THE GAMES
If you've just bought your new machine, you're going to want to buy some games for it. But not any old rubbish - no, you want THE BEST! We show you some of the classics available for each machine... (Of course, there may be a lot more, but here are the ones off the top of my head.)
Platform Games: Flashback, Superfrog, Lionheart, Assassin, Rainbow Islands, Zool, Putty, Fuzzball, Toki, Pang, Sleep Walker, Harlequin, Robocod, Trolls, Arabian Nights, Soccer Kid, and Parasol Stars.
Shoot 'em Ups: The Chaos Engine, SWIV, Turrican 1 & 2, Silkworm, Z-Out, Xenon 2, Battle Squadron, Project X, R-Type 2, Alien Breed, Desert Strike, Syndicate, and St. Dragon.
Beat 'em Ups: IK+, First Samurai, and Body Blows
Puzzle Games: Dynablaster, Klax, Lemmings 1 & 2 & Oh No!, Loopz, Plotting, Puzznic, and Krusty's Fun House.
Driving Games: Formula 1 Grand Prix, Lotus 1 & 2 & 3, Stunt Car Racer, Jaguar XJ220, Crazy Cars 3, Super Hang On, Vroom, and Road Rash.
Sport Games: Kick Off 2, Goal!, Sensible Soccer, Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker, John Madden's American Football, PGA Tour Golf, Links, Pro Tennis Tour, Pool, and, er, Soccer Kid? (You've already had that one. - Reader)
RPG/ Strategy/ Flight Simulation/ Adventure Games: Dungeon Master, Eye of the Beholder 1 & 2, Monkey Island 1 & 2, Populous 1 & 2, Legends of Valour, Fate of Atlantis, Interceptor, Knights of the Sky, Mega-lo-Mania, Pacific Islands, F-15 Strike Eagle 2, Civilisation, Sim City, F-19 Stealth Fighter, F-29 Retaliator, and Powermonger, Gunship 2000, and Battle Isle.
For all things A1200, see the feature this issue.
Platform Games: Super Mario 4, The Lost Vikings, Castlevania 4, Super Turrican, and Mickey's Magical Quest
Shoot 'em Ups: Super Smash TV, Axelay, Super Aleste, Super Probotector, Star Wars, UN Squadron, and Parodius.
Beat 'em Ups: Street Fighter 2 & Turbo, Final Fight, Tuff-E-Nuff, Batman Returns, and Turtles in Time.
Puzzle Games: Lemmings, Super Tetris, Super Bomberman, and Krusty's Super Funhouse.
Driving Games: Super Mario Kart, F-Zero, F1 Exhaust Heat, Top Racer, and Human Grand Prix.
Sport Games: Super Tennis, John Madden's Football '93, Striker, and Super Soccer.
RPG/ Strategy/ Flight Simulation/ Adventure Games: Zelda 3, Populous, StarWing, Actraiser and Sim City, and loads of Japanese RPGs.
Platform Games: Strider, Sonic 1 & 2, Castle of Illusion, Flashback, Robocod, Taz-mania, Mick and Mack and Mickey, and Rolo to the Rescue
Shoot 'em Ups: Thunderforce 3 & 4, Battle Squadron, Ecco, Desert Strike, and Jungle Strike.
Beat 'em Ups: Streets of Rage 1 & 2, Final Fight (CD), and Golden Axe 1 & 2.
Puzzle Games: Klax, Krusty's Super Funhouse, and Blockout.
Driving Games: Road Rash 1 & 2, Micro Machines (sort of), and Super Hang On.
Sport Games: EA Ice Hockey 1 & 2, John Madden's Football 1 & 2 & '93, and PGA Tour Golf 1 & 2.
RPG/ Strategy/ Flight Simulation/ Adventure Games: Buck Rogers, Populous, and Powermonger.
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Lotus Challenge on the MegaDrive isn't a conversion of the Amiga classic with the same name, but actually a conversion of the sequel - number 2; the reason being that the MegaDrive hasn't actually had the original, so Lotus 2 on the MegaDrive is actually the first Lotus game seen on the system - hence the title. Confused? Ah well, who cares?
Of course, if you want to know if it's better than the second Amiga version, then let me get it over and done with quickly - I don't think it is. Why is it that any conversion never manages to match up, or even better the original? Who knows?
Lotus on the MegaDrive retains all the fun of the original, but what really gets me is the fact that the cars look flat. Very flat in fact - as flat as a pancake drawn on a piece of tracing paper gone under a steam roller and... oh, you get the idea. The update doesn't seem quite as smooth, but that could just be me... And the control system - oh how I just hate the control system! It's not Electronic Arts' fault, they couldn't help it. No-one could help it, even if they tried. joypads are my pet-hate control when it comes to any driving game. My advice would be to pick up a Sega-compatible joystick somewhere. The graphics don't seem to be as 'clean' as the Amiga version either.
The basic game is still there though - travel through all 8 stages of the US of A beating the clock Out Run style.
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The courses you'll travel through include:
The Forest: Just your standard level, with trees and water and things.
The Night: Nice visual effect here, but it can be tricky to see traffic in front of you, so be careful.
Fog: Similar to the night in terms of visibility, but the track is even smaller making it hard to overtake.
Snow: Watch the ice! Heaps of snow litter the road and you don't have good response over your car. Good skill required.
The Desert: Very tricky. Go slow if possible, because it can be very easy to drift off into the sand.
Marsh: Like the forest, only 10 times harder, with mud-bogs and loads of bends.
The City: Loads of tunnels and even on-coming traffic! Personally, I prefer to stay on the left lane, and I think you would too.
Rain: Very hard! You'll need to scrape every second you have together. Don't forget your windscreen-wipers!
Lotus is a great game with many nice touches (including in-between level sequences - something the original Amiga version didn't possess). I'd go for Road Rash 2 if I had the choice (mainly because there's more variety - you can smash up the cars, for example), but you certainly could do a lot worse than this.
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