The Video Game Magazine Round-Up | AUGUST 1991

 

Computer Gaming World, Issue 85 (August 1991)

Hello readers,

welcome to the 2nd iteration of the new segment on this blog, called "The Video Game Magazine Round-Up". This is the August 1991 round-up.

As explained in this post, the idea behind this is to supplement our journey through video game history by looking at retro game magazines and looking at news topics of the time, interesting reviews of video games, columns, controversies, new tech releases and anything else of interest that any given magazine may write an article about. You can check out the first iteration here to see what you can expect, or just continue reading this article.

We're lagging a few months behind the challenge, which now has reached December 1991, but with many games remaining for that month, I'm confident we'll close the gap soon.

In this months' round-up: 

• Nintendo break off their deal on a CD-system with Sony, so Sony decide to make their own? What could that be called?
• Super Mario World and F-Zero highlight this month's review round-up. How will they score?
• The president of which company gave VG&CE an earful and got one back?

The magazines that will take part in this month's "VGM Round-Up" are

1. Computer Gaming World | Issue 85
2. Electronic Gaming Monthly | Issue 25
3. Video Games & Computer Entertainment (VG&CE) | Issue 31

You can read each magazine in full using the links provided. We will start this month's round up by taking a look at the Computer Gaming World first.

COMPUTER GAMING WORLD | ISSUE 85

• CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW (CES): CGW reports on 1991's Summer CES. CGW describes the main theme of this year's trade show analogous to a "Moscow food line", in that "the "great leap" advances in game design [...] seem to be in a marketing limbo", as consumers are waiting for the CD to take over the market. Many publishers showcased their ongoing CD projects, such as ICOM, who are coming strong in CD entertainment with many different games in the works, such as 'Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective' and 'Beyond Shadowgate'. Other early presences in the CD market are Psgynosis, NovaLogic and Data East. NovaLogic especially have put together tools for three-dimensional modeling of game characters and objects. 
• The introduction of the CD to the video game industry has had its fair share of hiccups per the reports. Sony is attempting to create their own proprietary standard for CD-ROM storage, and a partnership with Sony and Nintendo to include Sony's solution to the SNES was cancelled, as Nintendo opt to go with Philips instead. Sega's CD player reportedly will release in fall 1991 and will "contain 64K of ROM to handle eight channels of sound, use 32-kHz sampling, feature 10-18 frames of video per second [and] utilize 6.5 MB of storage on each CD".
• Three-dimensional modeling is seen as another big thing for upcoming computer games. Examples are given for games which utilize this type of modeling, such as Accolade's 'Les Manley - Lost in L.A.' [6.8 Moby Score], Sierra's 'Adventures of Willy Beamish' [7.1] and Lucasfilm's 'The Secret of Monkey Island II: LeChuck's Revenge' [8.2], which "features [...] use of 256 colors scanned from goauche originals [and] light sourcing and shadowing".
• An additional growing trend that seems to underline the need for CD storage is the inclusion of digitized voices in games, like in NEC's 'J.B. Harold: Murder Club' [7.8], ICOM's 'Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective' and Bethesda Softwork's 'The Terminator' [6.3], which uses digitized speech in the opening credits and victory screen. The upcoming 'Ultima VII' will be utilizing digitized speech as well.
• REVIEWS: This issue reviews EA's 'Chuck Yeager's Air Combat', Ubisoft's 'Pick 'N Pile', Konami's Theme Park Mystery, Software Toolworks' 'Life & Death II: The Brain' and a couple others.
• Chuck Yeager's Air Combat: YAC is a flight simulator that covers three eras of air combat (WWII, Korea, Vietnam) and offers constant progression of air combat. It has a Moby Score of 7.5 (#5,917 of 157K).
• Pick 'N Pile: This is an arcade puzzle game where you need to stack identical symbols to make columns disappear. It has a Moby Score of 5.5 (#20,978 of 157K).51
• Theme Park Mystery: This is an adventure game featuring themes and activites in an amusement park, such as a fortune-telling device and a pinball game, among others. It has a Moby Score of 7.2 (#9,107 of 157K).
• Life & Death II: The Brain: In this game, the player must perform surgery on a brain. The original focused on the abdomen. There is a brain tumor surgery showcase on YT here. It has a Moby Score of 7.5 (#6,550 of 157K).
• SNEAK PREVIEW: The game that receives a sneak preview in this issue of CGW is upcoming on-line RPG Neverwinter Nights.

ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY | ISSUE 25

• The REVIEW CREW covers many games in this month's issue: Nintendo's 'Super Mario World' (36/40), Konami's 'Gradius III' (32/40), Nintendo's 'F-Zero' (34/40), Capcom's 'Final Fight' (29/40), Sega's 'Streets of Rage' (36/40), Sega's 'Fantasia' (23/40), Sega's 'Alien Storm' (28/40), Ballistic's 'Harbdall' (28/40) Capcom's 'Little Mermaid' (27/40), Arcadia's 'Robin Hood' (23/40), NEC's 'Bonk II' (30/40), Capcom's 'Mega Man: Dr Wily's Revenge' (34/40), Jaleco's 'Fortified Zone' (31/40) and Atari's Pacland (24/40).
• Super Mario World: I reviewed this game here. As of writing this, the game is the highest rated of the challenge. It needs no introducing, it's one of the best platformers ever. It has a Moby Score of 8.6 (#197 of 157K). The review crew gave it 9's across the board, with Steve calling it 'solid'.
• F-Zero: F-Zero is a futuristic racing game that utilizes the SNES Mode 7 feature with use of scrolling and scaling of the background. Martin's review simply says 'This game is awesome!!!'. It has a Moby Score of 7.9 (#2,654).
• Streets of Rage: This is a beat 'em up game for the Sega Genesis. Very addicting, received 9's across the board. It has a Moby Score of 7.9 (#2,535).
• Mega Man: Dr Wily's Revenge: This is the first Mega Man for a handheld console, the Game Boy. It uses the same bosses from the NES games and offers fewer of them, with everything scaled down due to it being a Game Boy game. It has a Moby Score of 7.3 (#7,917).
• Here comes this issue's GAMING GOSSIP courtesy of 'Quartermann'. 
• This issue focuses on the CES. Atari's 16-32 bit Panther's project got nixed in favor of a top-secret system, apparently wearing the name 'Jaguar' instead. Some rumors say that they are apparently looking to make it a 64-bit system. 
• CDs are all the rage at CES. NEC's unit will use a NID technology to compress video onto discs for instant access. In related news, since Nintendo broke off the deal with Sony to go with Philips' CD-related product, Sony will work on their own CD-I system. Apparently, it's going to be called the "Play Station". Wow.
• We're not done with Nintendo news. THE SNES looks to launch around September 1 in the US. It will be packaged with Super Mario World and cost $199, with game software expected to go for around $50.
• Sega unveil the new SEGA-CD. It will cost $370 and release in fall 1991 in Japan. Sega will include 6 megabits of memory in this system. The biggest feature is the incorporation of a MC68000 chip that will allow the system to run 50% faster than the Sega Genesis and "allow for biaxial rotation, scaling and zoom to be performed". The CD-ROM will also deliver great audio quality for voice and soundtracks, as there are 8 channels available for digital stereo PCM sounds. The CD format looks to be used by all video entertainment producers, and Sega is about to take a big step forward in this market. This article reports on NEC's units and shows an early prototype for Sony's Play Station.
• This month's issue features a SNES BUYER'S GUIDE that first gives a lengthy introduction to the SNES system. It goes over the system's features (runs at 3.58 MHz, has 32,768 colors available with 256 displayable at the same time, max resolution is 512 x 448 and a custom Sony sound chip, among other things) and it introduces the games that will be available for it with or shortly after release (Super Mario World, F-Zero, Sim City, 'Zelda 3' and Final Fantasy II, which apparently features "hundreds of hours of game play")
• There is an article on THE YEAR OF THE SEQUEL, covering sequels like Final Fantasy II and Double Dragon II and portable rehashes presented as sequels (Metroid 2: Return of Samus, Mega Man).
• The SNES Times feature looks at upcoming SNES titles, which includes Nintendo's 'Zelda 3' releasing in December 1991 (NA times), Human's 'Super Pro Wrestling' releasing in Q1 1992, Victor Musical Industries' 'Dungeon Master', releasing in Q4 1991 and Human's Super Formation Soccer' releasing in Q4 1991.

VIDEO GAMES & COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT | ISSUE 31

• There is a pretty long-winded complaint in the READER MAIL from none other than Christopher Weaver, founder and president of Bethesda Softworks, over VG&CE's review of Wayne Gretzky Hockey II (Moby Score: 7.0 / VGCE Score: 20/40). Weaver takes objection to comparisons of WGHII to arcade hockey games, whereas WGHII places itself in the simulation genre, but also to the reviewer's opinion on the top-down perspective, which Weaver says is a subjective opinion, as many professional players and managers play and enjoy this game. There is a very spicy, and equally lengthy, response from the reviewer, Bill Kunkel, included here as well. Worth a read and something that would absolutely not be printed (or posted digitally) today for many reasons.
• VIDEO GAME REVIEWS for this month include Capcom's 'The Little Mermaid' (NES, 27/40), NEC's 'Tale Spin' (TurboGrafx-16, 23/40), Accolade's 'Star Control' (Genesis, 32/40), EA's 'Might & Magic II' (Genesis, 21/40), EA's Blackout (Genesis, 29/40), Atlus' 'Rockin Kats' (NES, 24/40), Sunsoft's 'Batman' (Genesis, 28/40), Accolades' 'Hardball!' (Genesis, 30/40) & Sega's 'Phantasy Star III' (Genesis, 33/40).
• The GAMING ON THE GO discusses violence in video games as an introduction to an article that showcases games for handheld systems that have you kill hundreds of enemies, sometimes with hands and feet, which the writer finds tiresome and unrealistic at times. Games discussed include Kung-Fu Master, Ninja Gaiden (Atari Lyn), Operation C and Battle Unit Zeoth, among others.
• An article dissusses MULTI-PLAYER COMPUTER GAMING and argues that unlike video gamers, who interact with both console and human players, computer-gamers "remained a hermitlike figure, alone in a room, contesting against a silicon chip for dominance". This introduction is given to then showcase attempts made at multi-player computer games in the past, such as RPG's, head-to-head contests and sports games.
• COMPUTER GAME REVIEWS for this month include Maxis' 'RoboSport' (Macintosh, 33/40), Data East's 'RoboCop 2' (Amiga, 31/40), Data East's 'Continuum' (Amiga, IBM PC, 36/40), Psygnosis' 'Lemmings' (Amiga, Atari ST, IBM PC, 39/40), Ocean Software's 'The Untouchables' (Amiga, Atari ST, IBM PC, 22/40), Spotlight Software's 'Airstrike USA' (Amiga, IBM PC, 23/40), Draconian's 'Drakkhen' (29/40), Stratagem Games' 'Terran Envoy' (Amiga, IBM PC, 19/30), EA's 'PowerMonger' (Amiga, Atari ST, 34/40) and EA's 'The Faery Tale Adventure' (Genesis, 25/40).