Twisted Metal 2 (known in Europe as Twisted Metal 2: World Tour and Twisted Metal EX in Japan) is the second and most successful game in the vehicular combat Twisted Metal series. It was developed by the game studio SingleTrac, published by Sony, and released in 1996 for PlayStation and PC.
The PC version features slightly cut-down graphics compared to the PlayStation version but doesn't require a 3D accelerator video card. It also features multiplayer mode over a modem line or Internet.
In concept, Twisted Metal 2 is a demolition derby which permits the usage of ballistic projectiles. Players choose a vehicle and an arena-or a series of arenas in the story mode-to engage in battle with opposing drivers. A variety of weapons are obtainable by pick-ups scattered throughout the stage. The objective of the game is to be the last remaining player.
The story follows up from the first game, having a man named Calypso host a vehicular combat tournament called Twisted Metal, which grants its winner a prize: Anything they desire.
The plot is set a year after the first game, taking place in cities all over the world.
After a contractual dispute with SingleTrac, Twisted Metal development duties were handed over to Sony's in-house development team, 989 Studios. The Twisted Metal titles developed by 989 Studios were fundamentally different, as the code base was completely rewritten. Sony introduced advanced physics simulation and AI techniques to the series.
David Jaffe, co-creator of the series, once expressed his displeasure at these two iterations of the game series, and was reported to have said, "....[in and of themselves] they're good games, they're just not good Twisted Metal games."
RECEPTION
The PlayStation version has a ranking of 86% on Game Rankings.
-From Gaming.wikia.com . Released: Oct 31, 1999
Based on the old Arcade classic of the same name, Paperboy brings the game into the 3D world. Where in the old arcade game you would go down a set path and fire off newspapers at mailboxes based on your timing, this new game lets you go roam anyway you want in the neighborhood - even backwards. A time limit and health bar limit how much you can loiter, though. They've even worked in boss fights
*Note - Due to the fact there wasn't much written up on this game the host will describe what he sees from this youtube video below.*
As a Bonus - The Tv Commercial
Contra: Legacy of War is a 3D action game produced by Konami and developed by Appaloosa Interactive that was originally released in 1996 for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. It was the first of two Contra games that were externally developed by Appaloosa, followed by C: The Contra Adventure in 1998. The game marks the series' jump to three-dimensional graphics and controversial changes in gameplay. Legacy of War was released packaged with a pair of 3D anaglyph glasses, which the game supported. Legacy of War bears the distinction for being the first console game in the series to retain the Contra title and human characters during its release in the PAL region (where the series has been known as Probotector from the first NES game and up until Contra: Hard Corps). The game was once listed on Konami's release schedule in Japan, but was canceled.
STORY
Colonel Bassad, a dictator of a small country, has managed to buy off a stolen alien embryo and is now using it to breed an army of fierce alien mutants. Moreover, it is rumored that Bassad has allied himself with an unknown alien entity for his bid to world domination. Ray Poward (returning from Contra: Hard Corps) is deployed to thwart Bassad's scheme along with three of the newest members of the Hard Corps team: Tasha, a female mercenary; CD-288, a robot; and Bubba, an alien.
RECEPTION
Each character plays exactly the same except for the type of weapons they yield and their movement speed. All characters start with a machine gun and flamethrower, but the remaining two slots are for player specific weaponry. The game plays from an isometric angle. Since the game takes place in three dimensions, enemies come from all angles. Ducking and strafing have been added to the player's abilities, as well as an auto-aiming feature to help attack airborne enemies. Jumping has been slightly changed as the characters no longer do tightly curled somersault jumps (a feature in every previous game since the arcade version of the original Contra). The game no longer uses a system of lives, it uses a hit point meter instead. The player's progress can be saved to a memory card.
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire is a 1996 video game, developed by LucasArts. It was one of the first games made available for Nintendo's 64-bit system, Nintendo 64. A version for Windows 95 was released nearly a year later.
In the game, the player controls the mercenary Dash Rendar in his efforts to help Luke Skywalker and rescue Princess Leia from Prince Xizor's hands. It is part of the Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire multimedia project and takes place as a backstory between Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
STORY
The story begins shortly before the battle of Hoth, as Dash Rendar and Leebo arrive in Echo Base to deliver supplies. He briefly talks with Han Solo, who gets him a position in Rogue Squadron. Dash flies in the battle, but returns to Echo Base when the shield generator is destroyed (Just as the Millennium Falcon leaves). He makes his way through the base, attempting to return to The Outrider. Dash encounters several wampas on the way, and has to fight an AT-ST, but eventually makes it back to Leebo and The Outrider, and escape through an asteroid field...story continues
DEVELOPMENT
The work on Shadows of the Empire project started in late 1994 with the idea of making a side story to the movies, after dismissing the use of the main characters of the movies as the star of the new game, which gave the developers more freedom with the game and story, they built on the minor character from the book, Dash Rendar, who is nearly a copy of Han Solo, including a half sized, "later model" of the Millennium Falcon known as the Outrider. Jon Knoles, who was the game's Senior Artist and Animator and previously worked on other LucasArts games for PC and Super NES, is credited with bringing the idea of "Shadows" and placing it between the Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi films. While in production Shigeru Miyamoto, Senior Marketing Director of Nintendo, and creator of Mario and other famous Nintendo games, suggested while viewing the early game, that the character of Dash be animated more, such as becoming restless at waiting around and how he holds his weapons. A prototype Nintendo 64 was not yet available when the work began on Shadows and as a result the developers used a Silicon Graphics Onyx and as for a controller to test the game they were required to use a modified SNES controller designed by Konami, which was placed in a sealed box that the designers had to place their hands into. Originally the game was planned to have 19 levels, which by 1996 and its write up in Nintendo Power #83 it was down to 12 levels, and when finally release it was at a total of 10 levels. This game was unique among other Nintendo 64 titles for using a "real" orchestral soundtrack instead of synthesized music like that in Star Wars: Rogue Squadron.
Donkey Kong 64 (abbreviated as DK 64) is a platformer video game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was released in North America on November 22, 1999 and in Europe on December 6, 1999.
Donkey Kong 64 follows the adventures of the titular Donkey Kong and four of his simian relatives as they try to win back their hoard of Golden Bananas and banish the evil King K.Rool and his cronies from the vicinity of their island. Players can control all five Kongs in eight individual levels as well as a greater worldmap, a multiplayer mode, and several minigames.
Donkey Kong 64 was the first game to require the Expansion Pak, which provides more RAM for enhanced graphics and more expansive environments (in future games, the Expansion Pak was entirely optional, with the exception of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask).
GAMEPLAY
The game is a 3D adventure with strong platforming links, similar to that of Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie. There are a total of five playable Kongs, each with completely unique (and upgradeable) abilities. The player starts out with access to Donkey Kong only, then goes on to unlock each of the other four Kongs as part of the gameplay (in the order of Diddy, Tiny or Lanky, and then Chunky). Unlocking all 5 Kongs is necessary to defeat character-specific bosses in each level.
PLOT
King K. Rool is trying to destroy Donkey Kong Island with a large laser called the Blast-O-Matic, but it malfunctions after a crash that puts his floating, mechanical island face-to-face with Donkey Kong Island. To buy some time, he captures some of the Kongs and locks them up. He then steals Donkey Kong's precious hoard of Golden Bananas. As Donkey Kong frees his fellow apes, they set off to recover the bananas and defeat King K. Rool and his army of Kremlings and other evil creatures.
Main article: List of Donkey Kong characters
Donkey Kong, the titular character and the first playable character in the game, is a large, muscular Mountain Gorilla who wears a red monogrammed necktie, and his weapon of choice is the "Coconut Cannon".
Diddy Kong, who debuted in Donkey Kong Country, is a monkey in a red baseball cap and T-shirt, the latter bearing a yellow star on the back, his weapons are the "Peanut Popguns" (pistols that fire peanuts).
Tiny Kong is a Chimpanzee, and younger sister of Dixie Kong from the Donkey Kong Country games. Just like her sister, her pigtails allow her to temporarily float through the air, and unique to Tiny is the ability to shrink in size to fit into places the other Kongs cannot reach, her weapon is a "Feather Bow" (a crossbow that fires sharp feathers)
Lanky Kong, a newcomer in the Donkey Kong series, is a Sumatran Orangutan whose long arms allow him to handstand. He can also inflate himself to float. His weapon of choice is the "Grape Shooter" (similar to a blowgun).
Chunky Kong, the older brother of Kiddy Kong and cousin to Tiny Kong, is a strong yet cowardly Eastern Lowland Gorilla who can lift heavy objects, but (as explained in the theme song) is slow and unable to jump high, and his weapon is a "Pineapple Bazooka" which is the most powerful gun on the game.
Battle Arena Toshinden is a weapons-based fighting game for the PlayStation, Sega Saturn and PC. It was one of the first fighting games to boast polygonal characters in a 3D environment. It was an early killer game for the PlayStation, and Sony promoted it eagerly. However, they soon left the series, which was published by Playmates Interactive. By that time, fighting games like Tekken started emerging and Battle Arena Toshinden quickly declined in popularity. However it did spawn Battle Arena Toshinden 2, 3, and 4 along with many spin-offs and ports.
Battle Arena Toshinden was the first 3D weapons fighter, and was succeeded in spirit by Soul Edge and other games of the genre.
STORY
"Eight travelling fighters, brought together by a common destiny, now meet at the Battle Arena Toshinden, a fighting tournament hosted by a mysterious organization known only as the "Secret Society"
Many years have passed since this tournament, known only to those in the underworld, was last held.
Some fighters have come for personal glory. Others have come to fight for those they love, but all will do their best to be victorious in this tournament that will decide their fortunes."
GAMEPLAY
Each character has its own unique set of moves and a desperation attack that can only be used when the player has low energy (around 10% or less). The player is able to move in 3D using the L/R shoulder buttons, which makes them dodge projectile attacks, or get away from a dangerous spot, however, if they consistently move too far away from the arena, they will fall off it, resulting in a "ring out" and thus they lose the round.
Players move using the directional pad. Holding the backwards directional button allows the player to block basic attacks and reduces most of the damage from opponents' special moves. Players can also run by quickly tapping the forward directional button.
PLAYERS : [ Click on the Pics for a bigger Extravaganza ]
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask is an action-adventure video game developed by Nintendo's Entertainment Analysis and Development division for the Nintendo 64. It was released in Japan on April 27, 2000, North America on October 26, 2000, and Europe on November 17, 2000. The game sold approximately 314,000 copies during its first week in Japan, and has sold three million copies worldwide.
The gameplay is centered on the perpetually repeating three-day cycle and the use of various masks, some of which allow Link to transform into different beings. Link learns to play several melodies on his ocarina, which have a variety of effects like controlling the flow of time or opening passages to four temples, which house challenges Link must overcome. Unlike Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask requires the Expansion Pak, which provides additional memory for enhanced graphics and more on-screen characters. Majora's Mask was well received by critics, who praised the improved graphics and deeper story compared to Ocarina of Time.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay of Majora's Mask expands on that of Ocarina of Time; it retains the concept of dungeon puzzles and ocarina songs, and introduces character transformations and the restriction of a three-day cycle.
MASKS AND TRANSFORMATIONS
Unlike previous Zelda games, Link can transform at will into different creatures: the Deku Mask transforms Link into a Deku Scrub, the Goron Mask into a Goron, and the Zora Mask into a Zora.
3 Day Cycle Of Songs
Majora's Mask imposes a time limit of three days (72 hours) game-time, which is about 54 minutes in real time. An on-screen clock tracks the day and time. Link can return to 6:00 a.m. on the first day by playing the "Song of Time" on the Ocarina of Time. Returning to the first day saves the player's progress and major accomplishments, such as the acquisition of maps, masks, songs, and weapons. Cleared puzzles, keys, and minor items will be lost, as well as any rupees not in the bank, and characters will have no recollection of meeting Link. Link can slow down time or warp to the next morning or evening by playing variations on the Song of Time.
DEVELOPMENT
Following the release of Link's Awakening in 1993, fans waited five years for Ocarina of Time, the active development of which took four years. By re-using the game engine and graphics from Ocarina of Time, a smaller team required only 18 months to finish Majora's Mask. According to director Eiji Aonuma, they were "faced with the very difficult question of just what kind of game could follow Ocarina of Time and its worldwide sales of seven million units", and as a solution, came up with the three-day system to "make the game data more compact while still providing deep gameplay".
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (known as Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 3D on the PC) is an arcade-style action game co-developed by Factor 5 and LucasArts. The first of three games in the Rogue Squadron series, it was published by LucasArts and Nintendo and released for Windows and the Nintendo 64 in December 1998. Rogue Squadron was one of the first games to take advantage of the Nintendo 64's Expansion Pak, which allows gameplay at a 640 × 480 display resolution, instead of that system's standard 320 × 240 resolution.
Set in the fictional Star Wars galaxy and inspired by the Star Wars: X-wing Rogue Squadron comics, the game takes place primarily between events in the films Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. The player controls Luke Skywalker, commander of the elite X-wing pilots known as Rogue Squadron. As the game progresses, Skywalker and Rogue Squadron fight the Galactic Empire in sixteen missions across various planets.
GAMEPLAY
Unlike the Star Wars: X-Wing computer game series that emphasizes space combat simulation, Rogue Squadron is a fast-paced, arcade-style action game. Each of the game's sixteen levels introduces mission objectives that must be completed to progress to the next level. These objectives are divided into four categories: search and destroy, reconnaissance, rescue and protect. Enemy aircraft are primarily composed of TIE fighters. Ground defenses are more varied and include three different walkers, laser and missile turrets, probe droids, stormtroopers and speeder bikes.
Info above from wikipedia.com
DEVELOPMENT
After the success of Shadows of the Empire on the Nintendo 64 in 1996, LucasArts began planning a follow-up. At the time, Factor 5 was developing a game engine to create large terrain maps. LucasArts, pleased with earlier collaborations with the company, decided to use Factor 5's engine for its new game. The game's focus would be space combat; this direction was inspired by a level of Shadows of the Empire in which the player flies a Snowspeeder during the Battle of Hoth. Rogue Squadron and Factor 5 production manager Brett Tosti stated, "That whole scene was actually the genesis for Rogue Squadron because everybody said, 'why don't you do a whole game like that?' So we did."[29] Factor 5 initially pitched a concept to allow gamers to play through missions similar to the fans' favorite action sequences from the Star Wars films. This proposal was rejected, however. At that time, LucasFilm was not comfortable with video games drawing directly from the films.
Factor 5 appealed to Nintendo to use the Nintendo 64's newly-developed memory Expansion Pak. Nintendo was reluctant, expecting the technology to be reserved solely for hardware peripherals. However, after Iguana Entertainment used the Expansion Pak to achieve a higher display resolution for Turok 2: Seeds of Evil, Factor 5 was given the green light. The Expansion Pak is used to increase Rogue Squadron's N64 resolution from 320 × 240 to 640 × 480.
