**************************************************** The Jaguar Gaming Journal Spring 1996 **************************************************** All information in this file is factual unless otherwise stated. The Jaguar Gaming Journal is published by Jeffrey Norwood, with contributors from CompuServe's Atari Gaming and Video Gaming forums, along with Internet contributors from the Atari USENET group and selected World Wide Web sites. All related Jaguar, including "Jaguar", names are trademarks or registered trademarks of Atari. All rights reserved. All games mentioned in the issue are trademarks of their respective companies. All rights reserved. **************** The Litter Box by Jeffrey Norwood (editorial) **************** Welcome back! The Jaguar Gaming Journal is once again here with another edition, this time for the loyal owners of the Jaguar, who have gone through almost three years of a rocky-road, and still remain apart of the best system on this green planet (but is it green?). For the past few months, since February I believe, I have contemplated making another switch into a Playstation. Each and every time, I always look back and see that the system hooked up to my Zenith 19" television is a system that not only gave me my fifteen minutes of fame, but also gave me fifteen-centuries worth of fun and excitement. And each time, I ask my older and oldest brother (the same person!) what he might do, and he says make the switch. Salesman also are persuasive. But I must ask -- is it worth going through another large chunk of money to own a system that lives on hype? I continue to say "no." I currently own seventeen of the Jaguar's best titles, a Jaguar CD-player, two control pads, and a wall full of Jaguar posters. My younger and second youngest brother (the same person!!) owns a Saturn, and I'm not totally impressed. Good arcade games, but arcade games tend to be short. And unoriginal. My youngest brother owns a Virtual Boy, but I wonder where the virtual gaming is. My older brother (the oldest one!) owns a Super Nintendo, Nintendo 8-bit, and Atari 2600 (he just got it - he likes going back to classics, and I don't blame him). He may invest his money in a Nintendo 64. I am looking forward to it, but I am very happy with my Jaguar. In the coming months, The Jaguar Gaming Journal will be presenting conferences (like last year), interactive messages (via CompuServe and the Internet), and re-launch the homepage, all to continue to please the ones who truly care -- the Atari Jaguar owners. The popularity of Atari online magazines, including this one and others, has grown in the past few months. Some of the oldest issues are getting a surge of downloads. I suspect some people may have lost them and are going back, but could their still be new owners lurking? Interesting. Thank you for reading The Jaguar Gaming Journal, and it will continue to be published as long as the Jaguar has it's loyal owners to support it. Yours truly, Jeffrey Norwood ************* ----------------------------------- Some Interesting News.... ----------------------------------- I recently found out that Atari plans to continue supporting the Jaguar by completing one game at a time. The next title to be released by Atari will be Breakout 2000, based on the classic Atari title that continues to be played. Most recently, a version of Breakout was hidden as an "easter-egg" in the Jaguar version of Rayman from Ubi Soft, but not any other version. Other titles set for release on the Jaguar are Battlesphere from 4Play, Towers II from Telegames, and Quake from Id Software. These titles continue to be hit by rumors because of the weakened-status of the Jaguar, but at this time, the titles remained confirmed. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Classic Atari games supported online! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Pac Man! Asteroids! Dig Dug! Remember these classic Atari 2600 titles from the early 1980's? David R. Schmudde (103625,1027) of the Atari Gaming Forum is the publisher of "Classic Atari Online", which is geared towards the owners of the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 7800, and the rest of Atari's classic library. It also features a section dealing with the Jaguar. You can get "Classic Atari Online" in the same section you get The Jaguar Gaming Journal -- The Atari Gaming Forum (GO JAGUAR), the News/Reviews library. Owners of these great classic systems, and people who just want to remember the past, should download this online magazine the next time you head online! ######################################### CompuServe to add interactive games to its service! ######################################### (posted online my Jim Ness) COMPUSERVE PARTNERSHIPS TO EXPAND ONLINE GAMES OFFERINGS Online Service Bolsters Games Offerings With Numerous Leading-Edge Additions COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 20, 1996 -- As part of its renewed commitment to creating an online service that offers fun, exciting entertainment options for its members, CompuServe (NASDAQ: CSRV) today announced a relationship with Kesmai Corp. to offer numerous leading edge games to users of the CompuServe(R) Information Service. Highlighting the deal is the major online service debut of the new Windows version of Air Warrior, available now on CompuServe. This relationship comes on the heals of several other partnerships with online games leaders, including NTN Communications, Yoyodyne, Boxer Jam and GIC Software. These developments are part of an aggressive new strategy to expand the highest quality online interactive games selection in the world. "As part of this announcement, CompuServe will launch New Game City, a new online area zoned for fun that will be the cool place to play the best games," said Srini Vasan, director of Games, CB (Chat) and Conferencing. "As the online market continues its explosive growth among consumers and new computer owners, there is a huge opportunity for CompuServe's New Game City to truly become the best place for people around the world to meet, interact, and play games." Vasan added that developing strong relationships with industry leaders is key. "Online technology is ideally suited for interactive gaming because it allows people to communicate and have fun no matter where they are," Vasan said. "We want to use CompuServe's existing global leadership position to take command of the games, chat and conferencing segments of the online market." The relationship with Kesmai will bring the first commercial release on an online service of the new Windows version of Air Warrior, the highly popular air combat simulation game. Additionally from Kesmai, CompuServe will offer Casino Games, Classic Card Games, Classic board games (chess, bingo), Multiplayer Battle Tech, Stellar Emperor, Legends of Kesmai, Harpoon, Barbarossa, Destiny Online and Star Rangers to CompuServe users worldwide. Previously, CompuServe and NTN Communications, Inc. (AMEX: NTN) announced a worldwide licensing agreement. NTN will provide CompuServe with a minimum of 24 games during a two-year period including its trivia game shows and sports applications. NTN's Countdown(R), a popular trivia show, and QB1(R), the NFL licensed play-a-long football game, will headline NTN's product menu for CompuServe. Additional new games will include Boxer Jam's Game show, GIC Software's Word Games and Yoyodyne's Email Trivia contest. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Tempest 2000 PC CD is available from 'Bits of Fun' in the US /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Tempest 2000 for the PC is now available in the US from 'Bits of Fun', according to Dave Davis, of 'Bits of Fun'. The PC game has been available in the United Kingdom just recently. Onliners say that the game is very good, but is still shy in comparison to the Jaguar version. Check out their web-site for more info: http://www.cwest.com/bf ====================== Join ME For Some Secrets... ====================== I am not allowed to say online, but if you are interested, e-mail ME at 74447,531 and I will be e-mailing you details of some secrets. That's all I can say. !!!!!!!!!!!!!! REVIEWS !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fight For Life Atari Corporation $59.99-$69.99 Polygon-Based Fighter Features: * Texture Mapped Characters * 2 Camera Modes * Ability To Steal Moves From Fallen Opponents * Combo System * Pro-Controller Support * On Demand Replay Feature * Password Feature allows you to save and recall your customized fighter * Ability to change the game music on the fly * Secret Characters * Multiple Levels of Difficulty Overview: From the Actual Game Manual: "In a dimension parallel to living human existence is the Specter Zone -store- house of unrest, undead; journey-interrupts on the road to Heaven or Hell. Overseeing this realm is a morphing abomination called the Gatekeeper; ever watchful for opportunities of amusement. To the lucky and skillful this is also a land of hope, for the Gatekeeper has the power of redemption, the power to grant a second chance at life. You are one of eight ex-mortals traveling unexpectedly from the nightmare that was your life to the torment of an early afterlife. One of eight fighters chosen for their exceptional skills and strong will live. Don't expect to make friends. You must defeat each of your companions. You have the attention of the Gatekeeper; please him in the tournaments and he will bestow useful gifts. You must win every match, including the final and most terrifying. There can be only one victor; there will be only one life granted... it must be yours. Good luck." There, that should set the tone for this, the latest effort from Atari. And it is a very good effort. I was a little hesitant about this title. From the early hype, the bad reports from the media, the exodus of the lead programmer, the "on hold" status and then finally the reworking/coding effort going on I was getting more than just a bit concerned about this game. I tore the shrink wrap off of the box, ripped, the cart out of the box, removed the protective wrapper and jammed the cart into my Jaguar 64. I flipped the switch on, the Fight For Life Screen popped up, the music started playing and then the game screen went blank. Gulp! What happened? Not a bad cart? Doh! Ah, what is this? A dog hair in the cartridge slot.... ahhhhh. I removed it and the game booted right up. Whew! After playing the game for several days I found that each character in the game is quite interesting .... each possess several special moves, some that you can steal should you defeat them in combat. The game supports a combo system. It is important to pull off combos as these inflict more damage than the normal punches, throws and kicks. Each player is capable of both defensive and offensive maneuvers. On defense, the player can sidestep left or right by typing the shift buttons on the ProController and can avoid certain attacks by pressing button A. Offensively, each player has quite an arsenal of weapons. Kicks, Punches, Throws, Lunges, Jumps, Rolls and Specials. Ring Outs? If you are forced to the edge of the ring or you jump there yourself you will be electrocuted and you will loose the round. Wanna see that last combo or special move? Easy. At any time you can pause the action and enter the EXCELLENT replay mode. You can zoom in/out, rotate the camera up/down and rotate around the players. Pressing the joypad left or right will rewind or replay the action. This is an incredible game feature. Especially when playing against another person. You can really raz the other guy! :) The game gets progressively more difficult as you proceed. I had no problems knocking off the first two opponents. Starting with the third opponent, the artificial intelligence kicks in! At least it kicked me. OK, who's in this "Fighting Game To The Life?" (heehee.. sorry about that) Kimura, Japanese Ninja Fighter - Agile and Strong Specials: Jump Kick (combo), Push (Combo), Flip Kick (Combo), Typhoon Kick, Head Slam Ian, Soldier - Very Strong, Slow but Powerful Specials: Chop Kick, Elbo Hook, Hammer Punch (Combo), Heal Bash, Bear Hug Kara,American Mom - Fast, Flexible and Strong Specials: Face Slap Kick (Combo), Spin Elbo, Thigh Smash, Double Leg Kick, Head Scissor Pog, Dock Worker - Strong, Fast Specials: Headbutt (Combo), Strangle Hold, Knock-Out Punch, Slide, Face Smasher Mr. G., Pro Boxer - Strong Punches Specials: Right Hook (Combo), Forearm Smash, Grab Punch, Backfist, Rabbit Punch Mulali, Arabian Fighter - Fights Dirty, With Elbows and Belly Kicks Specials: Knee Kick (Combo), High Spin Kick, Forearm Spin (Combo), Lineman Charge, Spin Toss Jenny, Worldwide Girl - Quick and Agile Specials: Leg Sweep, Shove, Ear Box, Side Kick (Combo), Back Roll Lun, Chinese Kung Fu Master - Acrobatic, Fast Specials: Mawashigeri (Combo), Shoulder Throw, Shove Kick, Flying Kick, Lift Slam When you defeat a character you get to select two of the defeated fighters moves. These moves become part of your arsenal! The game gives you a password so that when you begin the game later you can start with these added attributes. Nice touch. The Play Control: The control is very good. I highly recommend that you use a ProController with this game as it uses every button on the thing. You can still use the classic pad but you will have to use the keypad buttons to perform some of the moves. Make your human opponent use the old pad. ;) The Graphics: Ok, the game is not as graphically impressive as Virtua Fighter Remix/2 or Tekken. That said, the texture-mapped players are quite detailed and move fairly realistically. The arena looks bland - composed of solid squares. The backgrounds are sharp and convey a "dark / undead" feel . The Music and Sound Effects: The music is really good, especially considering that it is coming from a cartridge. The sound effects are great with some voice effects. You have the ability to independently adjust the music and sound effects. Overall: Fight For Life is a fun and challenging fighting game. It does not have the visual polish found in Tekken nor the AI found in Virtua Fighter II. But, this does not detract from the fact that this is a very playable and accessible game in its own right. The Scores: Play Control B Graphics B- Music B+ Sound FX B- Bang For $ B Overall B Review (C) Larry Tipton Assistant Sysop/Video Games Forum CompuServe E-mail from: Larry Tipton, 24-Jun-1996 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *ATTACK OF THE MUTANT PENGUINS* Introduction: Once more .. in the face of cold defeat and the approaching onslaught of corporate games, another screaming warrior representing creativity, awesome graphics and excellent gameplay is thrown into the fray. Attack of the Mutant Penguins has arrived and invasion is nigh! This time they don't even make the pretense of a good plot, just some head-bangin' action and plenty of laughs! In this game, a horde of aliens disguising themselves as what they think the earth's dominant species is (penguins) invade the earth and threaten to blow it to bits with a doomsday device. This causes some concern amongst the real penguins and they catch the attention of Rodney and Bernard, the Galaxy's foremost do-gooders. Rodney's armed with a frying pan and Bernard's armed with a baseball bat. Seems unlikely to stop a horde of aliens? Think again! Graphics: Opening Screens and Intros: The very first opening screens aren't so good, with nothing else but the title and instructions for going into the game (press A B or C and such drek). However .. the screen for picking which character you want to play is VERY good. The background for this screen looks like it's True Color and the animations of the characters as you rotate them is very smooth and fluid. The characters themselves look very detailed and well done. When selecting a character, they loom up close to the screen and do the pixellation bit. At this point though, who cares? In Game Backgrounds: The in-game playing area and backgrounds are small at first but get bigger. All in all, these are AWESOME! Not as good as Highlander's backgrounds, but they come pretty darned close. They're very detailed with many different types of textures on them. The 3D playing field contrasts nicely with the flat background and there is very nice movement on all the planes that the playing field occupies. In Game Character Graphics: The character sprites are excellently drawn and animated. The fake penguins and the real penguins all move like what you'd expect, that is, waddling around. Rodney and Bernard are both drawn very well, and move excellently. However, when you stop movement, wether you were moving diagnoal or straight, your character would stop in one of the 4 cardinal directions. A quirck that I didn't mind much. Bonus Games Backgrounds: Game bonuses backgrounds are very nicely done, although not as good as the in-game backgrounds. The color choices contrast nicely with the guns, water, and/or invading ships. Bonus Games Character Graphics: All character movements in the bonus games are smooth and fluid. The sprites for the characters themselves are very good, even if only 1 out of 3 are 3D while 2 are 2D. All in all, very good execution. Sound: In Game Music: For the most part, there is no in-game music. There was someone who said that this might be due to the limitations in bandwidth. I thought so too until I played a level where you could put a coin in the jukebox and music played while the sound effects kept coming and I kept bopping the mutant penguins. So now I think that the lack of music in most of the game may be due to game design and not a limitation in bandwidth. If the game were designed so that some of the machines produced music, then it would be really hard to integrate in game music with that in mind. In Game Sound Effects: Very crisp sounding! The heavy breathing of the doom device sounds like it's in stereo. Each is appropriate to the task, and there is a lot of humor kept in mind for this game. Bonus Games Music: None here, although game design wouldn't necessarily disallow music at this point .. Hmm .. strange. Bonus Games Sound Effects: Same as in-game sound effects. Gameplay: The gameplay is what RULED about this game! What you do as either Rodney or Bernard is to stop the doomsday machine from blowing up the earth. You have a variety of playfields to get through to do this. How do you do it? You find gremlins and use them to drop into machines which can kill the alien penguins, dropping them into treasure chests which give you either the parts to your weapon or other goodies such as powerups, extra gremlins, extra penguins, etc etc. Your goal is to prevent the alien penguins from getting to the other side of the scale of the doomsday machine and to get the good penguins on your side of the doomsday machine. If too many alien penguins get on their side of the scale, the machine goes off and you are hosed. You can prevent them from getting there and bopping them with your weapon, blowing them up with the dynamite or activating a machine to do your killing for you. The thing with the weapons is that you can't kill them right away, you have to grab the powerups to power your weapon to 'killing mode', which can kill both good and evil penguins so you have to be really careful. The other weird thing is that your character can't use the 3D constructs in the playing field, but the other characters can. Your character can use the teleporters to get from place to place though. As the game progresses, you get different, bigger, and more complex playing fields, as well as better machines, different powerups (the samurai powerup comes to mind). There are a number of good solutions in each playing field so you have a choice as to what you can do. Do you powerup all the machines first or do you open all the treasure boxes? Should you open this switch to release all the good penguins or wait until later? Ahh ..the power of choice. Make the wrong one and it's one toasty planet! Bonus Games!!! There are 3 bonus games that go in between the playing fields. When you finish a stage, you get to a bonus game, which consists of: Penguin Range, Penguin Attack and Penguin Control. Penguin Range consists of a crosshair and two guns which fire at wherever you target. These targets are various baddies, which include penguins or other things. Penguin Attack is your basic space invaders clone, and you get three lives to complete it. Penguin Control is where you get 3 guns which have various ranges and you lob balls at either long, mid-range, or short-range targets. Your score determines the amount of extra penguins you get for the next round. What I liked: The graphics! The sound! The gameplay! The innovation! It was all very good. What I didn't like: The fact that there are some areas that your character can walk into and disappears into. Oh well, tough cookies. You didn't sign up for a picnic. Overall: Graphics: 9.0 Sound: 8.0 Gameplay: 10.0 Keith C. Estanol/kce@netcom.com/Internet Member since 1989 "Angel on my shoulder, Devil in my pocket" / Atari and OS/2 Fanatics unite! GIF of Attack of the Mutant Penguins enclosed in ZIP'd file. Special thanks to Larry Tipton of the Video Games Forum GO VIDGAM for more pics of AMP in the Atari library. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *NBA JAM TOURNAMENT EDITION* reviewed by Black Destroyer(73771,134) FIRST GLANCE Hey! It looks like a Jaguar version of the Arcade/home megasmash! And with up to four players and Team or Head to Head options yet! Side up, tell the the computer which three man representative team of the NBA's Finest you'll be playing, and you're off! There's more stats than the first game, but those are for sissies! YOU know Cukoc's the best damn player in the league, and you've got =Turbo Power= to cover up this game's infantile judgements on his abilities! Go forth and slam! GRAPHICS Sharp, sharp, sharp. Though I personally am less than thrilled with the Giant Head thing, ya get used to it and everything else is GREAT. Solid sense of depth in the backgrounds, photoquality elements meshed with traditional stuff, and solid motion with vibrant colors throughout. And the =moves= look better than the orginal JAM. Layups look like layups, not a regular dunk. Behind-the-back passes are clearly seen for what they are, and each player seems to have a larger repetroire of fancy dunks. I don't recall Turbo being useful for stealing, but it is here. MUSIC/SOUND EFFECTS Equally GREAT. The Classic Kung Fu sounds on the superdunks, the announcer's lines- it's all here, save for the loss of "THE NAIL IN THE COFFIN!!", a not inconsiderable tragedy IMO. But he now includes player's names in his comments, so I guess it was a tradeoff. PLAYABILITY Right up there. While easy to learn, this game wil take time to master the controls of, especially since... THIS GAME'S AI IS HARD! I mean VERY HARD. In fact this is one of toughest AI's I've ever played! It was a VERY HARD fight to take all 27 teams on the EASY setting!!! I'm not kidding! I shudder to think of people who can take this thing on at the highest Level(5). And I'm not just talking about the usual "computer always wins the tipoff, always gets a 3-pointer". That's there too. They have just given you a very hard opponent here. Even the three man teams, which offer you the option of rotating an injured or exhausted player out, are only so much good. But the rewards are sweet-once a set of initials has won, they have access to "God Mode"- a full five players on every team for substitutions, plus use of the Special NBA Jam Dream team- a -huge- set of star players pulled from across teams (the best is when they announcemt "Tonight's matchup" the name for this NBAJAM team is something very much like a squawking chicken that could be someone squealing "GOD!" in a funny voice). And just to make sure you don't get bored atthe top, the game offers you a series of cross-team opponents occasionally peppered by appearances by one or more of the game's many secret characters(imagine my surprise at the chance to team with Jazzy Jeff against Mike D of the Beastie Boys and Hugo the Hornets' Mascot!) AGE FACTOR Hey the most objectionable thing you'll find here is a simulated Dennis Rodman, and since they've chosen not to offer a "Headbutt the Referee" option, I can safely say the kids are safe with this one, unless they try and backflip the ball to the net or coat their own basketballs with lighter fluid...hmmm...maybe it's =not= for all ages. FUN FACTOR: It's NBAJAM TE- either you get it or you don't. If you do, get it, got it? Good. CONTROL FACTOR Smooth, simple, solid-that's all there is. OVERALL If you want it, buy it- you won't be disappointed. NUMBER RATINGS 1-I SPIT ON THE GRAVE OF YOUR PROGRAMMER'S MOTHER 10-I AM UNFIT TO WORSHIP YOUR VIDEO GLORY GRAPHICS 9.0 It's hard to get more from a translation without changing the game itself. This is the same NBAJAM TE you've seen everywhere else. SOUND/MUSIC 9.0 Again, these are everything they're supposed to be. PLAYABILITY 9.0 How many times do I have to say it- if you've Jammed before, you'll Jam this. If you're not Jamming, Jam it, okay? CONTROLS 9.0 What are you, cyberdeaf? Go buy it already! OVERALL(standard average) 9.0 Funny how these things work. As I've said, this is just One Dammyfine Job, and no mistake. If you were waiting for the "good" Jag sport title, this is it. *Look for codes in this issue posted by Larry Tipton. GIF of NBA Jam: TE for the Jaguar enclosed in this issue. GIF attained from Video Gaming Central (GO VGCENRAL) on CompuServe. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------------------- ================= You Demand It! ================= Demand Systems, Inc. is a mail-order source for Jaguar games. At the end of the issue, there is an entire list of Jaguar games. Enjoy! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------------------- *SUPERCROSS 3-D* reviewed by Black Destroyer (73771, 134) FIRST GLANCE The mixed bag of quality this game presents is evident right from the start-after the ubiquitous Jaguar growl and Atari license icon, you are presented with a diving, swooping, slow motion view of a texture-mapped motocross arena, over which rinky-dinks a truly Kraft-quality theme track("THE CHEESEIEST") But it would be wrong to judge this game from its flaws alone, which admittedly are several. Like POWER DRIVE RALLY, this racer is most assuredly no cutting-edge game, but offers an interesting slant on the standard theme and several features that give it a very addictive quality. At the startup screen, players are offered a choice between a set of Practice laps, a single heat of races at a selection of your choice of the 14 tracks on the circuit, or a full-out tournament that can be saved. Since you'll actually be offered the Practice option again before the race, you might as well go for it now. After entering your name and selecting a Nationality, Team, and specific Rider from a selection (all meaningless), you're off, racing in two qualifying Heats and a Final Race. If you don't make at least 3rd in each Heat, you'll have to make 1st or 2nd in a Last Chance Race in order to qualify for the next step. And after selecting a track (or beginning in San Jose in Tournament Mode) and getting a solid look at the track and the record, you're ready to customize your bike. Each tire can be set to Hard, Medium or Soft, and supporting shock absorbers can be set to High, Medium or Low, as can the gearshift. I've heard some who feel these adjustments have little effect on overall performance, but I disagree strongly. I find the various settings greatly affected how my cycle turned, cornered, and rode rough spots, and finding the ones that worked best for me was crucial. Also, this is no ordinary cycle racer- this is MOTOCROSS!! Despite severe graphics problems, this game really offers a solid "feel" of the gritty, no-holds-barred sport. I had little regard for motcross before palyign this game, but I understand it now-on the swerving, purposely hard-to-take-on-a-bike tracks this sport is played on, the perfomance of the cycle isn't nearly as much the question as your ability to control the bike. The constant swerving and potential for crashes that come from the logridden trails, sandtraps, mudslicks, ramps, and sudden 180-turns of the average track make this a game of inches for all but the hardest of riders. GRAPHICS Yikes! While the texture-mapped tracks are nicely done, they're hardly the hyperpolygon wonders of more cutting edge games, and the actual cyclers themselves, including you, are strictly high-grade Sega rendered at best. If only these were its main failings. The game is also plagued with serious frame rate and perspective problems. Even if you break away from the pack, the view is choppy and unspectacular, and it only gets worse when there's anyone else to keep track of-Gods help you if wind up in the pack. I shudder to think about what the 2-player split screen mode is like. The perspective problem I could almost see as intentional- at certain points(generally just before and just after a ramp), there simply is both more and less space "there" at certain points- while you see to be a good distance behind a competitor, a hard swerve at the right moment as you approach the ramp or come off of it will land you just ahead of them. Learning how to use these can shave precious seconds off your time, and if they were =after= each jump I could see them as well-timed jumps, but your ability toshoot ahead =before= the ramp seems like a small glitch to me. MSUIC/SOUND EFFECTS: I think I've made my feelings on the music clear: Their annoying ability to stick to the mind is no excuse for their low-grade nature. As with many Jaguar games, the sound effects are not bad- what there are of them. You'll learn to recongnize this game's limited sonic repetroire all too quickly, and your rider's pain-filled "OW!" that occurs whenever he crashes that cracked you up so much the first 3,576 times will wear thin, trust me. PLAYABILITY Howd oes a game with this many faults wind up being so darned playable? I swear I was thisclosetotakingitback, but I just couldn't. Despite its very dubious graphics and repetitive sound, it just got me. Somewhere between the way different settings for each of your cycles options (front shocks, front tire, rear tire, rear shocks, gears) changes the way your bike performs and the hard, hard, hard=Hard=!HARD! driving this game requires is an obsessive motocross simulation. How many times have I been on the beam, only to have One Final Wipeout that bumped me from 1st to 3rd and fighting for it? And the pack, oh gods, The Pack...never get caught in the pack. The other riders random bumping and jostling can skew your controls so bad getting ahead and out of it can be almost impossible. And the tracks themselves are enemies, monsters, twisting, shifting warped Devils Of Motocross Doom. More than enough so that the option to shoot a fancy move on a ramp or hard bump is near-worthless given the loss of velocity it requires and its lack of counting in victory. Yes, by the time you see that scanned photo of a fist-pumping motocrosser that's supposed to be you, you'll feel as good about it as he does. CONTROL: Sorry, but due to the options in the specs of your bike, that can vary a lot, and the same settings will vary from track to track. In other words, half the =point= of this game is how variable control can be. The best I can say is I felt the control was consistent and solid inside of those considerations. AGE FACTOR: +Duh+ It's motocross, what do you think- they scanned photos of people's skinburns? Unless yer kids are frightened by repeated use of the word "OW!", this game is suitable for toddlers- by the time anyone's big enough to try and emulate this, they'll almost certainly be big enough to know better. ADDICTION FACTOR Very high. Despite its listed failings, this game Just Rocks. The combination of concentrating on control of the bike, the fight against the pack, and finding the right combination of equipment options all together on each and every track make this game very difficult to say no to for me. I recommend it knowing the Sad Outrage only a few are aware of- though track records are originally listed by name of driver, when you set any, only your Team Name will be up there, a sad reward for the tireless. Still, It's Just +Got+ Something. OVERALL If you want a change of pace from the basic racer and aren't honked about cutting-edge graphics, this game is definitely worth it. IMO, This game's playability is as outstanding as its graphics are dubious. NUMBER RATINGS 1-TRAVESTY! AN ABOMINATION UNTO THE VIDEO GODS 10-I"M TYPPING SP VADLY BECAUZE I CAN"T TAKE MY EYEZ OFF IT GRAPHICS 6 And frankly, that's considering the texure-mapping a =lot=. The frame rate problems will live in infamy. MUSIC/SOUND EFFECTS 5 Adequate, but hardly inspiring. PLAYABILITY 9 Yeah, yeah, I know- but this is no "wowie-zowie" review. I admit this game has flaws. It just had other aspects that overide them IMO. CONTROL N/A Like I said, it worked for me, but the effects of your control do vary, so I find this too hard to sum up. OVERALL(standard average) 6.3 Not as high as I'd rate it overall, myself, but I have to be fair-for all its other aspects, this game is lacking in quite a few respects. OVERALL(personal)-8.5 Okay, it's not =that= much higher, but it's more. or those more interested in gameplay than graphics, this game is solid- the combination of challenges offer plenty of gameplay. JPEG of this game enclosed in this ZIP'd file. Attained from the Atari Gaming Forum on CompuServe. GO JAGUAR, Jaguar Games library for more. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Codes for NBA Jam TE ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Special Thanks to: Larry Tipton CHEATS Note: To use the cheats, tournament mode must be turned off! At the "Tonight's Matchup" screen, enter the following: Very High Shot Cheat Up, Left, Left, Down, Right, Up, A, B, A, A, A, Down Baby Bodies B, A, B, Up, Down, Left, Right Huge Heads Up, C, A Slam Dunk Cheat Right, Left, B, A, B, A On-Fire Cheat Down, Right, A, A, B, Left Goal Tending Cheat Right, Up, Down, Down, Right, Up Offense Cheat A, Up, B, Down, B, Left, Right Pushing Cheat B, Right, A, Down, A, Right, B Push Both Cheat Down, Up, Down, Up, Left, Left, Left, Left, A, A Push Other Cheat Down, Left, Right, Up, Left, Left, Left, Left, A, B Quick Hands Cheat Left, Right, A, B, Right, Left Shot % Display Cheat Down, Up, Down, B, Up Shrunken Heads Up, Up, Up, B, C, A, A, A, A, A, A Slippery Floor B, A, Down, A, B, Right, Right, Right, Right, Right Speed Cheat Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Left, B, A 3 Point Cheat Up, Down, Down, Left, Left, Right, Up Turbo Cheat B, B, Up, Up, A, A, Up, Left Turbo Pass Cheat Down, Right, Right, A, A, Down, Left, Left, Right, B HIDDEN PLAYERS Secret Characters To access the secret characters, you must enter certain initials at the initial screen The tricky part is that each initial must be entered with a certain button. "A" means hold Option and use the "A" button. "B" means hold Option and use the "B" button. "C" means to hold Option and use the "C" button to enter the initial. N means to use any button (A, B, or C) will work, and there is no need to hold option. If you have done it correctly, you should get confirmation. Larry Bird BRD using A, C, A Hugo HGO using A, C, N Bill Clinton CIC using B, N, A Adisak ALP using C, B, A DJ Jazzy Jeff JAZ using A, A, C Fresh Prince WIL using N, B, C Kabuki DAN using A, B, N Alex XYZ using A, B, B Air Dog AIR using B, N, C Rivett RJR using C, A, N Divita SAL using N, C, A Carol "Blaze" Kowski BLZ using C, N, C Benny BNY using C, N, B Crunch CRN using N, B, A Gorilla GOR using B, B, N Prince Charles ROY using N, A, B Heavy D HVY using B, N, A Frank Thomas SOX using A, N, B Mike D MKD using C, N, C AdRock ADR using B, C, N MCA MCA using N, B, B Mark Turmell NJT using A, N, A Hillary Clinton HC using N, B, N (Danny) Weasel RAY using N, A, B Bob Ganofsky RBG using A, A, A Damion DJD using A, B, C Kerry KJG using B, B, N Mike D K M using C, C, C Phil Gelber FIL using B, A, B L Pacey PAY using N, N, C Correll CRL using C, A, N Faran Thomason FAR using A, N, N Kristine Chambers KC using N, A, N Leonard Tramiel LAT" using N, C, B Theinvanich THE using C, A, B Shawn Rosen SR using N, N, A Wanat WAN using B, N, B Gunter GUN using C, C, A Seth Rosenfield SET using N, A, B <<<<>>>> Special thanks to: Larry Tipton At the password screen enter IWANTPOWER You get all of the special moves! HIDDEN CHARACTER: See GIF of FFL. Viewable with CompuServe Information Service, or any other GIF viewer, including QuickTime. If you do not have the capability, please e-mail me for the code: 74447,531 ))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) I just got a Lynx..... ))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) As posted online... "Hi everyone... I took advantage this week of Atari's clearance sale and picked up a Lynx. The games that came with it are: Steel Talons, Pit Fighter, Hydra, and Batman Returns. I also ordered Battlezone 2000. In addition, I will prbably be picking up Checkered Flag, APB, Baseball Heros, Paperboy, and a couple others very shortly, along with another Lynx. The question is: What games do I NEED to have as a new Lynx owner? The only one I am really looking to pick up is Ms. Pac Man...(anyone have one for sale?)... Suggestions needed!" -- Randy Baer Here are the suggested titles from various members: (in no particular order) Joust Ms PacMan Battlewheels Asteroids Deluxe/Missle Command Battlezone 2000 Checkered Falg Lemmings Gauntlet IV Slime World Blue Lightning War Birds Pinball Jam Robotron 2084 Xenophobe Lynx Casino Rampart Bill and Ted Hockey Shanghai Dracula Shadow of the Beast Rampage ------------------------- GIVE ME A REASON, DON... ------------------------- A message was posted publicly in the Atari Gaming Forum that I would like to address. "Don, I've hoped for the best for you and Atari. I've continued to support Atari, and have bought about 7 new games in the last two months alone. But the answers continue to be too evasive, and the additional games I want would cost over $300.00. I can get another system and games for this cost. All I'm looking for is a reason to continue to support Atari. I love my Jag, but I work too hard to support a company who will not communicate with the customers who make their salaries possible. As a business owner, customer service is #1, and customers will only take the run around for so long. I understand that you are under company constraints, but I have a question for you. You've been around this forum for a long time and I'm sure have become familiar with a lot of people here. How do you think of the people in this forum - friends of sorts? money to still be had? Exactly what? Do you think Atari has been ethical with their customers? And if you were in our shoes, would you still support this company? Just give me a good reason Don. Thanks." ============== Let me start off by saying that Donald Thomas, Jr. of Atari has gained the trust in me as one of the most ethical business men I have been lucky enough to talk to. Suggesting that Mr. Thomas thinks as the people in the Atari Forum he's met as "another way to get money" is a great way to kill a reputation. Don has done the most work in the forum from Atari. While he has witnessed the leavings of his best working buddies, he continues to keep his spirits high, and is online every day in the Atari forum. Whether to find out what Atari owners are cheering and jeering about, or just to see if there's something maybe his son might like to know, he's here. Don has attended all of the conferences this online magazine has hosted, and has even donated prizes on Atari's behalf (but he's asked for us) for the conferences. He was always as honest as can be, but loyal to his companies policies as well. And he still is. So, do not ask Don a reason why you should support Atari. Ask yourself! Do you want to give up because the system is at a weak state? Did you buy your system to satisfy Atari or yourself? That's the question that you should think of, and nothing else. Sincerely, Jeff Norwood \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Jaguar Joke attempt gets trashed!!! \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Posted on CompuServe publicly. An individual who will remain anonymous said: "What do you do with a jaguar? You put your weed in it." Owen Courreges took care of this person in his reply: Responding to: "You put your weed in it." "Funny, I would have thought you would put AvP or Tempest 2000 in it instead." NICE JOB OWEN! That's all for now! Thank you for reading The Jaguar Gaming Journal! What's your high score? Send'em to 74447,531 and it will be publised next month! Thanks for reading! ======================================================================= JAGUAR PRICE LIST 5-1-96 (contact Demand for an update!) COMING SOON: ---------------------------------------------------------- Part No Item Description Price J9093-J BREAKOUT 2000 (JUN 96) * 45.00 ATARI JAGUAR - HARDWARE ---------------------------------------------------------- Part No Item Description Price JC017-J CABLE CAT BOX TO SC1224/1435 15.00 JC018-J CABLE CAT BOX TO AMIGA 23 * 16.00 CA019-J CABLE CAT BOX NULL MODEM CABLE * 9.00 JC001-J CABLE JAGUAR TWO-6FT CONTROLLER EXT 10.50 J8904-J CABLE JAGUAR COMPOSITE VIDEO 19.95 J8905-J CABLE JAGUAR S-VIDEO 18.00 JCASE-J CASE FOR JAGUAR RENTAL UNIT 35.00 JCART-J CASE FOR RENTAL CARTS - (GAME BOX) 3.00 JC016-J CATBOX 69.00 J8908-J JAGLINK INTERFACE 25.20 J8902-J JAGUAR AC ADAPTOR (REPLCMNT) 20.00 J8011-J JAGUAR BASE UNIT 98.00 J8800-J JAGUAR CD-ROM W/BLUE LIGHTNING * 145.00 J8907-J JAGUAR CONTROLLER PRO 6-BUTTON 26.30 J8901-J JAGUAR CONTROLLER W 12-KEY PAD 22.00 J8903-J JAGUAR GAME/TV SWITCH * 18.00 J8911-J JAGUAR MEMORY TRACK CART 26.91 J8910-J TEAM TAP (4-PLAYER ADAPTER) 25.15 ATARI JAGUAR - SOFTWARE CD ROM GAMES ---------------------------------------------------------- Part No Item Descripion Price J9055-J BALDIES CD-ROM 48.00 J9017-J BATTLEMORPH CD-ROM 48.00 J0195-J BRAINDEAD 13 CD-ROM 52.00 J0199-J DRAGONS LAIR CD-ROM 52.00 J9031-J HIGHLANDER CD-ROM 48.00 J9086-J HOVER STRIKE:UNCONQUERED LANDS CD * 48.00 J9069-J MYST CD-ROM 48.00 J0239-J PRIMAL RAGE CD-ROM 55.00 J0200-J SPACE ACE CD-ROM 52.00 J8909-J TEMPEST 2000 SOUNDTRACK CD AUDIO ** 15.00 CART GAMES ---------------------------------------------------------- Part No Item Description Price J9008-J ALIEN VS PREDATOR 44.55 J9091-J ATARI KARTS 48.00 J9072-J ATTACK O/T MUTANT PENGUINS 48.00 J0109-J BRUTAL SPORTS FOOTBALL 44.12 J9020-J BUBSY BOBCAT 18.00 J0162-J CANNON FODDER 33.53 J9007-J CHECKERED FLAG 17.00 J9003-J CLUB DRIVE 17.50 J9001-J CRESCENT GALAXY 17.00 J9000-J CYBERMORPH 25.73 J9041-J DEFENDER 2000 48.00 J9006-J DINO DUDES 17.00 J9029-J DOOM 44.55 J0112-J DOUBLE DRAGON 5 48.00 J9036-J DRAGON BRUCE LEE 17.50 J9106-J FEVER PITCH SOCCER 48.00 J9037-J FIGHT FOR LIFE 58.00 J0118-J FLASHBACK 52.00 J9040-J FLIP OUT 25.73 J9009-J HOVER STRIKE 34.00 J9043-J I WAR 48.00 J9026-J IRON SOLDIER 17.50 J9012-J KASUMI NINJA 17.50 J9097-J MISSILE COMMAND 3D 48.00 J9089-J NBA JAM TOURNAMENT EDITION 58.00 J0144-J PINBALL FANTASIES 26.00 J9101-J PITFALL: MAYAN ADVENTURE 44.55 J0249-J POWER DRIVE RALLY 56.00 J9005-J RAIDEN 17.50 J0205-J RAYMAN 4MG CART 56.00 J9061-J RUINER PINBALL 42.55 J0232-J SENSIBLE SOCCER 56.00 J9052-J SUPER BURNOUT 42.55 J9044-J SUPERCROSS 3D 48.00 J0166-J SYNDICATE 44.55 J9010-J TEMPEST 2000 34.00 J0167-J THEME PARK 44.55 J0204-J TROY AIKMAN NFL FOOTBALL 57.50 J9082-J ULTRA VORTEK (4MG-CART) 42.55 J9060-J VAL D'ISERE SKIING & SNOWBOARDING 25.73 J9070-J WHITE MEN CANT JUMP W/TEAM TAP 33.96 J9028-J WOLFENSTEIN 3D 26.00 J9042-J ZOOL 2 17.00 J9109-J ZOOP 43.00 JAGUAR PROMOTIONAL ITEMS - HARDWARE Part No Item Description Price ---------------------------------------------------------- JP002L PROMO 100%COTTON TSHIRT BLACK W/JAG 17.00 JP002XL PROMO 100%COTTON TSHIRT BLACK W/JAG 17.00 JP011 PROMO 3-D LASER HOLOGRAM KEY CHAIN 4.00 JP019 PROMO JAG ATTACHE CASE BLACK W/EYE* 35.00 JP010 PROMO JAG MAGIC MUG:EYES APPEAR/BLK 12.00 JP001 PROMO JAGUAR TWILL BASEBALL CAP ADJ 15.95 JP004L PROMO LONG SLEEVE SPORT SHIRT GRY/* 25.00 JP004XL PROMO LONG SLEEVE SPORT SHIRT GRY/* 25.00 JP016 PROMO PEWTER/BRASS JAGUAR LAPEL PIN 6.00 JP007 PROMO WAIST PACK BLACK W/EYES GRAP* 10.00 Please visit our Web site at http://www.demand-sys.com/demand/