THE EXPLOSIVE REVIEW

Story:
In 2023, an interstellar war has erupted between two races (The Maians, who are basically the ‘greys’ from alien folklore, and the Skedar, reptilian aliens who can be disguised as humans as well). Meanwhile, there is a rivalry on Earth between The Carrington Institute (owned by Daniel Carrington, it’s an R&D centre but is covertly working with the Maians) and dataDyne (a sinister defense contractor with links to the Skedar.

You, the player, are Joanna Dark (codename ‘Perfect Dark’, thanks to your impressive training and background), agent hired by the Carrington Institute to investigate suspicious reports surrounding a dataDyne insider. She then stumbles across a conspiracy between the Skedar and dataDyne whereas the Skedar are plotting to steal an alien weapon from a crashed spaceship in the ocean and use it to their advantage over the rivaling Maians.

Graphics:
Superbly defining for the platform that it is. It’s a smooth run from beginning to end with some of the best textures ever seen on the Nintendo 64. The draw distance is also quite impressive. It is clearly one of the most advanced Nintendo 64 games, complete with high-resolution graphics and even Dolby Surround Sound.

Controls:
Absolutely spectacular and highly responsive. It throws in the “GoldenEye” formula and adds on to it some of its own features to make it far easier and improved. A good example - Whereas you had to switch through your weapon inventory, all you have to do now is hold the A button and move up to the weapon you wish to use.

Gameplay:
Single player mode consists of seventeen missions. There are also multiplayer options such as co-operative and counter-operative modes as well as traditional death-match. The maps of the levels and the multiplayer mode shows a lot of effort was put into this as they are very well designed. There’s also a huge inventory of weapons to choose from here, numbering around forty (yep, that’s right!), each containing a secondary function.

The main story, or single player, never gets boring as there are stealthy missions, all-out assault missions, and defensive missions as well. The levels become increasingly more challenging as the game goes on. On the other hand, the multiplayer mode is endless loads of fun guaranteed. The game’s AI is very advanced, although it may not be perfect.

Overall:
Meet “Perfect Dark”, the game that was also known as the ’spiritual successor’ to “GoldenEye 007″. Rareware striked gold once again after “GoldenEye 007″ with “Perfect Dark”. It is almost impossible to match the type of gameplay in this, no matter how hard developers may try. You will endure plenty of playtime with this game, it’s simply huge and epic in scope.

Like “GoldenEye 007″, “Perfect Dark” introduces extraordinary FPS gameplay and multiplayer options that were a revolutionary creation of its time. “Perfect Dark” is detailed, polished, and easily one of the most memorably fun games ever conceived.

Rating: *****

Story:
If you’ve seen the movie, then you know the plot here. James Bond loses his agent friend, Alec Trevelyan, on a mission at a Russian nerve gas station where everything goes wrong. Ten years later, a new organization called ‘Janus’ arises whom are suspected to have something to do with a stolen Pirate Helicopter and seem to be in command of a fearful EMP disrupting satellite known as the GoldenEye. The leader of this organization turns out to have a personal vendetta against James Bond. 007 joins forces with Natalya Simonova (a spy and programmer who is the token Bond Girl this time around) to battle Janus and bring them down.

Graphics:
The characters resemble their realistic versions from the films, it’s like walking through the Wax Museum in Times Square and looking at all of the celebrities. The levels never fail to satisfy as they are breathtakingly astonishing and resemble many of the sets and scenes from the movie itself. Last but not least, the textures here are way ahead of its time for a Nintendo 64 game.

Controls:
The controls are very suitable, especially the default mode which is basically where the stick aims and moves you forward and backward, meanwhile, the C buttons strafe you left and right. If this is not your cup of tea, then there’s several other configurations to select from. You’re bound to find one of them that works best for you.

Gameplay:
You as James Bond will gun down plenty and plenty of evil terrorists throughout the game in first-person shooter style. This may not be a smart tactical first person shooter like “Rainbow Six”, but it is far more entertaining and fun in a different way. But you also have to use some strategy here as just simply running down the hall with guns blazing will surely get you killed. All of the bad guys react astonishingly realistic, more so than say “Doom 64″, they will know when something’s not right once the guard next to him drops dead from a sniper shot.

You can shoot enemies in different body parts which will cause different reactions and movements. Your arsenal consists of about twenty-eight varying weapons - Explosives, laser guns, rocket and grenade launchers, knives, pistols, rifles, fists, uzis, remote and proximity mines, and even a tank. They have the Golden Gun here as well, also Bond’s favorite PP7 which comes in black, silver, and gold.

Aside from dispatching bad guys, there are objectives on every level which you must accomplish and they don’t always include killing everyone. The objectives are pretty much straight out of the movie (i.e. copying the key to the GoldenEye satellite, disarm bombs, etc.). There are eighteen main levels and two which need to be unlocked - Most of them are from the movie while a few have been added on. There’s plenty of variety in the levels (jungles, trains, boats, missile silos, train depot, and runway just to name some). Each area is as fleshed out as can be with absolutely excellent level design.

Overall:
This game has one of the highest replay values in both single player and multiplayer modes. Single player because the game has three levels of difficulty to choose from, each adding more objectives to the levels and smarter enemies to tackle, there’s a whole book of cheats and multiplayer maps to unlock by completing certain levels on a specific time frame. You can unlock levels and characters from previous Bond movies as well.

Multiplayer mode is a blast with options that are named after previous Bond films, some of which speak for themselves: You Only Live Twice, The Man With The Golden Gun, License To Kill, and The Living Daylights. Bond fan or not, this game is loads of fun; released nearly ten years ago in 1997, the game stills holds up its replay value to this day. “GoldenEye 007″ is a game to add right next to “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas”.

Rating: *****

Story
“Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi” closely follows the plot of the film it is based on, “Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi”, with the exception of a few levels that weren’t in the film such as Luke Skywalker fighting through the Death Star in the third act in order to reach the final boss Emperor Palpatine. For those of you who don’t know, I’ll try to break it down as short and simply as possible: Luke Skywalker, now a Jedi Knight, heads to Tattoine with his allies (Leia, Chewie, R2, and 3P0) to rescue their friend Han Solo from Jabba The Hutt. Once that is done, they head for the vacant moon of Endor where Luke must confront the evil Emperor Palpatine and redeem his father, Darth Vader. Meanwhile, the rebels engage in their final battle on the new Death Star and the evil Empire.

Graphics
SImply astounding for the Super Nintendo. All images are crystal clear and very pleasing with well-drawn
out characters.

Controls
They’re pretty much the same as they were in “Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back”. The controls operate with immense fluency, regardless of what difficulty level you select. It even has its password saving system too.

Gameplay
You can now take control of Luke Skywalker in his full Jedi Knight stage and his blaster-equipped buddies: Han Solo, Chewbacca, and recently added, Leia and Wicket the Ewok. Don’t get me wrong, even though Luke has mastered his powers, this is nothing like taking control of a Jedi on an XBOX “Star Wars” game. You begin the game with the rescuing of Han Solo from the slimy Jabba The Hutt then to the forest moon of Endor and finally the fully-operational second Death Star.

You will do battle with bosses such as Jabba’s Palace Door Droid, the Rancor beast, Darth Vader (who is a bit easier to beat this time around), and finally the ultra-difficult Emperor Palpatine who is very unforgiving with his levitation and lightning-shooting abilities.

Overall
“Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi”, also known as “Super Return of the Jedi”, was awarded Best Movie-to-Game in 1994 by Electronic Gaming Monthly. In addition, it was also awarded Best Game Gear Game of 1995 by EGM. It’s no wonder they did because this game has a lot of replay value and is a few steps up from “Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” as the challenge effect has been lowered a little, it’s still a difficult game to beat but it’s definitely not as hard as that second game.

This was the last and the best that we saw of “Star Wars” gaming until the X-Wing and Tie Fighter games on the PC/MAC and the finally the PlayStation/XBOX line of “Star Wars” games. For a more enhanced, fun, and upgraded level of playing, I’d suggest trying “Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy” for the PS2/XBOX which contains games based on all three of these films, although they are in lego format, they’re far more entertaining and enjoyable.

Rating: *****

Story
The first in a series of a trilogy of Super Nintendo games that are based on the original “Star Wars” trilogy. This one basically follows the plot of “Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope” with the exception of a few changes needed for its story to be adapted into a platform action game such as this. For one instance in particular - Luke Skywalker must leap across a series of conveyor belts and fight his way to the roof of a sandcrawler on Tattoine in order to retrieve C-3P0 and R2-D2 whereas in the film, he simply just bought them from the Jawas.

Graphics
“Aladdin” meets “Star Wars” on the Super Nintendo pretty much sums up the graphics. They’re good but not perfect. Luke comes off as a pretty boy, the lightsaber looks like a big icy, and the enemies don’t appear menacing at all. The only exceptions are the levels and the bosses in them - All of them were neatly conceptualized and received. I understand that this is a Super Nintendo game and graphics of course can’t exactly be up to today’s present standards but at least it looks 3-D during the cut-scenes and the final fight.

Controls
The learning curve takes about ten-fifteen minutes and you’ll have it down. However, if it doesn’t work out for you, you can always simply change it.

Gameplay
You begin “Super Star Wars” with only a blaster but end up with a lightsaber (and a blaster) as the game progresses. There’s plenty of juicy power-ups to collect to enhance your weaponry and physique to assist your victory in combat. You get to play as Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Chewbacca, each of which have different capabilities. You will commandeer different vehicles such as the Landspeeder and X-Wing. You’ll play through fifteen levels ranging from the planet of Tattoine, inside the Death Star, and to the Final aero space battle on the surface of the Death Star. Last but not least is a variety of bosses to battle at the end of each level, each with their own level of difficulty. The final boss is Darth Vader in his Tie Advanced Fighter aircraft.

Overall
Awarded Best Action/Adventure Game of 1992 by Electronic Gaming Monthly (and not to mention, Best Movie-to-Game), “Super Star Wars” takes advantage of all the Super Nintendo capabilities and technology at its panel and uses the plot from the feature film to craft an amazingly superb action-packed video game. Of course, as I mentioned earlier, you will find some sub-plots and elements, even boss characters, that were not in the actual movie but were required in order to make the video game adaptation work. These new additions do not downgrade the game in any way but instead make it more fun and throws some challenge into the mix. Pop the cartridge in, turn your Super Nintendo on, and may the force be with you!

Rating: *****

Story
A madman scientist by the name of Dr. Tongue has created and unleashed a vast army of monsters to take over the world for him. However, teenage brother and sister Zeke and Julie set out to stop him and his evil creations with all the weaponry and ammunition one can ask for.

Graphics
The cartoony graphics are perfect for the game’s concept, they match the silly humor. Plus, since there is a wide variety of monsters and bosses to do battle with as well as large environments to explore, leaving you with plenty of new things to look at as you progress through each level. This is almost like a watered-down 2D precursor to “Dead Rising”, except with more monsters besides zombies.

Controls
The controls are quite simple and basic as it only consists of four buttons to use. Very memorable and fluid-like, allowing you to handle your character with ease throughout each and every level.

Gameplay
You have the choice of playing two characters, Zeke and Julie, who are both brother and sister. You can also play both in two player mode which is loads of fun. Whether it’s one player or two player, you navigate these characters through suburban neighborhoods, shopping malls, pyramids, castles, football fields, lakes, and more - there is a total of 55 levels (that includes bonus levels too). Each level has a maximum of ten neighbors you need to save before proceeding on to the next, you must save at least one. However, the more you save, the more points you get.

Throughout these levels, you must do battle with a wide variety of horror-movie monsters such as vampires, werewolves, huge evil babies, chainsaw maniacs, giant ants, spiders, mummies, zombies, and more. The weapons are just as schlocky and silly including killer soda cans, chainsaws, bazookas, and water guns. The boss characters gradually become more and more difficult as the levels progress. From a shopping mall with giant ants and zombies to a pyramid with mummies and to a mine shaft with a giant snake, the gameplay is LOADS of fun.

Overall
“Zombies Ate My Neighbors” is huge and expansive in its own concept and contains enough things to do in it to make the game far more interesting and appealing than say… “Super Mario Brothers”, leave that for the whittle kiddies. There are so many references and comical tributes to classic horror films ranging from the 1950s through the 1980s including “Them!”, “A Nightmare On Elm Street”, “Child’s Play”, “Psycho”, “Dracula”, and the list goes on.

With countless weapons, enemies, and different environments with plenty of exploring to do, this classic game qualifies for excellency. The only downside is that sometimes the game can get repetitive, especially if you get very far into it only to keep on getting killed because the bosses get a bit too difficult. I’d say this game deserves a remake on the XBOX 360 or PS3. Imagine what this would be like with 4 players instead and superb 3D graphics? Somebody please make it happen.

Rating: *****