Official sega dreamcast 11 feb 2001 by Willzera

EXCLUSIVE! SOUL REAVER 2 EXPOSED

Official#Magazine

Drea PHANTASY

ONLINE The Most Anticipated Online

Game

Ever!

> Hands-on Report

Dreamcast 2? Sega’s Future Plans Revealed!

Make Your Own

CODEBOOK! Biggest Codes Section Ever! PLUS: Sonic

Resident Evil

NBA 2K1 Head Hunter

Alien Front Online, Bang!

Floigan Brothers, Ready 2

Rumble

18 Wheeler

Project Justice and More!

•

150+

GAMES RATED!!

BLOOD DONORS WANTED! imagine,

you

wiii,

a berserk

B -movie,

horror

producer with a twisted sense of humor puts up a million dollars io anyone who can survive his seven, movie -theme worlds of bloody terror. Michael Reynolds is that And you could use a million bucks.

film

who

Are you willing to make a biood and guts effort - your blood and guts - to survive the unspeakable horror that Reynolds has in store for you? A bloody mess of mutant monsters, over 1000 traps and items, abject terror fused with B -movie humor - how can you pass up an opportunity finally

like this?

a horror

game

that should require a

surgeon generalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s warning. You're constantly at risk of heart attack, stroke, bleeding to death.

unique sensory feedback system requires that you monitor your vital signs as you face terror after terror, brutal attack after brutal attack, shocking surprise after shocking surprise.

won't really win a million bucks. But you'll money's worth - of terror - in the seven bloody worlds that await you.

get your

Give biood.

JALECO Dreamcast

www.jaleco.com

FEATURES MANY PAGES WITH MANY WORDS— SWEAT TILL YOU BLEED, SUCKAS.

COMING SOON WAS WE COULD

IF THE FUTURE NOW, STOP HYPING AND START COMPLAINING

DEPARTMENTS

>FORBIDDEN

GAMES ODCM took a

FLOIGAN BROTHERS Wackiness

peek behind Japan’s Hello cute—and what we saw

Kitty curtain of

made us

blush. Enjoy this glimpse of the

Japanese games

you’ll

never get to play

>FROM GEEK TO CHIC 30 Gaming's

transition

mainstream

little

fetish to

has

all

blue hedgehog

>PHANTASY STAR ONLINE 34 Online and on target?

ODCM

exclusive, hands-on paydirt:

hits

and you

get the verdict

you can shake a stick at. ODCM spends some quality time with the Floi polloi

when you thought

18-WHEELER

PROJECT JUSTICE 50 No,

isn’t

Gee Dub

games in memory.

NEWS, PREVIEWS AND GOSSIP

52 was dead, the

If it

classic returns to your Dreamcast.

Not since

Willis

Reed returned

1970 NBA finals has comeback like this

many months

for

Game

coaster... wipe

off!

cleaning, but does

doesn’t work, don’t give up and start

using our shiny, pretty

there been a

demo

disc as a

We know you

make

you that you can

tell

spit

hate

more fun on

first?

of secrecy surrounding

>D-MAIL

its newest Mission /mposs/b/e-style game, You ask, we answer. The only problem Sega lets the cat out of the bag. Or, actuwith getting so much wonderful mail from ally, they only let us peek our heads inside the bag for a few seconds to check out the so many wonderful people is that it reminds us of how many wonderful jobs cat. Here’s what we saw before the dang

there are,

thing scratched us

ALIEN FRONT ONLINE It’s

of our

got

all

another look at what is easily most eagerly-anticipated titles.

sorts of things

in this

wonderful world, which

contain long stretches of free time that

ODCM takes one

Big tanks

like:

can be ing,

filled

up by writing emails,

stretch-

napping, eating and peeing. But don’t

worry— we’re too busy creating go out and

ODCM

find ’em!

to drive, big cities to destroy, big buildings to crumble, big technologies to

employ

(online multiplayer, real-time voice, etc.) =

big hit

the making

>TZ-ARCHIVE 80 Every

TYPING OF THE DEAD

game

we’ve ever played. Rated!

Mavis Beacon meets House of the Dead

one of the most excitingly inauspicious gameplay premises in the history of in

>ENDZONE

ODCM's

videogames. Amazingly, it's already greatbut kids, can you type "c-a-r-p-a-l

series

With schoolgirls...

t-u-n-n-e-l s-y-n-d-r-o-m-e?”

how

recent

The rambunctious rodent returns for another spin around the block. And if what we’ve played so far is any indication, this is going to be one of 2001's best games.

of the

After

Big Trucks Attack! Get the skinny on Sega’s latert Naomi arcade port. Large Marge, Kevin Bacon, trucker slang and other assorted goodies

Bush’s new capital punishment program. It’s the sequel to Rival Schools, one of the most beloved

AM2

HEAD HUNTER

When

fighting

>DC DIRECT

spades: Visual Concepts’ laden with more slap than

SONIC ADVENTURE 2

from geek

billion-dollar industry

taken less than ten years: and

began with a

latest jewel

>DC-R0M

FIGHTING VIPERS 2 Just

exclusive TalkBack interview opens with our candid tete-a-tete

with the creators of Soul Reaver 2. Just

great

will this

game be?

Find out!

^^Official@Magazine

Mr. Charla’s

Dreamcast

neighborhood

> > WELL, THE HOLIDAYS ARE behind us

(well,

write this they haven’t

actually started, but by the time you read

READY 2 RUMBLE: ROUND 2

they should be just wrapping up).

Anyway,

number

could go on about the huge

of killer hits that shipped for

Dreamcast

this season, but that

what the

gloating. But

would be

hell, let’s gloat:

Shenmue, Jet Grind Radio Test Drive Le ,

Mans, StarLancer, Grandia Arcadia, Tony

Hawk

Skies of

II,

NFL 2K1, NBA 2K1,

Quake 3 Arena, Samba de Amigo. And

games that got 9s or we got the world's

those are just the

10s. Plus, of course,

gaming ISP. What do we have to look forward 2001? First, all the awesome games

online console

first

So. to in

that slipped: Unreal Tournament, Half-Life,

SURF ROCKET RACERS

and Metropolis

Half-Life Multiplayer

Street Racer. Then,

January, we’re

going to get the earth-shattering Phantasy Star Online (see our Cover Story on

page

36). (Note:

issue,

you never see another

becuase we got too addicted to

it’s

PSO.)

Sega— at its recent Games Summit— announced

Beyond Executive

that,

(in

addition to giving us the dirt on the future of the

that

Dreamcast platform; see page 12) had between 30 and 45 titles

planned

2001. Holy crap!

for

SEGA games?

Forty-five

company

Clearly this

out

to get every single dollar in our pockets,

>HOWrO

>TESTZ0NE WE THEM

HYPE? HIP? PLAY ALL SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO. REVIEWED:

NBA 2K1

Everything you love about your favorite sport and the NBA is present and accounted for (except for Jack Nicholson sitting courtside at all the Laker games)

and every single second of our spare time.

And

When tells

month, well, future for

be pretty

One

game company

could potentially be com-

new games

every

pretty clear that the

it’s

Dreamcast

damn

READY

be happier!

for one, couldn’t

the world’s greatest

you that

ing out with three

2001

going to

rosy.

last thing: After a successful test

run, next year,

national.

It’s

ODCM

plans to take

RPG Day

the Friday after Thanksgiving.

No work. The malls are packed. The movie theaters are packed. Your house food. Solution: get

sandwich, pop

that

early,

RPG

falls

Friday,

make In

2001,

Rice-a-Roni

this it.

Chris

Mmmmm! Yummy

it’s

MAN

first time playing Ms. Pac Man, to the magic. If it’s your second

your

second

millionth)

time around,

you’ll

that the magic never fades.. .and neither do the ghosts, unless you eat ’em

SPEC OPS

you

pshaw

78 its

own exclama-

tion point, like a little suitcase full of joy. Or not. It's definitely full of something...

KISS PSYCHO CIRCUS: THE NIGHTMARE CHILD Not. Online.

79 Two more words:

Big. Shoes. This game offers the closest onscreen representation of Dina’s shoes ODCM has ever seen. We’re not kidding. And neither is Dina

that

16-PAGE CODEBOOK!

demonstration of

some

you’ll

buy another Lotto

PC + ROTC = DC QT? ODCM RSVPs. Ever wonder why we often groan automatically whenever we hear (or say) the word "port?” This game gives a pretty good big reasons

our How-To section

weren’t lying. Well, this time when we say that it’s Absolutely Code-tacular, we’re lying even less! We’ve listened to the subsonic screams of your codejonesing, and pretty much ignored it for a long time. Not because we didn’t care; we just didn’t have the space to print more codes. Well, get ready to be really, really happy (and to stop screaming, too...ever wonder why you didn’t have a girlfriend?)—we’re going to give you ALL the codes and ALL the directions you’ll need to cut, fold and staple your own

guaranteed: II:

call

Bigger, better, faster zombies! And didn’t think it could get better...oh,

Two words:

CODEBOOK!

You’ve heard us

“Absolutely Code-tactular” before— and

2 77

BANG!

welcome

MAKE YOUR OWN 16-PAGE

henceforth replaced as the

RESIDENT EVIL

A game that brings along

know

November 23. Plan on

San Francisco Treat.

HOYLE CASINO 68

OMEGA SQUAD 73 Later,

SUPER RUNABOUT: SAN FRANCISCO EDITION

MORE CODES THAN YOU CAN SHAKE A GAMESHARK AT!

the ingredients of the best damned tuna casserole you’ve ever had (although they could be). They make a good game: almost

Tou don’t have to be 21 to play it. You can play it all night. There’s even some cleavage to be ogled in this gameroom, thanks to Hoyle's NPCs. Of course, such pleasures always come at a price...

(or

it.

2 RUMBLE: 2 66

As the inimitable Evan Shamoon says, “No kicking!” This might be boxing for the masses, but it’s still boxing...and it’s still darned fun

MS. PAC

yourself a

you’ve been

meaning to beat and get to Day

is full

ROUND

SURF ROCKET RACERS

Surfing! Rocketing! Racing! No, these aren’t

Total satisfaction

never feel the need to ticket.

And how many games are

included

the index of this wunc/erbooklet? Well,

we want you a

hint:

to be a surprise. But we’ll give

there aren’t less than 75...

^^w^^^egi^edlraae-pa^cl^^^to

TO ITS BEGINNING

lfte?3cS

ORDER

Born of different worlds,

woven together by

io face

.*^2^ A

fate,

each

shall rise

their destiny.

ji H j;

/' /

/kd

Dreamcast Sega

Arts by Ubi Soft Entertainment. Original

limit

WMKMj <fiT

ESP/Game

J?/!.

/y/i

;

Licensed from

•

Ih'

i^yfv

or trademarks of

Mi.

<nm

Game Arts Arts. English Translation

a trademark of

Game Arts

Co., Ltd.

Character designs by Youshi Kanoe. World designs by Katsumi Aizaki and Masashi Hazama.

moment, circumstance

'The level of detail paid to every single

and environment

overwhelming."

Dreamcast Magazine

Official

"...undeniably the prettiest role-playing

game

ever to grace a

console."

www. dailyradar, com

"...this

will

indeed be the

first epic

RPG on Dreamcast.

www.ign.com

"Grandia generation

II is

most impressive next-

easily the

RPG we've

and the

seen,

first

true

RPG

epic

for a next-generation console."

www.thegia.com

’ake

anew

'-'''&PG yet

what

look at

surely the best-looking

on a next-generation

console..."

Gamer's Republic Online

"...set to

give sub-par developers a lesson in

RPG

how

do a DC

right."

GameFan Magazine

"Any RPG fan would be insane to miss out on this fantastic gameplay experience and it could go far in converting those

who

previously rode the

RPG

fence."

GamerWeb.com

"If

you want your copy

expect Santa's it

now

little

Grandia

elves to

or you

may

2 this

make you a

not get

holiday season, don't

special copy, pre-order

until late January.”

www. GA-Console. com

Critically

acclaimed and over 2 years making, Grandia II December 2000.

™

in the

arrives

Ubi Soft Entertainment and the Ubi Soft logo are registered trademarks of Ubi Soft,

Inc.

Sega, Dreamcast and the Dreamcast logo are either registered trademarks

NOW YOU CAN

SCREAM “HELP” LIKE A IN FIVE

LITTLE GIRL

DIFFERENT LANGUAGES.

With the Phantasy Star Online instant translator, you can choose from hundreds of words and phrases to communicate with online gamers around the world. You enter, "Help me! don't want to die!" Your teammate in Japan sees: "SJI+^ft^, Jt„" It's just one of the advanced features on the next generation of the legendary Phantasy Star series. Phantasy Star Online will immerse you in the cpost complete role-playing experience possible— not to mention what it'll do for your vocabulary. i

sega.com/phantasystaronline Sega

2000.

All

registered

the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Sega. Dreamcast, the Dreamcast logo, and

Rights Reserved.©

SEGA/SONIC TEAM,

2000. www.sega.com

PHANTASY STAR ONLINE

registered trademarks or trademarks of

SEGA CORPORATION or its affiliates. © SEGA CORPORATION.

ROM

Disc Guide

HE SEVEN That's

what we

the six fancy-kickin’

call

maverick vid on this

disc. This is

American developers have

some

SfiNURfil

demos and one

of the best stuff that

to offer: riding the cutting

Japanese and

edge of this

wave of innovation. So just when you thought that your loved ones were

century’s

presents,

ODCM

racing

out of

has ripped you a brand spiggidy spankin’ new one. Hot

the presses, here exclusive

all

comes the

sneak peeks at

off

makes your Dreamcast sing-

stuff that

levels

from Metropolis Street Racer (balls-out

environments:

in hyper-realistic

we had

name

game

the

that

get

most questions about from fellow game journos, this would be it. It could be the that finally makes Dan stop saying “Best. Game. Ever.” about F355 Challenge), Outtrigger (first-person shooter from the Land of the Rising Sun), 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker (big trucks, big wheels, big game), Max Steel (third-person adventuring to the max) and 4x4 Evolution (more SUVs than a Nordstrom parking lot). Plus we’ve got a brand new web browser-Version 2 6 complete with mouse support. It even comes with Sega’s new DreamCall title

DCDirect page 16

application (see

phone

long distance

your fellow Dreamcasters

As an added bonus for

which allows you to make free

for details,

anyone

calls to

the world.

So now you can

talk to

all

Lisbon and Bora Bora.

for this issue,

you to check out—this disc

we’ve also got Jurassic 5’s newest video

so fresh we almost don’t want to give

away.

Just be sure to read our directions (at right) for cleaning the disc!

18 WHEELE

Sill

AMERICAN PRO TRUCKER

Take Sega’s new trucking sim like to

jjF

crush the cars that get

you won’t soon

and see what

jan

it’s

players

like to

The demo takes you

Lizard Tail.

<U Brake ^Accelerate

1 f

METROPOLI 5 STREET RACER pub SEGA release JANUARY players 12 '

European and

Distinctly

awesome,

try

early on your trusty

you’ll

Venture through the jungle and

demo

our exclusive

Max Steel.

hit p

solve. Give

think; that’s

a spin and

why

£g

©Jump

it’s

let

on the

evil

to the teeth with

<£J

L5>

RELEASE OUT NOW PLAYERS

Strafe

left

Strafe right

you thought 4-Wheel Thunder was the cream of the big-wheel crop, 4x4 Evolution a shot. It's got lots of dirt, cool vistas and big vehicles, and should provide you with at least an afternoon’s worth of If

entertainment.

It’s if

also one of the prettier drives

aesthetics are your bag, give

O N/A © Brake © Change view

D-Pad: Up: reset position

folks

Just

some

you’ll

take on your

a shot. <JJ

Reverse Accelerate

when you thought ODCM had

possibly want,

we drop the new J5

on your unsuspecting heads.

of interesting puzzles to

us know what you think.

demo

of bad guys and getting to

from the first-person POV

JURASSIC 5: QUALITY CONTROL PUBLISHER SEGA RELEASE OCTOBER PLAYERS

armed

sweet weapons, and there are even a couple

Move Character D-Pad: Move Character

Stick:

well, give

Stick: Steer

some unsuspecting

You're

swarms

the process. Try

(first

4X4 EVOLUTION PUBLISHER GODGAMES

been a longtime

know what we

Brake Forward

person) O Zoom © Change weapon © Jump

Look view

PUBLISHER MATTE! RELEASE NOVEMBER PLAYERS

not hella fun. Blast your way through four

the optimal experience.

Dreamcast: so <JJ

out a bunch of weapons

for

D-Pad: Move

ODCM demo disc.

O Assist Select O N/A O Assist On/Off

ON/A

MAX STEEL

MSR has

nothing

try

mean. Race either against the clock or against another car through the The game was recently delayed until January,

so Stick: Ste er

D-Pad: Ste er j '

distinctly

you’ve been with us from the beginning,

Stick:

streets of swingin’ London.

y(~ .

coming.

crazyfastintense stages of action, killing

for

O Change View

i-.#

Outtrigger

it’s

forget.

©Horn

St ;er

|j^j

Sega’s attempt to out-gun the Quake/Unreal/Half-Life FPS landscape,

cruise

your way, barrel over trees and race

G Reverse

Stick: Ste er

D Pad:

enemy named

against a diabolical ride

>J |i.

pub sega release

for a spin

the highway with double-digit wheels (18 to be precise). Also, see what

We know what we

latest LP.

Bounce to

sounds suspiciously

disc.

O Punch © Shoot

<JJ

it.

It’s

Quality Control, the

And what does

given you everything you could

video

title

track from their

have to do with Dreamcast?

a song from one of our fave soundtracks...

Side Step

Close-up View

©Tail Whip

HAVING TROUBLE? Greatest. Browser. Ever. The latest, greatest version of the Dreamcast browser features, for the first time, MOUSE SUPPORT! No longer must you use the analog stick, or worse, the D-pad to netizen.

scroll

around

some

kind of second-class

Add the keyboard, and you are a

surfer. Plus:

fully-outfitted

Web

use DreamCall and your Dreamcast to phone

friends for free!

8 Official^Dreamcast Magazine

February

2001

Having problems getting your disc to run? Didn’t get one with your copy of this fine and upstanding publication? Send your name, mailing address, subscription number (if you to: dischelpraimaginemedia.com and provide a brief

are a subscriber), and the issue’s date description of what's

game news

wrong with the disc as well. IMPORTANT! This contact address is not If you have questions concerning game codes information or refer your inquiries to Sega or the appropriate third party.

for

or information.

Dreamcast news, please

Help: dischelp@imaginemedia.com www.DailyRadar.com

Disc Guide

HOW TO GET THE*

MOST OUT OF LIFE (and your

demo disc)

We pride ourselves on i

want

good customer service, which is why take the time to show you how to fix up a reluctant

^clemo disc-or any CD, GD, or fisc it,

DVD-ROM

it,

run

Got a microwave Gore-or call

for that matter.

that won’t give up the goods? Before you trash

scatter

over with your car or send

to Al

it,

the company to ask for a replacement that you just know

will

take forever to get to you-check out our handy-dandy guide to

making disc problems go away as fast as Evan's hairline. Important disclaimer thingy: You can scratch your discs and ruin them if you do this wrong. Proceed at your own risk. Look at this as a last resort, not normal disc maintenance.

1: Acquire some Windex, or another mild glass cleaner (you can even cut It 50% with water). Now, find a clean, soft, piece of cotton cloth, like an old T-shirt. Don’t use polyester or terrycloth— and for godsakes, do not ever use a paper

Step

towel! Using anything but cotton could scratch the disc and make things worse. Spray a bit of cleaner onto the cotton.

It's

Step

2: This is definitely the trickiest part of the cleaning process. Don’t pat, don’t daub, don’t stroke, and don’t scratch: use your cloth to rub in a straight line, from the center outward. Do not, not, not, rub in a circular motion around the disc—that will really mess things up. About ten to twelve rubs should cover the whole disc.

not just the Disc, you

Okay, folks, it’s about time we gave you a nice, quick refresher course on the display options for your Dreamcast. There are four ways to get video out of your Dreamcast and onto your TV. Here’s a rundown:

RF Adapter: This is for attaching your DC to old-school TVs: you know, those wood-esque paneled sets. You actually have to buy a special adapter to use an RF adapter; this is by far the worst option. Things are blurry. Stay away.

www.dreamcastmagazine.com

Step 3: The insertion. Let the disc dry (about ten minutes). Now that you’ve cleaned your disc, the last thing you want to do is get your grubby, greazy little fingers all over it: so please! Do what Evan does in this picture, and hold it gently by the edges. Slide it into place in your Dreamcast and close the cover. And there it is! You’re good to go.

see...

Composite Cables: The standard AV cables that come with the system, these deliver pretty good results. S-Video Cables: A little pricier, but if your TV has S-Video inputs, you’ll be amazed at just how crisp and clean the graphics look with this cable.

VGA

Box: The ultimate. This $40 box lets you play Dreamcast on a supercrisp VGA monitor display. It looks

great, but

all

DC games

aren't compatible with the

VGA

box, sadly.

February

2001 Official ® Dreamcast Magazine 9

m D -MAIL

Letters

LETTER OF THE MONTH

Team ODCM

EHInterNOT Gaming

WHAT A MONTH! Between Shenmue, Jet Grind Radio, Test Drive Le

here and there),

we frankly

actually writing the

didn’t get

magazine

effort

around to afternoon.

until this

the end result was pretty good in our opinion, and we think you’ll agree. It’s the darkest time of the year, so we decided to ask everyone this month just which games give them the strength to carry on when things look their bleakest... Still,

Editor-in-Chief the going gets tough, the tough get going. And once all of those tough people have left the room, Chris quietly slides in Test Drive Le Mans for a little Prototype

Enduro action. He claims that he can now actually race the Brno pit

stops. Next step: race the entire

GP track

and

reverse,

win.

DAN FITZPATRICK Art Director

Dan

prefers the action of

get out his aggressions feeling tense.

A former

Quake 3

when

he's

call,

Tim. There’s no denying that online

same time, it all games themselves. Whether

headed, but at the

quality of the

or online play,

classic experience. But

game

for

what

it is, it

game

will

solid

stand as a

incorporates "throwaway”

online capabilities just to cash in on the trend, then the potential is clearly wasted.

The

ODCM

staff is

somewhat

the issue. Certain genres,

divided,

like first

a sense, on

person shooters,

his desk,

time strategy and sports games are in

real-

PS: Let us all bow our heads the arrival of Shenmue.

moment

of silence for

much more developed

the online arena, and have been tried and tested

to-head play.

On PCs,

RPGs

online

head-

Baldur's Gate and

Everquest are also fine examples of how multiplayer

adventure

games can be done

well.

Online

replace the single-player games, but

hobbyist level

designer, he's currently hoarding a

PantherXL joystick under

game

meant for offline and programmed expressly a

When

Suzuki

a hard

this industry

depends on the

track blindfolded, including

where

CHRIS CHARLA

,Jlii

This

First off, want to congratulate all of you for the great on the magazine. It is safe to say that you guys produce the first magazine that is official but still delivers the goods without being biased. It is also safe to say that it kicks ass that DC is beating the odds and hanging around for the battle against PS2. And a tough battle it will be. The reason am writing is to see your opinion on how console gaming is evolving into a vast Internet dominance. may not be the oldest gamer (I’m 15), but ladies and gentlemen, have experienced everything there is to possibly experience in videogaming for my age, and things cannot get much better than they are now. am quite an old-school gamer, and when hear all this talk about console gaming’s future going completely online it sickens me. even read somewhere that the next-generation Tomb Raider is going to have you buying levels monthly on the Internet. Now, don’t know about you, but I believe the point of console gaming is to sit back, relax with a controller in your hand, and play a game to a point in the night where your eyes gloss over and your fingers don’t get tired from typing on a keyboard. If want online games sit down at my $2000 PC and really experience online gaming. Do not get me wrong, I have an open mind to any future online possibilities, but I think gaming should stay where it is. Tim Sullivan Via email I

Mans and the Phantasy Star

Online preview build (and a few disco naps scored

their

own sub-genre in

will

all

games

the future.

iron out the flaws, but multiplayer

instead

not

become

be going online any

will

spectrum of RPGs.

within the larger

So don’t worry that time soon or even

RPGs

will

take

games

some time

shouldn’t be

underestimated-they provide an amazing experience that

matched without the element of human interaction. It’s true. Facing off against a real human gamer adds that extra element of spontaneity and intelligence that are nowhere to be found when you're fighting a CPU often cannot be

controlled ’bot. We’re really excited to watch the of a

new movement

that has so

much

dawn

potential.

and enjoys helping Evan out when Evan plays online. Evan, sadly, isn’t much better at Quake than he was at NFL 2K1, you see.

H Speed

They could even throw in side missions something, if they want.

Freak

dear friends at ODCM, here’s the deal. stare dumbstruck at your articles on Phantasy Star Online and mutter things unconciously like “must have.” But strangely enough, am also fighting a phone company who refuses to give me better then a duplexed phone line (i.e., can only connect at 26.4 Kbps with an 56K modem! Fun!). So want to get cable, and cry because can’t have cable and won’t be able to dial in to play Phantasy Star Online. But All right,

DINA FAYER Managing Editor No one's ever accused Dina

being commonplace, so

surprise that she

heads

it's

when

right off

she's upset:

choosing the impossibly cute and simple Penpen Tricelon to get her groove back. “There's just

something about that one-button gameplay and the way it drives everyone else nuts!” she says.

overjoyed to find a

LAN adapter

allowing

bat...”

actually

me things

tell

instead of barfing out garbage about

cooking better with potato election but

oil

or voting

going on

some

Colorado! Don’t tease me.

to level

every single side quest

up as high as possible.

Via email

DAVE CORDON

market

Associate Art Director Dave’s new favorite game

you'll

intense

Samba

session.

to hear that classic

DC modem, $50

to the

ESSoliloquel

part will allow you

Dreamcast with a DSL

keep hearing all these rumors about Sega and Nintendo What does this mean and is it going to

forming a joint company.

happen? Are there any sequels coming for Jet Grind Radio or Guts

Rage: Sword of the Berserk?

Interestingly,

will

to play

DSL

Sega’s

ISP,

not be offering DSL.

Are there any

Mega Man

or cable connection, you'll have to it.

But since

While we’re unsure what’s actually going on behind closed doors, what’s on record is that the original news story was a

what the actual message was. In sum, the was an announcement stating that a high-level

mis-translation of

SegaNet already promises awesome speed, most people won’t need to bother.

real deal

executive had been hired on at Sega from a position

NASKA

in which you apply the “operator,

EVAN SHAMOON

operator” principle to this small story, then you get the end

ESGain Ground-ed

Skater 2. It's that track by Rage Against the Machine combined

A friend

“Sega and Nintendo are working together!” But for the record, Sega representatives have cleared up the question and state that there are no plans for the company to pair up with Nintendo anytime in the near future. Although the company's plans to do hand-held gaming (see DCDirect page 13) do give some tantiiizing hints... it’s long been rumored that Jet Grind will be receiving a sequel which will feature online and multiplayer modes, but again— Sega has said nothing about it. And as for Sword of the Berserk, neither ASCII nor Yukes has plans for a sequel.

think.

can play for hours, and now that he's mastered the gap-to-manualto-gap skillz, he is practically unstoppable. It's fun to watch him beat Blake from Next Gen: that improves everyone's spirits!

Official

games coming? Kevin Capa

Sega games online using a

Crisis

Associate Editor Evan is all about Tony Hawk’s Pro

with the hip clothes,

ILLUSTRATIONS:

Time

Kevmcapa6 1 4@hotmail.com

Sega Net, you want

he had worked with Nintendo.

Farrell

games are still

remembered by DC owners. Unfortunately, a sequel or remake of Renovation’s Gain Ground, which debuted on the in 1991, is more rumor than anything else. We haven’t heard anything on this title with regard to companies working on “secret projects.” But if we hear anything about it, our readers will be the first to know. As for a “car RPG,” Ripcord’s upcoming Gorka Morka is being touted as a type of vehicular combat/RPG with upgradeable cars which are fully interactive. We have yet to test the game out for ourselves, but you can bet we’ll be checking it out in an upcoming issue.

other broadband connection.

remember

from past issues, is a man who's motto is “A chicken in my pot, every single night.” He's also been known to strap on the maracas (literally, with electrical tape) for an

will

January. The

to use your is

Chicken Run. “I just love making the chickens get caught," he says Dave, as

good

Genesis

broadband adapter, which

be releasing the basically an ethernet card

it’s

is it?

Mike Dunning

Mike, Sega has announced that

that replaces the built-in

the next presidential

Hey, Ryan,

kind of party event

Where

No, we're just kidding:

finally finish

gleefully.

get nothing. Nada. Zilch. Even DailyRadar.com

seems to think that the adapter

down

she actually goes back to all the RPGs she's beat and works to

and

use cable

my Dreamcast in your mag’s Tech section [ODCM #9], must have it and search everywhere can for information on godsend. I’m a gamer and a techie. can make the Net I

the

me to

with

this

FRANCESCA REYES Senior Editor For Fran, bad moods actually mean that she steps away from gaming toward the big baseball bat she keeps by her desk. “Hey Fran... everything's cool... just put

Ryan

farrel 1 8@snycorva.cortland.edu

the deep end

like deliveries

mine was searching on the

Internet

result of

and came across

a rumor that one of the greatest

games of all time, Gain is coming to Dreamcast. couldn’t believe it so went on the Net to do a little searching myself, but to no avail. Is it rumor? Or is Gain Ground really coming out on DC? And someone should develop a game based on the pen-and-paper RPG Car Wars. It would rock. Imagine driving Ground,

just a

around

armored cars packed to the core with weapons!

# Dreamcast Magazine

February

2001

www.DailyRadar.com

For now, there are no plans for any MegaMan games from Capcom on DC. The same goes for a Time Crisis title from Namco on DC. Bummer, huh? But, who knows what

announcements informed

around the corner, so anything changes. lay

we’ll

keep you

SegaNet, Earthlink or something else, you should have no problem getting your game on across the network. Look no further than the ODCM demo disc snuggled tightly in with this very issue, Brice! The latest demo includes Voice Over IP software and other various upgrades for your

DC browsing

suggesting that that might be the wrestling title headed for DC on the THQ ticket The mystery wrestling game for DC

there any chance of Sega bringing either Emergency Call

games totally

rule in the

reek of

ended up being WWF Royal Rumble instead, and the company has no plans to release any more DC wrestling games beyond this. Sorry for any confusion. We’d sure as heck would like to know when bieem! is coming out for DC, as well, Brice! It’s been postponed and delayed since its original release date of July 2000, and the company has been very hard to pin down in regards to specific date. Therefore, it’s a wait and see situation for now. We just hope that they get it out sometime within the coming months, but we’ll keep you posted.

Dreamcast? Both these

Safari to

arcade and

awesomness

would

could play

them on my DC. B’lo

Average

DarkkLotusNENJA@aol.com The news titles ever

grim so far on these two

making

to DC, B’lo.

Sega’s spokespeople claim that it has to do with the technology difference between the arcade

NAOMI

Before

got

first

my DC,

kind about Baldur's Gate

actually

This

game makes San

DC at all? Thanks a

in a pre-release book of some coming to DC, but other than that, it! Do you know if it will be coming

read

lot.

Aaron Gretsinger

Diego’s

adgl3@crosswinds.net

Wild Animal Park look tame.

is still

if it might be worth it, so these pages if there’s hope

on the horizon.

Bad news, Aaron! While the PC RPG phenom known as Bioware’s Baldur's Gate was originally planned as one of DC's first online epics, it’s since been cancelled. But,

RPGs on the way, Phantasy Star Online and FarNation, so don’t fret! fortunately, there are other online

EQ Kill I

loading everything seems fine.

When the game

about two inches of the picture is chopped off all the way down the left hand side of the screen. assumed it had something to do with the projection TV, but when we hooked it up to the bedroom TV (32 inch) it did the same thing. own for DC does this. Any Is this a system flaw? Every game help in explaining this phenomenon would be appreciated. ready to

play,

Jeffrey

j.jones2@att.net

We’re unsure if the problem you’re having is stemming from your system or from using the system on a projection TV. We’ve played our DCs on big-screen televisions, but never on screens larger than 40 inches (we’d like to remind you, by the way, that it’s okay to have friends who own smaller TVs than yours). You may want to check with Sega’s tech support line (800-USA-SEGA) for help on the matter as it might be something wrong with your specific Dreamcast system. An even better solution, of course, is to send your faulty 50-inch screen to us-we’ll be happy to send you our perfectly functional and far-more-portable TV in return! That way, everyone wins.

CO Trigger

Four Word Letter

go online with my Dreamcast a for

lot and was wondering if in games (like NBA2kl) do have to sign SegaNet or can use my own ISP? an updated version of the Web Browser 2.0 ever come out? And if so what will be it’s capabilities? In ODCM #04 there was an article about I

THQ’s plans to release Wrestlemania 2000 for DC in the fall. haven’t seen it yet and was wondering I

still

game? And when come out?

plans to release the

bleem! ever going to

Brice

Beck

bb_toocool23@yahoo.com You don’t need SegaNet in order to play any of the Dreamcast online games, but you do need an ISP. Whether it’s

Revealed: The Rock

Rob Schneider SNL)

blood instead of souls.

Four out of f v ® _1 Reavers say that souls taste better *

always, so don’t believe

have been playing Dreamcast for quite a while now, and have to say that NFL 2K1 is the greatest sports game ever it’s the best game I’ve ever played in any genre). I

RED94602@ao.com

(personally,

seen of Madden 2001 on PS2, NFL 2K1 blows it out of the water. But here’s my question: Is Visual Concepts ever

From what

going to

I’ve

make a college football game? If they are capable of game as great as NFL 2K1, surely they could do it

producing a

again with a college game.

counterpart used a specially

NCAA game. Same goes with NBA 2K1 and a possible college basketball game. Just wondering if you have heard anything about future college sports games. Thanks, and keep up the

made sniper peripheral that has no

real equal in land of

already been asked by at least five or six people about a future

Brent Wi Ilian Louisville,

At this moment in time, we’re sad to report that Sega has no plans in the immediate future for any college sports games via Visual Concepts, but this isn’t to say that another thirdparty publisher doesn’t have some plans in the works that they’re not currently talking about. We just haven’t heard a

HA New Chapter How many chapters of Shenmue are there going to be for DC? Somebody told me there were going to be 20, but that like

good work!

console attachements, so you’ll have to depend on your trusty DC controller to do your shooting for you.

sounds

Are they having trouble obtaining permission from the at a software store here in Louisville and have

NCAA? work

thing regarding

too many. What’s the real deal?

know almost nothing about SegaNet except that you can games online and send email. Are you able to surf the

NCAA games on Dreamcast, which seems a

since they’re just as popular as pro sports games, a wait and see situation, Brent, so stay tuned.

shame

it’s

on a computer with another ISP? When is ESPN Baseball Tonight coming out? It was supposed to come out in April, then August, then November. Now when is it going to be released? Eric

Via email

»fl LITTLE TO THE WRITE A

Shenmue

a play-it-by-ear sort of series according to the game’s creator, Yu Suzuki. Supposedly, every “chapter” of the is

game can

be held up as a stand-alone product, but the grand plan is to produce 16 complete chapters. But don’t get the number wrong, Eric. “16 chapters” doesn’t necessarily translate into 16 separate games. In fact, it’s rumored that sequels would incorporate multiple chapters rather than one single chapter (like Shenmue: Chapter 1— Yokosuka). Sorry if

where the series stands. Hope it answers your question. SegaNet is a fully functioning ISP with email, Internet

this is confusing, but this is basically

little goes a long way, and a lot goes even further. So, get and send ODCM all your fits of Dreamcast fancy email or snail mail form and get your questions answered. Wanna know what Yu Suzuki eats for breakfast? Ever wondered why Sonic wears shoes but no pants? Can’t quite figure out why we run so many freakin’ pictures of Yuji Naka in every issue? Then write to us. We may have the answer. And if we don't, then-well, then we don’t. But don’t let that stop you. Send it to: ODCM, c/o Imagine Media,

scribblin’ in

150 North

Hill Drive,

Brisbane,

techno-snobs, but email

CA 94005.

Call

absolutely fabulous

at:

dcmag@imaginemedia.com

really

(formerly of

in his skivvies.

The DC microphone should be out in stores in a separate package from Seaman right now! Can’t wait to get truckin’? Read our full preview of 18 Wheeler in Coming Soon and then start saving. The game hits stores in just another month or two. That’s just crazy oldskool vampire propaganda you’ve been hearing, Corey. SR2 has Raziel

none of the DC lightguns, licensed or not, work with Silent Scope. In fact, Silent Scope is not a lightgun shooter in the House of the Dead 2 sense. Its arcade

there are

American ProTrucker be coming out? heard that in the upcoming Soul Reaver 2, you get to suck

than blood, anyway.

Happy

Will

Boom

new DC microphone come

internet too, just like

order to play the online

the

the US, sold separately

Seaman? When will 18 Wheeler

sucking souls,

Unfortunately, RED,

the hype.

Does the MadCatz Dream Blaster lightgun work for Silent Scope on Dreamcast, or do you need to use the original controller? Or will some third party peripheral maker create a whole new gun?

play

out

fflThe College Try I

will

(and long distance system)

Your Television

have had a Dreamcast for about nine months now and love one small thing. We own a 50-inch TV and when

it—except for

the system

When

coreyBl 1 @hotmail.com

haven’t heard a peep about to

or the mysterious Hikaru

be writing

Chat

Corey

evaluating the titles for port to see we’ll definitely

left

from

H Baldur’s Wait

on the DC-friendly NAOMI board, but something different such as the Model 3, dual board. But Sega

and online gaming. No virtual stone is it and you can use SegaNet as your

you have

According to Konami, ESPN Baseball Tonight has been postponed until next year, perhaps to coincide with the start up of the baseball season. We'll keep you updated.

this true?

versions of Emergency Call Ambulance and Jambo! Safari and the DC. Apparently, neither of the arcade titles

abilities

primary ISP.

We’ve never confirmed that THQ would be bringing over Wrestlemania 2000 to Dreamcast; we were merely

H Original Sims Ambulance or Jambo!

needs.

browsing unturned

February

2001 Official

# Dreamcast Magazine 11

NEWS

C FAST

FORWARD

volution or

volution? reamcast takes two giant leaps into the future Games

There were a few surprises at Sega’s recent Executive

Summit. But our eyebrows raised the highest when Charles

VP of Corporate & Marketing Communications, gestured and

said, “Will

ship a box like that Yikes. Is

all

says

all

to our plans going

Bellfield.

il|fe)fused? Don’t be.

step

Dreamcast

at a

two years? No.” — "The over for Dreamcast? Not at

Dreamcast platform remains central 'ard,”

Bellfield,

the evolution of

Sega its

simply announcing the next

system. “Sega’s future

delivering content,” said Bellfield, which

reasons the company

one

is all

about

of the

looking to develop for hand-held

platforms (see related story, next page). To enable the

company to

deliver

games on

its

the Dreamcast

a whole array of

soon acquire an

itself will

nsive multiplatform architecture, at

does

this

ti®D|eamcast intfi

mean? Three

architecture

can then be licensed and slotted of

things.

First,

be integrated

will

a one- or two-chip piece of technology, which

consumer devices— like DVD

Second, Hie company wants to take free system” business

model

into

any number

players or even PCs.

its

current

to the next level. Right now,

you can g|t a rebate for the cost of the Dreamcast by subscribing to SegaNet for 18 months. Bellfield,

“You can think of

atellite dish. You’ll

don’t pay for the hardware.”

THIS

afford to give

MONTH

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

wants Senior Sega official Charles

it,

the future, says

a cable box or

digital

pay to get the content but you

So Sega

will

be able to

Dreamcast technology to anyone who

thanks to saving a fortune by reducing the

system to a couple of

Frito-sized chips.

Bellfield told

Alexander the Great 13 The world in your eyes 14

Dream on Separated at Calling

all

birth

Dreamcasts

Blood typical

Nice package Shen woo hoo JAMMA and jelly

14 14 16 16 17 18 20

ODCM that future iterations of the

Dreamcast system will likely be integrated into a one- or two-chip piece of technology, which can be licensed and slotted into any number of consumer devices— such as DVD players.

Third, part,

and

this

may be the most exciting

“The technology of Dreamcast

designed to scale

easily,”

says

Bellfield.

Translation? Since the underlying

Dreamcast technology— NEC graphics

Dreamcast News Network

future

"Sega's

about

is all

delivering

content. Charles Balffleld

Sega teams will develop for multiple platforms... Relax, it's not what you think SEGA’S TOP DESIGN TEAMS ARE GETTING READY go unplugging your Dreamcast and getting ready to put in the closet, consider this. The multiple platforms don’t include any other videogame consoles— Dreamcast is central to Sega’s content development. Instead, IT'S OFFICIAL.

to develop for multiple platforms. But, before you

according to Sega, the company hardware, Hitatchi CPU, and

can

be improved upon

all

iterations,

mean

will be.

RAM—

property (lawyer talk for

future

handheld platforms.

And does this

that a Dreamcast 2

is in

the offing? “No,” he says. “That implies the old, console

way of

and we're simply moving

thinking,

beyond

that.”

Developers

continue to use the

And us gamers And

will

more out

of Dreamcast.

suddenly be playing on a more powerful gaming system.

will

current Dreamcast owners

we be able to

play

looking to deploy like

its

intellectual

Sonic, etc.) on

In other words, Sega games could appear on handheld gaming systems (no one mentioned Game Boy or Game Boy Advance, but frankly, they didn't have to), mobile phones (the company already has a deal with Motorola to deploy games on some of its new phones), and palm-top devices that are now powerful enough to play emulated

or native version of Sega’s 16bit hits like Sonic

or Shinobi.

same unique

so there won’t be the learning

system-they’ll just be able to get

great characters

will

development environments, APIs, graphics libraries, etc,

new

curve of a

its

games

written for

Alexander: The Road to Percia

upgraded, don'tcall-it-DC2Tiardware? Forward compatability (playing new

FANS OF STRATEGY ON DREAMCAST SHOULD REJOICE: A PROMISING

games on

strat

old

systems—as opposed

games on new systems)

old

realm of In

isn’t

to backwards compatability, or playing

reality yet,

but

could be within the

possibility.

right troops with

Dreamcast has never looked

short, the future for

manages

to proliferate

Dreamcast technology

players to set-top boxes to

brighter.

Sega

into multiple devices,

from DVD

who knows, we may see the Dreamcast become

the right general for each given

battlefield situation

the

game

and

story,

first

console to break out of the traditional

multiarchitecture

gaming

platform.

And

mode and become

that...well,

its

own

that would be really cool.

crucial to victory.

features tons of animation

and

managed

it’s

an incredibly cast

the

to create

of characters.

characters are controlled only by

own

individual

Al— but you

can move the camera around during the realtime battles to

PARTNER UP who

will

keep abreast

of the situation

across the

Sega partner with

entire battlefield.

to bring the

we be calling this game Will

Dreamcast architecture to a wider audience? The

company

who

isn’t talking,

isn’t

but

we can

at least tell you

partnering with—Sony, which has

its

own

Alexander be Great?

Almost

And

definitely.

will

America?

game

combo gamepiayer/DVD player out now; Panasonic, which has made a deal with Nintendo to include GameCube technology in its DVD players; and Toshiba, which is already in bed with small

division with a

Sony thanks to a deal regarding joint manufacture of

PS2 chips. Which leaves Thompson/RCA, JVC and Samsung as the biggest brands who could conceivably decide to add gaming to their DVD player offerings.

You

can only control Alexander— other their

So, just

NEW

game is heading to DC in Japan. ..and here’s hoping it makes it over! As young Alexander, you’ll be expanding your empire towards Persia— and it features several twists on the standard strategy theme. First, deploying the

conquer

Who

knows? Check back for more soon.

So what does this anime girl have to do with Alexander? The game’s being developed in Japan, so of course, it’s been given a Japan-ese look by the developer.

Second,

UCURECT

Dreamcast News Network

Japanese Envy

Dream

Studio’s text-based interface would be a nightmare to localize for

release.

Creating a new world from the ground up is easy with Dream Studio As long as you live in Japan. .

QUESTION: What’s Japanese, cooler than anyand not repeat not scheduled for US release anytime soon? Dream Studio, Sega’s new 3D adventure/RPG maker. The system

—

thing,

—

you design characters, create 3D environments, and develop time- and event-based scenarios so you can take a swipe a making the next Grandia. Once you’re done, you can save your scenarios to VMU or upload them lets

So when’s this awesome RPG-making tool coming to the US? Not any

for others to play.

time soon, unfortunately. Because the sys-

tem

so text-based, localizing

for

release would be a major undertaking. We’re still

hopeful, though, that this

tool will ship in the States

next year. Maybe.

game genesis

sometime

the

hope.

DREAM ON IIJl TOPIO ^5

GAMES WE WISH WERE ON DC

V*'*

BEST SELLING TITLES, NOV. 2000

COLUMNS SEGA 1993

1 SEGA SPORTS NBA 2K1

Okay, Sega, this should be

SHENMUE 3 SEGA SPORTS NFL 2K1 4 CRAZY TAXI 5 TONY HAWK’S PRO SKATER 2

SEGA SEGA SEGA SEGA

a no-brainer! The original

Columns is acknowledged to be so good, it's going to be one of the charter titles on the new Smash Pack— but what we want now is

ACTIVISION

6 JET GRIND RADIO

READY TO RUMBLE: ROUND

a complete update for

Dreamcast. An update complete with...dare we say it.JNTERNET MULTIPLAYER. If it ain’t online, it our bag. Booyah. Note to Sega: Make this happen.

8 QUAKE III ARENA 9 SONIC ADVENTURE

ain’t

SEGA MIDWAY SEGA SEGA SEGA

10 SEGA SPORTS NFL 2K

Resident Evil’s Claire That 70s Show's Donna Chris' private

(now

public)

and unwholesome

obsession with the admittedly gorgeous star of That '70s

Show spurred this month's

for Separated at Birth.

notice

choice

couldn't help but

how much Donna looks like Resident

Evil's resident babe, Claire Redfield. Here're a

few points of similarity: (a) They both have red hair. (b) They both wear chokers. (c) They are both dismayingly sexy. (d) They both kill (or drink) zombies. (e) They both really like Chris (or at least, they do in Chris's fantasyland— we think). (f) Their luscious lips — shaped EXACTLY the same way!—just beg to be kissed.

Official ©Dreamcast

Magazine February 2001

HOT LIST WE DIDN’T START THE

We want

badly:

We all

FIRE

hope

1. Guilty

Gear X Sonic Adventure

2. Soul Caiibur

Shenmue 2

4. Outtrigger 5.

PSO

You want it badly: 1. Shenmue 2 2.

Dragonball Z

Gaga for Segagaga? ...

pray for:

Rage 4

Herzog Zwei 2

You’re dying to play with: 1.

DVD

Weirdest. Idea. Ever. a bizarre case of art imitating life, Sega Hitmaker (best known for Virtua Tennis), is planning to release a management sim for Dreamcast. In this game, titled (we kid you not) Segagaga, you’ll play the head of Sega as the company attempts to take over the gaming business. Sold online only in Japan, don’t expect to see it over here— although if it does make the journey, we expect Peter Moore to do the strategy guide. In

Panzer Dragoon Saga 2

4. Streets of 5.

NiGHTS 2

player

2. Zip drive

Dragonball Z

MP3

Dragonball Z

Broadband adapter

Dragonball Z

Evan

“solution”

www.DailyRadar.com

Dreamcast

Record Of Lodoss

Of Lodoss and sounds on the

“Record

War...

looks

dill definitely satisfy

Dreamcast owning Diablo fans”

War.

brilliant

Dreamcast”

WWW.

-www.gamespot.com

com

Experience the world of Record of Lodoss War up dose and personal in an epic 3D action/RPG only for Sega Dreamcast. Take control of a mysterious warrior from the past, resurrected to save the future, on a colossal quest filled with pulse pounding action and high adventure. Join forces widi popular characters from the lodoss universe and combat hundreds of vicious enemies widi dozens of spectacular spells and customizable weapons. 1998

RYO MIZUNO, GROUP

SNE,

trademarks

Sega

Enterprises, LTD.

All rights

reserved.

All

other trademarks are the properties of their (c)

Crave Entertainment

Publishing/ESP.

registered trademark

Animated Blood Animated Violence

Conspiracy Entertainment. Sega, Dreamcast and the Dreamcast logo are either registered trademarks or respective owners. Crave Entertainment and the Crave Entertainment logo are trademarks of Crave Entertainment, Inc.

their respective holders.

D DIRECT

Dreamcast News Network

Calling All Dreamca sts DreamCall: Use the Internet to screw the

phone company With Sega's new DreamCall software and a DC microphone, you can make long distance calls to other Dreamcasters for free. The

NOBODY LIKES THE PHONE COMPANIES. don’t, at any rate. Which is why

we're hella excited about DreamCall,

a new feature of Browser 2.6 (which

comes, by the way, on the GD-ROM

software is built into the new Browser 2,6—

included with this issue).

which just happens to be included on this month's demo disc.

DreamCall enables you to use your Dreamcast’s Internet connection

combination with the Dreamcast microphone (currently available with in

Seaman, soon to

be available separately)

make

calls

free Dreamcast-to-Dreamcast anywhere in the world. Got a little

friend in Pakistan? Call her for free.

DreamCall also

lets

you

to the outside world (that

make

is,

calls

regular

people on regular phones) using your Dreamcast. Unfortunately, these conversations

will

What's Your Type?

cost you a steep

a minute— but then, there’s no long distance fee, so you

still

Why do so many

might be

games

saving money.

How’s the quality? Not too bad, although there's a slight delay and a tiny bit of distortion.

quality

much

We'd

rate the

higher than, say, Houston-

to-space shuttle communications, but

way we

lower than that of regular phone or digital cellular. It’s

analog

cellular quality.

Of course,

you'll

probably have to

email your partner to set up a time to since your Dreamcast needs to be on, online and running the browser

call,

to receive calls— unless your

game

programmed

DreamCall

activity,

to monitor for

which none are— but what the

technology lacks

spontaneity,

more than makes up for in free-ness. And predictably, the DreamCall technology

games (see

the

will

be showing up

soon. Alien Front Online

Coming Soon,

first title to

Official

use

pg. 56) will

tell

it.

©Dreamcast Magazine February

you the

blood types of the characters? It's a Japanese thing; in Japan, people look at blood types the look at

hard to please,

Minuses: Insecure, too idealistic, big

(The most common type in Japan is A.

sneaky, unstable

mouth, jealous

In the US,

Minuses: Finicky,

when drunk

Type B Pluses: Adventurous, passionate, friendly,

independent

horoscopes here in the US. According to the Japanese system, your blood type determines your personality. Here's a handy index to help you understand how blood types are used in games.

Minuses: Lazy, indiscreet, unpredictable, bossy

Type A

Type 0

Pluses: Honest, trustworthy, hard-

Pluses: Strong, athletic, sexy, forthright, very

working, loyal, law-abiding

2' 101

Type AB Pluses: Sensitive, powerful, friendly,

well organized Minuses: Too proud, a playboy, vain, hard to get to know

ambitious

it's O.)

Dreamcast News Network

Know

Nice Package! My god, it's full of Genesis games... Starting in January, Sega’s going to deliver something that console buyers haven’t seen

since the 16-bit days: a pack-in game. Well, twelve of them, actually. Sorta. Here's the deal. Starting in January, there will be a available, the it

looks like

new Dreamcast

retail

package

Smash Pack Bundle. Although all of the details aren't fully fleshed out, will cost $169 and it's going to come with one of the most awesome

—

pack-ins ever.

the

Smash Pack

FYI), Virtua

disc will be SegaSwirl,

Cop 2 (with

classics! Sega

light

gun

support!),

Browser

2.6 (also

found on

this disc,

—get this— ten emulated Sega Genesis

and

has been offering pay-to-play emulated Genesis games via

network in Japan, but these will be complete games on the

GOLDEN AXE

disc.

its

online

No word on whether

PHANTASY STAR

SHINOBI

hands on the technology so we can slide you a couple of free Genesis games with each issue, but we're working on it. The games included will be Sonic the Hedgehog, Altered Beast, Streets of Rage 2, or not we'll be able to get our greedy

little

Golden Axe, Vector Man, Revenge of Shinobi, Columns, Phantasy Star

and Wrestle War. Holy Although Sega

crap! That's a lotta

II,

Shining Force,

good Genesis games.

being coy about plans for releasing the Smash Pack as a stand-

alone disc, we'll eat our spats

the disc, or something very similar, doesn't

along soon after the Smash Pack Bundle

come

released.

CAPCQMJ

Dreamcast

'ww.dreamcastmagazine.com

February

2001

Official

# Dreamcast Magazine 17

CO., LTD. DINO CRISIS and CAPCOM EDGE are trademarks of CAPCOM CO, LTD. Sega, Dreamcast and the Dreamcast Logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Sega Enterprises. LTD.The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association.

Dreamcast News Network

Shenmue: Woo-hoo! Ryo and friends make their official US debut with a huge party ODCM crashes

—

MARK SHENMUE S

’

OFFICIAL

release, Sega went straight to the top: Shanghai 1930, San Francisco’s swankiest and most exclusive Chinese eatery. Fittingly, this

site

restaurant

where Sega

first

was

also the

revealed the exis-

tence of Shenmue, way back

The

international

turned out

1998.

videogame

force for the event,

digerati

where

they were wined, dined and entertained by

live

jazz

and a troupe of traditional RAGIN

Japanese taiko drummers (who were actually playing outside and weren’t technically part of the event— but cool nonetheless), and more Sega staffers, local celebs, and game journos resplendent in logo-ed T’s and nappy jeans than you could shake a stick at. The highlight of the evening was

when Shenmue creator/god Yu Suzuki himself picked up the mike and gave a

speech, about 'mue's development and his expectations for the game in the US market.

(In brief:

He hopes we

Sega President Peter Moore spoke crowd too, about the incredible

success of Dreamcast so far and his high hopes for a brilliant future. With

games

Shenmue

hand,

Sega is making sure it has enough inventory in stock to keep up with the demand! trust us: the only worry that

should have

it.)

to the

CINDY

The highlight of the evening was when creator/god Yu Suzuki himself took the mike

; .

Dreamcast News Network

Bill V

I;,.;-' ||p

flKrp tmmWu

-•?

WilhYou Survive the H^rr'of. '

l * JHk

;

.V*. \

“L

\ \

mue’s Chai, does he not? 3 Sega boss Peter Moore, clearly happy about Shenmue U Partygoers take time out to sample game 5 Now, that's a serious Sega fan!

the

CAPCOM

CAPCOM capcom.com

Dreamcast

CAPCOM CO. LTD. 1999.2000 CAPCOM U S A.. INC 1999. ’000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CAPCOM and the CAPCOM logo are registered trademarks of LTD RESIDENT EVIL and CAPCOM EDGE a*e trademarks ol C APCOV CAPCOM CO., LTD Sega. Dreamcast and the Dreamcast Logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Sega Enterprises, LTD. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association •

•

fayinft.ftnm

D DIRECT

Dreamcast News Network

ARCADE ACTION

Quarter Pounders ...

and no cheese

at Sega's private

arcade show SEGA SHOWED OFF

ITS

LATEST

goodies at a recent private arcade

show

Tokyo, and

(or at least our

correspondents) were there. Most

game?

impressive

Probably Air

Trix, 1

Sega’s next-generation arcade skater. Using a hardware setup it

adds serious

vert skills

-an

and a

***“£*• ***»*££

Top Skater, V<A*

lot

more tricks for an incredible punch. Coming home? Maybe. Maybe. Definitely coming home? The radlooking Samba De Amigo 2000. It sports our favorite 2D/3D monkey along with tons and tons of new songs,

NOSEGRRB check out the graphics, and then bow before the might of Sega’s arcade game designers. Air Trix looks like it is going to totally change the world. The only question: will its deluxe hardware control scheme (an actual skateboard) allow the play to translate to the home, or will this be an arcade experience only? Time will tell. Okay, so

first

which feature a Caribbean flavor this time.

songs

far,

this

there’s

Hockey on Dreamcast?

no word on US

time around, but we’re hop-

hope that “Who Let the not be among them. Bottom line? Sega’s still got it, and

ing against

Dogs Out” looks like

may come

home...

Samba 2000 features much more difficult action, including all sorts of new moves and poses guaranteed to embarrass you to death in the arcade, at home, or even all by yourself, just thinking about them. In short, the world’s best party game is about to go totally off the hook.

Official

i)'

Believe

it,

baby. Maybe...

It’s not on Dreamcast yet, but Sports Jam will be headed there soon if there’s any justice in the world.

will

Dreamcast Magazine February 2

Sega’s latest arcade classic features arcade takes on eight different sports (including hockey, soccer, golf, football, basketball, biking, basketball and tennis) on over twelve stages. The game uses a simple two-button control scheme, and is designed to test your accuracy at every sport. A two-player mode is included (of course), and since the game comes on a GD-ROM even in the arcade we’re hoping it will be an easy port to Dreamcast. We’ll have more on this promising arcade romp as soon as we can pry more info out of Sega.

—

What Grand(ia) Voice Acting! ODCM

gets the skinny o n

One of the best things about Grandia II is the fantastic voice acting. Mow’d UbiSoft do when the standard of voice-overs rarely has risen much beyond the laughable it,

“Jill,

you are the master of unlocking," school set by in the original Resident Evil? Hiring a profes-

Capcom

sional director helps. ODCM took the old Corporate Jet (well, technically, it was United’s corporate jet) to LA to get the goods from Grandia Il’s voice director, Kris Zimmerman— who’s probably best known for her work on Metal Gear Solid.

Kris

Zimmerman:

hired.

Deep Space

get performances out of the actors

9: The Fallen, Tenchu 2, Alundra, The Sydney Olympics, Revenant, Heretic II and

And

Zork:

ODCM: What's the main once they’re

good vocals

ever done was Metal Gear Solid. When got the script, thought it was one giant pile to hand out to all the actors. But then realized that the 900+ pages before me was just my copy. With Grandia II, the path through it is so interesting. really liked the story. What’s funny is that have a 12-year-old son and he couldn’t care less about the cartoons I’ve done. The minute his friends realized worked on these games, became his hero. What videogame voice-over direction have you previously been involved in? Metal Gear Solid, Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force, I’ve

the game. With that

role of a voice director?

help cast and choose actors for

comes what some people would

producing: coordinating, setting-up, budgets, etc. But

video

prefer to refer

Did No.

Inquisitor.

The RPG fanbase

my work as voice direction. You’ve worked in a lot of fields: which do you perfer? Cartoons? Games? TV? Why? It’s all very similar, actually. My skill is the same regardless of the project. Games tend to get done quicker as they’re

don’t call myself a voice producer by trade,

Grand

call

more concise. This allows us to focus on what we’re doing and to become completely absorbed in the story while we’re working on the project. Cartoons tend to be strung

out over months. For Grandia II, we did eight sessions, which would have taken eight to sixteen weeks in cartoonland. Games are more intense.. .in a good way.

What were some of your impressions of videogames when you first began doing work on them, versus how you view videogames now? Games are so much better now. Story content has gotten much better. is much more story-oriented now. There aren’t as many arbitrary choices. It used to be you had to It

say something fifteen times depending on what the player did in the game. Now you still have as many avenues through the games, but the ways you can get through them are much more interesting, and not as repetitive. [Games are] much more complex now. The largest game

it I

one

of the pickiest subsets of

game fandom. Have you found this worrisome? you made about Grandia II?

affect decisions

know

that I’m giving

them the best people

available

and the timeframe for recording was adequate, so we were going to get a good game. And we had that with Grandia II. RPG localizations suffer from time and budget constraints. Have you run into any problems? Sound localization is an expensive thing. The studio is very expensive. The actors are expensive. And the actors only work a set number of hours per payment. Without knowing

for the role. At that point, the story

in, you never know how much how clear they’re going to be once we The difficult thing is trying to figure out how to budget the actor’s time. They had an aggressive schedule, but we met it. They had the editors working immediately on the raw data. It was a massive team effort. What’s your opinion on voice acting in videogames? know that when my son It’s gotten so much better. started playing games, was appalled at how bad it was. It was like they were casting family members to do roles. think companies like Ubi Soft are starting to listen to the fans and beginning to investigate how to do it right. And not only to investigate, but to succeed.

the client [UbiSoft] going they participate or start.

CAPCOM

capcom.com

loot. »d Go-.

www.dreamcastmagazine.com

February

2001 Official

Dreamcast Magazine 21

RESERVED. CAPCOM iiml the CAPCOM logo .H<- reijis CAPCOM CO., ITD. RESIDEN T EVIL 3 NEMESIS and C A

<wd ttadema

COM EDGE or

GAMES of

ODCM UNCOVERS THE SHOCKING TRUTH: YOU

games us Western gamers were never Games so Japanese that they violate ail import requirements for cuteness and weirdness. Games based on concepts so foreign to traditional US gamers’ tastes that for even suggesting that a company publish one over here, your average product arning: There are certain

meant

to see.

acquisition guy would probably be given three

be quietly asked to clean out insane. They just enjoy

knew golf

existed. But

some genres

months sick leave

H But Japanese gamers

on top of skyscrapers, go anting best-selling

(or

aren’t

that you probably never even

what do you expect from a country where people

where the number one a

his desk).

in glorified

Dreamcast

swimming

pools,

title—ever—is

play

and

Seaman:

game in which you interact with a moody fish who’s even better than your

therapist at telling you

why you suck, f Over the next four pages, we’ll take

you through the best examples of a whole

new gaming world...which

you’ll

probably never see anywhere else. Will any of these games ever come to the

US? Probably not Should they? A tough call. We don’t like being denied any choices, and

Infogrames

willing to release

will

bring out

Pen Pen, surely someone would be

Tokyo Bus Guide. Anyway, without further ado, get ready to

take a look at exactly what you’ve been missing...

AREN’T SUPPOSED TO PLAY THESE DREAMCAST TITLES!

CASE STUDY #1

Simply-animated dating interaction games have been popular in Japan since the days of the SNES console. They mostly revolve around a male hero (i.e., you) trying to win the affections of a certain girl, or,

you’re

lucky, a series of girls.

The courting procedure is

usually undertaken by

selecting options from

menus and watching the results play various

through onscreen. For example,

Memories Off,

there's a point

where you

spot your ‘love interest’ a few cars

away on the train. You're provided with two options: should you shout at her, or go and sit next to her? Of course, you don’t need us to tell you that the latter would be the more charming manuever. It doesn’t sound very thrilling, does it? But in a reserved and conservative society, this sort of

game

Tokimemi Memorial takes a approach

slightly different

to the dating genre, but

to capture the

same

you meet a friend from your childhood

provides

light-hearted ‘practice’ in charming the

Fujisaki Shiori.

opposite sex for adolescent would-be

and during your three years at the

romancers. Plus, they’re usually very

strive to

funny, working like interactive versions of

love.

light-hearted anime.

and

To do in

She

this,

is in

the

same

you must excel

school, you

lot

academic areas

means

that you'll

further than simply flirting a bit at the school dance.

Photo Memories Yet another inscrutable title hides

sections of Japanese

yet another standard date ’em up.

* February

class as you are

White Illumination Date girls in the upper-crust

# Dreamcast Magazine

sporting prowess...which

have to go a

Official

manages

named

impress her—and ultimately, to win her

and making an awkward pass

it still

appealing elements. After

getting into the exclusive Kirameki High School,

2001

cities.. .if

that sort of thing

your bag.

a reserved and conservative society, this sort of

provides light-hearted ‘practice’

game

charming the

opposite sex for adolescent would-be romancers.

www.DailyRadar.com

TOKYO BUS GUIDE —

a bus driver in you guessed it Tokyo, it's your goal in life to be the best

—

damn bus driver ever to grace the streets of Japan. To

achieve this

title,

you’ll

have

be pointlessly rude to customers and occasionally to

hit

the pavement, sending old

women

collapsing into the

aisles... no, that

would San

Francisco Bps Guide. Instead,

you must drive under the

speed

limit, indicate

before

turning, and be polite. result

The

amazingly addictive

and very underrated in terms of complexity and interaction. Japanese gamers were so thrilled with the

game that

Sega has actually taken up the cause, and is in the process of converting Tokyo Bus Guide into a full-fledged arcade

title

replete with

driver’s seat.

Let’s Make a Soccer Team

CASE STUDY #2

All

budding chairmen can hone the J-League.

skills in

You’ll

their

responsible for staffing your office by

choosing everything from a secretary to the color of your team’s

jerseys

order to build the

perfect group of soccer

Japan is a nation seemingly obsessed with work. Well, that’s not exactly true they just do a lot of it. All the time. Absenteeism is unheard of, overtime is mandatory (office employees sometimes sleep at their desks after working until 4am), and people have even been known to work themselves to death.

and take the cup.

players

—

Densha De Go! 2 Chugging over Japan races

true

horse and prep

action. You’ll win

manage to

so much fun. The

own Derby

some serious racing money and kudos if you

original in

the

arcade was so successful that the

for

get the formula

has never been

trains

Brothers fashion. Train your

Densha

series has spread to

piloting planes.

right.

Maybe that’s why games that simulate employment are so

immensely popular there. And we don't mean loony knock-offs like Crazy Taxi; we mean accurate simulations. The

smash hit arcade and console title Densha De Go! for example, enables players to drive a commuter train around Japan. Even Shenmue provides a

little

work-related fun, enabling you

warehouse. Although they sound ridiculous, these work sims are surprisingly therapeutic, enabling you to indulge in careers you’d never usually dream of. Just don’t expect to be paid for playing. to stack crates in a

www.dreamcastmagazine.com

r’S

MAKE A PRO BASEBALL TEAM Let’s

Make a Pro Baseball Team goes

pretty far into the nether regions of an

often mysterious world. You’re able to hire and

players to executives; you’re also club’s finances, choosing the

acquisition

and development.

dullard stat-based realm, for the players,

fire

everyone from secretaries to

charge of overseeing the team, tending to the

equipment—you can even get Everything, basically. But to

Sega decided

involved

keep

that a ‘massive-head’

stadium

out of the PC-

mode was essential

as were over the top bright and cute graphics.

February

2001

Official# Dreamcast Magazine

FORBIDDEN GAMES

Puyo Puyo Da! Dance with the Puyo Puyo crew!

Jv 1

right. It’s

of a real

game, which roughly translates into "you’re lucky

combos

to bury

your light-footed

soundtrack than a

Bust-

fan set, you’ll use classic

In this

A-Groove for the puzzle

the import store even

carries this."

opponents.

Sonic

DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION This

home version

of the

not really a game,

it’s

A game

with no visuals soothes your soul;

an especially great game if you happen to be blind. We hear.

Sonic Team’s

it’s

best audio achievements. Yes, you heard

arcade favorite (which East-born experts use

merely to practise on for their proper arcade showdowns) comes with

dancing controller— a floor mat with four arrows on

Gameplay

It’s

Real Sound 2

Team PowerPlay

its

own

CASE STUDY #4

it.

simple; just choose a tune, and then, as arrow symbols appear

mat to make your onscreen The more precise you are with

onscreen, step on the corresponding arrows on the character dance like a bubblegum-pop vixen. your groove, the

ImIIML

points you get. As a bonus, you’ll shed a few pounds.

Super Producers In this

Since Konami's DJ-ing sim BeatMania action

music/work hybrid that enables you to

manage a

J-Pop star, you’ll be able to audition

potential singing starlets

from a group— and

then managing her whole career

Will

cutie or a tradtional

she be a hyper hip-hop

right

and

you’ll

Japanese arcades, rhythmand the craze shows no sign same reason karaoke is workers the chance to

—

probably popular for the

front of their friends in a semi-controlled environment.

we can attest after having

spent

(It's

some time in dancing arcades in

way to break the ice with the ladies.) Of all the crazy Japanese genres we’ve covered so far, this is probably the most accessible to US gamers, with titles like PaRappa the Rappa and Dance Dance doing reasonably well on PlayStation, and Samba De Amigo drawing a good amount of attention on DC. In this section, you’ll find examples of several more musical oddities which might just tickle your aural fancy. Will they ever come to the US? Well, never underestimate music to bring gaming nations together. Shinjuku, a great

pop superstar? You choose

her music, her look and her video work.

hit

popularity

Japan.. .it gives usually-restrained office

show off

to you

The genre

so huge also,

from there on out.

games have exploded

of abating.

land on the music charts.

POP’N MUSIC Pop’n Music

ODCM

as simple as your average pop star, but more fraught with tension than the

office at deadline (and that’s pretty

appropriate button at the

same time that

damn

it’s

controller,

wear a party

which

little

game

thin,

a trapezium-shaped block

but

its

fast-paced fun

tense). All that

required

that you tap the

full

a top package, especially with the optional of buttons.

The

frenetic button pushing

may

unbeatable. As with Dance Dance Revolution, this

by definition, and a splendid one at that.

strange to ever see a release

indicated on the screen.

Fronted by super-furry animals, Pop’n Music

It’s

the West, though, which

just too J-Pop-oriented is

and downright

unfortunate.

www.DailyRadar.com

would take

whole book to explain the possible origins

manga and the

many definitions you

could put to the term. However the modern use of ‘manga’ as a catch-all name for Japanese comics has been around since the

when legendary artist Osamu Tezuka created Astro Boy— the story of a cute android crime fighter and his mad professor inventor. Since then, manga and its animated equivalent, anime, have grown into 1

960s,

—

national obsessions with books, animated series’ and animated films aimed at everyone from schoolboys to housewives. Shoji Kawamuri’s popular Macross was one of the first major manga titles to become a game, released on Nintendo’s Famicom (known as the NES in the US) in the 1980s. From then on, many generations have seen manga and anime franchises achieve international success. Dreamcast examples include Cundam, Kikaioh \Tech Romancer in the USI, Bangaioh, Record of Lodoss War and Sakura Taisen. Most include lengthy anime cutscenes, which is cool if you enjoy Japanese animation.

The game

a mixture of

CG and

animated events influenced by how you

answers various series of questions asked by Belldandy and Co. The big draw for fans will

be the inclusion of all-new

characters not found or the

manga. This

either the

is definitely

anime

an otaku-

only sort of event.

Nadesico the Mission An

attractive outer-space strategy

game

based on the popular anime, for people who consider themselves to be sawy armchair generals of

some sort

or another.

Langrisser Millennium spawned from a

Though

technically not

manga

or anime, the Langrisser series

beloved amongst the audience for both

mediums mainly due to the

series’ strong

and character designs by renowned manga artist Satoshi

storyline

Urushihara ( Chiralty

Aa!

Megamisama

lovely leading ladies of

;

etc.)...with

the

exception of Millennium.

Quiz

Quiz-tastic arcade-to-DC port featuring the

the cult favorite

anime and manga series Aa! Megamisama {Ah! My Goddess in the US).

All five

installations in

SAKURA TAISEN

the series have

been strategy RPGs with a concentration on massive battles similar to the Shining

The Sakura series is one of the most precious and well-respected brands Sega has in Japan, and Sakura Taisen 18e2are the remakes of Saturn classics.

Force series, but with even more depth

typical

and

skill

required.

quite

manga style, you join

an ambitious

the oddest

You

Manga and anime are

national obsessions:

way

you’ll

remit).

a secret organisation fighting against

There are

tactical battles aplenty, but

command

the

Hanagumi Clan

female warriors

during battle instead of hitting on them. The

everyone from schoolboys to housewives.

www.dreamcastmagazine.com

(hmmm, some of

suits,

of your

and the

campaign.

time— i.e., encouraging them

manga theme

handled by Fujishima

who has also worked on the excellent Ah! My Goddess manga series. may prove impenetrable to most Westerners, though. Kosuke,

mech

which you interact with them determines the success

Points are given for saying the right things at the right

with books, animated series and films aimed

All Evil

these are

ever fight.

February

2001 Official

Dreamcast Magazine 27

JlEJtt

Dreamcast

2001 Mattel,

Inc. All

Rights Reserved.

Max Steel: The series, TM 8 2000 Adelaide Under license by Sony Pictures Consumer -

Rights Reserved. Products. Sega, Dreamcast and the Dreamcast logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks ol Sega Corporation. Game Boy and Game Boy Color' are trademarks of Nintendo of America Inc. 1989, 1998 Nintendo of America Inc. Licensed by Nintendo Productions, Inc.

All

Fight hand-to-hand or oiith 9 different weapons, including trip mires,

sniper

repeater guns and

rifles.

Rctivate stealth

mode

sneak bi_| Ljour enemies or go turbo for superhuman strength and speed.

Battle through 28 intense missions in 7 mind-bloming environments. All

screen shots are from the Sega Dreamcast

game

console.

terrorist group DRERD has stolen a deadlg biological weapon and planning to lag waste to the planet. But there’s one major obstacle: super ngent max steel, infused with nano-technologg and armed with an arsenal of weapons, he’s got superhuman strength, biasing speed and the power to go stealth. In other words, he’s the one to call when the other agents don't want to get their tuxedos dirtg.

The is

PRODUCTS RANGE FROM

EVERYONE

roTEEN

£•1

Animated Violence

uiuuu.maxsteel.com

uiuiui.maxsteeltu.com

FROm

ODcm inuestigates how uideogames

courted the underground, hijacked the mainstream and neuer looked back. Dark bedrooms. Sweaty control pads. Unwashed sweatpants. We could go on and on about videogaming’s sordid past, but that already been well-documented

it’s

a story

(and— erm—

Chris would rather not reprise his misspent

These days our

youth).

favorite

pastime suffers

no such hang-ups, having undergone a gargantuan transformation from nerdy, reclusive

hobby

into billion-dollar,

Hollywood-dwarfing

entertainment behemoth.

How when a

did

happen? Was

all

back

1992

million copies of Sonic hit stores

nationwide on ‘Sonic Tuesday’? Or was

when

the British too-hip-to-see-over-its-own-pelvis lifestyle/culture

mag The

almost hard to believe today,

its

cover?

It's

Face slapped Lara Croft

when PlayStation2 shortages make the national news and Dreamcast is Time Magazine’s Product of the Year, how recently the game industry was treated like the forgotten stepchild of

entertainment media. But what price do

we pay

for

acceptance?

we grew up with selling out? Are games that’ve been designed for the mainstream— rather than geeks— even worth playing? Well, the answers are a bit more complicated than the the culture

questions. Fact:

Videogames are no longer the Palm Pilots

exclusive province of those of us with

on our belts and Mountain Dew on our sweatpants. Fact: Far

from merely borrowing from pop

culture, games are now starting to dictate it. And which company is leading the way? Fact:

seem

Sega. This company’s Japanese developers to

have more

some

style in their

other consoles have

VMU games than in

their entire libraries.

So join us as we attempt to nail the major trends at work that have dragged videogaming from the Jet Grind Radio’s

punk hits the geeks dig chicks and games.

bedroom-dwelling squalor, so well-documented

lovely graf

target:

’80s and ’90s media, into the sophisticated

splendour of 21st century Dreamcast

February

2001

Official i

living.

Dreamcast Magazine

Once upon a state-of-the-art:

was became

time, this screen

and

art-of-the-state of

Who

quickly

videogames, too. didn’t love Sonic?

SUPER sonic It

all

started with a

character that

it’s

little

blue hedgehog. Sonic was such a revolutionary

actually quite difficult, ten years after his debut, to understand just

squat, spiky guy had on the whole industry from the moment he spindashed onto the screen. Before Sonic, the only real, recognizable videogame was Mario. And Mario, though we love him dearly, was (and is) about

how much impact this character around

as far from hip as—well— Mario. Mario

safe. Mario teaches typing. Mario

Sonic the Hedgehog...the face that launched an empire, as well as a whole new epoch in the history of videogames. Without him, we literally wouldn’t be here.

has spent

his entire career trying to rescue a princess.

Sonic, on the other hand, had a ’tude. At a time

were

typically

when game characters was a pissed-off little ruffian whole ‘attitude’ bit has become in

history

nothing more than tiny spaceships, Sonic

bone to pick. And while, after a decade, this more than a bit trite (read: Poochie et al.), the first time Sonic tapped his foot and down his nose at you when you were playing, or teetered dangerously at the of a platform, the world of games—and everything that they could become—was fundementally changed. Sonic may have been the first game character that the average guy wouldn’t have been embarassed to introduce to his girlfriend. Combined with an innovative ad campaign—you know, the one with the original Sega Scream— portraying games (for the first time) as things that weren’t toys, the antics of Sonic the Hedgehog gave gaming its first taste of mainstream cool. Of course, the millions of copycat characters and ad campaigns-not to mention with a

glared

edge

Sega’s

Official

attempts to make Sonic a family-friendly character— kept things from mass, but the seed was sown.

ill-advised

hitting a critical

# Dreamcast Magazine

February

2001

www.DailyRadar.com

C1HHE on

OSS OF VOURSELF Cool

one

another.

companies

thing, but

the

mainstream success is when Japanese coin-op

late ’90s,

realized their profits

of fierce competition

from

were tumbling because

home

consoles, drastic

measures were called for. Enter a wealth of titles that on the success of simple gameplay (Simon, essentially), backed by awesome style and graphics and aimed squarely at casual gamers. Here’s where we see that despite our fears, casual games really can be for everyone— including hardcore gamers. Although anyone can play them, there’s something about funky disco games like Bust a Groove, DJ-mixing games like Beatmania and the king of dance ’em ups, Dance Dance Revolution that capitalized

makes mixing

with the hoi polloi kind of fun. Ever

played Guitar Freaks or

games forever

Samba de Amigo? These

put to rest the notion that gaming

Witness the crowds

solitary experience.

the average

arcade around these games, and ponder the potential of social

gaming as a concept

in its

own

Shenmue, we may have found the we want to live in: forever. All

world

that’s missing

a couple of Jedi.

right.

“But

looks like crap!” Such

was the

typical response

when non-gamers were confronted by the

efforts of

in the late '80s to bring in more casual gamers via realistic, 3D polygons. Hard Drivin’ might have been a bold attempt to create a more realistic racing experience (and in terms of handling it was), but 3D was so primitive back then, next to Out Run it looked—well— like crap. Despite the major attention paid to games like Pac-Man and Defender when they were new, it took loads of imagination and an

coin-op companies

graphics technology

appetite for abstract representations to look at the early arcade It

wasn’t really

until

games as anything more than

just a fad.

Daytona USA and Ridge Racer introduced detailed texture-mapped polygon worlds

arcades that graphical realism became a major way of drawing to the real

into

more non-gamers. Better graphics were a bridge

world-a conscious detachment from the trappings of fantasy and kiddie graphics and another reason

not to feel embarrassed playing a game. therefore little coincidence that as soon as videogame graphics (and sound) became sufficiently interesting mainstream audience, console gaming took off big-time with sports titles carrying the gauntlet well into it doesn’t take a genius to work out that the closer to real life graphics become, the bigger the potential audience. However, the irony then will be that no one will want to dwell in worlds that look like our own. Until then, we’ve got Shenmue.). It’s

to a

casual gamesplaying territory (Incidentally,

Evan gets into the

Samba

spirit.

Sega

should be screaming.

Booyah, Shibuya! Sega’s big releases stop traffic in Tokyo... and the crowds go wild.

But licenses can only take you so

far. The really cool stuff—the stuff that affects pop it seems as if virtually all of the coolest games come is the epicenter of the Japanese where trends start, evolve and die. It’s also the fashionable home of a select few Sega developers, where the teams are young and the laid-back working environment is in direct contrast to the stifling corporate blandness of the Sega of old. United Game Artists (formerly R&D department 9), creators of the retro-chic rhythm action of Space Channel 5, is typical of the new face of Tokyo game design, with offices tucked away down an interesting sidestreet not far from the famous Shibuya Square—where giant TV screens adorn the sides of skyscrapers and where SC5 itself was debuted to the

culture— is almost always original. And

from Tokyo: from Shibuya

Tokyo public to

its

late last year.

development

clue to what

Camped

Tokyo, to be precise. Shibuya

youth culture universe: this

With just a pokey security-pad-operated elevator providing access

facilities,

only the

coming and going of

its

unmistakably hip staff gives a

lies inside.

out here,

the midst of

intrinsic to this progressive, digital

all

hardly help but create the coolest titles

www.dreamcastmagazine.com

of the quirky sophistication

and freshness

that’s

design culture, the designers of Jet Grind Radio et in

the world.

can

Rave on! Over the last several years, the Chemical Brothers have stepped off of trendy dance floors and into the soundtracks of some of gaming’s most popular titles.

BOPIB

THE BBSS

—

Back in the 80s despite the fact that computer games had the sonic sophistication of a hundred angry wasps trapped inside a tupperware container-computer musicians achieved cult status in the 8bit underground, crafting memorable tunes from a few lines of computer code. However, the party really didn’t get started until Wipeout’s producers convinced big names from the techno scene such as Orbital, Leftfield and the Chemical Brothers to supply tracks for Psygnosis’ 32-bit racer. By the time the sequel came along, the dance community was falling over itself to get its hands on the soundtrack. Once CD-ROM-based consoles found their feet in the mid-’90s, gamers’ expectations for full orchestral soundtracks and licensed music grew rapidly. Road Rash Fighters Megamix and Sonic R were the 32bit precursors to DC titles that have boasted licensed music— like Crazy Taxi, Jet Grind Radio and Ferrari 355. And it isn’t just electronic musicians who’ve gotten in on the act: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater has brought pop, punk and hiphop bands into the act, including the likes of Rage Against the Machine, Public Enemy and the Dead Kennedys. ,

Music sets the mood soaring

for

Pro Skater.

She’s too sexy for almost everything...Ulala took videogames to the very forefront of modern culture, with up-to-the-minute, club-inspired

moves and gear.

BV DESXGn The Designers Republic needs little introduction anyone who has followed the Wipeout series on

for

PlayStation.

Still

one of the most inventive graphic

design houses around, this small staff/big ideas graphic design outfit based

in Sheffield,

England

provided Psygnosis’ futuristic racer with a truly distinctive identity. Stylish, understated graphics

transplanted directly from the leading edge of the

underground electronic music scene brought major

kudos

to the title— making a great

game

nothing short

of spectacular.

Turning what could have been an isolated

occurence Rapper,

into

a successful trend, PaRappa the

SC5 and

puzzle

have used fashionable with a whole

Official

Dreamcast Magazine February 2001

new

games

Chu Chu Rocket communicate

retro styling to

set of style-conscious gameplayers.

www.DailyRadar.com

Licensing doesn’t stop at music, either. By far the easiest way dedicated gamers til

opposite

hand over a

fat

wedge

cash

extend the appeal of videogames beyond

return for a license to a proven intellectual property. But

game had a license, was crap. So the end result is that licenses, which should have helped into games—and reveal the inherent coolness of gaming to the world— actually had the exact effect (Example: Casual gamer buys licensed game. Game sucks. Casual gamer assumes that all games

the mid-’90s,

get tons of

new blood

suck and that gamers are hopeless losers.). These days, videogame licensing is a far more serious business. For a start, movie companies are naturally not so interested in seeing their francises developed by losers: they go to the experts. So we have Sega entrusted to produce stunning Star Wars coin-ops such as the Naomi-powered Episode 1 Racer. And we have Italian car manufacturers working closely with designers to produce authentic simulations such as Ferrari 355.

Where licensing has really taken off, though, is in the area of licensed sports personalities and official sporting home console games, like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. It’s a pattern that follows in the footsteps of FIFA, NFLPA, and countless other brands that game companies have turned into lucrative franchises. One thing’s for sure—we’ve come a long way from the days when licensed meant worthless. bodies for

x gbpies is the latest example videogames not just aping pop culture with ‘rad-hot’

Smilebit’s Jet Grind Radio of

endowed

characters still

with attitude (although there's

plenty of that to go around), but actually breaking

new ground

terms of style. A

Tokyo street culture,

stylish synthesis of hip

warfare and

inline skating, graffiti

JGR

free-roaming gameplay,

to urban skate culture

what Wipeout was to futuristic racing five years ago. Throw in a pirate radio soundtrack of hip-hop and mashed-up beats and you have the coolest game on the planet, period.

ODCM some

Producer Kawagoe Takayuki offered

why the game ended up being so damn team is very young, an average of 26 to 27

insight into

funky: “The

years old, which

unique inside Sega.

just three people, then six.

added three more

started with

for a total of

Everyone brought new concepts and a brand new

videogames, and we were

vision of

whatever we wanted to do. So

told by

did.”

Sega

Game

designers should take note that this sort of small,

group gives the development team a

tightly-knit

personal investment

endows the game

the

game

and, accordingly,

with the sort of close personal

it needs. By contrast, big commitees are fatal de sacs for innovation. As in the media worlds of film and music, there’s room for both small-time, underground games and

attention cul

those that effectively break through to a mass audience. For every Clerks there for every Matrix there

Crimpshrine there

a Toe Jam and

Earl,

a Jet Grind Radio. For every

an MDK2, and

Against the Machine there

for every

Rage

a Tony Hawk’s Pro

Skater. As long as the hardcore audience exists, top

developers

will

cater to

them— producing

deep and original games. The truth is that videogames are

beautiful,

still in

their

formative stages. Nothing can replace talent, and

gaming’s future depends almost entirely upon a continual influx of

new minds and

original thinkers into

the development community. Stories need to be interactions

need

much

to in

need

your hands, fellow gamers: For

understand what readers of

told,

be streamlined and paradigms

be exploded. The future of videogames

still

needs

be done,

if it

very

anyone can is

you: the

ODCM. Make your mark.

February

2001 Official

# Dreamcast Magazine

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B (A

COVER STORY:

PHANTASY STAR ONLINE FIRST LOOK

FRANCESCA REYES

TEXT:

SEGA’S FLAGSHIP

RPG SERIES CRUISES INTO THE

NEU AGE OF GAMING: ONLINE At the

dawn

of 2001, console

takes the next step

in its

gaming

evolutionary

process, with the debut of Phantasy Star Online: the

over the Net.

RPG

US console RPG

first It

isn't

go global

the Massively Multiplayer

some DC owners were hoping

that

for,

but backed by servers that can support up to

a thousand simultaneous users,

definitely

a step

PSO

the right direction.

After a year of hoarding tiny kernels of info,

ODCM

has

finally

been

invited to partake of

the whole feast: and man,

a tasty one.

Some

might

Star and Sonic

call

up on your

you’re

the pairing of Phantasy

Team an odd

history of the series

easy to see the connection.

some

choice, but

of the various

Yuji

members

it’s

Naka and

of Sonic

Team

have been with PS since the beginning, with

Naka claiming lead programming both Phantasy Star I and

credits on

(interestingly,

hardcore gamers have always held that the the series on the

original title is the best in

basis of

its

groundbreaking

gameplay— not to mention ryline).

Precedents

initially

size,

its

scope and

ingenious sto-

set by Sonic

Team j

have been carried through the run of the series,

on both the Sega Master System and |

Genesis.

really,

the

Team was the

logical |

choice for captaining Phantasy Star’s next

big trip into innovation—online.

ODCM

early version of

offices— not yet

PSO has finally in

hit

the

reviewable shape, j

but good enough to go the distance. So

grab a bag of holding.. .we’re going

www.dreamcastmagazine.com

February

2001 Official

in.

[

Dreamcast Magazine! 37

— Has Sonic ever beat his creator at a game of

PSO? Naka's Sonic's so

smart, but

dang

fast....

When you start a new game, it’s up to you to choose which of the nine different variable characters you’ll use for the duration of your journey in PSO.

jgvjg

*2'^

•.

g \

©EnS cT + Select j

ODCM’s crack Japanese correspondent Christophe Kagotani managed to catch up with Sonic Team CEO Yuji Naka, when he could take time out from race car driving (we hear Naka recently traded

in his

li&

? » A

'S'iVVTj

MMonofluid BAntidote

'•

BAntiparalysis BMoon Atomizer BTelepipe

imwuuiiii " ** jut

BTrap

'Item Quantity

super swank Lotus

which he races

Elize,

Sega Japan cross their fingers nervously and hope he finds a safer hobby soon; maybe they should just remind him of what happened to Mark Hamill when he started racing between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back). Naka at the track while the bigwigs at

gave Christophe the scoop: check

^ jgjgr

eeMesetajCr

What would you

like to

buy?

out.

Vision

Sonic-blue Porsche for a

;

What were you trying to achieve game? Did you achieve it?

with this

should have been released

2000, but wanted I

The information hub

March

add a few features

j a

that

thought were important. As the

where

you'll

gather

the know-how you’ll need in order to move ahead on your adventure. Oh, and the guys there wear some spiffy duds. all

volume increased, the team needed more time. This

a standard RPG, where

isn't

“Once you've taken the job and

you have to avoid boring players with a

game world that’s too

PSO

large.

online communication.

wanted

the heart of the project, and think

©; PSO guage

the

RPG

first

barriers”. Will

“console barrier”

about

this to

took time.

we achieved what we set out to do.

translator can

systems.

PSO

break

whether the

be ported

in its

Building a Better Android

We are

of the most clever features in Phantasy Star Online is the option

players to create their

V Sync [chip]. ..so it may never work on PCs. And if you’re talking about the newest consoles, like Sony's [PS2], it will never run: no chance. Maybe on an Xbox or Game Cube. Maybe.

not able to build one from scratch, you

with the

Considering

how

platform could do

it:

hard

the Hunters, experts

one

may

represent a marketing advantage, but

When

you

for different platforms,

you must base your work around the

system that evolved.

game

is if

the weakest or least

make

you wanted to

run on both

result for either.The project

become

game.

Force.

the art of close

Official

“color”

and

style

this

(it’s

girlfriend).

characters have more tweak-

game makes

all in all,

uniquely possible

the Force characters, masters of spell-

journey

casting and other wispy-wafty activities.

station floating through the Algol Solar

may change

the weakest, but

all

for the

of these

we names

version).

And don’t forget that

2001

its

about coordinating,

able features than others, but

the world go round When you’re all set, you’ll begin

should note that

Dreamcast Magazine February

proportions to all

Some

Formaru, Fonyueru and Fonyume are

addition to

these three different classes, you must

From that point, you’re then able to customize all sorts of cool things about your character, from its

izing in long-range attacks. Finally,

with a variety of spells (of course,

the radar

Human, Newman and

hybrid features).

to create a totally original fighter.

they can perform long-range attacks

the

same

would then

a very cheap-looking

PSO's three different

Android (some characters incorporate

combat and swordplay. Raycast, Raymar and Raykashiru are the Rangers, using many weapons proficiently but special-

Physically, they’re

Dreamcast and the

PS2, you could never get the

and

Hymar, Hucast and Hanyueru are

Dreamcast. Break-

ing through the hardware wall

game

characters representing three distinct

has been to

barrier, only

don’t see any merit in that.

develop a

can choose between nine available categories: Hunter, Ranger

character races: for

own characters

through an Edit mode. While you're

playing constantly

break the language

also figure

One

any other

actual shape would

never run on any other hardware, even

on the PC!

a few nasty surprises

in for

“lan-

you break the

the near future?

to predict

It's difficult

(literally)

just before Pioneer

about to land. More on that

While on the station,

purchase any goods. So

need info

you’ll

member of

Pioneer 2,

team of interstellar refugees on its way to colonize a new planet. The group is traveling in the wake of an a

earlier

team, called Pioneer

had been sent years ago

first, you’ll

ask for advice and help at the to the

head of

operations at the information desk,

your

a self-contained space

System. You're a

later.

discover

desk below the main deck.

Once you've spoken

Meseta makes

you'll

merchant shops, information hubs and transporters which can take you down to the new planet's surface. And in order to beef up your character’s arsenal, you'll need the right amount of the PS-standard “meseta” (money) in order

which

to terraform

the land— but which went suddenly off

(like

receive

a field

all

the necessary goodies

map) and get access

main transporter According to the you're

one

of a

the

man

city

to the

square.

behind the desk,

few select people who

possess both the

skills

and

qualifica-

tions necessary for joining the research

team. What does the research team get to do? Well,

explores the planet's

surface far below—focusing on the environs of a gigantic explosion that

(it

www.DailyRadar.com

Everything in Phantasy Star Online is rendered in lovely, textured polygons. From the townspeople to the creatures that inhabit the various dungeons, every denizen of this world is equipped with great realtime animations and wicked special effects. No one does colors like Sonic Team: You really feel like you’re in another world.

online RPG, there

PSO — lots

structure to

an odd

Why?

the story

expansive.

of levels rather

than a coherent world.

not that

one dungeon [split and you’re

into various subsections],

able to explore and enjoy

with other

players. There’s a central plot, but this

Booma *® °8fetive

RPG and

a standard

isn’t

compared

shouldn’t be

a standard way.

Did you consider other methods for

communication and

translation,

besides the branch translation system that

HP 36/36

Why

used?

currently

finally

did you

opt for this system?

been thinking

I’ve

of creating this

type of communication system for

more than wanted

years now;

five

to design a

people from

all

really

system allowing

over the world to com-

municate together. But there were

many elements

did not

know how

handle— spent much time on paper I

trying to find a way.

started with words.

are

still

working on the word select system: Japanese and English are quite easy, since there is only a problem of word location in the sentence, but in Spanish or French, there are male or female words with so many rules that it’s been a nightmare. Last month, we had to

redesign the entire system!

Welcome to the ‘new’ era of gaming, in which you get to blow stuff up— mainly large crates.

This “universal” translator

the entire

been a

game

industry,

real challenge.

first for

which has

The world

select

system has 2000 words so far, but realize that players would like to use more I

landed on the planet, you're and waves of freaky monsters."

words than

and

it’s

this to express their feelings,

been

incredibly difficult to satisfy

everyone. I’m picturing that

people

will

Other companies

was what wiped out

munications with Pioneer

all

com-

Lucky you.

Once you've taken the job and landed on the planet, you’re in for a few nasty surprises—and waves of freaky monsters. Your task is to defeat them, while collecting as much meseta

as your handbag can

Field Three right

carry.

Work

distinct

now, each containing different

utes.

The Lava Zone

inhabitants are

attrib-

effects

Zone

dangerous creatures, maze-like

pathways, puzzles and traps. And the River

Mouth Zone

commonplace, and generated randomly by the game. This means that monsters, items, doors and the path

a huge open area

riddled with poisonous plants

will differ

and

of action fact, it’s

RPGs

and online teamwork. In more like the early computer

of Wizardry's

ilk

than

play.

world a constantly evolving

likely

improve upon

cannot

will

soon begin

As the title suggests, PSO is meant be played over the Net. When you

begin a game, you can choose to play either offline or online.

you choose

and Korean— in Korea, the interest is

offering a

the

way

latter, you’ll

you’ll

be automatically trans-

enter one of ten different

into yet

the mystery behind Pioneer l’s disap-

each of these

pearance. Randomly placed ground

with other players

pods, called “cels,” contain bits of

other's wonderfully customized

its

long-gone team

members, and events

stay at five.

will

another ten lobbies, and

meet up and marvel at each

lobbies, you’ll

avatars. Think of

as a

glorified

chat

would be able of characters.

finding magical items or using team-

length of

www.dreamcastmagazine.com

is,

ultimately,

game

for the first time

son. Imagine communicating with

per-

the identity of your

How would

room with a purpose (usually). This might not sound so exciting, it’s a whole different experience

PSO.Jt

players go about

simple.

but

help to

But don’t depend on the storyline keep you enthralled throughout the

this

believe that

more than one character? One VMU, one character. you put two VMUs in the controller, is

when you do

will

guide you through the game’s loose

be a company

creating

plot.

hidden areas.

will

system with ten languages!

into

There are 50 or so different quests,

into

sections. Each section branches off

through monsters while deciphering

story as told by

time,

ranging from battling huge bosses to

hatches that open

booming! But at

where

PSO

the Internet

the future, there

for translating

no. For example, would be great, but it would take too much time to reimplement it. would also like to include Portuguese

ported to the massive mothership is still

you

Italian

new

we’re quite content to hack our

most

first,

perfect.

than the current five?

New Word

the

air,

will

you’re

For the

Brave

place where there’s always something to do.

it. If

make something

is like

Final Fantasy, but the core role-playing

elements remain strong.

every time

And Sonic Team CEO Yuji Naka has stated that once the initial quests have been completed, the team may be adding even more, in order to

you

While this option

whose

immune to the

of heat. The Deepest Cavern full

move obstacles that block new areas. Dungeons are

you need to follow

a fiery cave

buried deep within the planet,

entrances to

make this

areas are accessible

types of creatures with unique

work

laugh

were that few words back then?!”. consider the possiblities, and

turns out)

ten years,

PSO and

look back at

while saying something like “Wow. There

you If

will

have access to two characters.

you have ten or 20 VMUs, you to create that

number

» February

2001 Official

Dreamcast Magazine

Will

playing

Yes!

ever catch you online,

PSO? I

still

know

don’t

a special character to play

design

will

so, but

STOP MAKING SENSE

is back—and joined by a host of android warriors packed in for good measure. You’ll have to choose your character wisely at the outset, though, to avoid being stuck with a close-range fighter rather than a spell-slinging mage. It’s entirely up to you, and it all depends on your preference and the enemies you’ll be fighting.

Ah, pixie goodness

I’ll

just after the launch in a stan-

dard way.

I've

played Chu Chu Rocket

plenty of times online, as well— it’s a

huge pleasure playing Sonic Team

games

online with other gamers. This

time, with the word select system,

really want to chat with international gamers. would love to ask them very precise questions, but it will be diffiI

cult with

the vocabulary of the actual

word select system.

Would you have preferred sively multiplayer

game

mas-

rather than

the four-player option you have here? Or does the

smaller

game

number

benefit from a

of players?

put up servers able to support so users from all around the world, would probably take two years for

many it

the technical programming alone! So

had to stay on a lower scale.

All in

really would have liked to have had six additional months to finish PSO; when you are close to the end of a development you want to add more and more features. would have to push the game off into the 21st century, though, and my goal was to release the game in Japan in the 20th century. Also, you cannot write to the GDROM. There is no hard disk inside Dreamcast, so it’s very difficult to all,

store data

order to properly enjoy

“massively multiplayer” gaming.

guess PS2 or Xbox

will

have these

types of games, using their hard drives. [But with

be incredibly if

they start

PSO]

think

difficult for

now on

will

them. Even

that type of project

would be impossible for them to it in under two years. We still don’t know if PS2 will be around in

Chat rooms. Love 'em or hate ’em, they bring together the best and the worst of us gamers, relying on a common culture and language to bridge all of the gaps in

between. And this

FOREST

CAVE CAVE CAVE

means— you

guessed it—that there are limits to what Sega will allow gamers to say.

We weren't surprised to

2 1

2 3

discover that

there's an automatic censoring program included here, which keeps those with sensitive eyes and ears buffered away

RUINS RUINS RUINS

from the salty, sailor-tongued set. Type an expletive in, and you can expect it to be represented by all manner of innocuous asterisks and symbols. It's an interesting feature that's sure to enrage and stymie thousands of players. Our advice? Don’t even bother trying.

2 3

message in your own translates it into your fellow Select a

release

two years’ time. [Meow— Ed.] think it would be great to have a hard disk, but given what’s happening on games like Ultima Online or Ever Quest ... both games are continuously updated through internet-distributed patches. The companies that make I

friends to

bash

and strangers, in

all

some dragon

equally eager

skulls,

and

then forming a complete party to do exactly that.

It’s

thrill like

no other.

And the options are nearly endless. You can talk to any of the lobby officers in order to find out

what your

choices are or to register your party for

It’s it’s

a freedom unlike any other—and

people around the globe

even international!

at various times of day.

come up with a overcome international communication problems. The game includes what is referred to as a ‘Word Sonic Team has

neat

trick to

Selection System’:

i.e.,

a lexicon of

2,000 commonly used words and

that the network well with the

will

will be playing Sega reckons

therefore cope

demands

placed upon

And of course, if the game is hugely popular, Sega can always expand the network. We wouldn’t be at launch.

surprised

there’s a

lot of activity

“Um,

hello there...

you move ever so

Do you think you could

slightly to

the right for a

second Mr. Monster? I’m having trouble seeing your pretty

eyes...”

BLAM!

what about

that note,

sequels?

PSO

a possibility that

will

evolve into a series, but developing

alone has consumed pretty

this title

much

of our

all

However, as

time and energy!

get closer to releas-

ing the game, think many of the team members have begun to come I

up with

kinds of different features

all

that they would have loved to include.

So the appeal

getting stronger.

make

decide to

instead of an

making a sequel Maybe we will

a second episode

Append

disc [add-on or

enhanced version discs are called append discs in Japan]. But it will still depend on how much new stuff we would be able to put inside of a PSO II. If the changes we’d like to implement or the features we’d like to add after the release of the first episode

are not significant enough for a second

language, and

PSO instantly

adventurers' native tongues."

How

PSO and

is is it

of being able to

game

KNOCKIN' ON HEAVEN'S FOUR

work through mode, which

singleplayer

Phantasy Star

enables you to buff up your character so you can avoid being shamed or

Where

it all begins. Back in 1987, this chapter follows heroine Alis and her three companions across the Algol Solar System, as they avenge the death of Alis’ brother. Death, glory and a very ugly end boss await them.

first

taunted by other avatars online.

But don’t count on finishing the

game on

your own. The monsters are

tough and the bosses even more so: so you’ll need all the help you can get \

from your fellow humans call

a successful day

order to

PSO.

With the game’s impending release

set for January, you won’t have to wait |

long to test

waters for yourself.

its

Will [

be worth the

without a

six years

new chapter

series? We’d

we’ve spent

the

to play through the

final version before

we make that

Phantasy Star II Two years later, the sequel arrives. Government operative Rolf is sent to find out why the Mother Brain that rules a world called Mota has been corrupted, aided by Nei, a constructed being (i.e,, hot android-type chick), and a soldier named Rudo. While battling, Rolf learns important things like why android chicks are so darn hot.

Phantasy Star

Phantasy Star IV of the mega-epic finale. Chaz Ashley embarks on a quest to decide the fate of the cosmos. A Newman, an Esper and an android chip in to help Chaz vanquish his foes and his fear in order to save the universe and pad his wallet with big earnings from the Hunter's Guild. The largest, longest and (some say) the best title in the 1994: year

entire series. call,

but what we’ve seen so far hints strongly at

PSO

about to become one of

the biggest precedent-setting events

gaming

an industry-changing title.

loved

level.

oper This

sooooooo hard

to get to this

working just as hard. is in

guess

design sense.

one strong point

our

think.

What are your expectations PSO? One million. would like PSO to be a million-selling title. But who knows? know that the US will be

for

our main market, and for the

moment, feedback has been great about the project.

amount

infinite

deep

really

spent

time plunging

the machine of Dreamcast

into

see how

was meant to perform. ..what it was meant to be both ideally and realistically. And PSO was to

it.

the clear answer. killer

app

for

a way,

Dreamcast:

it’s

the

uses

every aspect of the system, including

the most important feature, the

modem. hope that

console

understand and

people

truly

really

enjoy this

game, as they should.

it.

www.dreamcastmagazine.com

really believe that every devel-

[team’s entire body of work],

history.

Don’t miss

one

performance on Dreamcast?

visual

III

1991's installment included three heroes from three different time periods in a civil war setting. Returning to the Algol Star System, the game follows Rhys, Maia and Mieu (hot android chick #3) as they draw ever-closer to...(drumroll) yet another shocking conclusion!

Team

that Sonic

the big difference I

disc.

Sonic look amazing.

the only developers to get this sort of

bonus

making an Append

look into

Both

the

we may

episode to be developed,

,ry

2001

Official

Dreamcast Magazine

INCLUDES Exclusive

ff New

weapons, characters and

effects designed to take advantage of

Dreamcastâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s power.

Intelligent characters

and an intense

story create a unique action

game

experience.

mature Animated Violence

ÂŠ2000

Sierra On-Line, Inc. Sierra, Sierra Studios,

and Half-Life are trademarks and/or registered trademarks

of Sierra On-Line, Inc. Valve is a trademark of Valve, L.L.C.

Gearbox and the Gearbox logo are trademarks of Gearbox Software. Captivation and the Captivation Digital Laboratories logo are trademarks of Captivation Digital Laboratories, Inc. Sega,

Dreamcast and the Dreamcast logo are either registered trademarks or tra#Bfnarks of Sega Enterprises, LTD. PC screen shots.

Animated Blood

â&#x20AC;&#x153;THE BEST

FIRST-PERSON

SHOOTER OF Ml

- Official

TIME.

Sega Dreamcast Magazine

Just another day at the office. Or so you thought. ..until your experiment blew up in

your face. Now, with aliens coming through the walls and a military death squad scrambling to stay alive. Half-Life combines great advanced technology to create what many consider to be the greatest action game experience of all time.

killing everything in site, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re

storytelling with intense action and

Plus, here for the first time

an entirely new Half-Life mission created exclusively

for the Dreamcast - Blue Shift! In this huge new campaign, you take command of a security guard at the Black Mesa research facility and battle your way through the chaos of an alien invasion.

r* Huge new Blue Shift

mission, Half-Life: -

designed just

Play the than 50

for

the Dreamcast!

game Game

that has of the

won more

Year awards

from publications around the world.

VALVE

>d>l[RRf

Sega

Dreamcast

Fkrigan

Brothers Brothers gonna work fter

more than

a year

of NSA-like secrecy,

Sega

has finally allowed us peek under the blouse of its

highly-anticipated adventure title,

Floigan Brothers.

And

we’re happy to give you the full

what may be the kookiest and down-

report on

zaniest, right

wackiest

game

oil

said roof.

the junkyard inhabited by the

badger Moigle

whose mismatched

size

and

he gets

plot focuses

baron,

Floigans

who

on an

evil

discovers that

actually the precise

Oh, Brother...

location of a lucrative

see

so he attempts to put the

communicate with and take care of big, bad Moigle as well

Michael v

more competent

shorter and

Franz in

the shed,

his own). You’ll

to get Moigle and Hoigle work together-through both

have to

direct action

and

manipulation.

indirect

Hoigle

you can match ’em

oil field:

brothers out of business.

(although Moigle isn't exactly

the sharpest tool

he has a mind—or at least an

two brothers, Moigle and Hoigle,

until

the two), but must learn to

agenda —of in a crazy 3D game concerns

The

angry and throws Hoigle onto

Master/Blaster. Players have direct control over Hoigle (the

Joel

you’ll

play this year.

Taking place junkyard, the

out

and George, Ren and Stimpy and Beyond Thunderdome's

Donny Sean Cheech Philip

David

Chong N.

Terence

Emelio

Liam

Simon

competent

It’s

and ample incentive to

anti-big business parable, it

gives you

get your lug of a brother to pull his

own

weight.

'Tito

What makes the game so

Charlie

Ethan

Noel

Marie

distinctive— aside from

Hans

Avery-inspired brand of slap-

Simon

retelling of a classic

intelligence quotients usher to

unable to reach something on

stick

mind fond memories of Lenny

a roof, for example, you can

evident

humor-is the in

Tex

its

detail

every part of

its

-awMt.DailyRadar.cQm

Welcome to COMING

•:rv

Previewed This Month Anticipation

Read

sweet, and these

and

on,

find out

DC games could

what you’ll be playing

be even sweeter.

months to come!

WHEELER: PAT/46 Breaker 1-9, you got your ears on? SONIC ADVENTURE 2/48 What's blue and has 'tude? PROJECT JUSTICE/50 Watch these rival^schools dukejt out! 18

FIGHTING VIPERS 2/52 The return of a legendary 3D brawler.;' HEAD HUNTER/54 E3's mysterious game reveals its secrets... ALIEN FRONT ONLINE/56 On ne, alien -smiting goodness! TYPING OF THE DEAD/58 Weirdest. Game. Ever. I i

m Is

the keyboard mightier than the zombie? Fran Reyes thinks so. She’s so it that she made a harness for her keyboard just like the one in the 58). 18 Wheeler lets you take to the open roads of America, crazy Crazy Taxi style, (page 46)

into

game (page in

INCOMING! All

Dreamcast,

all

the time: planned releases for

Bangai-0 Shooter

BANG!: Gunship

Elite

Shooter

Alone

Ducati World Racing

Dec

Matt Hoffman’s ProBMX Sports

Feb

Commandos 2

Mar

Iron

the

game will be voice-acted,

Dead:

Hail to

the King Action

RPG

Aces

Dec

Dec Dec

FPS

Flight

Dec Dec

Sim

K0F: Evolution Fighting

Dec

Max Steel

Dec

Action

which makes the kids (read: us) happy. Which way did he go, George?

3D Action

3D movement, who

well able to

access and

while others

will

The

sleeper

Stunt

Dec

System Shock 2 Shooter/RPG

Dec

Sno Cross

Dec

merely pro-

upcoming Black and White and, depending on the depth provides, it might just be the sort of interesting twist that’ll

take Floigan’s gameplay over the top into excellence.

and and the man-machine

well,

important as

since his evolution

throughtout the

game

will

hinge greatly upon the way www.dreamcastmagazine.cQm

Dreamcast PUBLISHER SEGA DEVELOPER VISUAL CONCEPTS GENRE ADVENTURE ORIGIN US PLAYERS RELEASE DATE Q1 2001 1

Pluses

some entirely Sega may well have

interaction to

new

plane,

built itself

most

one

inspired

GP Racing

of the year’s

and enjoyable

Mar

Ooga Booga

Online/ Action

Bomberman

Online Action

Driving

Q2 Q2

Bleed Action

Spring

Crazy Taxi 2 Action

Summer

Samba 2001 Music

Summer

Bass Fishing 2 Sports

Summer

RPG

Summer

Dec

Champ. Racing

'01 '01

[-]

puzzles

Bottom Line Time

will tell

manages

Chronicles Action/Adv,

Xtreme Sports Sports World's Deadl. Pol. Chases

Dec Dec

Driving

Wars Super Bombad Racing

Urban Chaos Action

Armada

Shooter/RPG

this

game

'01

Legend

of the

Blademasters RPG

'01

Shrapnel Urban Warfare

NBA Hoopz Sports

'01

2025

Action Feb

Jan

Planet of the Apes Action

'01

Jan

Peacemakers Strategy

'01

Jan

Roswell Conspiracy Action

'01

Dragon Riders Adventure

Jan

Soldier of Fortune Action/Shooter

Phantasy Star Online Online RPG

Jan

Sonic Adv. 2 Platformer

Typing of the Dead Edu-horror

Jan

Galleon Adventure

TBA

Unreal Tournament FPS

Jan

Picassio Action

TBA

Quark RPG

TBA

Vamp Apocalypse Action

[_]

whether or not

'01

Heavy Metal FAKK Shooter

Daytona: Network Racing Racing

Dark Angel: a bit too obvious, too obscure

Head Hunter Adventure

seemed

some seemed

'01

Buffy the Vamp. Slayer Action

Star

Minuses Some while

Dec

The Grinch Action

Tomb Raider

Mar April

WSB2K2 Sports

FarNation Online

Int.

[+]

Graphics are cartoony as hell, and the interaction with Moigle was cool

graphics, interesting

potential to take

Mar

18 Wheeler Ampro Trucker

Black And White Strategy

With wonderfully cartoonish

Mar

Mummy Action

Agartha Adventure

>^Offidal#Magazine

varied mini-games

The player’s relationship

EVAN SHAMOON

a curiously

converse nod to Lionhead's

you’ll

shoot out of the drainpipe.

right.

will

Action

Floigan Brothers Action

The

Dec

Surf Rocket Racer Racing

It’s

accidentally stumble into the

2 Action/Adv.

loads of talent: Here’s hoping

and responsive he

be towards you.

and/or emotional response:

with Moigle

Evil

they get

Some

and

Resident

more frustrated you become

the game,

for example,

This oddball’s got

friendly

voke some sort of sight-gag

river,

hits.

with the goofy doofus, the less

these actions are necessary to

move ahead

treated.

inter-

act with nearly everything their surroundings.

Dec

are

created lovely characters with full

which he

Feb

the Dark IV Adventure

Dec

Record of Lodoss War RPG in

Soul Reaver 2 Adventure

III

Prince of Persia

design. Visual Concepts has

Feb

Project Justice Fighting

Dec

Heroes of Might & Magic 3 RPG

Floigan Bros. Every line

Feb

Dec

Half-Life

Feb

Out Trigger Shooter/Action

Coaster Works Sim

Grandia

the characters

Gorka Morka Racing

Dec

Charge’N Blast Action

Evil

Visual Concepts has promised top-natch (er— notch) voice-acting talent for

2000 and beyond

Dec

’01 '01

to capture that old LucasArts

magic. We're crossing our toes

Alien Front OnlineShooter/Action

COMINGSOG

—

The game uses a modified version of the Crazy Taxi engine, but we’d almost go out on a limb and say that it looks better than it plays. It’s especially pretty when you see it in person, even in its unfinished

We were very impressed how sharp and clean the lines were (these shots don’t quite convey that, of course, but then, the camera always adds ten pounds).

state.

with

18 Wheeler: ProTtucker Sega haul ass or drop a load? Well so

Will f

Crazy Taxi

crazy,

difficult

first for

everything.

Sega has anything it,

the handling—and, of

course, the larger the bounty you’ll receive at

say

line,

the end of the

you get there

intact.

far,

Once you’ve taken care these particulars, stretch your legs,

looks truckin’

your tricked-out big

rig

awesome.

the baddest trucker we’ve seen

time to climb up into

since Large

it’s

Marge— your

remarkably diabolical

and

arch-rival,

seen Steven Spielberg’s 1971 movie Duel? The one where this guy gets Lizard Tail. Ever

head out to the open road, where you’ll face off against

OKAY, WE’RE scared. In

You begin by choosing a and a big rig (you’ll have

The

first

time

trucker-of-all-

of that great

r f fw

driver

four to choose from), and the type/size/flavor of the cargo

New

York to San Francisco (and no, full

downtrodden New Yorkers migrating Westward to find ‘a of

Official^ Preamrast Maga7ine February

it:

Marge went

memory

Six Degrees of Kevin

to being real-life truck-drivers.

you can’t choose a flatbed

MAN (AND WOMAN) ENOUGH to admit

truckers Large

about as close as many of us will get is

you’re going to haul from

sinister, like,

Madonna

(Who's That

20Q1

Geena Davis

Girl?)

Harvey Keitel

(League of their Own) (Thelma

Lousie)

faceless

unto death

part, for

the length

of a feature film? Well, Lizard Tail is

on a par with that Face-

less Scary Truck

Dude on any He’s a slimy

evil.

thing he can to

all crazy-like in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, we were very moment, we’re going to play a little bit of the old Bacon with Ms. Alice Nunn, who so gracefully played the role of Large Marge. Here goes: Alice Nunn plays the woman parole member in Who’s that Girl? with Madonna. Madonna joins Geena Davis in A League of Their Own, who joins Harvey Keitel in Thelma and Louise. Keitel acted alongside DeNiro in Mean Streets (among others), and then DeNiro teamed up with Kevin Bacon in Sleepers. And there’s your six degrees.

radios and ‘resting’ at private rest-stops, this

does him

bastard who’s willing to do any-

Scary as Hell

country trucking sims. With the exception of cat-calls,

chased by a truck driver

scale of pure

‘everything’ includes

a whole new genre of cross-

The

American Pro Trucker there’s a

about

City’).

heavier your payload, the more

downright ludicrous. But hey,

And

mellower, gentler

then this 18 Wheeler:

Robert De Niro

Kevin Bacon

(Sleepers)

(Bacon)

make

his

way

west before you do, from cutting you off to dumping his cargo out on the road to hurling gasp! — undeniably harsh insults in

your general direction.

Now, throw

some truly

overzealous law enforcement officers,

some

fast-forwarded,

amazingly hyperactive weather patterns pile of

the

and— ’nother gasp!—

debris even higher than

mound on

Chris’s desk,

and

you’ve got something that’s a little

better

and badder than vmwJiailyBadaLfiflm

Sega has modeled the game’s level system to mimic the American highway system. And let’s face it, the game itself mimics real life: when’s the last time you saw a truck that wasn’t

driving like a directionally dyslexic bat out of hell?

Alii

J|i

7§\j

rpf

As you approach an SUV on

this

freeway, think about all of the times you’ve had to crawl

through supermarket parking lots behind some 4-wheel-drive vehicle that slowed to a near halt every time it hit one of those pissant little suburban

speed bumps. Yep,

bugs

the hell out of us, too. Butch, kill!

your average cross-country drive.

an orangutan

(or other

primate of equal or lesser

value) rode shotgun

these

trucks as your wacky and whimsical sidekick, this

game

could

pass for a fantastically successful

feature film.

These

rigs

imagine unless you’d played

And with four

it.

and 20

better be sure to pack a lot

handle

levels

stages along the way, you'd

NoDoz

whole

for the trip.

multi-ton beasts that they

are-

Much

like its

yellow-checkered

and precision steering are nowhere to be

colleague, the Dreamcast ver-

tight turns

sion of

18 Wheeler takes the

mode which

Attack

allows players

to post their single-player scores for

the

racing mania, adding a few online-only options-like a Score

worldwide ranking—just to

round out the

And as

this

all

of fun.

wasn’t

save up cash to buy fuzzy

Truckin' Slang

found, so you'll be learning a

standard arcade single-player

dice and roach-clip feather-type

whole new

mode and

thingies with which to decorate

Destroying the relatively puny

ravenous pack of wild hyenas.

your massive vehicle. Save up

having shutter trouble v. Falling asleep, as in, "He was having shutter trouble when he hit that tree."

cars and SUVs

Not only does the game provide an assortment of mini-games-

enough

motion lotion

Unmarked

car.

reefer

Refrigerated cargo

trailer,

haulin' dispatcher brains v. Pulling an empty trailer; 'deadheading',

greasy side up adj. Flipped

over.

For more trucker-speak on the web, visit http://www.vis.lbl.gov/~slau/

trucks/slang, html

www.dreamcastmagazine.com

your path

quite cathartic-and especially

cool

n. Fuel,

plain white wrapper n.

cop

the game’s slipstream

an added burst of speed whenever

feature, which gives you

you place yourself in the wake of another truck. Much like Crazy Taxi, the

game manages

to thrive

tears into

the ‘Parking Challenge',

you’ll

of these things

and

enough

that's strong

taps into the glory that

The game still has a fair amount of development to go

multi-

playergaming. 18 Wheeler jacks into SegaNet for

real,

some

honest head-to-head

track would

make

difference (hint, Try the in

all

hint).

game on

this issue

our

the Doubtful?

demo

disc

you don’t believe

our hype, evan shamoon

*—•^Official^Magazine

Dreamcast PUBLISHER SEGA DEVELOPER AM2 GENRE TRUCKIN SIM ORIGIN US PLAYERS ONLINE YES RELEASE DATE FEBRUARY

-2

obtain the ultimate prize:

a crazy super-powered horn

where players must race against the clock as they burn rubber through a cramped trucking depot— but it also

quirky and addictive

gameplay ways that you could never

time constructively. Muchos minigames and a good sound-

enough, you're even able to

back row n. The area at some truck stops where hookers hang out.

style of driving.

Kill,

to blast

Pluses [+] Absurdly great concept, excellent design. And the graphics are hella pretty.

objects out of the way with the

sheer density of waves. (How cool

before

its

sound

that?)

January release;

hopefully the

team

will

Minuses Much this

[-]

we suppose, growing old

like real trucking,

runs the risk

Bottom Line

[_] making stupid

can't wait to stop

truck references and just play the

game

use this

February 2001 Offirial (S~ Dreamcast Magazine

Previews

Sega has stated that this city, which looks exactly like San Francisco, is not— repeat, not— San Francisco. Sure. Whatever. Anyway, watching Sonic board down these hills is an amazing experience— it really exceeds the punch of anything in Sonic Adventure 1

Some Adventure 2 Like our t’s

mamas

true. According to

Sega, Sonic characters

have been

86 games

(and other programs) since

told us, the 87th last E3,

come

Sonic Adventure 2 has in six months.

a long way

Originally

scheduled

for release

has been pushed

this Spring,

Sonic

back to

2001

tentative

outings so far on Dreamcast,

anyway) to ensure that the team has enough time to make

first burst onto the scene 1991, Damn. Of course, the hedgehog has only had two

and one of those was a party game. With Sonic Adventure 2, Yuji Naka and Sonic Team are

the it

Fall

game

to be.

everything they want

And

seeking to redefine the characthe gameplay, and even

redefined Genesis and gaming

always the charm will totally

change

your perception of just what a

Dreamcast game can be. How? The graphics, for one. The textures are far beyond anything seen in any realtime

game

to date,

and the

on any system,

show clear proof Team has been getting

levels

that Sonic

been carefully constructed maximize the total current potential of Dreamcast.

Draw

Robotnik), sources

huge vertical drops are common. Clipping has been all but eliminated, and several new libraries of lighting and

five

special effects are

the party-introducing

the

intimate with the bare metal of

works. The result should be

the system. Each

an absolute visual dream.

level

has

Although only a few characters have been revealed so far (Sonic, Knuckles, and Dr.

distances are massive, and

new

Genesis,

Game Gear and

arcade platforms, styles of

game

will

play

also join

new the

process. As usual, of course, will

involve

Sonic facing off against Robotnik’s devious machines and

weapons, but in this game, you can expect to see something a little more sinister than good old Dr. Robotnik as well. That’s right: Dark Sonic will indeed make a reappearance in the series. There’s no

—

2001

The Sonic Hedgehog Gene it or its spiky appearance) apparently helps regulate anterior-posterior limb patterning in animals and oddly enough, it's also about to become part of a pharmaceutical cocktail served to balding men in order to stimulate hair growth. It's a pretty popular gene, too, featured in several dozen articles accross the Net.

February

us that

tell

characters, pulled

from former Sonic games on

DID YOU KNOW THAT THERE'S A GENE named after Sega's mascot? The 'sonic hedgehog' gene (named, depending on who you ask, after the blue dye used to identify

decade ago. And from early reports, it like the company is well on its way to succeeding. First shown in very early form at the itself a

looks

# Dreamcast Magazine

the development

Adventure 2

the bulk of the play

the Dreamcast as dramatically as the first Sonic the Hedgehog

Official

the

date,

process succeeds, Sonic

ter,

(that’s

US release

time

“Sonic

2 seeks

to redefine the character, the

Most

Oh. that Knuckles!

gameplay and even the Dreamcast.”

christophe kagotani

of your

back Knuckles and, (wh

favorite Sonic characters are this time, including

of course, the evil Dr. Robotnik

we hear, got his doctorate in Slavic Linguistics and did his dissertation translating an old Russian text).

It's Chao chaos! Just as in the last game, collecting, raising, and keeping Chaos healthy and happy plays a major role In the game. It's a departure from the typical action found in Sonic games, but it's a welcome addition that keeps things interesting. According to a Sonic Team spokesman, there will be VMU games included with Sonic Adventure 2. Hopefully, some kind of Chao wrangling will be part of the VMU lineup.

new

official

probably being a

blue mascot.

shoes that enable him to grind on various surfaces. These shoes and other items permit the hog to have tons more

word on just what he'll do or how he’ll do it, but we're led to expect to see some serious challenges to our favorite

And as

Chaos

will

play a major role; you’ll have to collect

from

all

interaction with the

the last game, the

management

and regroup them

over the world.

It's

possible to have limited com-

munication with the Chaos, but

more importance is placed on how you manage them. You’ve got to bring them up, take care of them, heal them when

Sole Reaver GROSS TRAINERS made to

grind?

Formerly available only as powerups, grind- able sneaks can now be

found online. Soaps (www.soap shoes.com) feature hard plastic tracks set into rubber soles, which can grind rails and curbs with ease (after you've peeled off the "By peeling off this sticker you waive your rights to sue" sticker). -

they’re sick, etc. Just like in

Sonic Adventure 1, there will be mini-games aplenty for your

VMU— and

a few hidden inside

the main game, as well. www.dreamcastmagazine.com

pair of

weak point in Sonic Adventure its sometimes out-of-control

bubble to show up in a classic Sonic game, as Sonic slowly runs out of air while music

control.

for a

swells

backgrounds of levels than he ever had before—one amazing sequence in the demo, for instance,

does anything ever get your heart pumping like waiting

shows Sonic drop-

Although there’s no word yet on online play, smart money

ping from a helicopter with a

says that

some

way

the

the street below.. .where

there'll

be at least

kind of Internet compo-

how unknown at

would work

exactly

sequences are also planned, and we assume that the task

At any rate, it’s clear that Sonic Team plans to take its mascot to the next level, with

of keeping Sonic from drown-

factor heavily

new accessories, the coolest

(While we’re on the subject,

ing by locating air bubles in

will

gameplay.

^Official®'Magazine

•

PUBLISHER SEGA DEVELOPER SONIC TEAM GENRE SONIC! ORIGIN JAPAN PLAYERS 1 ONLINE TBA RELEASE DATE FALL 2001

Pluses

[+]

A new Sonic game, with more

than ever before!

to love

can’t wait to

grind the world

nent to the game-although

he proceeds to surf the notSan Francisco hills. Underwater

To keep Sonic fresh in his 87th outing, Sonic Team has equipped him with several

—

Dreamcast

the background?

Us, neither.)

surfboard on his feet,

all

CHRISTOPHE KAGATONE

Let’s

this time.

[-]

hope the team tweaked the

controls from the

hundreds of new additions to the game. Hopefully, the team also plans to shore up the one

Ffihruary

Minuses

first

Bottom Line Sonic

game

[_]

approaching his tenth birthday,

and while there have been some highs and lows in the past decade, no one can

make you

realize just

how

cool

games

can be as well as Sonic can

2001 Official# Dreamcast Maga zine 49

IS COMINGSO0P

Previews

186050 HI NAT

Many

fan favorites from the Rival Schools series return for Project Justice. Schoolgirl Hinata is back for more of her high-kickin’ antics, as is juvenile slugger Shoma,

who

displays some rather nasty bat ’n' ball specials that send opponents flying. Along with these returning characters come a ton of new playable fighters. To know ’em is to love ’em. But will these crazy kids ever

Team

special attacks can be performed any time during a fight,

but you'll have to power up your special attack bar to unleash the

most devastating team attacks.

4 Schools

Rival

graduate?

Project Justi 3D

fighting: three

r I

any Capcom fans may have been turned

off

by previous Rival Schools

games, with

their precious,

cuter-than-Olsen-twins look

humor.

and

you were one of those

people, you missed out on

experiencing

some

times the fun?

Combos

are carried out exactly

as they are

loved these

team combos to satisfy any combo nut. These Tag combos are even simple to

attacks with special and super

moves,

in crazy,

how much

games. Somehow,

moves of the Versus games seemed to blend perfectly with the unique look of the Rival

Schools series. And fortunately, at least as

seems

good as

its truly

excellent predecessors.

the previous games,

moves are executed

the

typical Street Fighter fashion.

Official S'

high flying air

combos. Matches are between

Capcom’s

the extremely exaggerated

Project Justice

two teams of three characters, and although there’s no Tag feature available, there are

together a series of regular

best—yes, we said ‘best— 3D Japanese fighting games. We’re not afraid to admit

the Versus

games; players can chain

Dreamrast Magazine February 2001

plenty of tag

pull

off— usually,

to activate

all

them

you have to is

to tap

two

buttons simultaneously. Of course, getting

work

them

takes practice and

skill;

hardly a button-masher.

combo PJ

changing

in all

its

fighting

games— is the control configuraNow there are only four

tion.

attack buttons:

weak and

fierce

punches, and weak and fierce kicks. After

to actually

a truly effective

One aspect of this setup that Capcom has drastically changed—and seems to be

seeing how well this

setup works

Capcom

Vs.

Marvel 2 and

SNK, we are honestly

happy that Capcom favors two

this

middle buttons now

And

to be

keep players coming

Capcom (as usual) has included a number of modes like Training, Story, back

for

more,

and

..Versus,

Survival

modes.

order to unlock and obtain

all

the secret characters and good stuff, you'll in

have to earn points

a purchasing system, as

Marvel Vs Capcom 2.

control system; those

And those

Rival Schoolers Unite With its anime-esque premise and quirky characters, it’s no wonder that the Rival Schools series has garnered so much attention from Capcom fighting enthusiasts. Capcom Japan even went so far as to sponsor a fanart contest on its website for Burning Justice Academy otaku, who itched to do their own renditions of Batsu, Shoma and the rest of the gang. For US fans, the site to keep an eye on is definitely the Rival Schools Network, which lists pretty much everything you’d ever want to know about the various students, teachers and miscellaneous bizarre characters that populate the series. Go to http://rsnet.telefragged.com/index.shtml to get properly schooled.

seem

completely superfluous.

you

who

disliked

the unique look of the other

games

be delighted to know

will

that although the goofy character

designs are

fighting

set

still

the same,

a darker, more

serious atmosphere. Hopefully, this, in addition to

graphics,

will

very decent

attract a larger

audience (although

really,

the

www.DailyRadar.CQm

The

Momo Factor

ALL FANS WOULD

agree that Capcom has a singular knack for throwing in an offbeat, whacked out character just to add some 'charm' in each of their games. This is a phenomenon we've conveniently labeled

"The

Momo

Factor."

Resident Evil has

Hunk and Tofu, while

Street Fighter

gameplay itself ought to be enough to capture the hearts true it’s

gamers—come

not

two-in-ones from the air way of

on, people,

we’re asking you to

too

i.e.,

chain combos combos are sluggish—

difficult. Also,

and

air

the lag time between

eat, like, a truckload of yams, or something! This really is an

tapping the buttons and seeing

awesome

too long.

series).

the action appear onscreen

has Dhalsim and Blanka, and the

Megaman

series has... well, all the characters are a little strange. Project Justice has Momo the racquet-swinging minor with a penchant for busting out with dastardly combos and a name that ought to belong to either a mobster or a gorilla.

—

Capcom remembered all

of the extra stuff

add

and tweak

the control interface, but there are

some

still

pretty significant

problems that have yet to be addressed.

First, it’s

quite

clear that the company’s

games tend feeling of

speed and precision

that you’ll see in any of fighters.

to lack the tight

And thus

far,

its

Project

no exception. For example, whenever characters jump, they seem to float— which makes landing Justice

www.dreamcastmagazine.com

problems inherent in Capcom’s 3D games seem to be caused by Ironically, the

the fact that they’re

precedents.

all

based

Capcom

has simply taken the formulas in 2D and thrown

established

them

into the

ring,

without

allowing for the difference

mediums. And besides proving method of 2D-to-3D work

that this

transition just doesn’t

2Dbased mentality has caused

correctly, this narrow,

games to Capcom trully

realm of fighting stagnate.

wants to revolutionize this genre again, it’ll have to start with the question, “What does 3D mean to me?” and not treat that third dimension like an afterthought, chet barber

—

^OffidalCiMagazine

Dreamcast PUBLISHER CAPCOM DEVELOPER CAPCOM GENRE FIGHTING ORIGIN JAPAN PLAYERS ONLINE NO RELEASE DATE FEBRUARY

-2

Pluses [+] Unique character designs, new control interface, lots of secret stuff, cool

soundtrack, lots of

Minuses

[-]

Not a whole

lot of

combos

innovative features

Bottom Line [_] With decent controls, tons of combos, a variety of characters this Justice league surely will not disappoint fans.

innovation throughout the February 9001 Official (& Preamrast Maga7inp

“In

FV2, you can finish by

smashing your opponent with a meteor.”

christophe kagotani

Somewhere between

Virtua Fighter and Soul Calibur lies Fighting Vipers. Most of the attacks are hand to hand, but weapons combat and guitars (above) also feature prominently. Each character has a few special moves— and if he (or she) is holding an object, this object is usually what the move involves. Check out the body-monitor next to the power bar: it monitors your armor status. via bikes (top)

Fighting Vipers 2 The return— and certainly not the [though the sands

austerity

of time have erased

like Virtua Fighter.

Fighting Vipers from

most gamers’ memories, true fans rember the arcade brawler (and

its

great Saturn conversion)

as a high water mark With

its

use of items

in fighting.

boards as weapons and

its

featured innovations not seen until

Stone and Even

offered a

is finally

While no

of fun

cism

that a word?) [No, let

and

bet that the

Official

a pretty sure

will

make the

Pepsi Man-san!

its

was

secret character, Pepsi Man. The

Sil-

ver Surfer-esque

| i

figure

modeled

after the popular

mascot of Pepsi

who

delivers

Pepsi to those

® Dreamcast Magazine

it’s

unknown

only half

to form, Fighting Vipers

in need.

2001

you

classic may decide either to let smash it off

can stand up against Soul Calibur

depending on the

and DOA

attack), or

throw

ferocity of the

any case, watching visual

starts off the ‘armor’.

Each

returns, too.

each character

the

punch

ability to

game wearing

fly

right

them. You can even

suit is stylistically

appropriate for each character,

through

finish

a match

by smashing your opponent with

shiny stuff that medieval knights

Arcade, Versus, Survival, Training

used to wear. And

and Random, and there’s also supposed to be an Internet

doesn’t always look

doesn’t

make you invincible— it simply some protection during the early stages, at the cost of some offers

moves.

option-although

don’t

PUBLISHER SEGA DEVELOPER SEGA GENRE BEAT-'EM-UP! ORIGIN JAPAN PLAYERS 2 ONLINE NOPE RELEASE DATE 2001 WE HOPE ,

Pluses

play. So.

[+]

of action, fast pace;

make

armor and

innovative additions

Minuses

[-]

Warning: may be a mile wide, but only an inch deep.

Bottom Line It

expect actual online

Two years

Dreamcast walls

The game features five modes:

CHRISTOPHE KAGOTANI

r— ^Official#Magazine

Tons

a meteor!

the

2. We’ll find out soon!

across

some serious

matches—as does explode walls and to to

throw characters

off yourself. In

the arena adds

armor system

whether a conversion

question

of your charcater slowly (or quickly,

gameplay, once again—and the

Basically,

arcade version of FV2, the only

the other character

another appearance—to affect

limitations to fighting

February

fact,

furious. Interactive walls put in

clever

in the Japanese version of FV

freneti-

True

ONE OF THE COOLEST FEATURES

great counterpoint to the

it’s

game

slide—Ed.]

made

the

jump from Japan— if

keeps the gameplay fast and

release date has

without being a button

masher, which

tomb— of

again as good as the original.

coming to DC.

been discussed,

huge

amount (is

game

Now, after years of neglect, a sequel

games like Power DOA 2 erupted.

better,

but we'ii

subtlety of a

skate-

wonderfully destroy-able walls,

again

and

[_]

should look great, but will all gamers the fighting style? Time will tell...

after the release of the

www.DailyRadar.corr

^aaaaB^

you get your ass kicked,

"If

me on tbe other end of tbe line."

it's -

probably

Fred Durst, SegaNet

Member

The only high-speed online console gaming network.

Jack

in today.

The Gamers Destination www. sega net .

The SegaNet logo "SEGA"

registered in the

a trademark of

SEGA.com,

US Patent and Trademark

Inc.

and may not be used

Office

and

a trademark of

whole or

in part

without the express written permission of S

Sega Enterprises,

Ltd.

ÂŠ SEGA ENTERPRISES, LTD., 2000.

All

£1 COMING “Hi. ladies

Previews

and gentlemen. I'm Head

Hunter, a bounty hunter in futuristic Southern California. go around riding my motorcycle and shooting bad people. Oh. and did mention that you can bounce a quarter off my rock hard abs? No?” I

Mr. Fett, take off that tiara— we're passing the ne of the most tantalizing

surprises that

Sega slipped

into its

recent E3 lineup— bristling with

and the PR equivalent of a flashing neon sign saying “Keep Out!”—was a denials, disclaimers,

mysterious

little title

called

Head Hunter. Rather fittingly, it was being developed in the snowy wastes of northern Europe by Swedish company, Amuze. But beyond a handful of screenshots and some rough video footage, little else was revealed about the game. Until

now.

promising gameplay details

that

peek at what the world would be like if the ESRB Rating Board replaced the government. Sound

contradiction, but (or therefore)

interesting?

a fully-realized

a weird

new bounty hunter

There’ll

be plenty of

evil

factions to take down, through

a long

and

which

will

difficult

process-

somehow enable

our

hero, in the end, to dismantle

the overbearing censorship

laws altogether. Sounds pretty compelling.. .but you have to

It Is.

Head Hunter welcomes to an altered US of the

remember that these tidbits are more than conjecture as

gamers

little

near-future, wherein govern-

Head Hunter

mental censorship has placed a strangle-hold on the culture and

early

law enforcement lands

With a storyline that’s so fuzzy around the edges at this point, it's the gameplay and the concept that remain the game's strong suits. As evidenced by

the

hands

of private contractors

called

"Head hunters."

You enter

this

new

world as

a shady, shades-sportin' bounty hunter.

Head Hunter mixes an unlikely story with some very world,

law.. .which is kind of

to a

makes the whole premise just much more realistic.

to enforce a no-violence

It's

you're job to

make

sure that those wacky kids

Taking place

crown

that you'll be using violence

order to give gamers a sneak

aren’t sneaking any violence into their

The

videogames or movies.

Lorenzo Renegade Lamas the pefect person to be playing head hunter? Barring that, we recommend former PCXL editor Mike Salmon. Mike used to have that Renegade 'do, and while he’s cut his hair to catch up with the times (unlike Lorenzo), he’s still got just the right amount of style and machismo for the role. Plus, since leaving PCXL, Mike has been working as a bounty hunter in San Francisco—although he usually drives a Jeep, not a Is it us, or is

motorcyle. Of course, he's married: that explains everything.

role is

double-edged,

Off icial gf Dmamrast Magazine February 2001

in its

is still

so incredibly

development.

these screens,

you’ll

choice between

how

have a you'd

vous points during the game: by foot or by motorcycle.

to travel to your various rende-

And

aaadBallyBMauam

‘The details

Let’s

hope

Resident

this

Head Hunter are supposed

immerse you

‘interactive movie’.” francesca reyes

done drooling over the reflections in that far store window (left), get a load of the sporty bike our hero gets to ride around on. You better get used to it, since this is going to be your main mode of transportation, as well as a nifty way to unlock cool new features and areas in the story mode. Like Mad Max, without the nuclear waste or Mel, Head Hunter also features a tournament “dome.” Right on. After you’re

game

Evil series

is a cross between the and Shenmue.

Bathroom Hunter This poor soul looks like he’s eaten a few too many Chicken Crisper lunches at Chilis; he’s holding his

gut tighter than Evan holds onto reviewable Disney games. In this screen, he finds (at last!) what he has been searching for—the bathroom. Unfortunately, it seems like the stall is occupied. Hope he can hold it—or else, “Clean up on Aisle 4, please!”

At this point in Head Hunter’s development, there’s not a whole lot going on in the game’s environments other than the random punching bag (above) or a closed door (left). While we’re quite sure this isn’t enough to really get you all excited about playing this game, but from what we’ve seen in video form, you can expect loads of enemies and thugs wandering the halls (or gyms) for you to attack or be attacked by.

transportation

reason

you’ll

isn't

the only

need access to a

two-wheeled vehicle.

You’ll also

need your road hog in order to face off with dozens of challengers across the globe

the

ominously named Aquadome.

plotting to include. Cool extras

being able to use your

as a “beeper'' different

makes

VMU

order to receive

messages

or hints

great use of an unjustifi-

ably under-used peripheral. You’ll also

be able to use the

Net for more than racing, by Yes, you heard right. This

where Head Hunter's capabilities

come

because,

the Aquadome,

be racing up

other

the

seven

you’ve got

skills to win, you'll

unlock

new features and items that will become available to you in the game’s

story

mode. How’s that

for incentive?

And iceberg

this in

downloading numeric codes

All

combined

just the tip of the

terms of what Amuze

www.dreamcastmagazine.com

fully realized

up to your earlobes in what Sega deems “an interactive movie.” That can mean a lot of different things, both good and

ends up with the "interfeel of, say, Shenmue,

If it

active"

then we’re

all

for

it.

Imagine a

world populated by

various characters that you

must

bad.

access new or secret areas that

of these details

are supposed to immerse you

into play:

you’ll

owners.

Internet

are otherwise inaccessible.

and

talk to

As a bounty hunter poster boy, Boba Fett may have a few lessons to teach to the lead character in Head Hunter. Because we don't have all of the details on the game yet, we can't tell you exactly what these lessons might be about: but that isn't what you really want to see here, anyway, is it? You just want another Star Wars-related boxout! And that's all the reason we need to write one. Here's a question: do the pages of ODCM contain more meaningless references to SW, or to Yuji Naka?

tell

you how

it’s

coming along.

FRANCESCA REYES

order to further the action-

driven plot. if it

means

gameplay

On the other hand, “two minutes of

between three con-

tinuous cinemas,"

Who knows

well, forget

it.

which way Head

Hunter will ultimately jump— but we’re hoping for the former.

Gratuitous Boba Fett

Boxout #03

pages of ODCM-we'll be sure to

interact with

PUBLISHER SEGA DEVELOPER AM UZE GENRE ACTION/ADVENTURE ORIGIN EUROPE PLAYERS TBA ONLINE YES RELEASE DATE 2001

Pluses Loads

[+]

of realistic

lots of potential.

While no firm date has been given for the game's release, you can expect to launch

to be poised

sometime toward the

later half of '01.

If it

lives

its

promise, you can bank on a of headlines hailing

lot

as the

Minuses

action/adven-

Maybe even

February

the

[-]

Whether or not be met,

that ambition level will

don't know. Early footage

showed the game running slowly and sparsely, but the keyword is "early"

Bottom Line If

Next Big Thing ture gaming.

environments and it stands right now, is amazing

the ambition level here

we had

it'll

to put

[_]

money on whether

or not

turn out lovely...we'd bet YES. Sega

usually

2001 Official

comes through with

the goods

# Dreamcast Mag azine 55

m coMiNGsoa

sTTn I'TTI

f:' [raTI In this

VVj and a

part of the space 'hood, everyone can hear you scream...

lien Front Online fea-

tures a hackneyed plot,

done-before gameplay,

bafflingly

unimpressive

and weapons. And it should be number-one on your most-wanted list. Confused? Try looking at the array of vehicles

third

word

Okay.

Now

while

the

title.

Online.

hold this thought

get through the part

that doesn't actually

sound

that great. In

madness by fighting massive armored battles across Tokyo, Washington DC and other places where humans and

the alien Triclops

have decided to come to Earth,

and

mates, which ever side you’re

speak

either limit

home

team members

And

yes,

we just

said alien

twice. You get the idea, though. In

the arcade version, you

control your tank with real

we have no

twin sticks

US, on Dreamcast,

the

you’ll just

have to use your D-pad.

Now

the arcade. AND,

thanks to Sega's new Dream Call technology, you can talkin realtime—to everyone else who’s playing. Call in orders to your teammates. Taunt your enemies. Cry for help. Beg for mercy. Shout

here's the cool part: not

only has the

gameplay reached

triumph or

defeat.

Although the

playing on. Being able to

or talk trash

with everyone playing)

adds an

new element, making game just that much more immersive and enabling a new

entirely

the

level of strategy in

the

play.

Luckily, too, the

speech fea-

drop of an impeccably designed

We took some

anyone who's played it in the arcade can tell you that the

a minute ago at the conventionality of

the arcade since Tokyo Wars

close-in levels, blind alleys

fact,

from Namco. hut yon actually

and

your traditional tank combat

Official #' Dreamcast Magazine February

2001

haven’t seen

killing fields

heg

There are the predictable

power-ups—tactical nukes, flamethrowers, homing missiles,

for

team-

and grenade launchers humans, and gravity

hellfires,

for the balls,

guided drones, cloaking

for the Triclops.

But— and

ture occurs against the back-

game

(on

with the predictable speed-

armor-weapons tradeoffs.

spores and meteor showers

game.

game. You can choose

either side) from three tanks,

mates (you can communication to

to your

fine single-player experience,

limity that

you and your team of crack tank-drivers to atop thp

handle that you can use at

mechs.

actions. Not surprisingly,

teams

arcade machines versus Dreamcasts. And you have

tank-like alien

a level of transcendental sub-

your own permanent online

living,

any other of a host of antisocial falls to

play

scream

humanity, devastate the planet,

human tanks versus And you can any combination of

four alien tanks.

That's right. You drive a

aliens traditionally clash.

enslave (and probably eat) drive slow in the fast lane

can play online to four

tank, fighting against organic,

tank-style controls, but since

a burst of extra-terrestial

originality,

P „, lews

shots

gameplay, but

makes sense.

This

in is

this doesn't

this is crucial—A)

mean

the

game

possesses amazingly designed levels, and the control is

bad.

(at least in

the arcade)

astonishingly good,

one

making

of the better tank

games

www.DailyRadar.com

The juxtaposition of realistic war machines and bizarre, organic alien tanks is pretty cool (left). Tokyo gets destroyed again (above). Alien goop in the capital? Believe it (top left). At least the aliens are honest about their plans for the citizens of

earth (top right).

we’ve played. And B) if you’re going to add in 4-player team play, it’s better, we’d argue, to

Tank Combat Past The

first

tank combat

add

game was Atari's

new element to an

look a lot like the Grey ships you probably saw a hundred times on field trips to Area 51 when you were a kid.

brand new story mode. Plus, you can bring your VMU to the arcade, unlock special secrets and then take them home and use them on your Dreamcast

Despite the challenges of 8player online play, animations

version. So.

established play style than to

innovatively titled

expect gamers to learn a whole

Tank (Trivia: was the first post-

coin-op,

this

new type

game

at the

same

time that they’re having to

are also smooth and superfast.

basically sported the

employ real team-play strategy for what may be the very

same gameplay as the

first

Pong arcade

hit). It

2600 pack-in game, :

—

first-

Dreamcast game— which means that it looks great. The levels look great, and there are tons of weapons and lighting party

effects to

Human

keep things

vehicles

interesting.

(M1A1 tank,

Merkava, and M-109) like their real

all

look

world counter-

formed in

for

maximum

fighting— and every-

in the level is destructible: you can indeed blow your way

thing

feeling

for cover,

some

Beirut ’86: dodging

moving

PUBLISHER SEGA DEV SEGA GENRE TANK COMBAT ORIGIN JAPAN PLAYERS 1 -8 ONLINE DUH. RELEASE DATE MAY 2001

Pluses

[+]

Voice chat, 8-player combat

to cover

tight

serious alien ass

arcade +

mayhem,

play, etc.

Minuses

[-] Tank combat = done before

urban quarters.

Bottom Line

Planned Dreamcast

spider walker and hoverdrone)

deathmatch maps, and a

alien vehicles

Dreamcast

your buddies, and kicking

enhancements include extra weapons and vehicles, new

and the

CHRIS CHARLA Magazine

f-^Offidal

through buildings. The overall

(two-legged walker, four-legged

parts,

Alien Front Online? Cool.

levels are small, but

perfectly

carnage

time.

Graphically, this

Conbat you control a tank and shoot bullets at another tank. Sometimes the bullets would ricochet off the walls and obstacles, and sometimes the tanks (or shots) would be invisible. The next major milestone was Namco's scrolling, scaling, top-down arcade masterpiece Assault the gameplay was pretty much the same, but things were much prettier. After that, Namco again moved things forward with Tokyo Wars networkable full-size arcade 3D tank combat cabinet. PC players got into the online act with the massively multiplayer Tanarus (Trivia: it was the game Verant did just before EverQuest), but it took the Dreamcast to add real voice communication to the mix.

The

February

[_]

is gonna be killer. We've been waiting for the opportunity to yell "Go! Go! Go! He's on your flank!" and have it mean something for years now...

This

2001 Official

® Dreamcast Magazine 57

H COMING

Previews

“TotD:

Even seasoned typists

will find

hard to flaunt the needed

skills.” francesca reyes

Unlike the original, TotD packs plenty of weird little mini-games within its zombieDebra

Debra

’

-•

infested gameplay in order to keep gamers

pounding away at the keys. It’s a cool addition to

some already

kickin’

gameplay.

Questions will be displayed in the center

Type

of the screen.

the answers quickly! PRCSS-.rWTtfi

rpFnirra

ncnrrrT L.\-~ M ^

W-

tXY i

;Hu/t.

WT We can’t think of a

better word to describe a situation in which a decaying zombie pops out of the water, just as we are trying to save mankind. Rats indeed, good zombie...rats, indeed.

Mavis Beacon: Typist

...

or Zombie?

EVERYONE LOVES MAVIS and her extremely

helpful typing programs. If it weren't for Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing Ver. 9 on Macintosh, we'd all be handwriting our reviews and thus forcing you, dear reader, to decipher our crap cursive on purple dittoed prints. But imagine our surprise when we discovered that Mavis Beacon is nothing more than a fictional avatar (a la Bartles

V\ I

Dryer

Hashed Hashed

James) created by the software company, to put a pretty face on those wonderful tutorials! We were actually kind of hoping to expose her as a zombie, but instead she's merely nonexistent... which is just as

good, right?

lyping of the Dead Zombies and L

literacy:

yping and zombies... rarely (okay, never)

the twain met

have

such a

strange venue as Sega’s upcoming Typing of the

remake

its

Dead, a near-

classic arcade-to-DC

House of the

two great tastes that taste great together

of malodorous undead vermin. The catch is that you’ll be doing all

and educational enough it

with the aid of your keyboard,

make

anyjunior high school typing

controller. Players will

Everything

be chal-

been adjusted

lenged to quickly type various

the

game has

to suit the

new

phrases and words that pop up

periperal as well, including

on the screen

Japan

order to promote the use

the monsters— it’s fast, furious

game cinemas featuring the cast of heroes donning DC backpacks

of the

DC keyboard,

Typing of the

Dead was warmly welcomed. But on the our side of the pond, the

game has remained

little

than an oddity of note

more typed

note, of course). But this could

change when the game releases Stateside

January.

The premise is exactly the same as the one found in House of the Dead 2: kill various attacking zombies

Official

all

in-

working equivalent of zombification, at least...well...damn. There really isn’t any justification for middle management.

sorts

® Dreamcast Magazine February ary 2001

know

it’s

you’ve ever hacked into

NORAD, you

true that fast typing can save your of millions of innocent

'm Remember War Games?

a sight to cherish.

may sound

tough, challenging and pretty

soned

typists,

on their style

skills

the most sea-

humans.

life

their

flaunt the

necessary for

enemies—

“Zimbabwe” or phrases

“Everyone pledge allegiance to a corn-dog pagan god." (Okay, so

it’s

last

comparable

master. And no, we’re

one up, but what you’ll

—^Official

game.)

you have a keyboard and

Magazine

Dreamcast. PUB SEGA DEV SMILEBIT GENRE SURVIVAL EDUCATION ORIGIN JAPAN PLAYERS 1-2 PERIPH KEYBOARD ONLINE NO RELEASE JAN

Pluses

[+]

The next best thing

to a lightgun shooter, without the lightgun or the shooter

MINUSES Um.

this isn't

[-] an established genre?

Bottom Line

[_]

Sega

is committed to bringing all flavors of DC weirdness Stateside. Call us strange, but we're stoked

Clearly,

find in the

may

rides

the ultimate niche

DC keyboards

multiple

we made that

not joking. Francesca reyes

lightning-speed entry of words like

DC. Typing

game to

difficult to

down

2, this

one of the best zombie

who’ve boned up

blazingly fast skills

taking

never very satisfi$P$/ith the

virimpified non-lightgun antics of

just be your ticket to enjoying

by writing thesis-

emails (mostly to us,

find

rjfere

House of the Dead

task which generally requires the

danger of being decapitated by Dina’s flying scissor kick.

and those

the actual gameplay

damn fun. Even

will

Reason #2. Money. Face it—unless you’re some genius supreme, you’re gonna need to have some typing skills to earn any real middle management cash in this lifetime. And although middle management can be seen as the

Reason #3.

silly,

seems) on

Only Typing can Save Your Life Can typing really save your life? Read our three-pronged argument and judge for yourself. Reason #1. Deadlines on ODCM. The faster you type, the less you are in

order to

save a town overrun with

order to fend off

is it

And while

Originally released in

of guns. Boy,

slightly

Dead 2.

lightgun shooter,

and strap-on keyboards instead

teacher proud.

instead of with your lightgun or

www.DailyRadar.con

Barrel rolls, straight aways,

extreme G’s and more! Fulfill your

dreams with the most versatile coaster construction

roller

game

ever!

Mmnr iUWU

Interactive, Ltd.

All

Works is a trademark of Xicat Interactive, Ltd. Dreamcast logo are either trademarks or registered

Rights Reserved. Coaster

Distributed by Infogrames. Sega, Dreamcast and the trademarks of Sega Corporation. All other logos are property of there respective owners.

INTERACTIVE

ivvu muiioLci uui put auuno at vvai.

A to settle the

unc

massive martial arts event. Millennium Fight 2000, score and eliminate

joined and the public

going

mad with

conflict

all

anticipation. Join

Capcom LTD. 2000

license

©CAPCOM

U.S.A., INC.

from SNK Corporation. SNK

vs.

SNK.

organized

SNK Corporation.

world's

most famous warriors have

fight for universal domination.

the ultimate collision of strength

over 25 brawlers from Capcom’s legendary Street Fighter and

SNK's world-renowned King of Fighters series' as they

©CAPCOM CO..

ouiuuuit.

between the two parties. Many of the

©SNK 2000. CAPCOM and

the

CAPCOM

CAPCOM CO LTD CAPCOM .

Suggestive Themes

capcom.com

and power.

logo are registered trademarks ot

Animated Violence

VS.

SNK MILLENNIUM FIGHT 2000 is

Sega, Dreamcast and the Oreamcast logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Sega Enterprises, Ltd, The ratings icon

Dreamcast,. manufactured and distnbuted by

a registered trademark

CAPCOM

of the Interactive Digital

CO.. LTD. under

Software Association.

fasSB!'

NBA 2K1 Throw one down ast

November, Visual

Concepts released

NBA 2K to muted response.

fairly

was

of these gripes very like

much

John Starks addressed

Michael Jordan and Horace

Grant

the '93 playoffs:

arguably the best basketball

“Sorry 'bout kicking your ass,

game

there. Did

ever developed, yet

hurt,

sucka?”

under the Godzilla-sized

shadow the

title

own NFL 2K, was somewhat overof VC's

looked. Complaints were

lodged against

its

unneces-

sary animation sequences

(which slowed the pace of the

game),

some

all-too-ineffective

dribble moves,

and frequent

Gameplay

is in

many ways

similar to that of last year’s

version, with the analog stick

and button combinations reamining essentially

unchanged. What makes a

huge difference, however,

VC has made

play-stopping collisions on

that

dribble drives.. .essentially,

established formula-the

there were

all

kinds of game-

some

tune

lacked the polish and finesse

quite nicely, and, so,

Fortunately, this year’s

sequel has addressed most

its old,

developer has managed to

play elements that simply

of a truly A-plus

title.

the number of refinements

basic features in

doing

has made the game

significantly

Among the

playable.

offensive

Ewing with the fadeaway 15-footer. You can't stop him. You can only hope to contain him.

Welcome to JESTZONE ODCM’s there’s

If it’s

Review College

Electoral

one thing that the review staff at ODCM

unfair. This ain’t

stinkin’

monarchy, bub. Instead,

isn’t,

it's

finely

crafted system with loads of checks and balances. So, in essence, everything from Evan’s crazy street lingo to Greg Orlando’s obssesBoba Fett gets an equal chance to reach the public. And we hand-count, too. God bless America.

sion with

GREG ORLANDO Reviewed: Resident

Super Runabout

Evil 2,

What can we say about Greg that we every single past issue of original

ODCM?

haven’t already posted

Well,

could say that he's the

Mamma Jamma”, but that would

“Bad

be a

lie.

Instead,

the fact that he’s a man who loves zombies. Not but the love between a mother and son. Geez.

let’s just settle for

that kind of love,

CHRIS CHARLA Reviewed: Hoyle’s Casino, Ms. PacMan Maze Madness True story: Chris loves oldskool gaming and

all

things thereof,

thus this issue's review of Ms. PacMan Maze Madness. But the real deal is that he actually loves the '80’s quasi-hair band Journey even more. We can’t say that we’re not scared by this knowledge, but hey-at least they have a videogame, right?

GARRETT KENYON Reviewed: Spec Ops Former

PCXL editor,

II:

Omega Squad, KISS Psycho

Circus

Garrett Kenyon, would like to state for the

games simply for the gore or the shootHe actually prefers realtime simulations that feature unicorns and kittens, when he’s not trading stickers with his pals. He especially likes the puffy stickers of Sanrio characters. record that he’s not into ing.

DR.

JAMES PRESTON

Reviewed: Surf Rocket Racer, BANG!: Gunship

Elite

You may remember James from such ODCM reviews as Metropolis Street Racer and The Ring: Terror's Realm, but this issue, we challenged him further by forcing him into his swimsuit for a little jetski action in Crave’s Surf Rocket Racer. He may not say too much about the game, but he loves duckies.

EVAN SHAMOON Reviewed: NBA2K1, Ready 2 Rumble Round 2 Little known fact: ODCM's own Evan Shamoon is one of the most notorious trashtalkers in the business, which made him a perfect choice for reviewing NBA 2K1 and Ready 2 Rumble 2. He’s also a big Patrick Ewing fan, and he cried like a little girl when Ewing was traded to the Sonics.

Our Scoring System The Human Highlight Film returns (top). There are plenty of moments NBA 2K1 where you’ll be watching a replay with your mouth agape, saying something along the lines of, “Ohmygod. This rules.”

No, pal, not that kind of scoring system.

around your defender

improvements is the greatly improved post-up game: Backing your opponent down with your back to the basket is now a far more accessible option, and the war in the paint is now significantly more realistic. Players make use of their

convincingly realistic fashion. Players

and now have several

options available to

them from

the post position. The move to a quick turnaround jumpshot is both simple and efficient, and it actually makes the postup game a viable option for players who choose this form

As opposed

NBA

2K,

crossovers and spin moves are

now extremely

effective.

Rather

than simply providing a visual representation of the move,

Expect a nasty rejection

Oh—and just wait

Take

outside!

ONE OF THE MOST entertaining options created especially for NBA

2Ks

sequel is the new Street mode. Taking a page from real life, this feature enables you to hold court on

various famous (or notorious) public park and inner-city blacktops.

For the record, Evan would

www.dreamcastmaga7ine.com

like to

—in print—that the

Knicks' management has singlehandedly destroyed one of the

until

letter,

give

believe a it

they

and Travis Knight, and win the big

very feasible proposition.

just aver-

not something

spiffy

new

10 9 8

instant classic

phenomenal excellent

good

6 5 4 3 2 1

for fans

gets

scoring system for graphics,

an incredibly clever

average

mediocre flawed its

mom

loves

coaster

our special award: the Dream Game Award. The title that is so duly honored is guaranteed to be good, no matter who you are or what type of games you like

want—

and hitting the open man for a jumper is a

And we've even added a

Dream Game Award*

offense, players can slow

means that

If its appeal fans of either its

series but

With Dreamcast's promising software lineup, we won’t be hard-pressed to pick a game every issue that goes above and beyond the call of greatness. For this singular type of game, we’ve concocted

and the on-point passing

downright coolest basketball teams of all-time. Tip: bring back Ewing, Oakley and Starks, ditch Glen Rice

game

5 out of 10.

directly at its

of 10.

and cute smiley-face score system. hope you’ll find it self-explanatory.

more effectively control the tempo of the game. While the emphasis is still on speed, quick hits and transition if

When we

aimed

6 out

scale, we’ve created

This year, players can also

down

sure wouldn’t give

sound, control and gameplay!! Peripherals are another story. Since it doesn’t make much sense to score a VMU or an extension cord on a 1-10

the swat blocks...

the action

that will be enjoyed by everyone,

you see

hardest-working, over-achieving and

fella a

they actually serve to get you

genre or

delivered promptly via airmail.

state his opinion

of attack.

10.

age,

better cuts

without the ball, and taking jumpers with a man up in your grill is an altogether bad idea:

bodies to effectively establish position,

make much

were,

If it

it away for free—we’d be selling it in the back of Maxim for $29.99. And Evan would have a date this weekend. We score games on a scale of 1 to

getting into a

to play.

half-court set

essential purchase!

* Small print somewhere in this mag secures your legal agreement to buy all Dream Game Award titles immediately.

championship. Fools.

Making that jumpshot,

—

Fe bruary

2001

Official

Dreamcast Magazine 63

-V

TESTZEWE

In-Depth Reviews

Gerv-in gets his swerve-in: Aside from a

little finger-roll ,

the Iceman can

down poster-inducing facials such as this one. We want know what’s up with gorilla-man down there in the front row. also throw

+b *

-’fV As

of this writing, the

6-.^|

76ers are

8-0. This is especially impressive

considering the fact that just a few years ago, the 76ers had a total of nine wins over the course of an entire 82-game season. Nothing a little shot of

superstardom (read: Iverson) can’t

fix.

NETWORK PLAY NBA 2K1 'S NETWORK INTERFACE is more polished than that of its NFL counterpart. Players can set several filters, including the opponent's rate filter, keyboard filter and game mode filter (street, exhibition, or both) to find the suitable online matchups. The game also has ten chat macros, which can be assigned to keyboard buttons for quick trash -talking during play. Unfortunately, when it comes to the action itself, VC's b-ball game doesn’t have quite the flow that NFL 2K1 accomplished with its online play. The primary reason for this aside from the ever-present lag issue is the fact that basketball is much more of a twitch sport than football (well, at least when you're using your thumbs and a control pad to play it). Because of the relatively small margin for error in either making a defensive play or hitting a jumpshot things can get a bit touchy. So when there's lag, unless you anticipate where your opponent is going at the precise moment that he attempts to go there, you can consider yourself toasted. Same goes for jumpers: the millisecond delay changes the moment of release from the apex of your jump to a split-second before or after. But in the end, the quality of your online experience depends on your connection (and your opponent's connection as well). When we played, there were times when things went swimmingly while at other times, the jerky action made us want to fling the controller away.

most

—

however,

Official

iSsf

Dreamrast Maga7ine February 2001

players release

the shoot button precisely at the apex of their jump, or else risk

taking a

While

trip to Brick City.

reasonable to accede

that developers should be able to count least

on players having at

some

skill

at hitting a

of different

from

NBA

matchup

options,

Jam-style up-tempo

two-on-two contests to more traditional, NBA-style five-on-five

games. This mode captures the essence of street hoops very well, with passing cars and

Still,

for

one

and Quick Start modes, and adds Street and Network options to the fray

(by a landslide),

might

seem

have lagged several steps behind

different.

While

game on

trates for several reasons.

frus-

Many

of the Al routines are simply too

Gamers

get to

ball on real-life blacktops like The Cage in NYC and Franklin Park in Chicago, and each of

the street courts in

depicted

near photo-realistic

compete

detail.

a variety

gameplay

—•^Official ^Magazine

Dreamcast Graphics 9 Amazing animation, great player models.

the market

NBA 2K1

strict;

a spectacularly enter-

ever

remains the best console bas-

mode

clearly the

game

merely tacked-on, the Street taining addition.

an absolute must-play evan shamoon

PUBLISHER SEGA DEVELOPER VISUAL CONCEPTS ORIGIN US PLAYERS -8 RELEASE DATE OUT NOW GENRE SPORTS ONLINE YES

counterparts— and sadly, this

ketball

it’s

as long as they have

Franchise, Exhibition, Tourney,

While

NBA2K1

best console b-ball

made:

been around, basketball games

well.

perfect,

for sports fans,

the quality of their gridiron

taical update, yet not quite

ambient noise.

who missed open jumpers. NBA 2K1 retains its Season, Practice

defense more of a hit-and-miss affair than the straight-up sort of kill-by-skill that it should be. Far from being just a statis-

trash-talking providing the

jump shot, we were surprised at the number of reliable shooters

Players

more difficult. Like game, NBA 2K1

last year’s

demands that

hampered by

an inordinate number of steals; and player collision boxes are bigger than they should be. This often leads to a fair

amount

Sound 8 Quality

hoops sounds, good commentary.

Control 8 Has momentary

lapses, but overall very good.

Gameplay 9 It's

not perfect, but this

the best b-ball game.

awkward bumping and shoving

when you attempt ball into

to bring the

the paint, and makes

Score:9 www.DallyRadar.com

' .

pip

lilfp ''

Wâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;k

THE GAMERS' DESTINATION

the world's only high-speed, gaming ISP and network for console and

gamers.

a trademark of Sega.com, Inc. and may not be used in whole or in part without the express written permission of Sega.com. "SEGA" is registered in the US Patent and Trademark Office and a trademark of Sega Enterprises, Ltd. ÂŠ SEGA ENTERPRISES, LTD., 2000. All Rights Reserved. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

“Right! Left! Right! Illegally-sharpened hairdo stab!”

Afro Thunder goes head-to-head (well, more like head-totoe) with Shaq Diesel. True Story: Midway staged an event in Las Vegas, in which the real Afro and Shaq squared off in the ring to play a match of Round 2 on the big screen.

J Don’t call

ubtlety

comes

forms.

comeback. Midway smacks us upside the head once again

a in

here at

many ODCM

can safely say, however,

Ready2Rumble

that Midway’s is

forms.

Round 2

brings back

all

of the ridiculously over-the-top

antics that

made

the

first

such a gem, and adds to

game it

host of improvements— mostly in the form of more/more/more. And while the game certainly

won’t give anyone

who

care for the original thing to write

home

didn’t

title

It's

about, the

damn good

shot of mindless entertainment.

True

to form,

diligently

Round 2

continues Midway’s

legacy of pick-up-and-play gaming, eliciting

such

hard-hitting,

all

punched, and each round’s progress was recorded in cuts, bruises and sundry bodily

Midway’s attempt to address problem comes in the form much-improved character Al,

this

opponents’ faces wibbled and

able slugfest, the depth of play

Beating up on the computer

sweet violence, while holding on (albeit loosely) to all of the fundamental rules and

bruised accordingly.

wasn’t far removed from an

far

masses—

principles of the sport.

be but

all

hopped up on

it’s still

may

goofballs,

boxing. So, please:

kicking.

eration.

snapped

Heads

realistically in

what-

ever direction they were

redecoration. Of course, while of this

made for an

enjoy-

good match of Rock’Em-Sock’Em Robots.

exceptionally

more advanced moves and slightly

When

was

displayed

first

to the public in the

months

deeper fighting model. is

more of a challenge than it was last year, requiring a somewhat deeper mastery of the game’s controls— button mashing

will

simply not put your

opponent down for the count, no matter how many punches per minute your

fists of steel

can throw. Instead, players

will

have to

leading up to Dreamcast’s

come

launch, the original

ton attacks and combinations,

Ready2Rumble blew gamers away with its shiny, polished

and get good and the dodge button.

agile at using

than a

the old rope-a-

visuals

and wonderfully engag-

to grips with multiple-but-

little

ing personality. Characters

dope

came

(that’s right,

life

(by beating

another to a pulp: grand?),

Official

was

distinctly next-gen-

the sweet science into the

“smash-mouth” and

look that

all

straight-up

effectively translates

hyphenated descriptions as “in-your-

game with a its own— and

Punches landed with an immensely satisfying quotient of ‘thwap’, and the skin on

any-

sequel proves to be a worthy successor.

game journalists

nationwide (yours truly included, apparently). This

twitch-gaming for the

Round 2

not one of these

series

face” from

ain’t

one it

and imbued the

# Dreamrast Maga7ine February 2001

bit of

takes more

to get through this

now not

one

the computer

will

only attempt to back

you into a corner, but

will

www.DailyRadar.CQm

you’re not on your

game and

picking your spots, you’ll be kissing the canvas.” evan shamoon

Michael Jackson certainly has a big enough target to hit in Big Mama Tua. What’s cool (from a certain point of viewlike, the one that doesn't make your toes curl up in horror) is that when it’s played on a VGA monitor, Round 2's level of detail allows you to see the individual stretch-marks on Mama’s body. The game has a shiny, polished look that reminds us a lot of Rocky IV.

aggressively attempt to fight it’s way out of whatever corner you’ve backed it into).

Graphically, the game has seen only marginal upgrades:

textures ter

terms

of bulk,

signed several list,

Round 2 has

new boxers

its

the most recognizable of

whom

are King of Pop Michael

Jackson and fab movie star

seem

cleaner, charac-

to battle

boxers

out a

bit

and

little

touches

bouncing afros have been added to embellish the visuals. And several new camera angles— most notably the Tele-

up to eight opposing

spots, you’ll be kissing canvas

Midway should have gone the

a last-man-standing

faster than you can say “Floats

extra mile;

series of bouts.

animation has been smoothed

Also worth noting

the

game’s new-and-im proved training mode, which includes a fully 3D trainer and sparring practice against a passive Al opponent.

Mini-games include

stair-climbing,

a butterfly, stings

a bee.”

The original game’s Rumble punch has returned, and can now be built up three times over— with each build, of course, being more powerful than the last. If you manage to build up your Rumble meter all the way, you can stage massive comebacks in even the most dire of

we would have

enjoyed beating our overseas

amigos

to a pulp.

there’s

Still,

here— and

satisfaction to be had,

for both first-time players

Ready 2 Rumble vets

alike.

EVAN SHAMOON |“-^^Official@Magazine

photo lens— give these graphics new sheen, as well.

jump sway

The poorly-recorded voices and a lack of any in-game music don’t especially help matters, however— and neither do the obtrusively long loadtimes between matches. It’s never wise to slow the pace of a game that is based almost entirely upon its frantic, non-

bag.

championship mode. The only bad thing was that it kept reminding us to get out and get busy with some real-life

thing about Ready2Rumble:

Control 8

LA producer-type guy to supply the ‘attitude’: and the resulting

stop pacing.

exercise instead of sitting at

Round 2

Simple but effective— gets the job done

barrage of ’90s-chic, over-the-

swinging with additional modes,

Shaquille O’Neal. Eleven of the

game’s

original boxers

make a

return—all with new costumes—

and another

five

out the pugilistic

newbies round lot.

Each of

these cats has been equipped with a

new menu

of taunt

and

victory animations,

as well—

the quality of which

is fairly

disappointing. hired

Midway must’ve

some Rogaine-popping

top ethnic stereotyping

stale

a nice

This

Round does come out

including

rope, aerobics, weightlifting,

bag, heavy bag and

These are

ing diversions,

circumstances. This feature,

along with the fact that taunting

kinda way, and they’re neces-

can now build up your Rumble

meter as

your journey to the

our computers. Which

clearly didn’t do. Oh, well.

Tournament (which

Round

since most of these utterances

and Team Battle, in which you join one other person

winning

www.dreamcastmagazine.CQm

a Space-

Channe/-5-without-the-style

can accomodate up to eight

weren’t ever funny.

sary steps

from the get-go— particularly

players!)

speed

mildly entertain-

the key to

timing:

you’re not

on your game and picking your

well,

more depth

adds a great deal game.

to the

Graphics 9 What was already very

is its

lack of online

pretty's

been improved

Sound 6 Some

Perhaps the most disappointing

Dreamcast PUBLISHER MIDWAY DEVELOPER MIDWAY GENRE BOXING ORIGIN US PLAYERS 1-2 ONLINE NO RELEASE DATE OUT NOW

TTITI

No music

very stupid voice samples.

game

like this—after Midway has had a full year to figure out how implement online support— this feature should have been a

]

multiplayer capacity. With a

Gameplay 7 You've played deeper games. But this

FUN

no-brainer. Frankly,

think

February

Score: 7

2001 Official

# Dreamcast Magazine 67

TESTZONE

In-Depth Reviews

“Hoyle: a great place to try out strategies before heading to Reno.” chris charla

KNOW WHEN TO RUN IT'S A SHAME THAT one of the best elements in Hoyle—on paper—turns out, in practice, to

8 86 GSCdG 3

be its biggest problem. Since the 'feel' of gambling has as much to do with the players as the play, the addition of NPCs should have ante. Instead, it slows the program down so much that even Kenny Rogers wouldn't be able to run (or walk quickly) away.

upped the fun

iiilllll ANMLVft psmBSS Coin* I’toywl

Bank: *5,141.00

This

game

offers Vegas-style

gambling, sans loan sharks

and Siegfried and Roy. Which Is great, but we do miss those tigers.

Hoyle Casino Worth

gamble?

(Snicker, snicker.) Don’t bother putting on your poker face

here's a lot to like in

gow

Hoyle Casino. Unfortu-

(including stud,

nately, there’s also

and it’s no sure thing that you'll be able to slog lot to dislike,

poker, regular poker

Unfortunately, this

draw and

the problems start.

First,

we’d

like to

new game these

it’s

well

modes

very done. There are enough of the

don’t have anything against

options to configure any of the

Dreamcast games made with

table

the Windows CE operating

system— but we

to,

do.

Why? Hoyle

a perfect example: loading

times are long, and the periodically

seconds

pauses

to load

game

for a

few

what seems

games to any

rules used

any casino we’ve ever been

blackjack,

seemed,

that’s

»—^Official.S' Magazine

liked the stat-tracking

and we

liked the card-counting

help

blackjack.

The game

featured at least one major

was

disc-accessing pause. This just infuriating:

very rhythm that

destroyed the

makes gambling

was fun to and it was

play with friends,

also a good place to

out some strategies before ODCM’s monthly trip to Reno

try

face and character graphics

games you can

and animation: rubbish.

Each

style

with blackjack, craps, pai

of animations

casino

feel.

distinctive personality/betting

and a

February

small, unique library

2001

and speech.

you could turn off

all

effect,

of the

characters and animation to

speed things up, but then wasn't

much

find online.

lack of online play

sorely

felt.

better than playing

was

The

also

we’d been able to

play online, things would have

on the Lucky Tours bus with our petty cash fund. So. Underlying

gambling

Dreamcast PUBLISHER SIERRA DEVELOPER SIERRA GENRE GAMBLING SIM ORIGIN US -4 ONLINE NO ESRB E PRICE $40

PLAYERS

any of the myriad of free casino

for a real

be worth your $40. But we it. chris charla

wouldn’t bet on

seems.

NPCs

exhaustive casino simulation,

# Dreamcast Magazine

so fun. To counter this

character has a cartoonish look, a

Official

almost unplayable. Every

hand

days,

and there’s extensive stattracking and even a small tutorial for each game. The game supports up to four players, but if you're playing alone it’ll add in

one or two frames of animation. But lets go back to the good stuff for a minute. This is an

been so much better— but

the case with just about every

whenever they’re turned on, the program is so damn slow

Each say

liked

the idea of the characters— but

different

through the disliked parts to get to the good stuff.

where

hold ’em), video poker, roulette,

and about a million slot machines.

eh Graphics 2

Jerky.

2D animations with

frequent disc access

Sound 6 Pretty

good variety

player

comments

CONTROL 5 Why does

default to "hit"

when have a 20? I

algorithms and variety of

games:

great. Overlying inter-

slowness and jerkiness of the

game may

its good, but getting there is too hard

you're willing to tolerate the

graphics, this

Gameplay 6 Deep down

well

Score: 5 www.DailyRadar.com

the

and

"PlayStation”

owners.

Inc.

Games, respective

Epic

their

of trademarks

property

are

the

are logos

Unreal trademarks

the

and

other

All Unreal

IDSA.

S.A.

the

of Entertainment

trademark

Infogrames

registered

is logo trademarks

ratings

are

The logo LTD.

Infogrames

Enterprises,

the

and Sega

of Infogrames

trademarks

Inc.

Infogrames, trademarks

registered

Published

either

Extremes.

are

logos Digital

with

Dreamcast

the collaboration

and

in Dreamcast

Inc.

Games,

Sega,

Epic Inc.

by Created Entertainment

reserved.

Computer

rights

All Sony

of Inc.

Games,

trademarks

Epic

registered

are

I Tournament

,11 1:1

logo

Animated Violence Family

Animated Blood Unreal™

and Gore

“PS"

l 1.1

PlayStation^

Get up close and personal

the first-person

perspective with over 10 weapons of destruction!

Screenshots are from the PlayStation®2 system.

Go online with up to 8 players on your Sega Dreamcast™, play 2- or 4-player split screen, or network 2 PlayStation®2’s systems with i.LINK™

Experience dazzling graphics and a multitude of

maps and weapons it’s

Unreal™ Tournament's single

fast

and furious,

and multiplayer experience comes

to life on

PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and Sega Dreamcast™

Lead your team

of virtual

teammates against the deadliest gladiators

the galaxy. Mind-blowing realistic

3D graphics. High-octane gameplay. Totally Unreal

combat

action.

Just be sure not to lose your head.

Unreal.

all in

frame rate so

fast

In-Depth Reviews

6470 1T3/252 From eating dots to printing dots... ALTHOUGH SHE'S BEEN a staple mascot for years, the DC iteration of Ms. Pac-Man is actually Namco's first go 'round with the title. The original Ms. Pac-Man was a conversion kit for Pac-Man machines made by a company called GCC Technologies and marketed by Bally-Midway, distributer of Par.-Man in America. GCC, which was started by a couple of MIT undergrads. It's still around, by the way it now manufactures

—

sells laser printers for Macs and PCs. The printers aren't as fun as Ms. Pac-Man. but they're really nice machines (Chris's dad has one; he loves it). Check 'em out at www.gcctech.com.

and

Check out these Egyptian themed ghosts—touches them: you are basically stuck

fall

off

not

down

with Dreamcast after you’ve

like this abound. See those cliffs (below)? Don’t worry, you can’t the maze, so platform jumping never really enters the play. If your g-friend is Ulala and Samba, this may do the trick.

shown her

^w.l

Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness The Material Pac

game Ape Escape the stages

that

it’s

impossible to

imagine the genre without

Eat the dots. Avoid the

ghosts. Eat the power pellets.

Now

eat the ghosts.

Of course,

Namco has

made some changes to

bring

Ms. Pac-Man into the 21st century.

The game

3D, and rather than

now

Sonic

(actually,

structure— and

game

the stage

fact the entire

structure-bears a striking

resemblance to the PlayStation

Official

with each of

a world sharing a

# Drpamrast Magazine

jump pads, warp zones and more. Completing each

walls,

maze

gets you a star, but to

traditionally

in the very nice, animated intro and

cut-scenes, Ms. into

Pac-Man

sent

beat the game, you’ll need do more than that—you have

to beat

each

time and get

under a certain

level all

the dots, etc. Of

don’t be surprised

ends up shelved long before you’ve earned every star. After all, it isn’t like

times via a special machine created by Professor Pac. If

you’ve played a

game

Why?

it’s

to recover the

have

gems

mazes you’d expect Ms. Pac-Man. Like we

see

said, they're in

3D— but they

also scroll and feature several

new

items, including

February

2001

moveable

flair— lighting effects,

sound—someth ing

better

Although the levels them-

before...

CHRIS CHARLA

>^Offcial®'Magazine

Dreamcast

a pretty

we would have seen some

liked to

Dreamcast distinguish

aren’t the

It’s

not a bad thing. But

of virtue, which have

selves are maze-based, these

game

—

identical to the Play

tered throughout time

they threaten to destroy Pac-Land.

played this

this

simple looking game, so that’s

before,

been scatand space by the ghosts—and if they (the gems) aren't recovered,

counts (and everything else) Station version.

you won’t be surprised to hear that

Graphically, everything

you haven’t

sharp and high-res, but polygon

seems

these different worlds and

game

course, once you leave a stage

you can always return to try to complete the challenges later.

fully

As explained

levels,

you have stages and worlds a

similar graphical flavor.

it.

Tony Hawk and skating games. and brawlers. Pac-Man and mazes. So it’s appropriate that nearly 20 years after she entered the scene, Namco’s Ms. Pac-Man sticks to her roots. This is maze game, boys and Street Fighter

girls.

back!

ometimes a game so strongly defines a genre

PUB NAMCO DEV NAMCO GENRE MAZE CHASE 1 ONLINE NADA ESRB E

ORIGIN US PLAYERS PRICE $ 49.99

Graphics 7

GCC (see boxout above) was also responsible for the creation of the Atari 7800 system, and almost half the games Atari released for the 5200.

And

Foodfight They're good.

Damn.

for

PSX version.

Cute, simple, but not beyond the

to i

Mo’ GCC Facts

it.

i~i

Sound 6

the gameplay,

it’s

Nice, but again, nothing

amazing auraelly

fun and incredibly easy to get into

(making

this ideal for playing

with kids or your non-gameplay-

Control 8 Analog, smanalog: this

pure

digital,

baby.

ing significant-other), but the

maze gameplay does get a

little

start to

stale after a

Gameplay 7 Easy

to get into, but

can get a

little tiring...

few

hours. Luckily, cut-scenes are

good enough that you’ll want to keep going to see them. But

Score: 7 www.DailyRadar.CQm

This night-vision scope lets you attack at night The bummer of this game is that almost every piece is here; it just fails to add up to more than the sum of its parts (especially considering the online part, which isn’t there at all).

The crosshairs give you a good view, but there's no way to zoom and the accuracy is extremely iffy. The end result is one frustrated sniper

looks a

M4-

Still, if

into

you’re into tactical combat,

more than we

it’s

BISHOP

TARGET

A PC

hit

t’s

and

DC miss— well,

no surprise that

say that the depth and required to master a

Ripcord virtually snuck

Spec Ops

Omega

Squad out the door with

Spec Ops

makes

So what's What

there to complain about?

missions and weapons, input

the

from the US Army's

first

game

doesn't have.

First off, a multiplayer

mode is

Ops Spec Ops and a Spec Ops addon pack, all for PC behind it), Omega Squad should be an

conspiciously absent from the

immediate

online support to be found.

II,

hit.

Unfortunately, though,

that the

comes

when

isn’t

the graphics—they hold up

to quality.

competition against visuals

any other DC shooters. And

the gameplay-it's quite sata huge

number

missions incorporating different objectives to be completed fact,

neither

hide nor hair of even the

may

kinda grazed

makes

SegaNet takes over the DC gaming world (and there’s already an online community built around

your crosshairs fully

it's

a pretty it’s

REALLY big thing to leave out. Another thing absent from play

time,

diagonal strafing-a fea-

helping

same

a diagonal motion, thus

them dodge

bullets

us...

navigating the landscape

the PC version), and

forward and strafe at the It

kskktj"

negotiate terrain. This omission

store shelves just as

ture that enables players to push

remotest semblance of any

be nitpicky to complain about

sion

isfying, with

game. Secondly, there

See this? You should be

and

difficult

when

trying to elude

sharpshootin' enemies. Also,

inaccurate.

fire off

reticle is It's

shame-

frustrating to

what should be an

instant lobotomy shot, only to

watch your

bullet zing harmlessly

over your enemy’s shoulder. And

the sniper scope doesn’t allow players to

zoom

and out-

(in

we would go so far as to

www.rirfiamcastmaga7ine.

i—^OfficialS'Magazine

Dreamcast. PUBLISHER RIPCORD DEVELOPER RUNECRAFT HOUSE GENRE STRATEGY SHOOTER ORIGIN US PLAYERS PERIPHERALS VMU, JUMP PACK VMU PAGES 17 ONLINE NO ESRB M PRICE $49.99 1

Graphics 6

you’ve only got the option of one real close-up view.

Sound 5

DC version has

taken a back seat to the PC verit

is hitting

big thing to leave out. Okay,

Special

Forces team and a well-established product line (Spec

near miss.

such things, but Spec Ops like

an enter-

taining strategy romp).

little

actually, a

skill

game

fanfare. With tons of real-world

isn't

you get

HOSTILE

SnorfmC II II" Hmocfa Qm iqH w|#vvw|I9 ICgCl OL|UdU

seems

probably worth a rent to see

did.

who

lot like you.

Standard military shooter fare

View

to a Kill

interesting feature of Spec Ops II Omega Squad is the Drop Camera option, which enables players to drop a camera into a certain spot and to watch the action from that point of view. While it is somewhat difficult to control your character in this mode, it definitely makes for some interesting gameplay moments. Besides that, the game also allows you to play from either first- or third-person points of view.

One

Even with these flaws, Omega

Squad would’ve been passable only a mere three months ago. But with some awesome tactical military games already available and several stellar new shooters due for release any day now, Omega Squad simply doesn’t

Control 4 Not being able to sidestrafe game's biggest deficiency

perhaps this

Gameplay 4 While it's a fun game to play, there's too left out for a higher score

much

r~r~i

shine brightly enough to dazzle.

GARRETT KENYON February

2001 Official ® Dreamrast Magazine 73

— ——

1ESTZONE

In-Depth Reviews

“Everything

Super Runabout: SFE’s world

fodder for destruction.” greg orlando

We've experienced the carnage that occurs

in this

game— in

we said to ourselves,

real

life.

And

waited

cop to finish writing up his report that night, this sucks!

for the

Wow—

Videogames are way better than

life.

You Make the

Call BAD NEWS HAS WINGS!

THE POOR HAVE NO LEISURE! THIS CRYPTIC PHRASE,

WHICH

appears onscreen during the courier scenario of Super Runabout: San Francisco Edition, troubles us. It brings to mind words like 'socioeconomic' and 'disenfranchised', which have been gathering dust in the back of our mental closets since college. Does this text imply that po' folks don't "get" leisure, or that they simply can't afford it? Does it insinuate that the elegant pleasures of sitting on a veranda

while manservants prepare mint and watercress sandwiches would simply be wasted on the poor? Is it because the word 'regatta'

juleps

doesn't appear on spelling lists in most public schools? Or maybe we just need to take a nap.

ANOTHER PITHY BON MOT, "BAD news has wings"

(screen not

shown

'cause it looks just like the one above, only with the words "Bad wings"), introduces the game's police scenario. News (of the 'bad' ilk) has thusly been given the characteristics of a bird which could suggest, by logical extension, that it can, in fact, defy gravity and fly south for the winter. Or that it can beg for a cracker as in, "Bad news wants a cracker" or mate for life like a parrot if it happens to meet a tidbit of good news that it likes. ..two opposites sticking together like male and female bits of Velcro...

news has

Super Runabout: San Francisco We

left

those pesky traffic Super Runabout: San Francisco Edition invites players to engage in such destructive and overly

iss

Crazy Taxi's less insane cousin,

rules goodbye.

Mildly

fun activities as smashing into stuff,

Edition

our hearts (and our hubcaps and our fenders)

blowing things up, perform-

Wacky Taxi. Super Runabout does an

bus and the effect remains

cles

city collecting fix-

ings for a hot dog. Everything

rendered world

fodder for destruction; sions are portrayed

colli-

the

vidual car parts,

and—we are not making this up—a piggy. An ever-

rectify

limousine,

imposing time

limit

ensures a

and gain valuable

steam gushing into the sky and hoods and

waiting to be discovered.

fenders buckling

succeeds on many levels, and certainly despite its

Super Runabout as

Official

French

s Dreamcast Magazine February

all

directions,

World War

2001

manic pace

for every mission,

II.

does

some egregious

manifest every time you

clip-

hit

stopped by such an obstacle

Remarkably, this

game

initially

and then allowed to pass right it), and you’d expect disaster: but none of these potholes is quite deep enough to cause a total wreck. It's more

through

]

Sound 6 The wonderful sound of a car crashing

into everything

(modeled authentically on all

Graphics 7 Think a muddier vesion of Crazy Taxi's graphics i

Add

ping and collision problems that

and the well-designed streets the real McCoy) contain

L_...

FISHING ORIGIN JAPAN PLAYERS ONLINE NO PERIPHS STEERING WHEEL ESRB T PRICE $39.99

indi-

little

the situation.

pole (moving objects are

kinds of shortcuts, just

the

PUB SEGA DEV CLIMAX ENTERTAINMENT

tank, a street sweeper, a bus, a

ing wildly, radiator

hurtling in

of the vehi-

which enables fine-tuning of

shattered glass spray-

possible, with cars

Some

handle sloppily, and

even a neat garage option,

plus cars to unlock, including a

occupations (cops or couriers)

think of

most exaggerated way

in is

still

There are approximately 25-

San Francisco. The game offers missionbased play wherein Dreamcast drivers can choose two different dollars by

over

successful.

collecting

of everyday automotive

wreaking havoc on anything and everything. Basically, you can

brought

plague of prob-

oddly endearing.

runaway cable car, bombs and plowing

derail a

short, a true-to-life portrayal

to fix a small

goofy tone, asking players to

this decently

life

big

lems, but they weren't totally

innocent pedestrians.

from Japan after toiling mightily

both wonderfully comic and

through the

It is,

failings. Interplay

be used to smash up a great

excellent job of sustaining a

Dukes of Hazzardesque jumps and running down ing dazzling

San Francisco

Even a lowly motor scooter can

Control 5 Darn those slippery and spastic cars!

Gameplay 7 Fun reigns over

all

the game's problems i

a lovely mess, greg orlando www.DailyRadar.com

“

IN IN

Resident

Evil

builds a

monument

to delicious terror.”GREG orlando

YOUR HEAD, YOUR HEAD,

ZOMBIE ZOMBIE... BACK IN THE 1960s, all you for rock stardom was to claim British citizenship. Rockin' The Zombies, who neither rocked nor rolled with notable aplomb, managed to carve out a brief piece of fame with a series of quirky but 'seminal' songs. They're indirectly responsible, needed rollers

it's said,

for

phenomena

The

Doors, The Kinks, and a whole series of UK passports. A few "She's

hits like Not There" and "Time of the Season" weren't

enough to keep the Zombies alive, and after five years, they called

a day: just as their final

album (which went platinum) Odyssey and Oracle was about to be released. In an odd twist, CBS recoi’ds attempted to resurrect the dead Zombies, but the boys in the band demurred...

Resident Swimming gorgeously

zombies. Their

Station,

m ^ shambling, flesh-eating

odder

for

some

’inest titles.

adding what might be

its

greatest

non-DC exclusive epic to the undead mix: Resident Evil 2 joins he party on Dreamcast.

A 3D,

third-person survival

horror masterpiece,

RE2

puts

heroine Claire Redfield and

newbie cop Leon Kennedy

and Nintendo 64 iteraplot and pacing,

terms of

pool...

enemies. The Raccoon

nous, not to mention sharper

against tile, every darkened

corner and every moaning

crisper.

shoe

mem-

hands

greedy, tentacled

shooting out of a hole

and grabbing

the wall

at the hero, or a

tantalizing glimpse of

something

scampering across a window pane and quickly disappearing into

PUBLISHER CAPCOM DEVELOPER CAPCOM GENRE ZOMBIE AVOIDANCE ORIGIN JAPAN PLAYERS ONLINE NO ESRB E PRICE: $19.99

the murk) to churn the

ber of the Recently

Exhumed

Few games have ever come

Club helps to build a

close to capturing Evil 2's

to delicious terror.

oppressive mood, decidedly

seems to take perverse pleasure

creepy storyline and

horrific

monument The game

administering brief shocks

adrenaline at random intervals.

These scary elements, designed to

elicit

Graphics 8 They even

difficult

that'll stir

your

separate but interconnected

adventures, which sprawl (and

GD-ROMs. The game itself remains unchanged from its PC, Play

PC version

intellect.

often turn walking line into

was

us out of the game.

from

down

stairs

Gameplay 8 Evil is very,

very good...

In fact,

nothing could stop this zombie hell

Control 5 Players must push a button to walk

a straight

a Herculean task,

never a distraction big enough to pull

a heady combination—and a

clunky control system, which can tender.com), a fine

zombie can be conjured from the following ingredients: Light rum, Creme de almond. Sweet and sour, Triple sec, Orange juice and 151 proof rum. Were we a less responsible publication, we would recommend that you shake all of the ingredients with some ice, and strain the result into a collins glass over ice cubes. Then, we if we weren't so darn morally upstanding, we might suggest that you float the rum on top and serve this undead concoction with a cherry. But we won't.

the sharper, clearer

Sound 7 Ambient, diagetic sounds help sustain spookiness

puzzles

rival

brute reaction,

are mixed with moderately

It’s

BUILD A BETTER ZOMBIE... ACCORDING TO WEBSITE The Webtender (www.web

www.dreamcastmagazine.com

the water’s fine (i.e„

into

livening

hings up. Claire and Leon star

bleed) over two

City

and

Dead are on

and

in,

of justice; every dull slap of

a warzone, where the Ungrateful tour

seem even more

endlessly omi-

Evil

Come

Police Department headquarters where most of the adventure plays out is more tomb than hall

but updated graphics add extra

of Dreamcast’s

Now, Capcom

the dead

punch: characters and background

tions

antics provide endless :

being...well, heavenly.

GREG ORLANDO

February

Score:

2001 Official

# Dreamcast Magazine 75

In-Depth Reviews “Why are there so many songs about rainbows?” Well, Kermit, we could tell you but then we’d have to kill you.

Quick like a bunny To reach the few shortcuts in SSR, try the bunny hop. Simply hold down the R trigger for acceleration, then release the trigger, snap down on the analog stick and hit the trigger again for a quick jump. Do it with your eyes shut if someone's around to

wake you up

you doze

off.

KTTTI:oi3731 Better hope a sofa cushion can be used as a flotation device... t’s

never a good sign

when a new Dreamcast

game

can’t even

up to the standards of a

live

launch title. Surf Rocket like Hydro Thunder, an arcade-style speed-fest Racer,

across a watery landscape.

But unlike Hydro Thunder, it has rather mediocre graphics,

extras. With only a handful of tricks,

explore, this

even fewer cool unlockable

than the in

maps

characters and

few interesting shortcuts and

one

only serve to remind players of just

how boring the

game

soggier

last frosted flake

rest of the

is.

Visually,

SRR underwhelms

with bland textures and flat

the bowl.

environments. The waves look

Which

isn’t to

say that there

aren’t a few sparks of imagination in

Surf Rocket Racer—there

just aren't

enough

to start a

fire of frenetic fun.

There are

Official (gf

Drpamrast Magazine February 2001

a simple texture that doesn’t

move to

only

or reshape,

succeeding

looking utterly

artificial.

courses. However, only two

And while the bright skies, clear water and hidden caves

tracks have any visual

of the

create

Although there have been stories of daredevils going over the Niagara Falls in a barrel, the real challenge has been crossing the great cascade by tightrope. Since the early 1820s, more than a dozen men have walked across the fails on a single line—and one guy, William Hunt, even did it blindfolded with baskets (baskets? Was he sponsored by Pier 1 Imports?) on his feet. FACT: while plummeting down the 180-foot Falls is a showy way to drown, one can do It just as effectively in as little as six inches of water— many people are victims of their own bathtubs. If, however, the lethal tubwater is cold, one can be revived with few III effects up to an hour after unconsciousness, as long as someone is there to fish you out. Always use the buddy system, kids.

them lightly modified 13 slightly different

from a physics stand-

between and water doesn’t The wake behind rockets

point, the interaction

float.

only seven basic maps, with five of

nice, but

surf rockets

The Niagara

flair.

Falls level

racers over

(you’ll

the Niagara

Falls;

sends

Bahamas stage

are

New Amazon

quite pretty, settings in

Rome and

never guess)

York,

the

are just pretty darn dull.

final

phantom ship level has some nice scary moments. But unfortunately, the good hits

the

Unfortunately, things aren’t spiced up hy the routine gamewww.DailyRadar.CQm

I7UP TrlME

play. You’ll

choose between each with

six different racers, slightly different

eration

speed, accel-

and handling

stats.

driver for the right course. But

you’ll

once you’ve chosen a driver championship round, you can't switch drivers between

and

for a

You can’t create your own

races. In other words, you have

character, nor can you improve

to race the

the stats of the six

char-

initial

And once you become good enough acters by winning races.

handle the "expert” drivers,

there

is little

reason to bother

with the

same character, same strengths and

The limited selection

characters wouldn't be so bad if

players could use their

own

jud g ment to pick the right

all

four

an irritating way to inject more

It's

an anorexic

title.

besides the championship, but of

mode,

collect balloons, race against

the clock or challenge other

tricks,

for instance, requires

which consist of the

you can’t save your progress

plus

first

you win

three races of a champi-

onship and fluh the

final track,

some

rolls off

"bunny hop”

loops and barrel

the ramps.

Ideally,

these sorts of tricks would come in handy in the regular

players on the exact

its

game

really

shallow water

can drown iim

tricks! Great for

Grandmas!

didn’t

lack of

any real depth, Surf Rocket Racer proves (if nothing else) that a

Control 7 Three

hobbled save system, thing—twice. Given

Sound 4 Engines whine over aimless pop noodling

same

courses. Yawn. Even with the

take us long to win the whole

to the ordinary

other scenarios, you’ll

& Techniques

less-than-thrilling

between races. So

PUBLISHER CRAVE DEVELOPER CRI (CSK RESEARCH INSTITUTE, INC. GENRE RACING PLAYERS 12 ONUNE NO ESRB E

Graphics 5 In

particularly

Tricks

even worse by the fact that

the

reason

The

mastery of the game’s broad

made

is little

them are

selection of three—yes, threeis

speed, there

waste time on them.

Ranges broadly from the average

none

York.

vital

exciting.

This strange glitch

races, but since pulling stunts only adds a few seconds to the clock and often costs you

There are three other modes

limitations, through both

New

to race

artificial

calories into

choppy straightaways in the Bahamas and narrow turns in

with the beginners ever again.

But who needs replay value?

need

over again.

preston

February

Gameplay 3 Good news: i

it'll

be over i

a matter of hours i

Score:

2001 Official

i~i

# Dreamract Magazine 77

The Nightmare Child

n this day and age, it's

hard to imagine

what would motivate

a company to publish a player

mode. The deathmatch

shooter

first

apparent of them.

first

person shooter with no multiexperience

Now available with

lacks a whole variety of other

features—fun being the most

person

more than just

The game plops you

right in

the middle of a dark fantasy world with an objective that

too long and complicated to

describe

this

review. Putting the

crux

a judge-

sins of omission included!

Dreamcast game (barring the in S henmue). Whenever this happens— probably due to memory limitations— 70-thug brawl

you'll

note that the majority of

and complex, gets kind of

headless spider and

doglike monster

ilk.

fire-spitting

The bosses—

altered circus freaks like the Fat

Man-

Lady and the Cannonball

order to

their fighting skills leave

some-

thing to be desired. There's

imagination either terns or

how you

little

their pat-

battle

them.

Every confrontation turns into a mindless, boring frag-a-thon

Sounds

de grace. KISS Psycho Circus:

the devil

the details.

The Nightmare Child lacks a multiplayer mode. But its

Psycho Circus does boast the ability to throw more ene-

The game’s plotline places you

absence

mies at a player in one shot than we've ever seen in a

KISS band members. As each memher, you'll complete a given

consistent with the

game, as

Official

also

February

action-and

is in

2001

fine:

but

with no satisfaction guaranteed.

Exercises will

the rotating roles of

all

four

only

GARRETT KENYON

"^Official

Magazine

Dreamcast

trigger-

solving

PUBLISHER TAKE TWO INTERACTIVE DEVELOPER THIRD LAW/TREMOR ENTERTAINMENT GENRE FIRST PERSON SHOOTER ORIGIN US VMU PAGES 3 PLAYERS ONLINE N0000! ESRB M PRICE $49.99 1

frustration, the

Graphics 6

have you retracing

all

over the

map

seeking hidden objects and

Sound 8

passageways. Which seems out of place in a

game

that (by the

publisher’s admission) entirely

Control 5

devoted to action.

KISS Psycho Circus: The Nightmare Child ably horrible.

lost

goofy puzzles, as well.

puzzles

hideously disfigured

rest of the

so much knee-jerk

pulling

your steps

must roam through

speak

tasteless cake.

which, while imaginative

not too hard on the eyes, but

a series of frightening

the stale icing on an already

has something to do with the

story,

poorly rendered creatures of the

are sufficiently macabre and

levels while shooting

immortal something-or-other. all

gameplay

trouble, which

then transform you into an

your enemies onscreen are

circus freaks.

the coup

will

nutshell, we'll say

beat the game, you

it's

armor for your

ment-free sort of

that

another feature,

task and receive a piece of

isn't

inexcus-

just doesn't

meet today’s standards for FPS games, either in graphics or gameplay. And the fact that it has n o online nr

m ultiplayer

Gameplay 5 Straightforward shooter without a no online or multiplayer

Score:

lot of

depth;

www.DailyRadar.com

mash

“Bang!: crank the volume,

the buttons and

yell,

“Suck

up, baby!”

preston

jim

There’s no denying that Bang! is a beautiful game! But while graphics are pretty and control is solid, the shooting-and-collecting-powerups ad nauseum can get a bit repetitve (or nauseating). But give it a rent and see for yourself.

Even this game’s

level of

manic

can’t approach the most insane space shooter of all time, Blazing Lasers for the TurboGrafx. At one point, you were firing seven lasers simultaneously in a zig-zag frenzy filling the entire screen. Now that is a big bang!

combat

Best played with Pop-Rocks and and a sixer of Coke I I

m 'W ang! Gunship Elite is m J the sort of game that puts a happy, stupid

grin

on our faces.

the kind

It’s

character development. Basically,

Bang! puts you into the space pilot

some

indeed pretty fun, but

swamp

the later levels

you with

and some

will

—

^Official ifMagazine

actually take

cover behind a handy nearby

role of a hotshot

so many enemies you’re simply

asteroid. For the

who has

overwhelmed—and since you

simply fighting battle drones.

shoot just about

most

Dreamcast

part, you’re PUBLISHER RED STORM DEVELOPER RAYLAND INTERACTIVE GENRE ACTION ORIGIN UK PLAYERS ONLINE NO VMUCT4 1

game that

us crank the

lets

volume, mash on buttons and yell,

“Suck

screen.

It is,

with

all

its

The game unfolds over 19 different missions, but there

a sort of a plot

game that

own exclamation

not the

game

brings point

you’re going to

look to for things

the void of space

it's

possible by Dreamcast.

Bang!, but any

fill

of the

spectacular graphics and effects

along

the motivation

the tradition

RType— but

been executed

all

needed

of Gradius or

There

about

with the debris of our enemies.

console shooter

made

anything that moves. That’s

up, baby!" at the

at heart, a classic

suhtle

www.dreamcastmagazine.com

very

little

variation

among

can only save between

levels,

The nine different weapons

you might occasionally get frustrated by the repetition.

However,

we were

look

and sound

great, but

the visuals there

not

nation

The Dreamcast's analog

you just shoot

stick

stuff,

Graphics 9

Sound 7 Weapons sound groovy and have much

perfectly suited for this kind

power-ups and use your shield

Control 7

game, and the

now and then: but did we mention how pretty the game is? Bang! is certainly beautiful and fun to look at— but it won't give you much more than a cool callus

Ship

them. Sometimes you have

aiming means

to protect a convoy from

about anything sighted

marauding pilots, other times you have to spearhead an attack on an enormous capital ship. For the most part it is

crosshairs.

The enemy

Al,

ever,

ships

you'll

kill

rather limited.

will

make

ppt pffnrtp tn

just

your

how-

Most

only the weak-

pwadp ynur Qhntq

on your

bass.

gather

simplified

Yummy!

Spectacular weapons and explosions.

beyond imagi-

the gameplay. Basically,

frustrated by the controls.

is little

trigger finger. JIM PRESTQN._

February

2001

easy to

fly

but blasting baddies too easy.

Gameplay 5 It's

fun at

1-vi.i

first,

but soon i

grows

all too familiar.

Score: Official

# Dreamcast Magazine 79

TESTZONEARCHIVE ;ame/purlisher

DESCRIPTION

R ATING

Have some holiday cash burning a hole

3AMF/PURI ISHFR

ISSUE

your pocket? Check this out.

DESCRIPTION

RATIN G

ISSUE

WWF ATTITUDE Acclaim

ACTION AEROWINGS 2

A competent shooter/flight sim that could’ve used a

Crave

more decoration

little

AIRFORCE DELTA Konami

ARMY MEN: SARGE'S HEROES

Midway

CANNON SPIKE Capcom

A good

installation in the long running series that will please fans

Fast-paced shooter that’s fun, but ultimately disposable

arcade way

in that

UbiSoft

DRACONUS: CULT OF THE WYRM

Crave

DYNAMITE COP Sega

EXPENDABLE

GUNDAM

Issue 4:

Mar/Apr 00

Issue 7:

Sep/Oct 00

SIDE STORY: 0079 Bandai

INCOMING JEDI

JET

own ambitious design

its

It’s all

about the anime mechs

First

in this

first

and on the ground...yawn

goodness

Goth-styled

Multiplayer online fragfest goes console crazy

RED DOG

humor to spare

Hyperaction sequel send up of an old favorite with

ARENA Sega

of the Force

packaging. Cool!

and great handling

NIGHTMARE CREATURES 2 Konami

RAINBOW SIX Majesco

little

in fresh, hip

person slash 'em up with loads of story and innovative elements

Innovative systems along with cool visuals

QUAKE

III:

person shooter-fun!

action fest that could’ve used a

Taggin', skatin’, police evadin'

Sega

too well

but sophisticated strategy shooter with rough edges

difficult flawed,

An innovative

Lucas Arts

METROPOUS STREET RACER MDK2 Interplay

just repetitive

it's

little

cars...a treat for delinquents

Repetitive alien blast-fest in the air

Interplay

POWER BATTLES

GRIND RADIO Seja

MAKEN X Sega

fits its title

action game, with repetition galore

'em up with adventure elements to boot

mayhem and

and a deranged hero

gorefest with violent ghouls

and emerges a winner

Oft-delayed strategy shooter finally emerges sans multiplayer

make

Big explosions, big alien tanks and big firepower

Crave

this a cool treat

SLAVE ZERO Infogrames

Great concept, horrible execution; a multiplayer shooter gone wrong

SOUL FIGHTER Mindscape

3D weapons-based hack

SPAWN:

THE DEMON’S HAND Capcom

bottom of the DC barrel

'n slash...the

Bad mechanics, cameras and no way to

exit

menus...sob!

STAR1AHOER Crave

Beautiful, fluid

space shooting action with online play to boot

SWORD OF THE BERZERK Eidos TOY COMMANDER Sega VIGILANTE 8: 2ND OFFENSE Activision

Anime hack

slash with pretty intentions but repetitive gameplay

Imaginative

3D romp

WILD METAL RockStar Games

Tank shooter with bland graphics, but

WORMS ARMAGEDDON

Multiplayer franchise goes ballistic with

Hasbro

ZOMBIE REVENGE Sega

through childhood. Toys, guns and dinosaurs!

Arcade

style

intense terrain

worm-on-worm action

beat ’em up with zombies and no

real

6 5 6 10

9 9 6 9 6

depth

Issue 4:

Mar/ Apr 00

Issue 7:

Sep/Oct 00

Issue 5:

May/Jun 00

Issue 2:

Nov/Dec 99 Nov/Dec 99

Issue 6: Jul/Aug

Issue 5:

May/Jun 00

Issue 8:

Nov 00 Mar/Apr 00

Issue 9:

December OC

Issue 9:

December OC

Issue 6: Jul/Aug

Issue 10; Holiday

Issue 6: Jul/Aug

Issue 10: Holiday

Issue 7:

Sep/Oct 00

Issue 3: Jan/Feb

Issue 10: Holiday

Issue 4:

Mar/ Apr 00

Issue 9:

December OC

9 7

Issue 6: Jul/Aug

Issue 3: Issue 4:

Jan/Feb 00

Mar/ Apr 00

Issue 5:

May/Jun 00

Issue 4:

Mar/ Apr 00

Issue 4:

Mar/ Apr 00

Issue 2:

Nov/Dec 99

ADVENTURE BLUE STINGER Activision

Survival

BUZZ UGHTYEAR 2K Activision

Another Toy Story licensed game, but

CARRIER

honor adventure tripped up by voice acting and cameras

Moody abandoned

Jaleco

honor with some damaging flaws

airship suivival

romp through mutated Canadian

D2 Sega

Wonderfully atmospheric, short,

ECCOTHE DOLPHIN: DOTFSega

Beautiful, immersive, incredibly tough

l-SPY:

OPERATION ESPIONAGE UFO

Interactive

complex strategy

Difficult,

LEGACY OF KAIN: SOUL REAVER Eidos

Raziel ventures to

OMIKRON

Ambitious

Eidos

RAYMAN 2

time based on the cartoon

this

and a

title that’s

little

too tough for

DC with yummy graphics and

tight

its

gamers

own good

An amazing and

classic

sequel to the classic suivival honor series

fitting

THE RING: TERROR'S REALM Infogrames

Slow, plodding horror adventure with an interesting plot but no pace

SHADOWMAN Acclaim

Solid, dark, gothic underworld

SONIC ADVENTURE Sega

Sonic goes

SUPER MAGNETIC NEO

Crave

TOMB RAIDER: THE LAST REVELATION

romp as comic

and more substance; an instant

with style

Cute platformer with attitude, but a Eidos

classic

bland at times

little

Outdated engine does nothing new on Dreamcast; what a shame Crappy cameras make this a

TOY STORY 2 Activision

Shadowman

anti-hero,

not

title

for children, let alone adults

fit

Issue 5:

May/Jun 00

Issue 8:

Nov 00

Issue 8:

Nov 00

Issue 6: Jul/Aug

5 9

Every

DEAD OR AUVE 2 Tecmo

Complex, strategic

JOJO’S BIZARRE ADVENTURE

KING

0’

Capcom/Tommo

DREAM MATCH 1999 SNK CAPCOM Capcom CAPCOM 2 Capcom

FIGHTERS

MARVEL VS. MARVEL VS.

MK GOLD

Strange anime

Arcade

dream come

fighter's

touches

fighter with nice

2D fighter aimed

around

some odd places

treatment and comes out kicking

fighter gets the console

Fastpaced

but with overly simplified controls

true,

fighting with the best looking characters

at fans of the genre

Three-member tag teams done to 2D

Go Capcom!

perfection!

Midway

PLASMA SWORD Capcom

A vapid 3D me-too fighter with no

POWER STONE Capcom POWER STONE 2 Capcom

Innovative Brilliant

fighting for

anyone

punch but a good lineage

real

willing to

take a

risk

more depth than the

four-player fighting with

original

PSYCHIC FORCE 2012 Taito

Gravity-free

SOUlCAUBURNamra

Glorious

STREET FIGHTER ALPHA 3 Capcom

Good basic Street Fighter stuff, with or without the online support.

3D anime

weapons

fighter with questionable controls

fighter

done Namco’s usual way:

stunningly

STREET FIGHTER

III:

DBL IMPACT Capcom

Great looking, great playing, but missing the classic characters!

STREET FIGHTER

III:

3RD STRIKE Capcom

Pure

Street Fightin’ bliss with classic

TECH ROMANCER Capcom

Big

UFC

Strategic, realistic fighting

Crave

VIRTUA FIGHTER 3TB Sega VIRTUAL ON: ORATORIO

TANGRAM Activision

mechs beat one another up

and new characters aplenty

anime

fighter with lots of quirks

based on the underground phenom, UFC

home

Yu Suzuki’s arcade fighter comes

with

the gameplay intact

all

Robo-tastic action with no twin stick support-will you miss

it?

Maybe.

Issue 4: Mar/Apr Issue 6: Jul/Aug

4WHEEL THUNDER Midway

Tough as

4X4 EVOLUTION GOD Games

Enjoyable

DEMOLITION RACER: NO EXIT DREAM ROADSTERS Titus EPISODE

Best bass fishing ever! Arcade port

The old

JEREMY MCGRATH SUP’CROSS 2000 Acclaim Crap on

NBA SHOWTIME Midway NBA2K Sega

WWF engine with some very

wondrous

WORLD GRAND

make

Arcade slam fest

A few bugs

for

stand

to four players; fun for four or

the way of this hoop dream

Hyper arcade football action, but no upgrade

NFL BLITZ 2001 Midway

More over-the-top goodness, but

this

time

even one!

come

true

graphics or gameplay

brilliant in multiplayer

NFLQBC 2000 Acclaim

Bad gameplay mars a good franchise with no remorse at

NFLQBC 2001 Acclaim

An acknowledgebly better beast than

NFL2K Sega

The best football videogaming sim ever Okay, this really

last year,

but

still

mode

all

second

string

to grace the small screen

the best football videogaming sim to...yadda, yadda...

NHL2K Sega

One

READY 2 RUMBLE BOXING Midway

Great presentation of arcade boxing, but not deep enough to satisfy

game

RIPPIN’ RIDERS Sega

Snowboarding

fest that

SEGA MARINE FISHING Sega

More arcadey

sequel, with loads of

great hockey

that suffers from only minor flaws

may be shallow,

STRIKER PRO 2000 Infogrames

An adequate soccer sim with

SYDNEY 2000 Edos

Track

TEE OFF GOLF Acclaim

Super deformed

rONV HAWK'S PRO SKATER Crave

‘n’ field

some

but

it's

damn

fast!

new features and mini-games severe gameplay problems

button masher, Olympics events that could’ve used tweaking golfers 'tee-off to

Hands down one

charm, but not to gameplay

of the best skaters ever!

you don’t own

TONY HAWK'S PRO SKATER 2 Crave

Hands down the ULTIMATE skater ever! Go out and buy

VIRTUA ATHLETE 2KAgetec

A deeply flawed track

'n' field title

VIRTUA STRIKER 2 Sega

gflPAIENNIS

The best tennis game ever! Any questions?

port of popular arcade soccer

# Dreamcast Magazine

February

it,

this, well...

NOW!

that looks great but plays terribly title

that doesn’t

2001

make

out intact

this could-be racer prematurely

Issue 9:

an excellent racer

this

HYDRO THUNDER Midway

Port of a great arcade water racer that overcomes plain wrapping

to physics

and

detail

Issue 7: Sep/Oct

A1 5

Issue 2:

Nov/Dec 99

Wacky penguin racer too goofy and short for anyone over 10.

Issue 2:

Nov/Dec 99

It’s

FI racing for the FI purist;

as well as

SEGA GT Sega SEGA RALLY 2 Sega

racer with

Great handling

enough

charm and gameplay

some

rally racer;

looks

others need not apply

all

'Net racer with plenty of options, but no

Mini

difficulty

3 and framerate problems

whole family

SF RUSH 2049 Midway

Perfect arcade translation with loads of extras for Rush fans worldwide

SOUTH PARK RALLY Acclaim

Cartman and gang are back

SPEED DEVILS

The bane

of our existence, reviews-wise. You'll never let us forget

Vehicular

combat done

UbiSoft

STAR WARS: DEMOLITION Lucas Arts

SUZUKI ALSTARE EXTREME RACING UbiSoft

LEMANS

rEST DRIVE

Infogrames

more mediocre

for

and some

with plenty of options

TEST DRIVE V-RALLY 2 Infogrames

Brilliant

TNN HARDCORE HEAT ASC Games

Crappy controls and questionable physics

TOKYO XTREME RACER Crave

Great looking street racer with veiy limited courses-one.

TRICKSTYLE Acclaim

Smooth, ambitious hoverboard racing

WACKY RACES

FROGGER

wacky

Cel shading gets

Infogrames

make

falls

practice

little flat in

more akin

ARMADA Metro3d

Hybrid shooter/RPG with plenty o' high points and a big fanbase.

ELEMENTAL GIMMICK GEAR Vatical

Nice looking, but tough

2D RPG

with minimal storyline

SEVENTH CROSS: EVOLUTION UFO

Mar/ Apr 00

SILVER Infogrames

Action

Issue 1:

Sep/Oct 99

TIME STALKERS Sega

Flawed time-traveling RPG with good intentions but no follow-through

7 5

Issue 7:

Sep/Oct 00

Issue 6: Jul/Aug

Issue 8:

BUST-A-MOVE 4 Acclaim

Same game, same

CHU CHU ROCKET Sega MR. DRILLER Namco

Sonic Team goes cat

Issue 10: Holiday

Nov 00

WETRIX+

It’s

hijinks

wet,

SHOOTER

GIGAWINGTommo

Old-school

GUNBIRD 2 Capcom

Old-school top

Issue 2:

Nov/Dec 99

Issue 7:

HOUSE OF THE DEAD

Nov/Dec 99

SILENT SCOPE Konami

May/Jun 00

Issue 2:

Nov/Dec 99

Issue 7:

Sep/Oct 00

Issue 4:

Mar/Apr 00

Issue 2:

Nov/Dec 99

Issue 2:

Nov/Dec 99

Issue 5:

May/Jun 00

Issue 5:

May/Jun 00

Issue 6: Jul/Aug

Issue 8:

Nov 00

empire

after hero’s wife gets jacked by evil

Nov/Dec 99

Issue 3: Jan/Feb Issue 10: Holiday

Issue 6: Jul/Aug

Mar/Apr 00

Issue 4:

Mar/Apr 00

Issue 3: Jan/ Feb

Issue 6: Jul/Aug

10 3 6 5

Issue 4:

00 00

Issue 10: Holiday Issue 10: Holiday

Issue 4: Mar/Apr

Issue 7: Sep/Oct

Issue 6: Jul/Aug

Nov/Dec 99

Nov 00

AEROWINGS

Issue 3: Jan/Feb

Issue 2:

Nov/Dec 99

Issue 9:

December 00

Issue 4:

Mar/ Apr 00

Issue 9:

December 00

Issue 2:

Nov/Dec 99

2 Sega

down

scroller that's too hard

and too

Right sim gets loopy with cool

Crave

play, but

tough controls and concept

South Park license abused for gameshow aesthetic-boo

Great looking vehicle for virtual superstar, Ulala...but just too short

SEAMAN Sega

Weird, omeiy fishman-raising sim...expect

Construct a railroad,

manage

it,

game

that’s addictive,

some

ARCADE FIGHTER STICK AGETEC ASTROPAD Performance

for any fighting

Cheap DC

Nyko

Ultimate

game

Fun with

fan.

Controller that gives you

lots of other

May/Jun 00

Issue 6: Jul/Aug

00 00

Issue 8:

Nov 00

Mmmmm...

rubber. A quality

Zenith

Interact

INNOVATION 4 MEGABYTE

MEMORY CARD

INTERACTIVE BATTLE CHAIR Hunsuker

Issue 5:

May/Jun 00

Nyko Interact

RALLY

STARFIRE UGHTBLASTER

for.

available.

Solid, precise lightgun with auto-fire

Shock

good.

controller that surpasses the original

and

-reload; the best lightgun.

controllers,

and other

on your DC.

stuff,

Delicous and sturdy lime gree arcade stick, one of the best

ENTERTAINMENT MACHINE

QUANTUM FIGHTER PAD WHEEL AGETEC

games, too.

about what you paid

and pedal combos

of the better steering wheel

Six-button controller has lots of problems, but the D-pad

Lets you use Sony Dual

THE ENFORCER Topmax

GAMESHARK CDX

A must

One

Interact

DREAM MASTER CONTROLLER DREAM PAD Mad Catz DREAM BLASTER Performance

This TV

marketed as a gamer’s

It's

got

It's

like four

lots of

codes, and

lets

memory cards

but actually,

set,

May/Jun 00

Issue 7: Sep/Oct

Issue 5: May/Jun

Issue 5: May/Jun Issue 8:

Nov 00

Issue 1: Sep/Oct

December 00

Issue 2:

Nov/Dec 99

Issue 4:

Mar/ Apr 00

Issue 8:

Nov 00

Issue 10: Holiday

Issue 7:

Sep/Oct 00

Issue 7:

Sep/Oct 00

Good memoiy card

800 It’s

sit

with twice the

on your sofa while

blocks of

memoiy

can't

Pricey but very cool.

memory! And has

for a

see the above note on the this

home

be bad. And you can hook

not too reliable. Tends to lose your data. This

$10

tight screws!

on the

playing, rather than

Mad

Catz cable.

Neo Geos

Excellent lightgun but not quite as

its

all it

Nov 00

)

Issue 6: Jul/Aug

)

Issue 7: Sep/Oct

(

Issue 7: Sep/Oct

(

)

Issue 5: May/Jun

(

Issue 4:

Mar/ Apr 00

00 00 00

)

Issue 7: Sep/Oct

(

Issue 6: Jul/Aug

(

)

Issue 4:

(

Issue 5: May/Jun

deal.

cumbersome shape

that’s

Mar/ Apr 00

Issue 8:

Issue 4: Mar/Apr

blows.

Catz.

This rumble pack accessory works,

and

Mar/ Apr 00

B-"I

)

to your PC.

this thing.

Like the Pelican card, but works a lot better. This

Issue 4: Issue 4:

(

THUNDER PAK

MEMORY CARD

(a-)

Issue 5: May/Jun

This thing

Nyko

Mar/ Apr 00

You could do worse. Crappy pedals and weirdly-placed buttons.

INNOVATION 4 MEGABYTE

May/Jun 00

Issue 4:

)

together for multiplayer action.

good as the Mad

Mar/Apr 00

May/Jun 00

Issue 5:

(

SUPER SONIC CONTROLLER Beamscope

complete crap. Don't buy

Issue 4: Issue 5:

(

THRUST MASTER RACING WHEEL

Mar/Apr 00

(a-)

(a )

console.

bad.

Same

Issue 4:

Issue 6: Jul/Aug

card can’t be beat. But no screen-no minigames.

Programmable and cool-looking, but

Issue 7: Sep/Oct

floor.

Lacks weight, balance and sturdiness, but has force feedback. Interact

just a TV.

the one to get for sure.

More butt-rumbling power than you can handle.

Actually

it’s

you play import games too. one! This

Allows you to connect two

Nov 00

Issue 5:

strange results!

Cool looking chrome arcade stick with eight programmable buttons.

Interact

POWERUNK

Issue 6: Jul/Aug Issue 8:

Sep/Oct 00

Issue 5:

7 5

PERIPHERALS

At only

but not online

Wacky, addictive fun with touches of musical genius and maracas!

Urn...

Issue 7:

Issue 9:

SPACE CHANNEL 5 Sega

PERFORMANCE MEMORY CARD

bad combo

short; a

6 3 8

Lightgun shooter sans lightgun hurts this arcade classic only slightly

PERFORMANCE EXTENSION CABLE

isn't

Arcade conversion that could've used a special peripheral

May/Jun 00

Nov/Dec 99

online endeavor

first

shooter for diehard fans of the arcade genre

Issue 5:

Issue 10/Holiday

Sega's

could be fun for two players— but

The best wheel-and-pedal combo ever made

Issue 2:

Issue 10: Holiday

mouse crazy

JUMBO MEMORY PAKX2 Nyko MAD CATZ EXTENSION CABLE MAD CATZ WHEEL NEXUS 4MB MEMORY CARD Level Six PELICAN 4X MEMORY CARD

December OC

Issue 3: Jan/Feb

CHEFS LUV SHACK Acclaim RAILROAD TYCOON II GOD Games SAMBA DE AMIGO Sega

DREAMSTATION

Issue 3: Jan/Feb

maniacal, bubble-busting fun. Perfect for two players

SIM/OTHER

ALLOY ARCADE STICK

Issue 7: Sep/Oct

Issue 6: Jul/Aug

NOW!

Nov/Dec 99

Issue 2:

91S it

complex gameplay

with simplistic graphics but

ensue

wacky, and

it's

Mar/ Apr 00

Sep/Oct 00

RPG

Issue 4:

Issue 3: Jan/Feb

Issue 9:

lot

Stop reading and buy

finally arrived!

Cute mascot puzzler that should be outlawed for addictive qualities

Xatrix

Issue 2:

2 6

Wacky breeding sim

May/Jun 00

Issue 5:

Interactive

DC has

for

Issue 5:

7 7

The best RPG

Issue 2:

10 8 6

Cute sequel with more of eveiything, but not a whole

Amazing sequel to a Saturn classic comes to US. A must-buy.

Nov 00

Nov/Dec 99

6 5

dungeon crawler with great great characters

Overly simplified

FAR OFF PROMISE UbiSoft

from repetitive nature

suffers

Mar/ Apr 00

Issue 8: Issue 2:

Issue 6: Jul/Aug

to the arcade original

A great arcade port that only

Issue 4:

Issue 10: Holiday

in this licensed cart racer with attitude

surprisingly great sequel

GAUNTLET LEGENDS Midway

Nov/Dec 99

Issue 3: Jan/Feb

6 6 6

chances.

its

Nov 00

Issue 10: Holiday

9 8

the real thing

this rally racer

dampen

Retro-shooter upgrade to arcade classic not exactly up to par

SWAMPY’S REVENGE Majesco

Issue 2:

handling and crisp framerate

Issue 8;

done amazingly well

lookin’ simulation racing

Nov 00

Issue 3: Jan/Feb

of the fun

good

Issue 7: Sep/Oct

Deeply flawed arcade motorcycler that ends up being kinda fun

00 00

Issue 10: Holiday Issue 4: Mar/Apr Issue 8:

cart racing

Bad design and an outdated engine do not a good racer make Slick handlin',

Issue 10: Holiday

gameplay

solid

8 9

for the

Sep/Oct 00

Issue 8:

Spot on licensed kart racer from Looney land, with everything for fans

Issue 7:

1 7

Nov/Dec 99

Slick looking racer that doesn't handle

Infogrames

POD: SPEEDZONE UbiSoft RE-VOLT Acclaim

Issue 4:

Issue 2:

Nov/Dec 99

Issue 2:

PEN PEN TRICELON Infogrames

2 7

Issue 6: Jul/Aug

Issue 4: Mar/Apr Issue 2:

MAGFORCE RACING Crave MONACO GRAND PRIX UbiSoft

UbiSoft

Issue 2:

December 00

8 1

€1 £I

8 8

December 00 May/Jun 00

Issue 5: May/Jun

and simulation make

SKIES OF ARCADIA Sega

8 8 4 9 8

Issue 9: Issue 5:

tough sim that's reserved for tough sim nuts

beautiful, but incredibly

Precision handling

EVOLUTION

6 7

arcade derby racer that encourages vehicular carnage

Racer that uses the force for good and doesn't end up sucking

CART Racing done with some good attention

GRANDIA

a dud

two-wheels: inconsistent framerate, bad graphics, poor controls.

NFL BLITZ 2000 Midway

NFL2K1 Sega

this

dam good

Bad physics and bland visuals crash

PR1X Sega

damage modeling

racer with online elements but no

FLAG TO FLAG Sega

SUV

May/Jun 00

Hydro Thunder sensibilities

nails off road type racer with

May/Jun 00

for fans.

poor graphics

Infogrames

RACER Lucas Arts

FERRARI F355 CHALLENGE Acclaim

CONCEPT 4 WHEEL

BASS FISHING Sega

ECW Acclaim

Official

Issue 6: Jul/Aug

an arcade experience, a shame

this

“xtreme’’ events that plays great but is missing the fun

Issue 5:

S PORTS

1 ei

make

poor player controls

fielding,

Issue 5:

6 9

and characters

Nov 00

Issue 10: Holiday

FIGHTING CAPCOM VS. SNK Capcom

Nov 00

Issue 8:

CENTIPEDE Hasbro Issue 10: Holiday

8 8

gameplay

adventure hampered by dullness and gameplay problems

Great looking platformer with plenty of fun and quirk...a

UbiSoft

RESIDENT EVIL CODE: VERONICA Capcom

wilderness

unforgiving, for hardcore

5 7 7

Issue 8:

TEST DRIVE 6 Infogrames Issue 10: Holiday

Issue 3: Jan/Feb

A pentathlon of

Sega

Infogrames

LOONEY TOONS SPACE RACE

Issue 4:

7 6 2

7 5 7

Car combat meant for one, but marketed for multiplayer

some

8 5 7

game-run, don’t walk!

An arcade-y tribute to the Royal Rumble with limited characters

XTREME SPORTS

FACING

Issue 2:

vemrny mediocre 3D

Death, destruction,

& DANGEROUS Talonsoft

Nov 00

Port of a

Stuffed animal shoot

HIDDEN

Issue 8:

3 5

Simple, straightforward shooter

FUR FIGHTERS Acclaim Rockstar

7 6

over

Arcade beat 'em up fun for one round, and then

Infogrames

Nov/Dec 99

December OC

9 7

'n slash that trips

Horrible port of a horrible PlayStation wrestling

WWF ROYAL RUMBLE THQ

WORLD SERIES BASEBALL 2K1

Nov 00

Issue 2: Issue 9:

Immersive shooter that may be boring to some, but excellent to others

FIGHTING FORCE 2 Eidos

GRAND THER AUTO 2

Issue 8:

3D hack

CRAZY TAXI Sega DEEP FIGHTER

6 5

has to do. the one to get.

Mar/ Apr 00

)

Issue 4:

Mar/ Apr 00

)

Issue 4:

Mar/ Apr 00

(

Issue 4:

Mar/ Apr 00

)

Issue 6: Jul/Aug

)

Issue 5: May/Jun

(

Issue 5: May/Jun

Issue 7:

Sep/Oct 00

www.DailyRadar.com

its 9:00

am.

December 7 Do you know where

1941.

your Sega Dreamcast is?

CARRIER

Keep

mind that even

should not throw

Fly over 20 authentic

WW II airplanes.

away

you do run

inlo the

your plane in a

enemy, you

futile attack.

Challenge your dogfighting unique missions.

skills

in 17

If you know what's good for you, soldier, you're hooked into that Sega Dreamcast defending the good o! American Wavy from the enemy's surprise attack. And if you can stop 'em there, you'll have to escort those B-29's in their definitive attack on the largest naval fleet in the Pacific. I ain't talkin' bout no walk in the park here, soldier; II style. Just this is an all out adrenaline rush of aerial comhat. an Ace and his machine. Two creatures forged from burning metal, moving as one. So strap into that Sega Dreamcast, soldier, and get Iron Aces. the one of the become one of boys; ready to

Realistic instrumentation control of your craft 24/7.

puts you

Welcome

to the ultimate

code experience... We

pored over past issues.

library of

scoured the Internet.

dusted off the back

games. And when we were done, we had compiled the largest

listing

codes in ODCM history. Now, we could have just slapped these on the pagebut we decided to do something a little more interesting. We decided to make

a mini codebook. Or rather,

Codebook™. Of course,

Flip to

we decided

to let

YOU make an official ODCM how to put it together.

Mini

the end for instructions on

want to cut up your magazine, it might be a little hard to way that’ll actually let you make the book. So we’ve compiled game, here’s the mini codebook page where you’ll find the info.

you’re not into crafts or you don’t

find the codes, since they’re arranged in a this

handy

index:

you’re looking for a

Armada

Blue Stinger Centipede Chu-Chu Rocket Crazy Taxi Dead or Alive 2 Draconus

NFL NFL

NFL2K

NHL 2K

2 2

found ourselves going back again and again to one site, formerly

www.gamesages.com and now http://codes.ign.com. In

retrospect,

it’s

no sur-

prise, since the site is run

ODCM’s own code guru, Noah Massey. Anyway, if by

you’re looking for the latest

codes online— always testyer browser

ed— point

to http://codes.ign.com

Speed Devils

Revolt

Gundam Side Story

4 4 4 4 4

Ready 2 Rumble Ready 2 Rumble: Round 2

Resident Evil 2 Rippen Riders

Roadsters Rush 2049

Seaman

3 3

Jojo’s Bizarre

for codes,

Soul Fighter

Grand Theft Autio Hidden and Dangerous House of the Dead 2 Hydro Thunder Incoming

As we scoured the web

Blitz

2000 2001

Soul Calibur

3 3 3 3 3

Fighting Force 2

Resource

Blitz

7 7 7 8

Nightmare Creatures Penpen Tricelon Plasma Sword Power Stone Psychic Force 2012 Puyo Puyo 4 Quake 3 Arena Rainbow 6

Dynamite Cop ESPN Track and Field Expendable Ferrari 355

Ultimate Online

NBA Showtime NBA 2K NBA 2K 1

4 Wheel Thunder Aerodancing Aerowings 2

Adventure Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

MDK 2

Magforce Racing

Sega Bass Fishing Sega Rally Seventh Cross

10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

South Park: Chef’s Love Shack

Star

Wars

Episode

Racer

Street Fighter 2

Striker Pro

Tee Off Golf

Test Drive 6

Tokyo Xtreme Racer Tomb Raider 4 Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2

Toy Commander

Trickstyle

UFC

Vigilante 8

Virtua Fighter 3

Virtua Striker 2

Virtua Tennis

Wacky Races

16 16

14 14 15

Maken X

Shadow Man

Wetrix

Marvel vs. Capcom Mortal Kombat Gold

Slave Zero Sonic Adventure

Wild Metal Country

Zombie Revenge

CODES

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ODCM’s Super Cheater Booklet

HOW TO ASSEMBLE YOUR OFFICIAL ODCM MINI CODEBOOK"! You have the power.. .now

find a stapler

Putting together your codebook is simple. First, just cut each page out along the clotted line. Keep the pages in the same order that they were in the magazine.

Now

fold

sheet

them

the center (you

individually). Fold

may want to

fold

each

the pages so that the inside of the

has an even number on the left, and a higher odd number on the right. Flip through the book to make sure

fold

the pages are

all in

(fig. 1),

of scissors

and get

work

straight through the side. This will reduce the

margins inside the book, but

and easiest solution. The second strategy

it’s

probably the quickest

to fold over

one

half of the

book

so that the stapler can reach the center (fig. 2). Unfortunately, this method ends up leaving half of your pages creased. Finally,

you can go out and drop $40 on an extended

reach stapler that can reach the center without folding any

the right order.

Now, you need to staple the center of the codebook.

And sadly, your average Swingline just isn’t going to reach the center where you want to put the staples. So what do you do? In a pinch, you can just staple the left edge

This is the easiest way to assemble your codebook. Just put a couple of staples through the side, as close to the spine as you can. This makes the book a little harder to use, but it’ll still work and look okay.

and a pair

you can head to a copy center like Kinko’s, and ask to use their big extended reach stapler (fig.3). They probably won't even charge you for the staples, once they pages.

see how cool your codebook

By folding over half of the pages, you can staple the book in the center of the spine like a magazine (this is called “saddlestiching, FYI), which looks and works great. Except that those pages tend to stay folded. Grr...

is.

The ultimate solution is to find an extended reach stapler like this one, which can reach all the way to the middle of the spine for a neat look without bending any pages. You find these staplers at most full service copy shops.

February

2001 Official

# Dreamcast Magazine 91

FORGET ALL THE HEALTH RISKS. Beautiful People Do

It,

The

Must Be Okay!

:im )

JSSLE

It’s

over

Talk Back f The

ODCM

Official to

interview

TalkBack, the

first in

occasional series of interviews with the

movers and shakers that make the Dreamcast world so great. This time, with two members of the crack Soul Reaver team: Lead Programmer Marc David and Senior

we spoke

Designer Riley Cooper.

special effects

system, which is

really

pleased when

you see effects

all it

the great

that,

can

achieve. Finally,

ODCM:

Soul Reaver looked great. Can

we expect in

SR2,

see many improvements

graphics system quite a

improvement

is in

the

bit,

and

amount

think

the Dreamcast [polys] per

(it

best). This allows

realistic

and engaging

environments. We've also redone the

many

Look

huge jump all

for

isn’t

Soul Reaver 2

quality from Soul

fronts.

game-

see

gameplay?

puzzles be easier? Harder?

about

all

those blocks?

Will

What

game,

past.

Without giving anything away,

story this

time around?

what we feel is one of the cooler videogame story endings ever, you can expect a much more full RC:

addition to

story throughout.

includes both back

communicated

story elements that are

through murals, allowing the player to

having too

well

criticized for

them at their leisure, as as more important elements of the

learn about

So we've worked many new puzzle-

story that directly guide Raziel's

actions. Besides that, you should

related objects for Raziel to interact with

notice that every aspect of the

throughout the game. This enables us to

game’s design

increase the complexity of the puzzles

SRI was

driven by the story.

story driven, but

had many

the game, to keep up with the players'

aspects that were somewhat formulaic.

growing puzzle-solving

This time around, just about everything

ability.

ODCM: What improvements can we expect

and Kain’s

what SRI, we

clear

block puzzles.

hard to introduce

add a higher

Reaver 1 on

where

were sometimes

cloth simulation,

_94JDificiaL ._Diearncasl,Magaziae.febmary,J2Q01 .

situations

they need to do next. Also,

;

SRI on

rendered 10,000

frame at

us to have more

i ||

such as realtime IK and

to be a

a huge improvement over

SR2 is

overall.

Other great improvements

many

level of realism.

polygons at 60 frames a second. This

so the

are being very careful not to put players

polygons that we're able to push on the engine. We're rendering 50,000

be more fun

play affect the puzzles. For example,

effects,

we've done an excellent job. The main

ODCM:

more algorithmic

Marc David: We've redone the

we've also improved the

fighting will v

story-which

uncovering for the fans more

history,

what can we expect from the

to note

I'd like

SR2

In this

Raziel travels throughout Nosgoth's

improve every

that we've been

able to do

terms of graphics?

will

experience, but especially

combat—we can have more enemies onscreen at any given time. On top of

the heart of the

involves time travel.

of Raziel

aspect of the gameplay

think you'll be

into

60 frames per second on

PS2. This

incredibly

feature packed.

both the Dreamcast and the

)

lot

gameplay. For starters, the game will always be running at

Welcome

RC: That and much more. That chapter is addressed right away, and it opens

Riley Cooper: You

can expect a

improvements

that we're creating has

ODCM:

Soul Reaver ended

hanger.

Does SR2 complete

this

chapter

the saga?

cliff-

at least

been

and

inspired

means that much more cohesive

by the story itself— which

we've created a

original experience.

Parting Shots

Imagine Media, Inc. 150 North Brisbane CA 94005

Hill

Drive

EDITORIAL DCMag@imaginemedia.com

ADVERTISING

In in

which the ODCM team visits not one, not two, not three, but four secret lunch spots the course of creating one giant issue of everyone’s favorite Dreamcast magazine

WEEK ONE place for weeks.

Larry King

used to be

“It

NextGen’s secret spot, but now

it’s

ours,

of them know how to get beamed. And the place, across from a bread factory in an

Room and

autographed

major Northern

http://service.imaginemedia.com/support/dc/index.html

mopping up the last of Evan and said, “you know, bet we could build our own

alley at New Montgomery in San Fran. The server (named “Q”) was certainly cute and nice, and the bacon on the BLTs was crisp. Will the DCP happen? Time will tell. But Fran loved PSO.

his gravy, Chris turned to

for.

After

portable Dreamcast...” Fran choked on

her calamari side dish.

at the Devonshire (#2) in

soda, and the best

darn calamari steak you ever ate. (The steak sandwiches are nothing to sneeze

was at this place that Evan bemoaned the lack of a portable

at, either). It first

Dreamcast

to play in

the

WEEK THREE

Hogan’s

but

is literally

nestled inside a wholesale produce

hub near SF International which is almost as good. Opens

distribution Airport,

4am,

lunch at

closes at

2pm.

11am and

It’s

cool to go to

see a bunch of guys

drinking— it’s the end of their working day

Gingerbread

to the

plain sight under the

House, hidden

BART tracks

Oakland. The gingerbread-

covered pink house

weird

isn’t secret,

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

The next week took us

stuff— but the

WEEK TWO

717.481.8500

ODCM REGULARS Chris Charla editor-in-chief

Dan

Fitzpatrick art director

Dina Fayer managing editor Francesca Reyes senior editor

Dave Cordon associate art director Evan Shamoon associate editor Christophe Kagotani japan correspondent

folk art and, well, just

car.

REPRINTS

Minna

free relish tray (with salami!) on the itable, free refills of

CO 80322

email custserv@dreamcastmagazine.com

PSO, leaving

DCP

to die

fax 415.468.4686 jmitchell@imaginemedia.com

SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES

Boulder

to play

the rest of the staff to chat about the

because none

industrial section of a

bowed out

Hulk Hogan poster, Hogan’s features great specials and a hot turkey sandwich

there,” he

California city delivered the goods: a

Fran

email:

Customer Service P.O. Box 52850

WEEK FOUR

already, you see. In addition to the

Chris had been bragging about the

415.468.4684 xlOO

live

Cajun cooking in

New

items have to be

us feel

Dan: A giant

we were

Orleans. Evan and Chris

concentrated on napkin sketches of the

planned DC-portable, drawing nasty looks

from the staff (so they were cloth napkins, so what?).

Chet Barber, Garrett Kenyon, Greg Orlando, Jim Preston

COVER ART Sonic Team GUEST STARS/DESIGN Eric Smith, Gerry Serrano PHOTOGRAPHY Cindy Ragin

lead-filled dentist apron. sleep under really heavy covers. Dina: Flannel sheets. Flannel everything. Fran: Hanging upside down from a rafter. Chris: Cotton sheets and lots of wool

Ayrien Houchin regional advertising manager

blankets.

Jim Mitchell regional advertising manager

It’s

a layers

thing.

advance) and great

made

Ultimate bedding preferences? like to

with Cajun

other weird

piano player, amazingly

menu (most of the

ordered a day

back

awash

some

SUPPORTING CAST/EDITORIAL

Evan: Just an old parka and an alley. Dave: A grass mat on a hardwood floor with a thin gauze sheet.

ADVERTISING Doug Faust

publisher

Tim Kennedy

jpE*.

regional advertising

Megan

Fischer ad coordinator

Tiffany

Song

manager

sales coordinator

PRODUCTION Richard Lesovoy production director

Glenn Sadin production coordinator

CIRCULATION Amy

Nibbi subscription director

Jonathan Venier newsstand marketing manager Janet Amlstoso direct marketing specialist

Next Issue As good as

Peggy Mores

Issue #12 with GD-ROM On sale January 28th!

gets!

fulfillment

manager

INTERNATIONAL LICENSING REPRESENTATIVE Robert J. Abramson and Associates, Inc. 720 Post Road, Scarsdale New York 10583

SOUL REAVER 2 month we’ll have more on the darkest Vampire adventure ever to steal your gothic soul. Time travel? Giant swords? A story with an ending? Believe it.

That’s right, next

REVIEW OVERLOAD,

imagine

PT.3

Chris Anderson

Tom

when you though there simply couldn’t be any more reviews for Dreamcast, we’ve got yet another massive, overflowing review section! Just

CEO

Valentino vice president/CFO

Holly Kllngel vice president/circulation

Steve Lelbman vice president/human resources Charles Schug general counsel England president/computing Cheryl

division

Michaela Abrams president/business division

Including, we hope, many of the games that got delayed just before the Holidays.

IMAGINE ENTERTAINMENT DIVISION Jonathan Slmpson-Bint president Matt Flrme vice president/editorial director

Simon Whltcombe publishing

...And more!!

a >

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Explored!

We promise! to a

(but not quality) of issue subject to

life full

of bad licensed

change due to vagaries

games. Content in

space-time.

February

2001 Official

Dreamcast Magazine

DRIVER A -Greets colleagues with a firm self-confident handshake.

-Dated cheerleaders

high school.

-Has lipstick on underwear.

-Smokes

after sex.

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Todd McFarlane's blockbuster comic book characters come to life on Sega Dreamcast. Compete in the four-player simultaneous Battle Royal mode. Includes the original Arcade Mode and tournament style Dreamcast Mode. Alt your favorite characters from the Spawn series are faithfully recreated in the ultimate death match challenge.

All

TODD McFARLANE

Rights Reserved. A Todd McFarlane Entertainment, Inc.

Production. SPAWN, its logo, symbol, characters, and all related characters are registered trademarks of Todd McFarlane Productions. Inc. 2000. All Rights Reserved. CAPCOM and the CAPCOM logo are registered trademarks of CAPCOM CO.. LTD. CAPCOM EDGE is a trademark of CAPCOM CO., LTD. Sega, Dreamcast and the Dreamcast logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Sega Enterprises, LTD. All Rights Reserved. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. All other marks are the property of their respective holders.

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