Portable Addiction: 15-Mar-92 #011

From: Atari SIG (xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 07/15/92-06:04:24 PM Z


From: xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Atari SIG)
Subject: Portable Addiction: 15-Mar-92 #011
Date: Wed Jul 15 18:04:24 1992


Contributed By: Andy Norman <ange@hplb.hpl.hp.com>

 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
               PORTABLE ADDICTION  ISSUE #11 MARCH 15th 1992
    THE NEWSLETTER FOR THE ATARI LYNX, SEGA GAMEGEAR AND NINTENDO GAMEBOY
 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

       Tjerk "MegaJerk" Heijmens Visser ......... (EDITOR)
       Yiri "Neuromancer" Kohl .................. (EDITORIAL ASSISTANT)
       Alex "Killer of Laura Palmer" Borburg .... (GAMEBOY STAFF WRITER)

      Thanks to ...     The  Funtronics Computer Shop, The International
                        Lynx Club,  Robert Jung,  Andre "ALU" Luyer, The 
                        Tom, Amsterdamned BBS,  Alizera  Malek, Mr. Doom   
                        and all the others that made this most excellent 
                        issue possible...

   Please mail your comments, flames and/or suggestions to :  tjerk@nikhef.nl 
   on Internet or bd831 on Cleveland Free-net.
   You can also reach  us now on THE DARKSIDE BBS.  The telephone number is :
   020-6969263. It is located in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
   The Fido Node Number is: 2:280/403.16

 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

                            CONTENTS:

          Editorial .................................... by Mega Jerk
          Hot News And Gossip .......................................
          Indianna Jones III (Game Gear) ............... by Yiri Kohl
          Talk with Atari .............................. by Mega Jerk
          Waganland (Game Gear) ........................ by Yiri Kohl
          Toki (Lynx) .................................. by Mega Jerk
          Video Game Ratings Report .................................
          NINTENDO: THE CREATION OF AN EMPIRE .......... by Yiri Kohl
          Cattrap ...................................... by A"TKOLP"B

 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

   Editorial:

    Again we didn't see much new things this month,  not even a new Game Gear 
   game in  Holland. The Lynx II  did arrive in the stores,  and Xybots seems
   to be on sale now everywhere but Atari has had it for allmost 2 month now!

    So this  month I talked  with some Atari guys, and in  this issue you can
   all about it.  As for the  Game Gear things have  been ultimately  slow. I 
   thought slow imports were copywritten by Atari, but Sega can do that stuff
   too I see. But we  are all waiting for the spring..... Cause we will see a
   bunch of  new games then.  And not only for the Lynx,  but also games like 
   Streetfighter II and F-15 Strike Eagle for the Game Boy!!!!!
   Though spring is  in a few day's,  I guess that we'll be  waiting for this
   much longer..... Hell, we can only hope...... 

    That was a bit of News 'n Gossip  in this section, but there is many more
   elsewhere in this issue (Namely: The talk with Atari.....)

                                            Tjerk "Mega Jerk" Heijmens Visser
                                            Editor
                                           (Hoping for a video game burst out
                                            next month!)
 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

         .   +          .       +       .              .           .    +
                  .   H O T    N E W S    A N D    G O S S I P  +      .
               .            +       .          +          .      .

   Atari:  Well,  I went to the CeBit on  saturday the 14th.  And guess what, 
           NOTHING! What a surprise! 
   
   Lynx:   Atari Corp. is now/has been selling a  D-cell battery pack for the 
           Lynx.  It's a  large plastic case,  into which you  place 6 D-cell 
           batteries. You then plug a cable from the case into your Lynx, and 
           you get lots of game-playing  time without interruption  (no exact 
           "number of hours" were given).
           The case has a clip so that you can wear it on your belt (or on the 
           edge of your  pants pocket,  or wherever),  and a loop to  carry it
           with. 
           Price is $15. Batteries not included.

   GameBoy:  Last month we had the Hyperboy,  by Konami. Now there is the Game 
             Plus. It also has a joystick, and most of the Hyperboy's gadgets.
             Next month we'll have a full hardware review of it!
             No other news about the Game*Mate sadly.......

 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

               +--------------------REVIEW--------------------+
                  Machine    : Sega GameGear
                  Title      : Indiana Jones III
                  Review by  : Yiri "Neuromancer" Kohl
                  Players    : 1
               +----------------------------------------------+

    Indiana Jones and  the Last  Crusade on the  GameGear follows  exactly the
   same storyline as all the other versions of the game.    The game is played
   over six 8-way  scrolling levels,   and your task  is to discover  the Holy
   Grail.    Your trip begins in America where you find yourself battling your
   way through  the caves of  the Coronado and  running the lenght of a moving
   circus train.   Then it's on to Germany where you must battle your way thru
   the Castle of Brunwald.   And so the game goes on and on till you reach the
   final level, where you must find the Grail.    This level is more of a race
   against the clock  where you have  to run from left to  right and jump over
   chasms and traps and the like.  Sounds exciting, doesn't it?

    Well, the game is less exciting than you might expect,  and to be honest I
   found it quite frustrating.    The controls of your  Indy aren't quite what
   they could have been, and the game is rather slow and sluggish.     This is
   also due to the lack of animation frames,  though the sprites are all drawn
   quite well.  The game looks and sounds good,  but I think most people would
   agree  with me when I say  that the game is actually a slow,   frustrating,
   sluggish and awfull  attempt at bringing in BIG money using a name of a big
   movie.  The game is  supposed to be a  cross between  platform and  arcade-
   adventure, but if you closely  examine both these aspects,  and then try to
   find either of them  back in THIS game, you will be disappointed.  The part
   of  arcade-adventuring consists of  finding certain objects like your whip,
   and these objects are  SO easy to be  found 'cos  there's only one way thru
   each level.    Then the platform-part is  the most recognizable of the two,
   but here it's obvious  that the programmers failed here horribly.    If you
   want to have some good platform fun,  buy Sonic... It's the direct opposite
   of Indy, but that's what makes it so good!    Sorry,  but I can't recommend
   Indy to anyone who's from this planet.  Avoid!

   +-->RATINGS<------------------------------------------------------------+
     Graphics ..... 7.0 - All quite good, but there's a lack of animation.
     Sound ........ 5.0 - Crunch, crunch when you walk and clap when you hit
                          someone.  Pathetic music.
     Playability .. 3.5 - Could've been some fun if it wasn't so frustrating
     Lastability .. 4.0 - You want to see what's next, but you won't want to
                          play the game no more!!!
     Overall ...... 4.0 - Though there are game worse than this, it isn't
                          very good!  Actually it's a load a rubbish.
   +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

               +--------------TALKS WITH ATARI----------------+
                  With      : Paul Groen
                  By        : Tjerk "MegaJerk" Heijmens Visser
               +----------------------------------------------+

     While I went to Atari Benelux with some guy's of the  International Lynx
    club to have a talk about Atari support for the club,we also talked about
    other things....

     So here is a list of facts given by Paul Groen:

      - There will be a development system for the Lynx on the ST (We doubt it)
      - There is another chip in the Lynx II,  Mickey and Suzy are replaced by
        the Ajax.... (We doubt that too, the Ajax is also the name for another
        Atari Mega STe thingy.....A HD-Drive actually.....)
      - The Jaguar will be a "Real" 64 Bit system (Not a parralel 32 bit) with
        True Color for about the 400 to 600 Dutch Guilders (About $ 300,-).
        Atari Germany said the same,  but they kept their  price fix safe, and
        said that it would be cheaper than the Neo Geo.
      - Atari sold  thousands of 2600 systems in  Holland while Atari does not
        push it anymore.  One of the reasons for these  relatively high sales-
        figures is the Dutch mentallity: Doesn't matter how bad it is, as long
        as it doesn't hurt the wallet....:-)
        Atari  Germany  did also sell a  great bunch  of 2600's,  40.000 to be
        exact.
      - The Lynx will be supported by big add campaign this summer.
      - On the  Atari Messe in  Dusseldorf in august (21st  till 23)  the Lynx 
        will  be  in the  spotlights,  meaning :  The Lynx  will get  a lot of 
        attention for it there.
      - Paul  Groen also  said that  Nintendo  blows  much of  their profit on  
        commercials. Those commercials don't  have the same effect as in other
        countries.
      - And the Sega has priced itself out of the market with the Game Gear so
        he doesn't expect it to be al succesfull as commonly suggested.
      - Thomas Huber had recieved a preproduction card of Rampart. He has send 
        it to a German Computer/Video magazine (we don't know which one......)
        So Germans can expect to read a review of it in their local mags soon.

 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

               +--------------------REVIEW--------------------+
                  Machine    : Sega GameGear
                  Title      : WaganLand
                  Review by  : Yiri "Neuromancer" Kohl
                  Players    : 1
               +----------------------------------------------+

    Altough I'd never heard of  this game before,  it seems that it's already
   available on a  number of format.    Yet the other version  are said to be
   educational,   this version is a  straight-forward platform  extravaganza!
   You play the role of a small baby dragon,   whose land is being terrorized
   by an evil magician.   So you set out to find the evil wiz and kick him to
   another world.   There's only one problem though,  as you're so young that
   you haven't even learned how to breathe flames yet!    Instead,  our young
   friend  has a far  more sadistic,   fiendish  and above all a  very deadly
   weapon!  Japanese text symbols!!!  AAARGH! Yes, it's true, our baby dragon
   can spit Jap text symbols!   By collecting power-ups you can get even more
   bigger text symbols.    And the bigger the symbol,  the longer the nasties
   are knocked out when hit by one!    And while collecting  these power-ups,
   your madness meter will rise, too.    (wot da heck is a madness meter, you
   might ask!).   When you have collected four power-ups the dragon goes hay-
   wire and you can storm around   and hit baddies without being killed for a
   short time.  And then there's more!    Some objects in the scenery reveal,
   when shot a few times,  other power-ups which give you extra bounce-power,
   free lives and even whole levels full of  killable enemies for you to bump
   up that score.

    The object is  to get to  the wizards  castle at  the other  side of your
   island  (the map section look a  suspicious lot like SuperMario World 4!).
   To do this you must survive  numerous levels full of platform action.  The
   game doesn't have a name as big  as Sonic the Hedgehog, but it's ten times
   harder and millions of times bigger!    There are massive  levels and sub-
   games for you to explore   (yes, subgames!  No end-of-level-guardians here
   but jolly subgames where  you play agains a  creature that invites  you to
   play, say, pick-a-pair).    The game has  the playability of a mario-game,
   so it's a definitive "must-buy".   The graphics are great (altough not all
   of the landscape is drawn with great care)  and so is the sound.  The only
   slight drawback is that the game's in  Japanese, but who cares!?!?    It's
   just plain great!

   +-->RATINGS<------------------------------------------------------------+
     Graphics ..... 9.5 - VERY cute, and above all very clear.
     Sound ........ 8.5 - Excellent sound, lot's of jolly tunes.
     Playability .. 9.7 - A cross between Wonderboy and Mario!  GREAT!
     Lastability .. 7.8 - It's huge and it's tremendous fun!
     Overall ...... 9.2 - Rush out and buy it...  NOW!!!!!!!
   +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

               +-------------------PREVIEW--------------------+
                  Machine    : Atari Lynx
                  Title      : Toki
                  Review by  : Tjerk "MegaJerk" Heijmens Visser
                  Players    : 1
               +----------------------------------------------+

    Due to lack of new games for the Lynx,  we're going to give you a preview
   of Toki. It will hit the stores any moment now (Well at least we hope so).
   
    Of course the story line is all crap...Your girlfriend has been kidnapped
   by some jerk, and you have  got to save her (what a surprise.....). But if
   you could stand  this load of crap and have  played the game on the Amiga,
   or in the  arcades you could  see that it not only has very  good graphics 
   and  fine sound, but it  wasn't the usual  Shoot-Kill-Walk-Shoot-Kill-Walk
   game.  When it was released in the arcades,  the jump/spit on your enemies
   was a nice  relief from  the other stuff.  But it doesn't  have  something 
   special, there  is nothing in the  game that makes  it stick out far above 
   the crowd of all the  other games in this genre, but then again it isn't a
   total carbon copy either.  The original designers did take a bit of effort 
   to give this game something else. 

     I can't see  why you should  buy Toki in stead  of another game.  But as 
   there are not many platform games  on the Lynx (Only Pacland and maybe one
   or two others) I would cetainly suggest you  take a look at this game when
   it will  be released,  judging on the  Amiga version.  But I've heard from 
   several people that this game  looks quite good too on the Lynx. And it is
   also very faithfull  to the other  versions of Toki.  That means that this  
   game will not be one of the easiest to finnish.
   Now, lets wait and see........

 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

                              -------------------------
                  +-----------VIDEO GAME RATINGS REPORT----------+
                              -------------------------

    Atari Lynx:

       Title                              Rating    Votes cast
  
    1) Checkered Flag                       9.0         24
    2) Robotron 2084                        8.6         18 
    3) Klax                                 8.4         29 
    4) S.T.U.N. Runner                      8.4         24 
    5) Warbirds                             8.3         32 
    6) Chip's Challenge                     8.3         27
    7) Shanghai                             8.1          9
    8) Awesome Golf                         8.0         12
    9) Todd's Adventures In Slime World     7.8         26 
   10) Scrapyard Dog                        7.8         12 
   11) Zarlor Mercenary                     7.6         19
   12) Xenophobe                            7.5         20
   13) Roadblasters                         7.5         15 
   14) A.P.B.                               7.4         18
   15) Blue Lightning                       7.2         23
   16) Ms. Pac-Man                          7.1         10
   17) Xybots                               7.0          6
   18) Gates Of Zendocon                    6.9         19
   19) Rampage                              6.9         17
   20) Qix                                  6.7          7
   21) Ishido: The way of the Stones        6.7          3
   22) Blockout                             6.5         11
   23) Electrocop                           6.4         20
   24) Rygar                                6.4          7
   25) Ninja Gaiden                         6.3         12
   26) Fidelity Ultimate Chess Challenge    6.3          7
   27) Pac-Land                             6.3          6
   28) Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure     6.2         10
   29) Viking Child                         6.0          7
   30) Paperboy                             5.7         11
   31) California Games                     5.6         32
   32) Gauntlet III                         5.2         17
   33) Hard Drivin'                         4.7          7
   34) Turbo Sub                            4.5          6
   35) Tournament Cyberball                 4.0          8
   36) Robo-Squash                          3.4          9
   

    Sega Game Gear:

    1) Sonic the Hedgehog                   9.0          5
    2) Joe Montanna Football                8.0          2
    3) Super Monaco G.P.                    8.0          2
    4) Berlin Wall                          8.0          1
    5) Junction                             8.0          1
    6) Dragon Crystal                       8.0          1
    7) Shinobi                              7.5          2
    8) Slider                               7.5          2
    9) G-Loc                                7.3          3
   10) Ninja Gaiden                         7.0          2
   11) Clutch Hitter                        7.0          1
   12) Space Harrier                        7.0          1
   13) Castle of Illusion                   6.7          3
   14) Devilish                             6.5          2
   15) Factory Panic                        6.0          1
   16) Gallaga '91                          6.0          1
   17) Woody Pop                            6.0          1
   18) Columns                              5.4          7


    Nintendo Game Boy:

    1) Nemesis II                          10.0          1
    2) Pipe Dream                           7.0          4
    3) Super Mario Land                     9.0         10
    4) Final Fantasy Legend II              9.0          2
    5) Boxxle                               9.0          1
    6) Matchmania                           9.0          1
    7) Parodius                             9.0          1
    8) Probotector                          9.0          1
    9) Scrabble                             9.0          1
   10) Sword of Hope                        9.0          1
   11) Yakuman                              9.0          1
   12) Gargoyle's Quest                     7.8          4
   13) Final Fantasy Legend                 8.3          9
   14) Bill & Ted's Excellent Adv.          8.0          1
   15) Castlevania II                       8.0          1
   16) Choplifter II                        8.0          1
   17) Dr. Mario                            8.0          1
   18) Puzznic                              8.0          1
   19) Side Pocket                          8.0          1
   20) Megaman                              5.0          2
   21) R-Type                               5.5          2
   22) Tetris                               7.8         12
   23) Metroid II                           7.7          3
   24) Tetris                               7.5         16
   25) Castlevania                          7.5          2
   26) Nemesis                              7.5          2
   27) Revenge Of The Gator                 7.7          3
   28) Skate Or Die                         7.5          2
   29) Golf                                 7.7          3
   30) Chessmaster                          7.0          1
   31) Crystal Quest                        7.0          1
   32) Daedalus Opus                        7.0          1
   33) Dynamaster                           7.0          1
   34) Lock 'n Chase                        7.0          1
   35) Qix                                  7.0          1
   36) Ishido                               6.5          2
   37) F-1 Race                             5.8          4
   38) Batman                               6.0          1
   39) Puzzle Road                          6.0          1
   40) Solar Striker                        5.7          3
   41) Kwirk                                5.0          1
   42) Shanghai                             5.0          1
   43) Bases Loaded                         4.0          1
   44) Bubble Ghost                         4.0          1
   45) Paperboy                             4.0          1
   46) Play Action Football                 4.0          1
   47) Quarth                               4.0          1
   48) Sneaky Snakes                        3.0          1
   49) Boulderdash                          2.0          1
   50) Robocop II                           2.0          1

 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

               +-----NINTENDO:  THE CREATION OF AN EMPIRE-----+
                   By :   Yiri "Neuromancer" Kohl
               +----------------------------------------------+

    Although Nintendo started  out somewhere  around 1870 as  a small company
   that produced playing cards, it's now the biggest and best-selling console
   manufacturer in the world.  How did they do this? Let's take a look at the
   most obvious reasons first...

    Nintendo has always been the first to develop something new and exciting.
   They started out producing those small LCD handheld games, but soon a true
   console followed....  the NES.  Altough the GameBoy hasn't been around for
   THAT long, in Japan the machine is now about 8-10 years old!  Nintendo was
   also the first to start the creation of a 16-Bit console  (Yes, people, it
   was even released in Japan before the Genesis was available in the west!).
   Their Famicom  (SNES) was a huge success, and during the production of the
   new console there was already a shortage of it!!! Even before the official
   release date, about one third of the Japanese population had ordered their
   Famicom,  which resulted in  TREMENDOUS high prices  for those models that
   were to be exported.

    Then there's Nintendo's marketing.  It's by far the best in the world, as
   even the most avid Lynx phreak  would fall for a TV-ad  for the monochrome
   GameBoy.  There's a lot of good service if you buy Nintendo products,  AND
   you are assured a certain level of support: There will never be the chance
   that Nintendo will stop producing games for your newly bought console!  To
   maintain quality there are even special schools in Japan named..    you've
   guessed it...  Mario-schools!    Here Nintendo is teaching groups of young
   people how to produce games as addictive as Mario.  (The staff at Nintendo
   isn't  that young  anymore and there have  to be game-developers when they
   quit!).

    But then there's probably their strongest and most fearfull weapon!......
   Their Copyrights!!!

 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
               +--------------------REVIEW--------------------+
                  Machine    : Nintendo Game Boy
                  Title      : Cattrap
                  Review by  : Alex "The killer of Laura 
                               Palmer" Borburg
                  Players    : 1
               +----------------------------------------------+

     
    Yes, another  puzzle on the Game Boy. This time you must solve a  hundred
   puzzles set in an underground labyrinth.
   
   The story:

    Catboy and  his girlfriend Catgirl are  trapped in the labyrinth  because 
   they have awoken a monster during their picnic (?).
   The monster  has put an evil  curse on them,  and changed them  into cats. 
   There is one way the  curse can be removed.  All they have to do is  solve
   the  puzzles. But the  problem is that the  labyrinth is set  right in the 
   heart of the monsters' den.

    The game itself is very funny,  and the puzzles are  quite difficult. The 
   graphics are quite nice, but a bit simple.  You can compare this game with
   Boxxle, a golden oldie on the Game Boy.
   The music is also ok. After you have  finnished a puzzle catgirl or catboy
   makes a jump.
   Another good thing about this game is that when you're dead you don't have
   to start all over again, because after every puzzle you've finished you'll
   get a password.

    It  is addictive if  you don't have any puzzle games,  but if you do it's 
   nothing new.

   +-->RATINGS<------------------------------------------------------------+
     Graphics ..... 7.5 - Simple but okay.
     Sound ........ 8.0 - Nice music and sound.
     Playability .. 8.0 - Easy controles, nice puzzles.
     Lastability .. 8.0 - Because of the passwords you'll go on.
     Overall ...... 8.0 - Nice but nothing new.
   +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+


-----------------------------------------
Return to message index