Hard Drivin'		Grade: D-
	Publisher: Tengen (1989) Reviewed: 2001/1/8

This archaic racer is barely playable today, but it was pretty amazing for its time. Hard Drivin' was the first arcade game with first-person, 3D polygon graphics, and it was released long before Virtua Racing took the arcades by storm. The game includes a standard race track and an elaborate "stunt" track, complete with a ramp, loop-to-loop, and banked turns. Just surviving the stunt course is a major challenge. But unlike Virtua Racing, Hard Drivin' has NOT aged well. Its framerate is agonizingly slow, and the cars look like ugly boxes. Sparse scenery includes streets signs, small buildings, and other traffic. An unnecessary instrument panel takes up a large chunk of the screen. At least the instant-replays are somewhat amusing. Hard Drivin' isn't very enjoyable, but it is interesting to see how racing games have evolved over the years. © Copyright 2001 The Video Game Critic.

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1 player

Haunting Starring Polterguy, The		Grade: C
	Publisher: Electronic Arts (1993) Reviewed: 2007/10/18

This wonderfully imaginative game lets you do the spooking instead of being spooked! Haunting Starring Polterguy places you in the role of a mischievous ghost exacting revenge on the family responsible for his demise. Each stage presents a spacious new house for you to frighten all four family members out of. Scaring is done by setting "traps" that cause all sorts of supernatural phenomena. You roam around unseen by the family, but your goofy green appearance calls to mind the Mask, especially when you break into dance or spike your head like a football. The family members are easy to scare, as they tend to take notice of the furniture and fixtures you've rigged. Traps initiate brief but amusing "scare" animations such as knives flying out of a drawer, a head busting through a television, or a levitating rocking chair. Considering the limited resolution of the Genesis, the visuals are extremely well done and some are surprisingly gory. Some sequences are more elaborate than others. In the shower, a hot babe in a towel does a little dance before revealing her body to be a rotting corpse! In the game room, a basketball player shoots his head through a hoop, only to have it fall into the fish tank below, turning the water blood red. Some animations are more weird than scary, like the stereo that transforms into a robot, or the plant that spawns a swarm of bees. Sometimes you have the opportunity to control an object like a levitating skull or chainsaw, and these are useful for preventing your victim from leaving the room. Toying with the family is very amusing thanks to the sheer number of trap animations. Your victims react in a number of ways, including peeing themselves! Unfortunately, a few times per stage you'll find yourself running low on "ectoplasm", and this is where Haunting's gameplay takes a turn for the worse. You're dumped into an underground dungeon maze loaded with pits, flying objects, and grabbing arms. Here you must collect a number of green blobs before you can return to the house, and it's painfully repetitive. Haunting Starring Polterguy offers no continues and has no password feature. My buddy Steve and I played this game for what seemed like hours, but by the time it was over, we were absolutely sick of it! I enjoy the minor-key music that plays throughout the game, but the scream effects are rough. I love the concept behind Haunting, but it's long on novelty value and short on replay value. © Copyright 2007 The Video Game Critic.

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1 or 2 players

Heavy Nova		Grade: F-
	Publisher: Micronet (1991) Reviewed: 2006/6/4

For the love of God man! This may be the worst Genesis game of all time! Heavy Nova is so utterly revolting that it made me want to go play Bubsy! Yes, I realize that qualifies as "crazy talk", but Heavy Nova is the video game equivalent of throwing up in your mouth. I should have been tipped off by the back of the box, which describes the game as "Amazinly Exciting!" It opens with a stylish, cinematic intro depicting ominous approaching space vessels, followed by some nice close-ups of your terminator-inspired robot. At this point, I was actually getting a bit psyched up, but little did I know the degree of wretchedness I was about to inflict upon myself. Heavy Nova puts you in "control" (in theory at least) of a large robot that looks like something out of Cyborg Justice (Sega, 1993). Each stage challenges you traverse a brief, unimaginative obstacle course of lasers, falling rocks, and small droids before facing off against the obligatory mech "boss" (inexplicably referred to as a "Doll"). Your robot is one seriously uncontrollable hunk of metal. While it's possible to kick, punch, and fire your jetpack, the controls are less responsive than a cable TV customer service department. The lag time with the controls is so reprehensible that you'll swear you're playing over a 300-baud dial-up modem (vintage 1982). During boss sequences, the game attempts to be a one-on-one fighter, but don't ditch that Street Fighter 2 cartridge just yet. As the boss pounds your sorry ass into oblivion, you'll struggle in vain just to land a single blow! Heck, half of the time your robot is facing the wrong direction! Controls are especially problematic because you need to use one hand to hold your nose the whole time. Only by using the stage select feature (on the options menu) did I realize that subsequent stages are just as pointless. Even the soundtrack is offensive - it's nothing more than a disjointed series of random notes! Heavy Nova lowers the bar for all Genesis titles, making games I previously thought utterly deplorable seem perfectly respectable. From here on out, everything else gets an A. © Copyright 2006 The Video Game Critic.

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1 or 2 players

Hellfire		Grade: A-
	Publisher: Seismic (1990) Reviewed: 2008/4/27

On the surface, Hellfire looks like your standard side-scrolling shooter, but it's really one of the hidden gems of the Genesis library. It dishes out everything you want in a shooter: fast action, crisp controls, varying stages, and a relentless enemy onslaught that keeps you coming back for more. In terms of graphics however, Hellfire is average at best. You'll fly through well-fortified space stations, red planets with pyramids, and caves overgrown with weird organic life. The forgettable enemies include flying mech robots, floating stone heads, and the orbs of all colors and styles. The gold missiles they unleash are large and slow moving, so don't blame the game when you screw up! Oh, you will anyway? Whatever. Some destroyed structures reveal funny little dancing people, for reasons I have yet to determine. The options menu lets you turn on rapid-fire mode, and why in the hell wouldn't you? It's better than pounding the "A" button. The "B" button reconfigures you cannons on-the-fly to fire forward, backward, up/down, or diagonally. Diagonally covers the most ground, but you'll find yourself cycling through the configurations as your situation changes. The bosses tend to be large, mechanical blocks, but in order to reach their "weak spots" you'll usually need to aim your shots at a specific angle. The "C" button unleashes a devastating "hellfire" blast, but if you're like me, you'll forget to use it half the time! Hellfire compensates for its marginal graphics with an incredible soundtrack that melds perfectly with the action. Stage one's edgy electronic theme is hands-down sensational. Can you name a game released in the past ten years with music this good? I'm waiting. No? I didn't think so. Chalk another one up to classic games! Also notable is the game's relentless difficulty. When you enter the space station of stage one, you'll immediately find yourself is a seriously intense crossfire situation. After surviving the extremely long and challenging first stage, I felt like I needed a cigarette! Even so, Hellfire never feels cheap or frustrating, and a generous number of continues are available. An intense shooter that's a joy to play, this is an absolute must-have for Genesis shooter fans. © Copyright 2008 The Video Game Critic.

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1 player

Hit The Ice		Grade: D+
	Publisher: Taito (1992) Reviewed: 2001/1/31

Hit The Ice is not a serious game; it's a wacky three-on-three free-for-all that plays like NBA Jam on ice. The teams have very imaginative names like the Reds, Blue, Greens, and Yellows (I'm being facetious here). The cartoon players are big and colorful, but you can only control one of your players, which is a shame. The animation is downright choppy, and it's tough to tell what's going on when the players start bumping each other. In addition to your normal shot, you can also perform two "supershots", and you'll want to master these if you plan to compete against the computer. Like any decent hockey game, there are fights, and they always end with one guy on his back, foaming at the mouth. Funny at first, they soon get old, and don't really have much impact on the game itself. Hit The Ice had the right idea. The game certainly LOOKS fun. But the limited control and mediocre gameplay really drag it down. © Copyright 2001 The Video Game Critic.

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1 or 2 players

Immortal, The		Grade: C
	Publisher: Electronic Arts (1991) Reviewed: 2004/4/24

This dungeon explorer was cutting edge for its time, and you still have to respect its rich graphics and sophisticated gameplay. Like Baldur's Gate or Diablo, you guide a wizard around subterranean rooms loaded with monsters, traps, and items. The Immortal's visuals are top-notch for the Genesis, but the game's centerpiece is its combat screen. When you engage in battle, both adversaries are rendered in remarkably large, detailed characters on a black backdrop. This "up-close" view was unheard of in 1991, and certainly was a major selling point for the game. These battles feature gruesome fatalities, including decapitations, exploding heads, and bodies being sliced in half (accompanied by appropriately gross sound effects). Despite its violence, somehow Immortal managed to stay under the radar and avoid controversy. The game doesn't utilize the entire screen (probably due to the CPU-intensive graphics), and the unused portion is covered by an ornate border. The controls are fairly intuitive, and there's a nice inventory system. Unlike many games of this style, the monsters thankfully "stay dead", so when you reenter a room you don't need to do battle again. While Immortal is certainly challenging, it relies far too heavily on chance and memorization. The battle system is clumsy and unresponsive, and pit traps are impossible to see coming. There are even a few "invisible" enemies to drive you mad. Never read the runes when prompted, because it immediately ends your game (it's deliberate -- not a bug). At least the manual includes a handy tutorial for the first level. The Immortal certainly is original and inventive, but it was mainly a stepping stone for far better games to come. © Copyright 2004 The Video Game Critic.

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1 player

Incredible Hulk, The		Grade: C-
	Publisher: U.S. Gold (1994) Reviewed: 2004/12/12

Reviewing video games can be tricky. Sometimes a game will seem awful at first, but improve as you progress. The Incredible Hulk is one of those games that doesn't convey a positive first impression. After playing the first stage I had already compiled a long list of glitches and design problems. But despite these, repeated plays revealed a game that requires more technique and strategy than your standard side-scroller. Your ability to transform into David Banner to access hidden areas is one of the keys to beating the game. Despite its vast potential, the game falters in terms of execution. First off, Hulk often finds himself directly on top of an enemy, making it impossible to punch or grab the foe - very frustrating. When you do make contact, your first few hits seem to have no effect, until the final blow shatters the target to pieces. Hulk can jump around to avoid projectiles in outdoor areas, but in close quarters (like sewers) you're forced to take an inordinate number of cheap hits. The first stage, set at a construction site, contains numerous manholes Hulk must crawl into. Unfortunately, trying to squeeze down these can be aggravating, especially while being fired upon. Despite these fundamental problems, there are a few bright spots. The Hulk looks great and can perform a surprising number of moves, including a ceiling throw, pile driver, and foot stomp. I love how enemies struggle in vain as Hulk applies his lethal bear hug attack. The instruction manual is awful, and doesn't even mention some of the moves. The Hulk's five stages are not particularly interesting, but they do contain plenty of secret areas to discover. Oddly enough, what's most appealing about the Incredible Hulk may be its spunky electronic music. It has that distinctive Genesis sound that took me back a good fifteen years. Summing up, the Incredible Hulk is not for the faint of heart. Its extreme difficulty, flaky controls, and lack of continues and passwords will turn off most casual gamers. Only the most dedicated players will come to appreciate everything this cart has to offer. © Copyright 2004 The Video Game Critic.

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1 player

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade		Grade: F
	Publisher: US Gold (1992) Reviewed: 2000/2/23

It's amazing how hit movies rarely translate into good video games. The Last Crusade should have been a sure thing. Many scenes from this movie beg for an arcade game: the circus train, catacombs, and especially the last scene with the three Grail challenges. But this game fails on every level. Let's start with the graphics. The characters are poorly drawn with cheesy black outlines around them. The control is horrendous; if you press jump at the end of a ledge you will always fall off. That problem is compounded by the fact that you die if you touch harmless objects like a puddle of water, a pile of bones, or a bush. In the first stage, the villains all look exactly like - you guessed it - Jerry Garcia! In the catacombs you are terrorized by cat-sized, flaming mice. The final level is not even consistent with the movie: even if you duck under the blades, you still get killed! The music is an uninspired version of the Indiana Jones theme. Adding insult to injury, the picture on the cartridge shows Indy being chased by a plane, a tank, and a German convoy, none of which appear in the game! © Copyright 2000 The Video Game Critic.

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1 player

Jammit		Grade: D+
	Publisher: GTE (1994) Reviewed: 2005/2/2

Attempting to combine a streetwise style with the "dunktastic" gameplay of NBA Jam, Jammit borders on self-parody. This one-on-one slamfest is played on a half court, forcing you to "clear" the ball during each change of possession. This little detail is easy to forget, and as a result you'll accidentally score more than a few points for the other team. The open-court action is pretty shabby. Despite utilizing the Genesis six-button controller, there are no effective special moves to the basket. Players tend to get "stuck" on each other when they collide, resulting in some very ugly, stilted animation. One thing Jammit does right is its shooting controls, which require one button press to jump and a second to release the ball. When in close proximity to the hoop, a dramatic close-up shows both players soaring over the rim. I love how that second press "pulls the string" and slams the ball down. Likewise if the defender is in position he can swat it away with a well-timed swipe. The meager character selection includes two black guys and - get this - a white chick! Not only does she look totally out of place, but inexplicably she can jump higher than the guys! Her mere existence should cost this game a letter grade - she looks like somebody's mom running around for Pete's sake! Jammit tries to convey "attitude" by incorporating funky music, trash talking, and urban scenery, but it all seems phony and contrived. The bass-heavy music is okay, but the repetitive voice samples ("C'mon sucker!") are lame. On a positive note, most of the nighttime backdrops are colorful and attractive, particularly the one with the sunset over the ocean. Despite its general cheesiness, Jammit can still be fun if played against a friend thanks to its satisfying slam dunks. © Copyright 2005 The Video Game Critic.

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1 or 2 players

Jerry Glanville's Pigskin Footbrawl		Grade: C-
	Publisher: Sega (1992) Reviewed: 1999/11/6

It would be unfair to give a high grade to such a sloppy game, but Pigskin Footbrawl is a game I wanted to like. The gameplay is more like rugby than American football, as players run, pass, and kick their way past slugging opponents. It's basically a five-on-five free-for-all. The two playing fields consist of a meadow and a coliseum, and the medieval cartoon graphics give the game a distinct personality. But although the premise of Footbrawl is great, the implementation is lacking. For one thing, you can only control a single player (can't even switch), and your guy is constantly off the screen. The field is filled with too many obstacles that are almost impossible to avoid. The animation is rough, and you have zero control during fights. I discovered that positioning your man to the endzone and waiting for a long throw is an effective (but very cheap) strategy. The voice samples ("ouch!") are repetitive and too loud. There are a few nice touches like a green troll that enters the game late to help out the losing team. Footbrawl could have used more polish, but the game can still generate some fun. © Copyright 1999 The Video Game Critic.

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1-2 players

Joe Montana Football		Grade: D+
	Publisher: Sega (1990) Reviewed: 2000/1/20

Joe Montana is a surprisingly entertaining title, especially considering it was Sega's first attempt at football on the Genesis. Montana Football actually looks very much like John Madden Football, except the players here look sharper. There are also fewer lulls in the action -- you can select plays and hike the ball much quicker. One very innovative feature is the passing system. When you choose to pass, you get a first-person "helmet view" of your receiver, and you use crosshairs to "lead" your throw. This is fun and it works surprisingly well. Unfortunately, you can only see one receiver at a time, which may be why the system was not used in subsequent games. As I was playing Joe Montana, its main flaw became obvious: bad AI. The computer is a really lousy opponent, dropping easy catches and missing tackles all over the place. There are 16 teams to choose from, but the options are very limited. Still, as a two player game, this isn't half bad. © Copyright 2000 The Video Game Critic.

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1 or 2 players

Joe Montana II Sportstalk Football		Grade: C+
	Publisher: Sega (1991) Reviewed: 1999/11/3

Montana II doesn't offer much in the way of gameplay, but it does have one cool gimmick: play-by-play announcing. That might not seem like a big deal today, but in 1993 it was monumental. I can remember when my friend Keith brought this over my house and all the guys were crowded around the TV waiting to see what the announcer would say next. The commentator is pretty good actually, although he does occasionally fall behind or repeat phrases. If you do something stupid (like attempt a 90-yard field goal) he'll say "I can't believe it!" The gameplay itself is pretty average. In this edition they went back to an old-fashioned side view of the field. It works okay but going deep is a problem since your receivers run off the screen. The players are fairly small, but when the ball is passed or handed off, the camera zooms in six times closer. This is especially helpful for runners trying to find room. Although running up the middle is still very difficult, this is one of the few Genesis football games where you can actually "break away" on a run. After each quarter or score, a great looking statistic screen is presented, complete with little graphs. Montana II lacks Madden's polished look. The players are animated fine until they are hit, at which time they immediately fall flat on their stomachs or backs, and it looks pretty stupid. The controls seem to have been intentionally designed to be different from Madden, and as a result they are not very intuitive. For example, before the play the C button switches players, but the B button performs that function during the play. The B button is supposed to choose the closet player, but rarely does. Joe Montana II isn't a great game, but it's fun to look back on. © Copyright 1999 The Video Game Critic.

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1-2 players

John Madden Football		Grade: C-
	Publisher: Electronic Arts (1990) Reviewed: 2000/1/4

This is the first edition of a series of football games that revolutionized video game sports. It features an angled vertical view of the field, giving the game a pseudo-3D look. A nice selection of actual NFL plays are at your disposal. Many of the typical moves that we all take for granted today are here, including spin, dive, jump, and hurdle. Playing this game recently, I was surprised at just how good this is. The players look cartoonish but are easy to see, and the running and passing games are well balanced. I always liked how you can control the velocity of a pass by holding down the button - brilliant. There are only 16 teams to choose from, and the game has no fancy bells or whistles like subsequent editions. When choosing plays, you also need to choose which type of players you want, including big, hands, fast, or normal. After that, you often have to wait for half the team to run off the field, and THEN wait for the substitute players to run ONTO the field! This needlessly slows down the game. The physics aren't very realistic. Players can dive for over five yards or be knocked back just as far! Passing windows are used to view your three receivers, and while these windows do indicate how open your receiver is, they do not tell you how deep you he is, or how many defenders are in the vicinity. As a result, luck plays a major role in the passing game. The sound effects during the game are minimal, dominated by grunts and the "water faucet" crowd. It's a bit rough around the edges, but overall it was a great start for a classic series. © Copyright 2000 The Video Game Critic.

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Save mechanism: Save option? No 1-2 players

Judge Dredd		Grade: C-
	Publisher: Acclaim (1995) Reviewed: 2008/2/20

Like the movie itself, you're not likely to remember this by-the-numbers platform game ten minutes after you take out the cartridge. The awful film starred Sylvester Stallone as a cop in 2070 serving as "judge, jury, and executioner" for an endless parade of lowlifes he encounters. Adding a little comic relief (very little) was his sidekick played by Rob Schneider. Stallone's outfit looks absolutely goofy with those huge, gold-plated, feathered shoulder pads. In the game you fight crime on generic platforms as futuristic cityscapes loom in the background. I found it very difficult to spot the ladders in this game because they're viewed from the side. Climbing them isn't much easier! Judge Dredd's controls are very touchy. You can fire at several angles, but it's hard to aim because you're running at the same time. The graphics are nicely detailed (you can even make out the rusty bolts) but the industrial scenery grows tiresome after a few stages. The characters are quite small and it's hard to tell what's happening during close combat. You'll find yourself navigating around gas vents, electrical fields, elevators, and floating platforms (yawn). And yes, in one stage you do walk through sewers flowing with green sludge! Joy! The so-called "missions" all share a predictable underlying thread - dispose of the scumbags! Your rapid-fire capabilities may tempt you to lay waste to everything in sight, but shooting someone in the act of surrendering will cost you health. That's probably the only original element of the entire game - too bad it's not any fun! When you properly handcuff a thug, a little disc flies in and whisks them off to prison. Judge Dredd is challenging enough, but it ultimately comes off as monotonous and bland. Where the hell is Rob Schneider when you need him? © Copyright 2008 The Video Game Critic.

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1 player

Jungle Book		Grade: C+
	Publisher: Virgin (1994) Reviewed: 2005/8/11

I first played Jungle Book over at my friend Brendan's house, way back in 1994. He had rented it for the weekend, and while he loved the Disney animation, he thought the gameplay was pretty standard. Reviewing this game so many years later, I tend to agree. Like its predecessor (Aladdin), Jungle Book features amazing, fluid character animation - state of the art for its time. Plus it has an absolutely killer soundtrack. Once you've heard the excellent, banjo-driven "Bare Necessities" in stage one, you can't get it out of your head. Jungle Book's gameplay has a treasure-hunting quality that's mostly fun. You control an Indian boy named Mowgli whose primary objective is to collect a certain number of red gems. A handy gem "count down" indicator appears on the upper right corner of the screen. Each stage provides a modest-sized chunk of jungle environment to explore, and the scenery is attractive but not remarkable. Starting off on the ground, Mowgli can swing on vines and scale branches to investigate the upper reaches of the jungle. My enthusiasm was dampened somewhat by the numerous cheap hits, partly due to enemies that blend into the scenery. I'm also not a fan of animal bosses that fire heat-seeking missiles (what's up with that?) Falling into water will cost you a life, which is always bogus in my opinion. There's no password feature, and your score is not displayed after your game ends. These issues tarnish an otherwise entertaining little platform game. © Copyright 2005 The Video Game Critic.

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1 player

Jungle Strike		Grade: B-
	Publisher: Electronic Arts (1993) Reviewed: 1999/12/21

This is a decent sequel to EA's Desert Strike, but to be honest, it didn't hold my attention all the way through. Like the first game, you control a helicopter on a series of military missions. Jungle Strike covers much more territory than the first game, including Washington D.C., a jungle river, and a snow fortress. I was hardly impressed by the D.C. stage because the scenery was entirely too sparse - it looked like a big park! In addition to your helicopter, certain missions also allow you to control a motorbike, hovercraft, and Stealth bomber. Don't get too excited though - these new vehicles are tougher to control and ultimately not as much fun. Oh well, at least they break up the monotony. Jungle Strike takes a long time to complete. There are eight campaigns compared to four in the first game, and each has a long list of missions. Casual gamers might not go for this, but if you couldn't get enough of Desert Strike, this is the game for you. © Copyright 1999 The Video Game Critic.

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Save mechanism: Save option? Password 1 player.

Jurassic Park		Grade: C+
	Publisher: Sega (1993) Reviewed: 2005/9/20

Many gamers will fondly remember Jurassic Park's memorable intro screen, featuring a T-Rex roaring "Sega!" I remember my buddy Eric bringing this game over my house when it first came out. I was pretty psyched at first, but playing it dampened by enthusiasm. Based on the insanely popular movie, this platform shooter is plagued by poor collision detection, questionable stage design, unresponsive controls, and an unforgiving difficulty level. Normally a game with such glaring flaws would not rate above average, but this is Jurassic Park! Any game set on an island with rampaging dinosaurs has got to be good, despite some technical deficiencies. Actually, Jurassic Park is two games in one; you can play the role of Dr. Grant or a man-eating raptor (sweet). Jurassic Park's graphics kick ass. The digitized dinosaurs look fearsome and realistic. You can even see them breathing after they've been tranquilized. The T-Rex is never seen full-body, but he makes his presence felt by sticking his huge noggin wherever it will fit. The scenery looks nice, but the stage designs are really lacking. Often it's hard to determine where to go next, and numerous fatal falls send you all the way back to the beginning of the stage. Less-than-responsive controls allow you to squat, climb, jump, and move hand-over-hand along vines - with some difficulty. You think you nailed that simple jump, only to watch Dr. Grant slip and fall into the abyss. Still, it's exciting to revisit scenes from the movie like the jungle, power station, and visitors center. Although the environments appear slightly grainy, they are very detailed and interesting to explore. It's also fun to shoot and toss grenades at dinosaurs, and the tension is palpable as you duck into a vent to avoid oncoming raptors. The game also includes some stages not in the movie, like an innovative rafting level where you navigate a dinosaur-infested river. Although it can be frustrating to play as Dr. Grant, assuming the role of the raptor is much easier. It's also a good way to take out your aggression as you maul helpless security guards and gobble up smaller dinosaurs. Jurassic Park certainly has its share of technical issues, but still manages to be a fair video game adaptation of the film. © Copyright 2005 The Video Game Critic.

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1 player

Justice League Task Force		Grade: D
	Publisher: Sunsoft (1995) Reviewed: 2002/9/29

From the name itself, few people would guess this is a superhero fighting game. Heck, Justice League Task Force sounds more like some boring government commission! But the thing that really struck me about the game is just how incredibly mediocre it is. Having been released well after the 2D fighter boom, you would at least expect this to be as good as Eternal Champions, but it's not even close. The game combines run-of-the-mill graphics with second-rate gameplay and minimal sound. The main attraction is your ability to fight as Superman, Batman, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, or the Flash. Unfortunately, Task Force was made at a time when DC Comics had made a few ill-advised changes to the look of the characters. Superman and Aquaman have long, flowing hair that makes them look more like Fabio than superheroes, and Green Arrow looks like a complete ass in that Robin Hood outfit. Also included are three villains I've never heard of: Cheetah, Desperdo, and Darkseid. The backgrounds are static, and with the exception of Batman's Gotham City, are extremely uninteresting. The gameplay is equally uninspired. The special moves aren't very special, and the collision detection is suspect at times. The sound effects are terribly muffled, and the low, rumbling background music is barely audible. If not for its famous cast of characters, Justice Task Force would have been a complete bust. © Copyright 2002 The Video Game Critic.

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1 or 2 players

Kid Chameleon		Grade: B+
	Publisher: Sega (1992) Reviewed: 2006/6/4

Way back in "the day", I remember my old buddies Steve and Brendan telling me about this game after they had rented it for a night. They wrote it off as a run-of-the-mill platformer, but playing it today, I would definitely give it more credit than that. Yes, Kid Chameleon (KC) borrows liberally from Mega Man (among others), but a game doesn't need to be original to be fun. If you've grown weary of 2D platform games, KC might just rekindle your enthusiasm. The game's background story is a load of incomprehensive nonsense involving a virtual reality arcade machine. Just ignore that. KC's gameplay is quite familiar as you hop across platforms, pounce on enemies, and bump blocks to reveal items and power-ups. The star of the game is a kid with a bouffant hairdo (who looks like Brendan), but he's constantly changing forms. He'll transform into the wall-climbing Iron Knight, the headfirst charging Berzerker, the axe-wielding Maniaxe, the insert-like Micromax, the laser-shooter EyeClops, the hoverboard-riding Skycutter, and the flying/drilling Cyclone. Juggernaut transforms him into a skull-firing tank! Each form has its own standard abilities and special powers that can be triggered after you've collected a certain number of diamonds. KC's graphics and audio are about average by Genesis standards, with stages depicting scenic lakes, wave-swept beaches, floating castles, volcanic caves, and jungles. The levels tend to be short but well designed, although occasionally you'll find yourself sliding into a bed of spikes (or pool of lava). One stage that's especially bizarre places KC in the jungle where he's pursued by a huge wall of spikes. Your adversaries are a motley crew that includes stone heads, crawling hands, and baby dragons. Kid Chameleon is generally easy to control, although some of the more narrow platforms can be slippery. I like how Kid adjusts his body when walking up or downhill - something you never see in a video game. What makes the game so fun is its reasonable difficulty and sheer variety. The scenery is constantly changing, and the ability to change forms provides multiple ways to complete each stage. Kid Chameleon tends to get lost in the vast sea of 16-bit platformers, but once you start playing you may find it hard to stop. © Copyright 2006 The Video Game Critic.

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1 or 2 players

King Salmon		Grade: A
	Publisher: Sega (1993) Reviewed: 1999/10/18

I remember my friend Tuan and I planned a big fishing trip in the early 90's, and we spent the night before playing this game for hours. King Salmon may not have great sound or graphics, but the gameplay will have you hooked! Until Sega Bass Fishing (Dreamcast) came out, this was easily the most fun fishing game I had played. The main reason is the game is so easy to play. After checking the weather, you drive your boat around a lake looking for a good spot. After choosing a strategic area, you get a closer view which provides a nice view of schools of fish in the water. By dragging your lure through the fish (trolling), you wait to get a bite. An easy-to-use menu allows you to change your lure, depth, or line. When you finally hook a fish, the fight sequence is suspenseful and exciting. The fighting screen is plain, but clearly displays what's going on. Sometimes a timely event will occur, such as your hook getting stuck on a piece of wood, or the fish making a zigzag run. You are then given three choices of how to react. Make the wrong decision and the line could snap or the fish could escape. When you finally pull in a fish, you'll see a nice picture of it on the scale. Each catch improves your ability and skill level. This game is simple but addictive! The music is awesome, and that's a good thing because it plays nonstop! If you do catch enough fish, you progress to a new lake. You can save your progress using a password feature. Don't hesitate to give King Salmon a try. © Copyright 1999 The Video Game Critic.

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1-2 players

King of the Monsters		Grade: D
	Publisher: Takara (1991) Reviewed: 2003/4/24

The King of the Monsters series never made a big splash on the Genesis, but its basic style of play seems to have been adopted by the latest generation of 3D monster games, notably Godzilla (GameCube) and War of the Monsters (PS2). There are four creatures to choose from, including the Godzilla-like "Geon", the rock golem "Rocky", the bug-like "Beetle-mania", and the Ultraman-inspired "Astro Guy". The first three are well designed, but Astro Guy looks like a dork in a cheap superhero costume. The graphics and animation are good for the Genesis, although you can't help but wonder how much better this might look on the Neo Geo. Unlike many fighting games of this nature, it's actually easy to tell what's going on, even when the combatants are holding or chomping on each other. The four cities are remarkably detailed, with large buildings, bridges, and markers indicating the boundaries of the battle. Smashing up the city is part of the fun. The military is a constant presence, and you can pick up these ships, tanks, and planes to hurl as weapons! Despite using only three buttons, there are a surprising number of moves and combinations you can execute. King of the Monsters has a strong wrestling influence, which has a detrimental effect on the gameplay. It's bad enough to see monsters execute suplexes, body slams, or piledrivers, but watching them "pin" their opponent for the win is almost embarrassing. Not only does it look ridiculous, but you can always escape the first two pins anyway. I hate how a monster can keep fighting after its life meter has been completely depleted. Also annoying is how the winner's health does NOT recharge between fights. The roars and other audio effects are muffled, but at least the music is decent. King of the Monsters is an interesting title - too bad it's not very fun to play. © Copyright 2003 The Video Game Critic.

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1 or 2 players

King of the Monsters 2		Grade: C
	Publisher: Takara (1993) Reviewed: 2003/4/24

A huge improvement over the original, King of the Monsters 2 is a much deeper game with a slew of new monsters and stages. Now there are nine creatures in all, three from the previous game and six bizarre new creations. Actually, bizarre is an understatement. Some of these things have so many appendages, eyes, and teeth sticking out all over that you can't tell the head from the tail! Claw Head is certainly nightmare inducing, but others like Aqua Slug look like a shapeless mess. Initially the graphics look about the same quality as King of the Monsters, but as you move your creature around you'll notice it rotates to keep facing his opponent, which looks terrific. The control scheme has changed a lot, mostly for the better. Now you can hold back to block Street Fighter-style, and there are special moves which also employ the standard joystick movements. Thankfully, monsters are now defeated when their life meter is drained completely, and they no longer need to be "pinned". The nine stages provide plenty of variety in terms of color, but the scenery isn't as interesting as the first game. The cities look fine but the Grand Canyon and ocean floor stages are pretty sparse. Small wandering creatures have been added to spice things up, but these tend to be annoying and rarely impact the contests. It's no classic, but King of the Monsters 2 does a good job of addressing the shortcomings of its predecessor. © Copyright 2003 The Video Game Critic.

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1 or 2 players

Lakers Vs. Celtics		Grade: D
	Publisher: Electronic Arts (1990) Reviewed: 2005/4/19

The first time I played Lakers vs. Celtics I was still living at home, and as usual, a bunch of my friends were hanging out in my oversized bedroom playing video games. My buddy Keith had brought over Lakers Vs. Celtics, and we were all very impressed with it. The game's TV-style presentation features two anchors at a desk who comment on the game via scrolling text. Actually, the black guy never says anything, but he does crack a smile periodically and it looks hilarious. During halftime, a brief highlight is shown of another game "in progress" - nice! On the court, the wood surface looks realistic, the lanky players perform their famous "signature" moves, and coaches pace the sidelines. I still recall my friend Tuan pointing out how the players actually wore the correct numbers on their jerseys! Playing Lakers Vs. Celtics just recently was an eye-opening experience. Only ten teams are available, but Michael Jordan is on the Bull's roster! In most subsequent basketball games, Jordan didn't appear due to licensing issues. Compared to modern basketball games, Lakers Vs. Celtics is slow and choppy, and it takes a while to run the length of the court. There's no turbo or crossover move, so it's nearly impossible to penetrate to the hoop. As bad as it sounds, these limitations force you to rely on well-timed passes, making the gameplay more strategic. It's surprisingly fun, and the slow-motion dunks are quite satisfying. On the downside, instead of the "star" icon used in later games, your "selected" player sports black shoes which are hard to see. Sometimes a player will score even when the ball clearly didn't pass through the hoop. The rebounding game is fairly atrocious, and it's not usual to see offensive players follow up their own missed lay-ups or dunks - several times in a row. And for goodness sake, turn OFF that blaring music that plays nonstop during the game. That leaves you with a crowd that's dead silent until you score. Lakers Vs. Celtics definitely shows its age, but if you accept its limitations it's still worthwhile. © Copyright 2005 The Video Game Critic.

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1 or 2 players

Last Battle		Grade: F
	Publisher: Sega (1989) Reviewed: 2008/4/27

When Sega produced this marginal side-scroller, it was clearly at a time when the size of objects on the screen took precedence over quality gameplay. After all, the 16-bit era demanded larger characters. As a result, Last Battle looks great but plays like crap. The game's intro features pages of back-story text which whiz by so fast you need to be a speed-reader to keep up! The action begins with our hero "Aarzak" walking through a dusty town as ninja rain from the sky and rise from the ground. Our hero can punch, kick, and jump to dispose of enemies, but the animation is a joke. Aarzak sashays around like he's wearing high heels, and when he kicks he doesn't even adjust his posture; his leg just flashes straight in front of him. When you punch or kick enemies, they fly off the screen as if they were wearing freakin' jet packs. Apply kicks and punches liberally, because they can also knock down incoming projectiles like knives and axes! Wouldn't that hurt your hand?! Branching paths are available between stages, but sometimes you can't travel down clearly marked roads, and I don't know why (besides the fact that it's a bad game, of course). The boss characters tend to have green skin, because as we all know, green people are inherently evil. But the highlight of Last Battle is its unintentionally hilarious text dialogue. Check out this dramatic exchange: Aarzak: "What's the matter!" Gere: "I want to become a hero." Wow, that's deep. Here's another one: Aalyssa: "Aarzak! Save the world!" Aarzak: "I am the only one who can save the world!" Does this guy have an ego or what? When Aarzak isn't strolling through generic outdoor locations, he's trying to survive the trap-laden dungeons with cheap hits and dead ends. The game requires a lot of trial and error, and I seriously doubt it's worth the effort. I'm just grateful that this is the last battle, because I don't think I could stomach another one of these! © Copyright 2008 The Video Game Critic.

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1 player

Lethal Enforcers		Grade: C+
	Publisher: Konami (1993) Reviewed: 2006/9/17

I remember visiting a Video Game Exchange store with some friends in 1993, struggling to decide if I should purchase this game. I really liked it, but at $70 (including the light gun), I was concerned about its replay value. The clerk had the nerve to offer me a used copy for a measly $5 less. I held onto my cash, and never owned a copy of this game until fairly recently. Lethal Enforcers is good light gun title, but it's definitely repetitive. The digitized graphics and sound that were so cutting edge in 1993 are almost laughable in 2006. Due to the limited Genesis color palette, the scenery looks grainy and the voice synthesis ("eat lead!") is so scratchy that it's hard to comprehend. The game is packaged with a light blue gun controller, and while it's generally accurate, hitting the edges of the screen can be tricky. The five stages are set in varied locations including a bank, airport, Chinatown, and chemical plant. As the camera pans the scenery, thugs continuously pop out, and unless you blast them immediately, you'll take damage in the form of a bloody hole in your TV screen. Occasionally an innocent civilian or cop will leap out, and once you get that itchy trigger finger, it's hard to avoid shooting them. Certain stages feature shootouts in moving vehicles like sport cars, vans, and subway cars. I really like how snipers fall from windows, tires can be shot out, and some thugs pretend to be innocent civilians. It's too bad you can't shoot up the scenery in general. Your targets are slightly randomized, but it still feels like the same experience each time through. Lethal Enforcers' up-tempo music sounds like something from a 1970's era cop show. The worst aspect of the game is how unforgiving it is. Unless you complete a stage in a nearly flawless manner, you'll be told, "Too many mistakes - reloading same mission." As one of the few light gun games for the Genesis, Lethal Enforcers is still a good time, but only when taken in small doses. © Copyright 2006 The Video Game Critic.

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1 or 2 players

Lightning Force		Grade: B
	Publisher: Sega (1992) Reviewed: 1999/10/30

Thunder Force 3 (TF3) was a tough act to follow, but this game holds its own. Released two years after TF3, Lightning Force has some new features that set it apart. The graphics are more detailed than the previous Thunder Force games, and you have the ability to scroll the screen up or down. Thanks to some fancy pseudo-3D graphics, you even can see enemies approaching from the background. One negative side effect of this is that you can't always tell what you can and can't shoot. There are some nifty special effects here like enemies that splash in the water or burrow through the sand, and the explosions are noticeably improved. Sega took some chances with some really weird alien designs this time around. I mean, normally you can tell the front or back of a ship or the head and tail of an alien, but I don't know what to make of some of these bizarre creations. Some of the bosses crowd the screen too much, and some enemies are too difficult to kill. But overall, I would have to say that this is the best-looking game in the Thunder Force series, although not as playable as TF3. © Copyright 1999 The Video Game Critic.

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1 player