Playstation Reviews

F1 1999 : Driver 2 : Mr Drille r: Speedball 2100 : Toca Touring Car : Bishi Bashi Special
Colin Mcrae 2 : Dance Dance Revolution

Formula 1 1999 by Sony

F1 GAME SHOCKER!! - Well, it’s probably not a shock, but it’s true to say that we are currently experiencing a glut of F1 simulation games, both on consoles and the PC. I am an avid fan of F1, but have been dissapointed by all console F1 games since the original Psygnosis playstation game in 1996.

Persuaded by glowing reviews of F1’99, the third sequel to the original game, I puchased a copy a couple of weeks ago. It’s pretty common knowledge that the last game in the series (aptly titles F1 ‘98) was dog rough, and on loading ‘99 I was filled with a sudden sense of trepidation. I loved the first game in this series. Firstly, the commentary was second to none, extremely fluent, and 90% actually relavent to what was happening on screen. The surround sound was great too, you could even here the tanoy announcer when you passed the grandstands. While the graphics may not have been super fast, the atmosphere invoked by the audio track, and the accurate replication of the official timing graphics, meant you could really imagine you were driving in a real F1 race. F1’99 is fast, the graphics, while far from glitch free, are smooth and realistic, yet you never forget your playing a game. On my first go, I did very badly, couldn’t overtake anyone, and spun off at most corners. Believe it or not, this pleased me. Games are best when they are tough. A couple of more tries, and I won my first race with ease. The learning curve it seemed was not particularly sharp. I completed my first championship as world champion. Ok, I had damage turned off, but when the longevity of a game has to be dictated by manually adding obstacles, there must something wrong with the gameplay at it’s core.

Now, the commentary. Murray Walker is an old guy, but for many, he makes Formula One special on TV. For Psygnosis to sign him up on a long term contact, certainly gives them a huge weapon when battling against similarly themed titles. Chuck in Martin Brundle as co-commentator, and surely they have exactly the right icing to smear on top of their F1 games. So why did they use their trump card in such a weak and unsatisfactory way. Make no mistake, the commentary on F1’99 is about 10% the size of that on the original F1 title. Also, unlike the original title, Brundle only comments on the track before races, adding nothing during the race itself.

Sadly it doesn’t stop there. Rather than feeding the player information on his track position, and who they are catching, the speech is restricted to occasional “Murray-isms”, (humourous mistakes he is legendary for making) and repetitive comments when you skid off of track or bump someone from behind. A complete waste of time. Murray isn’t going to last forever, it would be gratifying to see Psygnosis immortalise him in a game, not simply throw him in for the sake of it, and then make him sound like an idiot. Perhaps they feel they already did it well enough with the first game, who knows. If they had lavished as much effort on the games sound and atmosphere as they have with the accuracy of the tracks, then I have no doubt that this would be a better game. However, the two player link up option, such brilliant fun in the first game, has also been removed, making the title feel more and more like an end of quarter deadline filler rather than a valid offering for the hardcore racing fan. Cop out and cash in, hang on, that should be Psygnosis’s new advertising slogan!
Jace Rates - 4/10

DRIVER 2 - REFLECTIONS - PLAYSTATION

I quite liked the first driver game, sure it didn’t run super smooth, but the freedom it gave was unsurpassed. The added feeling of being in a seventies world of Starsky & Hutch styled cops and robbers has helped it retain a rose tinted sheen in a world of super fast 128 bit racers. It was then with some excitement that I loaded up the sequel. The idea of being able to climb in and out of different vehicles seemed like a good inclusion. Unfortunately the feature only retained it’s charm before I actually saw it in action. Very rarely does a prequel out perform it’s sequel in virtually every respect. Driver 2 suffers from an incredibly slow frame rate and the worst pop-up I've ever seen on the system. If you can be bothered to drive through the game’s new curved roads, you’ll see that they have been just as badly implemented as the awkward way you change vehicles. Colour is also used in a very drab way, with gray roads merging at times with the gray city and the gray cars. Please ignore the variety of magazines who have been bribed into giving this an above average rating. This game is a dog, and a prime example of how far you shouldn’t try to push a system with inadequate programmers.
Jace Rates 2/10

Speedball 2100 - Playstation

Ah, finally a game for the not so retro gamers. Sure, playstation versions of Asteroids and Defender are fine, but developers seem to have forgotten about the twenty years of games inbetween. Speedball by the Bitmap Brothers, originally for Commodore’s Amiga, was a game which converted many to the future sport genre. The mixture of fighting and net ball was a big hit and lead to its reinvention two years later. Speedball 2 Brutal Deluxe was a huge hit, adding pinball elements to the original concept, along with a bigger game area, and strange bonus icons. The title was an instant classic, earning a top five position in most hardcore gamers favorites. Ten years later, and the game is reborn. Gamers across the world have been praying that the Bitmaps didn’t mess up the near perfect gameplay of the prequel.

The answer is, no, they haven’t messed it up, but they haven’t added anything either. You control a squad of polygon players, and the idea of the game is not only to score in the slot shaped goals at either end of the screen, but to gain extra points by lighting stars at the side of the screen, or raising the totaliser meaning goals earn more points. The totaliser is raised by throwing the ball down a loop the loop channel, lighting lights to signify success. This all possibly sounds a bit complicated, but in reality it’s not. Thrown into the mix are a variety of bonus icons, which can inflict effects on your opposition, like reversing their moves, or turning the ball red hot so they drop it. Finally, there are quantities of coins littered throughout the arena. These can be collected to improve your players statistics in further rounds. Thankfully, all these elements gel together nicely, and the game remains playable particularly in two player mode. One player management options are welcome, but Speedball 2 was never really a one player game. The thing about this sequel, is that nothing really has changed. Animation is jerky, and the players tend not to move as fast as you like. At times the pace still remains frantic, but in the end, this game is little more than a replica of the original. Overall, this is the only way you’ll play Speedball on a 32-bit console, and salvages some credibility just because of that. Jace Rates: 5/10

Mr Driller - Playstation

Namco are a games company who have had their position knocked lately. Their first Playstation 2 titles, Tekken Tag and RRV failed to impress, and their continued reliance on stale formats and licenses is beginning to become too evident. It is then with some refreshment I view Mr Driller. As a self proclaimed expert of retro games, it is with some delight that I see one of my favorite games being exploited, in this case, Boulderdash. You start at the top of the screen, and must make it through five sections of deep rock. This rock is made up of crystal blocks, which can be knocked through. In amongst the crystals are air bottles, which you need to keep stocked up. Making holes in the crystal blocks causes the ones above to fall down, if they meet up with blocks of the same colour, they will stick together. If large groups of crystals fall on similarly large chunks of the same colour, then they will explode, in a similar fashion to Puzzle Fighter by Capcom. Some blocks are inpenetratable unless you drill them many times, which in turn uses up large amounts of air.

It all sounds rather complicated, but in play, is really simple, you just have to keep digging down as low as you can without getting crushed or running out of air. Points are earned relative to the depth you get to, and scores are saved permanently on memory card. Mr Driller is incredibly addictive. The graphics while pretty plain, are very functional. Sound is excellent with rather cheesy themes adding to the retro feel of the game. The only thing missing from the title is the lack of a two player option. Surely a split screen battle to see who could dig the deepest would have been easy enough to implement. Hopefully the imminent Dreamcast version will fix this problem. Overall, a classic slice of puzzle action, bound to rest unsuccessfully with it’s current technology lead peers, but undeservedly so. Jace Rates: 7/10

TOCA WORLD TOURING CARS - Playstation

Codemasters, it could be argued, didn’t really need to sequel their excellent Toca 2 Playstation game, and should instead be focussing their efforts on the next generation of PS2 games. However, now it’s here, it is well worth covering. The most revolutionary part of WTC is that you get to play an entire career, rather than just playing individual rounds. Your whole history is recorded as you play through various seasons in different territories. You start off having to pass driving tests to qualify to drive for teams. Perform well enough, and you’ll have loads of teams crying out for your services. Progress by earning championship points, once enough are accumulated you can progress to regional championships, and then finally the world championship. While it would have been difficult to implement a two player game in this mode, it is what would have put the icing on the cake. Both players were allowed to enter the championships in the previous Toca game, so it seems sad the same privilege can’t be kept in, just because the game works differently. Ok, that said, what of the driving itself. Well, it’s no secret the Playstation is getting a bit clunky, but Codemasters have worked really hard to bring a very realistic driving experience. Firstly, things are fast, if you spin off at a corner, you are going to know about it, as you are bound to ram into the barrier and damage your car. This brings us to the next point, real-time damage is included, which means if you damage your car too badly, you are out of the race, or at least will struggle to the end. Engine and tyre damage is the most painful. If you get a puncture, your wheel will eventually explode. You actually have to steer left or right to compensate for the wheel damage. If your engine takes a smash, you’ll lose power, and have to fight even harder to keep your position. The most exciting part of the whole package has to be the intelligence of your rival drivers. They really battle for position, and can be properly pressured into mistakes. Accidents can happen between cars way out ahead of you, leaving you primed to pick up the pieces.

There’s more too, sparks fly up from broken bumpers, pit stops see animated repair men, and new views include inside the cockpit. There is no denying that this is a great racing game, the only stumbling block is the multi-player. Codemasters have tried, you can race against another player, along with the rest of the field, but long term gaming pairs will want to battle against eachother in championships, their careers compared against eachother. Yet another missed opportunity in yet another racing game which could have broken the mold.
Jace Rates 7/10

BISHI BASHI SPECIAL - Konami - Playstation

While previous rants may not have made it completely obvious, I am actually a pretty big fan of Konami. Lets face it, they have been bringing us tasty chunks of playability for almost twenty years, from the invention of the event-sports genre with Track & Field, to the king of shoot-em-ups Gradius/Nemesis, and in more recent times the ground breaking Metal Gear Solid, and the invention of Bemani, a craze which continues to spread across Japan. Their latest Playstation offering, Bishi-Bashi special mixes themes from those early sports games with puzzle and Bemani, to create a highly original multi-player game. The outline is simple, play in groups of up to eight players, then fight it out in over a hundred randomly selected mini-games. There are two game modes, Regular Bishi-Bashi, and then Hyper Bishi-Bashi. Each mode offers a different mix of games, to be fair, those in the regular version are slightly more simple, this is to allow three people to play on screen at the same time, with the screen split three ways. The Hyper version is made for two player competitions, with more complicated games thanks to half a screen each. If you are playing either game with more than two or three players, then the game randomly selects which player will play against which. After each round, medals are awarded in light of performance, the one with the most golds after the final round is the winner.

The games themselves range from the simple, like inputting numbers on a calculator, to the ridiculous, like racing cars with huge drinks cans on their roofs, to the addictive, like a fabulous control pad version of Dance Dance Revolution. Graphics are pretty typical for the playstation, with most games using simple two dimensional graphics and sometimes the colours seem too garish. On the other hand, this does provide a distinctly retro feel to the title. This title seems to have all the ingredients to make an ideal multi-player experience, however novice players will find the huge variety between rounds daunting, especially as even once a particular game is perfected, there is no guarantee that you will see it again for a very long time. In contrast, hardcore gamers will find much of the experience too simplistic, and the need for an equally skilled opponent has never seemed more evident. Jace Rates 6/10

Colin Mcrae 2 - Codemasters - Playstation

There is a saying, if it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it, and it could be argued that this is an apt phrase to be aimed at Codemaster’s original Colin Mcrae game. Thanks to the title’s commercial success I suppose a sequel was predictable, but you have to wonder how much further the aging Playstation architecture can be pushed. On starting CM2, you are presented with a now too familiar CGI introduction, which fails to convey the reality of the game within. It seems Codemasters have been impressed by Namco’s Ridge Racer V options system, as the front end of this game is similarly arty, with animated text and well chosen colours. The game itself is pretty typical rally racing fare. Graphics are rather grainy, but handling is nothing less than a perfect blend between arcade racing and realism. The various countries you race through provide very varied terrain, and countless roadside obstacles to kiss. The first level of the championship is pretty easy, I managed to win every rally to finish the season with the highest possible total at my first attempt. The next skill level however is a completely different story. Now it is time to put the driving skills you learned in the previous rally to proper use, with each country extended to eight or nine stages. I can only imagine how harsh the final skill level is, as I have yet to get there.

My favourite country in the season has to be Italy, where you get to race over some of the craziest roads you will have ever seen. Before long you seem to pick up the momentum of the game, driving perfectly round hairpins and barrier-less bends. The speed of play, particularly in Italy, is so fast that you get that warm feeling of invincibility (Which Retrogame’s own Genki Komoura would describe as Gamers High), at one stage I managed to get thirty seconds ahead of the nearest computer controlled driver. Perhaps the most important thing about Colin Mcrae 2, when compared with other rally games, is Codemasters exemplary understanding of multi-player modes. In the same way Toca 2 multi-play was so good, you and a friend can compete through a championship simultaneously. There are also turn based options, if you want more players involved, or prefer full screen action. The other feature in the game of note has to be the view system, which for the first time includes a really good “out-of-windscreen view”, though you will inevitably switch to a track only view to aid driving accuracy. Overall, a rock solid rally game, but you can’t help but wish that Codemasters would shift their huge talent for driving games to more capable formats. Jace Rates 8/10

DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION - Playstation (jap)

There is a game in my collection which just keeps coming out when friends are over, or after the pub, or when everything else seems dull. The game is Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution, the arcade hit which has you dancing like a complete tw*t in your local cinema foyet. Those of you who know of the game in the arcades may be excited about buying it for your Playstation, but don’t be, because while very successful in Japan, there are currently no plans to release it in the UK. The game itself comes supplied with a special Dance Mat, which plugs into the standard PS joypad port. To get the full benefit of the game you are going to need two pads so you can enjoy the challenge of the two player mode.

Once into the game proper you get to choose your tunes, and thankfully Konami have chosen western updates of classic disco tracks, like Kung Fu Fighting and That’s the way “ah ha ah ha” I like it. The game itself follows a familiar Bemani premise. Follow the arrows till they reach the highlighted boxes, and when in the box, step on the corresponding pad. The mat is layed out like a huge joypad, so up is to step in front of you, and left is to step to the side. Though only these four buttons are used, it isn’t long before things get really tough, with simultaneous buttons being used, and off beat rhythm’s making things complicated. One of the strangest querks of DDR is that the only way to do well in the game seems to be if you swing your arms and really get into the rhythm of the song. Anyone who approaches the title as a typical arcade game is likely to flounder. Strangely, this need to really get into the rhythm of the game is one of it’s stumbling blocks. New players in a group of friends are unlikely to feel like “getting loose” for fear of looking like the aboved mentioned “tw*t”. It is then, that you need to find relaxed close friends to play against if you are to find any real two player challenge. It is also a game that requires a certain level of fitness if you are to play for longer than fifteen minutes. Hit enough perfect steps in a row and you build up combos, and you are going to really have to shake your booty if you’re going to make long combos. As a typical fat bloke, a couple of goes a week counts as my excersise for the month!

Overall, more than the gaming oddity you would expect. Konami have created a very special experience which deserves to get a full UK release. With it’s sequel already doing the rounds in Japan, and more on the way, it definitely seems we are missing out. JACE RATES - 8/10

Medal Of Honour by EA

Like many serious gamers, my Playstation seldom gets promoted from the redundant systems cupboard, except for the occasional four player contest on International Track and Field, or a brief reminder of the sheer brilliance of Parappa the Rapper. It was then with some trepidation that I inserted Medal of Honour into the machine. The current avalanche of Playstation games makes sifting through the dross to find a gem a thankless task. Ok, on this occasion I was a glutton of the game’s associated hype. Direct involvement of Steven Spielburg, the closest thing to Goldeneye, and a world war two plot. Like a few other gamers I know, I have very fond memories of the Amiga classic, Wings, a game which beefed up an eventually monotonous series of arcade experiences with a story and plot which not only proved genuinely moving, but provided a sense that you were actually influencing the game as a whole. You often felt that your contribution of completing each arcade stage was wholely appreciated.

Perhaps it is my experience of this game which drew me to Medal of Honour. Of course, this is not a flying game, but a first person adventure, dumping you in the thick of it, carrying out daring missions in the border towns of France. Initial impressions are that all the plot ingredients are there, a clever orchestral soundtrack complements the action brilliantly, adding a glossy film like atmosphere. Movement is smooth too, anyone who has got to grips with Goldeneye will find the controls intuitive. Action is fast paced, and missions simple enough to remain unconfusing. Actually, it is perhaps this simplicity which remains the game’s biggest downfall. Missions are overly linear, objectives seem to simply appear if you travel in a certain direction for a long enough time, and there is a constant supply of health and ammo. Back on the upside is the fluid animation of the enemy, every bit as good as Goldeneye. Shoot a soldier in the foot, and he hops around holding his boot. Chuck a grenade at a couple of soldiers behind a bunker, then watch as they run, pick it up and throw it back at you. Excellent.

There are occasional glitches, but hey, this hardware is over five years old, and they don’t really interfere with the gameplay. You also can’t ignore the fact that this game would lack much of it’s atmosphere if it wasn’t for the soundtrack. War game stallwarts would also argue that the game tipifies hollywood thinking by casting the player as an American. Overall, an often tense and involving game, but not quite enough to kick the Playstation out of the cupboard long term. Jace Rates 7/10