain of salt as it implies..But really, your input is appreciated and noted. This is what I mean by "Debate is good". Plus your message was healthy and logical. But some of the premises and assumptions you were making were false. I hope that this response was helpful in your understanding of our publication and we hope to see more feedback from users like yourself and others. 3DO - As the editors of this magazine, we find it hilarious that certain people on the nets say that 3DO is doomed and then proceed to defend Atari. First off, huge magazines (and not just video game magazines) have given awards to games like FIFA 3DO, etc. They have almost outsold the Jaguar three to one. There are eight and one half times as many titles available for the 3DO (approximately 130+). If 3DO gets into major trouble financially, we think that Matsushita will help the 3DO company. With 500,000+ Panasonic units sold, Panasonic shows no signs of withdrawing and is continuing future hardware and software development with and for 3DO. There are many peripherals that will soon be hitting the market for 3DO. The 3DO Company has already taken steps to more efficiently handle the management and advertising (the layoffs stink though). Tons of new software is coming along with the M2 expansion, which promises to be twice the power of Sega and Sony's new platforms. 32x and Jaguar are not a threat. These systems have too little software and fall short on graphics and sound in comparison to 3DO. 3DO has great potential with 700+ software developers. 3DO has hardware partners that are many times the size of their competitors put together. All this would strongly suggest that the 3DO platform is a viable next step in the video game industry. We consider for a system to be alive and have a future, that 1: A lot of software must be available and have a constant flow of new titles. 2: Constant flow of hardware sales. 3: Massive capital and established reliable brand name support. Track Records : Atari : Very bad. Sega : Good. 3DO : Good. Next Step in Technology : Atari : Sort Of? Sega : No Way. 3DO : Most Definitely. This is what we see. Once again, this is our opinion. ________ _ /_/_/ \==================---------------------/ /(_ _ 7.0 - Cyberaktiv Games Price Information! \_/_/ -=- ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ --- --- ---- --------------- -------------- __ _ _ _ /_/_/ \==================---------------------/ /(_ _ 7.1 - New 3DO Game Titles _ _ _ \_/_/ -=- ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~ __/ _/ _/_ --- \--------/ Mad Dog Mccree - $48.00 Mad Dog Mccree 2 - $46.00 Stellar 7 - $47.00 Battle Chess - $46.00 Night Trap - $46.00 Out Of This World - $41.00 Dragon's Lair - $46.00 Total Eclipse (Special) - $44.00 Lemmings - $46.00 Monster Manor - $46.50 Twisted - $46.00 John Madden Football - $46.50 Super Wing Commander - $46.50 The Horde (Special) - $44.00 Sewer Shark - $45.00 Jurassic Park - $39.00 Ultraman (IMPORT, JAPAN) - $85.00 Real Pinball - $45.00 Who Shot Johnny Rock? - $46.50 Shockwave - $52.00 Gridders - $46.00 Alone In the Dark - $40.00 Way Of The Warrior - $46.00 Soccer Kid - $36.00 Road Rash - $52.00 Blonde Justice (21 And Over) - $29.00 Microcosm - $46.00 Shadow - $45.00 Ad&d: Slayer (Like DOOM!) - $46.50 Burning Soldier - $46.00 Sherlock holmes - $46.00 Guardian War (GREAT RPG) - $45.00 Star Control 2 - $46.00 Mega Race - $40.00 VR Stalker - $46.00 Waialae Golf - $45.00 Immortal Desire (21 And Over) - $29.00 Pataank - $46.00 Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo - $52.00 Demolition Man - $52.00 Off World Interceptor - $52.00 FIFA Soccer (THE BEST) - $46.00 Samurai Showdown - $51.00 Rebel Assault - $46.50 Family Feud - $30.50 Quarantine - Call! Starblade - Call! World Cup Golf - $45.50 Need For Speed - $47.00 Crime Patrol - $45.50 __ _ _ _ /_/_/ \==================---------------------/ /(_ _ 7.2 - New 32x Game Titles _ _ _ \_/_/ -=- ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~ __/ _/ _/_ --- \--------/ Doom - $55.50 Virtua Racing Deluxe - $55.00 Star Wars Arcade - $46.50 Cosmic Carnage - $53.00 Space Harrier - $55.00 __ _ _ _ /_/_/ \==================---------------------/ /(_ _ 7.3 - New Jaguar Game Titles _ _ _ \_/_/ -=- ~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~ __/ _/ _/_ --- \--------/ Raiden - $40.00 Crescent Galaxy - $40.00 Dino Dudes - $40.00 Alien VS Predator - $55.00 Tempest 2000 - $47.00 Wolf 3d - $48.00 Brutal Sports Football - $52.00 DOOM - $54.00 Dragon The Bruce Lee Story - $46.50 Club Drive - $47.50 Checkered Flag - $54.00 __ _ _ _ /_/_/ \==================----------------------------/ /(_ _ 7.4 - New Video Game Console Units and Peripherals \_/_/ -=- ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~_~~~~~~~~~~~ --- __/ _/ _/ _ \---------/ 3DO (Panasonic FZ-1) System - $369.00 3DO Control Pad - $ 35.00 3DO Game Gun - $ 40.00 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ Jaguar System - $215.00 Jaguar Controller - $ 22.00 Jaguar AC Power Adapter - $ 19.00 Jaguar S-Video Cable - $ 18.00 Jaguar Composite Cable - $ 18.00 __ _ _ _ /_/_/ \==================---------------------/ /(_ _ 7.5 - How To Order _ _ _ \_/_/ -=- ~~~ ~~ ~~~~~ __/ _/ _/_ --- \--------/ To Place An Order, Please Call: Cyberaktiv Games : (303)750-4851 Cyberaktiv Games Fax : (303)650-9374 Cyberaktiv Games BBS : (303)338-5217 ------------------------------------------ This magazine is produced by gaming enthusiasts on our own time. The software reviewed within this e-zine is purchased by the reviewers. All opinions expressed are our own opinions except where expressly stated. We receive no funding or support from any software or hardware companies whatsoever.