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PLAYSTATION
Skullmonkeys (DreamWorks Interactive) £44.99
PLAYSTATION
Bloody Roar: Hyper
Beast Duel
(Virgin Interactive) £44.99
If you've ever been playing Tekken 2
and thought, 'What I could really do
with being able to do is transform
myself into a ruddy great animal with
big teeth and stuff' then you're very 1 WW.“ wnfiflfiw. ‘
odd indeed. But not as weird, :1 My -. ‘
perhaps, as those mad chaps at «x ' I
Hudson Soft who developed Bloody Roar along those very lines.
This is a beat ’em up with a difference. Should you tire of being one of the eight core players then all you have to do is press the 'beast’ button and you’ll turn into a slavering monster, red of tooth and claw. There is a different kind of beast for every character. This sounds like a gimmick, but acually adds a neat strategic element to the game. Thing is, in beast form you can inflict more damage through a range of special moves, but you can't shape-shift until your beast-bar reaches a certain energy level. You return to human form when hits take the beast bar back to zero.The trick is knowing when to transform so as to maximise damage to the opponent.
This angle lifts Bloody Roar above mindless fight-game territory and into the arena of something with a touch of intelligence, like Bushido Blade. But if it is brutal punch-button action you‘re after, this game has that too.
With a complicated premise ‘.".’lII( It comes crown to hitting bad guys with your butt, tnen domg the same to their boss, Skill/monkeys could have been cloggerel in the wrong hands Guiding your character Klaymen through planet Id/nak trith a View to defeating the (evil Klogg, you collect ob;ec ts, i.'.eapons and lives along the way But watch out for the eponymous SKUllllIOIlkOyS, brutai gorilla types ‘.".’|lll no flesh on their bony bonces One especially horrn‘ic skullmonkey is the fiendish El Barfo, who vomits himself
P“ T 3" 4'. uM.M;-5 It’s wonderfully intuitive and you should be able to thump and kick away with only a cursory glance at the instructions.
The only 'but', and it's actually a biggie, is that the terrible heavy metal soundtrack is enough to send the most untameable creature howling for the hills, never mind soothing the savage breast. (PR)
out of his own skin Okay, it's supremely c‘hildisl‘, but it takes imagination to be this stupid, and Skullmonkeys has that in. spades It also has fabulous (idy-thlIOll graphics
Actua Ice Hockey (Gremlin Interactive) £39.99 -
Ice hoc key's one of those games that always" sounds more fun than it
hei'nets charg nc; aboat a slippe'y sur‘ace at'tev' a gioritied bati‘ piiic; s pretty good fur‘ ‘.".’.'t(‘I‘ you're playing '1 With a cuppa and biccres to hand
This is certainly realist‘c, '\.'.’I’.l‘ a n <er I‘(“t(l("‘(?(l skating effect But the
tho anotildii't k'iox‘.’ a li".-\ how a ung- pu 3, because tl‘ey'il nave to ‘eaui the "ules before they play llia'ik‘ully, gameplay :s tai'ly intuit've I.'."I‘-(‘." »t coines (I()‘.'.t‘ to '2, and it's possibe to sco'e througn siieei liic ,-; and
actually is But surprisingly, a bunch of blokes With big sticks and shiny
which give the game a [\lorpn-meets- de 785“) foot (30 dp(t_ (PR) bolsn'iess, .‘.l‘t( n s good to! get'yng
an :iiitia' t'ee. for We game .PR
PC Actua Golf 2
(Gremlin Interactive) £34.99 The latest onscreen golt' simulator has everything a links-lover could desire There's a choice of e'ght real courses, from Japan to Ari/ona v a C arnoastrc‘. "ive' (()II‘:II)("‘lciI'y by Peter All ss and Alex Hay, and an 'mp'essn/e range 0‘ choices t'or camera angles, repays, \.'.'eatner cc)":di'..ons and tec "')!(l;i(‘ You can ciaci your player it a range of ungroovy shirts and hats, choose his clubs anci alter nls ethnicity
\Nith a tiride cho.ce of' virtaal tournaments avaifabe, you~ ca'i °.l'(’ll on him agazr‘st coinputeriseci sta's iike Coi:n Montgomer'e and Nic 9; Faldo, or against other r)?ayc-i's on a netx'xork The graphic s are a pit r) and, but on the \‘vitOiO rt's a pretty neat package
But true-to-Iife as the theo'y 's, the skills r'egtia‘ed have nothing to do With golfing prowess (Tickng anci it' you choose the more demanding 'Acttia Swmg’ option sliding the mouse are no substitute to perfecting your follow-througn iABi
realis'n .s slig'itly problematic ‘0' those
J m.
«woman‘s-mm:
102 THE lIST 6~l9 l.'iar I998