Rev. Rob

In the United States, for some reason unbeknownst to all logic, the public school system nearly exclusively had Apple computers in schools during the 80’s and most of the 90’s. The government essentially kept the fledgling computer company on life support, long after it would’ve naturally succumbed to the IBM compatible PC, like Atari and Commodore would do. As a child in computer lab, after I had completed lesions that I thought were teaching me how to operate a computer, (little did I know that real computers don’t have clover buttons!), I did the same thing every day: boot up “The Oregon Trail.” As a piece of educational software, “Oregon Trail” was in virtually every school in America that had a computer. Its gameplay promoted making choices, and was tied into an important piece of American history. As something that was anything other than learning how to use a Mac or an Apple II, “Oregon Trail” was a welcome and entertaining aside from the conundrum of school work, even if only in orange and black graphics… And, after all, it is a video game. As a result, virtually every American who went to a public school that had a computer lab has a shared experience. We all, at one time, made a choice to be the rich banker from Boston, or the poor farmer from Ohio. We named our party after our family and friends, or pets or favorite pop-culture icons. We cringed as a member of our party died, (unless we named them after someone who we didn’t like all that much, then maybe some of us got a laugh), and we all worried about how to cross rivers, and we all experienced relief when we had a good hunt, or finally made it to a fort to stock up on supplies. And we were all surprised to find ourselves suddenly flying down river, dodging logs to the game’s end. Gamer or not, the odds are that most people who weinteract with on a daily basis have played “The Oregon Trail.” So, next time you’re in a social situation where you don’t know what to say, just relate the conversation back an event in “The Oregon Trail,” and everyone will have a brief moment of nostalgia as they reach back to their childhood in their minds, and they’ll know exactly what you’re talking about. Released: 1985 Platform: Apple II/+/e/c Publisher: MECC Developer: MECC Genre: Strategy Link

Humour should be funny... I this case, it's meant to make a point. Gorf's comments are as baseless as my inference that the NUON in less powerful than the 32X. There is absolutely nothing, from a technical standpoint, that would prevent 32X from running Battlemorph or Iron Soldier at the same framerate as Jaguar. Claims that it can't run Cybermorph are in the realm of the absurd.

Gunstar, Gorf, you two are absolutely beyond fanatical. The levels are itty bitty. The claustrophobia is further confounded by the fact that you're forced to fly through a maze of hills that you cannot fly over. That's really not an excuse. It causes the game to hold up poorly. Not really. I didn't call it that. That's an interesting defense... “pretend.” If you pretend that I haven’t played Cybermorph, a game that I’ve owned for over a decade, does that alone make you right? Pretending? But they were wrong, weren't they? First of all, I didn't review the game in 1993, I did it last night. Second, virtually no other publication ranks it so high. From AtariAge: 6.3 out of 10... that's a score that I can agree with. Such harsh name-calling over a video game review? Jerk, Troll, ignorant, stupid... Did someone once beat you up with a Cybermorph cart or something? A little bit of 'acting like an adult' would not be a bad thing, you know? You're not a fanboy, but you managed to call me three more names and use your ‘pretend’ defense again. Hmm... Ya, I don’t believe you. Or 3DO... Star Wars Arcade is much, much more graphically intensive than Cypermorph. More polygons, no draw distance problems. That argument is not based on fact, but fantasy. Except a number of 32X games (Star Wars Arcade, DarXide, Virtua Racing Deluxe, and so on), are more detailed than Cybermorph. By the way, what does all of this nitpicking have to do with Cybermorph anyways? That’s not a rhetorical question, by the way, I expect an answer. As a game it does not need to be compared to other games that came out many years later on 32X, Playstation, Saturn, or 3DO. It does not need to be compared to games of its own time. It merely needs to stand on its own merit as a game. When it does that, it's roughly a 6 out of 10, even this many years later. That's actually not too bad. None of this nitpicking will also change the fact that unlike Battlemorph, which is an excellent game, Cybermorph suffers from dull and uninspired game play. It plays like a bonus level of a Sonic game (get the blue spheres, get the rings, et cetera). Fetching pods is not compelling game play. The lack of an ability to keep your progress is not immersive. Funny how you employ a fallacy of logic to distract from facts about the game called Cybermorph by attacking a console called 32X that was released three years later. Once certainly has nothing to do with the other. Your non-defense of the game only exemplifies its inherent short comings.

Humor is lost on some.

Needless to say, the Nuon is more powerful and several years newer than the Jaguar. It's really not very powerful at all. http://darkwatcher.psxfanatics.com/console/faqs/nuonfaq.txt

BattleSphere, Iron Soldier, HoverStrike would all probably choke the 32x. I don't see any reason why 32X coundn't have done Battlesphere or Hoverstrike. As for Iron Soldier, come on, NUON handled it just fine.

Cybermorph. The game that launched the Jaguar is perhaps the most associated game when Atari’s final console comes to mind. It embodied the hopes of a once powerful video game company that was desperately trying to claw its way back to the top of the industry. Unfortunately, Cybermorph fell somewhat short, and so did Jaguar when you do the math. For a game that gets a lot of things wrong, it does some things right. In 1993, 3D flight shooters were relatively uncommon in the video game market, which was primarily dominated by Sega and Nintendo’s 16-bit machines. At first glance, Cybermorph’s polygonal graphics looked futuristic, as if it was a new evolution in gaming. However, it was not. The initially impressive 3D world was soon overshadowed by poor draw distances, the claustrophobia of small levels, and the pain of enemies that popped into existence seemingly out of thin air. For many flight shooters and sims, a poor and cumbersome control scheme can spell doom for a game immediately. Fortunately, this is one aspect that Cybermorph got right. The little ship handles well, and the game is perfectly suited for the Jaguar’s three button controller. However, the list of ‘good’ things about this game stops there. Though the flight controls are laid out thoughtfully and are well executed, Cybermorph may as well not be a flight game, as the game forces the ship to fly so low to the ground that it may as well not be airborne. Want to fly over those hills up ahead? Don’t even think about it! Just don’t crash into them. The most obvious ailment that the game suffers is plot design that had its origins a decade earlier, when Atari was still in touch with gamers. There are a limited numbers of small levels from which the player selects from at the onset, a small numbers of lives, no unifying story and no way to save progress. Not that it feels like completing a level is progress, as levels are merely picked as opposed to earned. The objective of the game is to collect pods. Not to complete a series of objectives in each world, not to fight advanced alien races or defeat wicked bosses, but to only collect a small number of tokens. Not exactly thrilling game play, and hasn’t been since Pac Man and K.C. Munchkin battled it out in the early 80’s. There is a green talking head that is your companion throughout each mission. In a feminine computer voice she congratulates the player on a good job each time an enemy is killed or a “pod” is picked up. She also offers sarcastic quips “where did you learn how to fly” on occasion. However, this featured felt like the developers were trying too hard in when the game was released. It is all too reminiscent of the Odyssey2’s “The Voice” that was released in 1980, an unnecessary voice synthesizer. Ultimately, Cybermorph is an adequate tech demo for a console that itself is hardly a console. Misleading advertizing campaigns about the power of the system, a lack of third party support, worse hardware design than a Sony console, and corporate incompetence that would make Kenneth Lay blush, and a slew of games worse the caliber of Cybermorph would not only bury the Jaguar, but force Atari into bankruptcy and out of business. Cybermorph serves as constant reminder of the uncertainty of the gaming market in the 1980’s after the market crash, and of the boom of console upstarts that the world bore witness to in the early 90’s. Like the 3DO, LaserActive, CD-i, VIS, and all other non-Sega/Nintendo consoles of the era, Jaguar was forgotten almost as soon as it came, and with it Cybermorph, the tech demo that was nearly an excellent game.

Is there even one game on teh Jaguar that the 32X couldn't handle?

You don't even need an adaptor, do you? I just plug my Genesis controller into my 2600 and it works fine. So, my logic is that of Genesis controllers work on the 2600, and 2600 controllers work on the 7800, then therefore Genesis controllers work on the 7800.

Well, at least that dream came true. Without Yuji Naka? Please. The game also looks like ass so far. It's also being developed by Sega Studio USA, which their sole masterpiece is "Shadow the Hedgehog," and we all know what a peice of crap that game is.

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Shenmue III NiGHTS 2 Panzer Dragoon Saga 2 An remake of Shining Force III in English

Heh, sounds like your controls are suffering from use of a three button controller. All Genesis games after like 92-93 were designed for use the 6-button control pad. They even quit making the 3-button. Anyhow, to run all you have to do is hold down "C." Double-tapping is only needed for a 3-button controller. I just even double checked the booklet, which isn't something I like to do with my 32X games, because in crinkles the cardboard box. (WTF is up with Sega switching to cardboard? Cheap bastards!) Grrr... I had to open it twice now because I forgot to put the stupid registration card back in! Nope, using a 6 button. BUT Fear not, I have a theory as to what went wrong - My talking heads don't look like your talking heads. Maybe someone got frustrated with double tapping in the original and rewrote the controller maps...? It's a setting. You can go into the options and change the avitar and the controller type.

Nothing rare here, but maybe something nice for you 2600 games: Cosmic Ark Sealed, New Vanguard Sealed, New Warlords, New, Partially Sealed, Not Opened Atari Home Computer Game: Star Raiders Other: Game Boy Printer

Genesis 32X Dreamcast Xbox Saturn Sega Master System Microvision Channel F X'Eye Odyssey Nintendo InteractiveVision Game.com Atari 2600 PC Windows Odyssey² Game Gear DINA 2 in 1 Playstation Virtual Boy Studio II Jaguar XavixPort Super Nintendo PC DOS R-Zone Vectrex TI-99/4A Nuon Nintendo 64 Neo Geo Pocket Color

Heh, sounds like your controls are suffering from use of a three button controller. All Genesis games after like 92-93 were designed for use the 6-button control pad. They even quit making the 3-button. Anyhow, to run all you have to do is hold down "C." Double-tapping is only needed for a 3-button controller. I just even double checked the booklet, which isn't something I like to do with my 32X games, because in crinkles the cardboard box. (WTF is up with Sega switching to cardboard? Cheap bastards!) Grrr... I had to open it twice now because I forgot to put the stupid registration card back in!

For $90 there's a complete Spider-man Web of Fire on Amazon right now. You'll never see it that cheap again. *Kicks self for being to cheap to buy it.

Thanks. I am bidding on your Odyssey set. Do you have the light gun? I pretty badly want this.

*Cue monks singing...

Oh geez what a piece of crap that was. I've got a bunch of those tapes if anyone is interested. I am. I am only missing Disney's Cartoon Arcade and Magic on Sesame Street. PM me if you have either of these.

Naw, Crayon Shin-Chan 3 is the best NUON game! LOL

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercenary_(computer_game) Let's not get too carried away. I have to disagree. I understand that there were 3D polygonal games prior to Mario 64, but none let you explore and interact with a 3D world the way that Mario 64 did. (And I've played Merc!) If I call it the first true modern 3D game can we agree?

The problem with that is the serious bid snipers use software to ensure they win in the last 3 secs.

Thanks. I do actually own an N64, but the only game I have for it is Conker's Bad Fur Day. However, if I were to make a "top" list for the system, it would go like this: 1. Super Mario 64 2. Goldeneye 007 3. Legend of Zelda: OoT 4. Ogre Battle 64 5. Conker's Bad Fur Day 6. Star Fox 64 Super Mario 64 because it set the bar. All expectations for what a 3D world should look like and how it should behave were now set. It was the first true 3D game ever made. Seriously, mad props. Goldeneye 007 introduced true multiplayer gaming on a console. Nintendo had the right idea with four controller ports. If only they had the right idea with the storage medium, they would've creamed Sony, and Saturn would've got the number 2 spot. Zelda: OoT expanded what Mario 64 started out with, by increasing the size of worlds, levels of interactivity, and other effects. Ogre Battle 64 because I love me some strategy and Conker's because I think it was hilarious when it came out. It made a great swan song for N64. Star Fox wasn't that great of a rail shooter, (really, I am being honest here), but it was the first "rumble" game, and that was huge.

If you hold down the run button it's actually not bad.