The competition for your video gaming dollars is heating up. There are so many games on the market, it is almost impossible to figure which ones you should buy for those players on your gift list.
To make your shopping a little easier, here are some video games anyone would be happy to get over the holidays. They are for all ages and can be found at just about any store that sells toys, games or electronics. The Nintendo 64 games cost about $70 each, while PlayStation and Saturn games cost about $50.
Nintendo 64
– Diddy Kong Racing. Order this one early before they all disappear. It’s a cross between Donkey Kong Country and Mario Kart 64. Players explore a huge 3-D environment in search of balloons. Based on the number of balloons players find, challenging racing tracks will open up. Players can race with a Hovercraft, car or airplane. And like Mario Kart, this game also has an awesome multiplayer mode.
– Bomberman 64. The most addictive multiplayer game ever made makes the transition to N64 and it promises to be the best one yet. The simple premise brings people back for more head-to-head explosive action. If you haven’t played Bomberman before, there’s no better time to start.
– San Francisco RUSH. A great multiplayer racing game featuring six long tracks, all from Northern California. The tracks are full of shortcuts, which adds another dimension to an already impressive game.
– Mace: The Dark Age. Mace is more than just another fighting game. It combines awesome graphics with the impressive gameplay mechanics in a huge 3-D environment to create a new fighting experience. A great one- or two-player game that allows gamers to pick up items on each level and use them as weapons.
– Mortal Kombat Mythologies: The Adventures of Sub-Zero. Learn the origin of the Outworld and its ancient fighting tournaments. Go back to a time before the first Mortal Kombat arcade game. This single-player role-playing game (RPG) tells the story of ninja Sub-Zero but also reveals information about all the MK fighters.
– Mischief Makers. Don’t give up on 2-D scrolling games yet. In this side-scrolling action game, players must help the heroine save the once-peaceful planet Clancer from the imperial forces of the evil empire.
– NFL Quarterback Club ’98 and Madden 64. Two new games battle it out for the best football game on N64 and perhaps the best on any gaming system. Both games have excellent controls and awesome graphics, but reputation alone may give Madden the edge.
– WCW vs. NWO: World Tour. Get all the wrestlers from both World Championship Wrestling and New World Order, including “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan, “Macho Man” Randy Savage and “Nature Boy” Ric Flair. The multiplayer game is also Rumble Pac compatible.
Sony PlayStation
– Tomb Raider 2. The sequel to the mega-hit Tomb Raider is one of the most anticipated games this holiday season. Lara Croft is back with new moves, more bad guys, better graphics and all new levels to explore. In this adventure, Lara is searching for the lost dagger of Xian, a coveted relic thought to bring supernatural powers.
– Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee. This is not your typical action adventure game. Your job is to help Abe escape from Rupture Farms, the largest meat processing plant on Oddworld, and help him save his fellow workers from being turned into a smorgasbord.
– Final Fantasy VII. The wait is finally over. Perhaps the ultimate RPG is now available. In this complex and beautifully designed game, gamers control a group of characters intent on overthrowing a currupt organization called Shinra.
– Croc: Legend of Gobbos. A free-roaming 3-D adventure game starring Croc, a crusading crocodile on a quest to rescue his Gobbo Island friends. Gameplay is similiar to Crash Bandicoot, except Croc is free to explore more of the terrain.
– Machine Hunter. Aliens have taken over a futuristic mining colony and abducted the humans. You and a friend must go to the planet and destroy all the robots and rescue the hostages. After defeating a robot, you can morph into the robots and use their weapons.
– Jersey Devil. Help Jersey Devil stop Doctor Knarf from turning the City into a nightmare world filled with monsters and mutants. Cool characters and awesome animation should make this game a big hit.
– Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back. Crash is back and his new adventure picks up where the original game ended as a defeated Dr. Cortex escapes into an underground cavern. Players can expect better animation and tighter controls. Fans of the original Bandicoot game won’t want to miss this one.
– NHL Powerplay ’98. It’s realistic . . . perhaps the best hockey game for Sony.
– Maximum Force. Armed only with a pistol, sold separately, gamers must rescue hostages by blowing away terrorists. The trick is to avoid killing the hostages. Maximum Force has all the action and blood found in the original arcade version.
– The Lost World: Jurassic Park. This game puts you in the middle of the struggle between dinosaurs and humans. Working through 40 levels, you will take on the role of a Compsognathus, a raptor, a human hunter, a T-Rex and a scientist. In this game, it takes more than brute strength to win.
– Pandemonium 2. Join Nikki, the sorceress, and Fargus, the goofball jester, in their psychedelic chase for the comet of Infinite Possibilities. The side-scrolling action/adventure game has new attack moves and special effects. Fans of the original won’t want to miss this impressive sequel.
Sega Saturn
– Maximum Force. See description under PlayStation.
– Sonic R. Sonic hits the road in his own racing game. Sonic, Knuckles and Tails compete against each other by racing through loops and across obstacles in four different worlds.
– Saturn Bomberman. A great multiplayer game that will keep up to 10 players busy for hours. (You will need an adapter.) Weak sound and graphics, but still a fun, strategic, blow-up-your-best-friend kind of gem.
– Croc: Legend of Gobbos. See decription under PlayStation.
– The Lost World: Jurassic Park. See decription under PlayStation.
For more information on these games, check out the Web sites: Nintendo 64, nintendo.com; Sony PlayStation, sony.com; Sega Saturn, sega.com.
