SCANNER
Games and Internet
PLAYSTATION
Vs (THQ) £39.99 9, x it
VS: cool brawlers
Ah, there's nothing like a but of gang warfare to brighten up a rarny Summer. Vs rs a cool beat 'em up \Nthh puts the 'rll’ rnto pugrlrsm, offerrng nasty- assed bouts In Such funked-up locations as the drsco.
The fighting Is essentially a turf war between four nval gangs from the streets, the hood, the beach and, bizarrely, the unrversrty. Each gang has four members and you can choose to play one character against everyone else or put gang against gang. Whichever mode you choose, you’ll be faced wrth such Ullllkely confrontations as a saucy SChOOlngl taking on a superfly pimp.
It's actually the range of characters, and the various different frghtrng styles that saves Vs from berng srmply one more beat 'em up Wthh doesn’t stand comparison to Tekken 2. The gameplay rs run-of—the-mrll and the graphics are blocky and unpolrshed, but Vs has a street-cool atmosphere and a sense of humour Wthh raises rts game a lot, making this akin to that Run DMC vrdeo wrth added kicks to the 'nads. (PR)
9 , IQ?!‘;1AVIJH£«], -,
98 THE lIST 25 Jun—9 Jul 1998
e~mail:scanner@list.co.uk
N64
Wetrlx
(Ocean) £50 4r it it it
Oh, this is a tough one. Fifty quid can buy you a lot of things, but spend your hard-earned on Zed Two's colourful puzzler and you'll be investing in sleepless nights, high blood pressure and an irrational fear of water that would have you shot at customs in most European countries.
Tetris-heads are going to fall in love with Wetrix, but this game is considerably harder than the Russian classic. You begin with a flat playing area, viewed from an isometric perspective, with objects falling from above. Some of these are helpful — blocks known as ‘uppers’ and 'downers’ allow you to build structures - while others cause you problems. The bombs,
for example, blow holes in the landscape. This is a big setback as the whole point of Wetrix is to create lakes by raising structures big and solid enough to contain the water which falls from the sky either as rain or bubbles. You're playing for points and increased levels, so Wetrix is a challenge whose rationale is to keep playing for as long as possible. The game is over when too much water pours over the edge of the playing surface and the drain guage to the right of the screen overflows. The player has control of all falling blocks, allowing you to rotate, place and increase the drop speed. All scores are multiplied by the numbers of lakes you have created. Collect enough water, and a rainbow will
SCOI’ES.
(Peter Ross)
appear, multiplying points. Create a deep enough lake and a rubber duck will swim on it, also multiplying
But things aren‘t that easy. Build too many walls and an earthquake will flatten your carefully constructed landscape. There are also nasties like bombs, ice and fireballs falling from the skies and wreaking havoc with your structures. What's more, the longer you play Wetrix the harder it becomes. Increasing levels cause increasing drop speeds until you're gritting your teeth, waggling the control pad and wailing like a winded water buffalo at the sheer addictive frustration of it all.
WCW Nitro
(THQ) £39.99 'k i: 1:
The Yanks have always done wrestling better than us Brits, Whrle Our idea of fun was two fat geezers grabbing each other by the paunch, our American cousins were squeezrng homo-erotic body-builders Into shocking pink lycra, glvrng them wacky nick-names and
WCW Nitro: Ring-stinging mayhem
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gOIng Tlng-Stlnglflg mad for It. Guess whrch versron rs adapted by WCW Nitro?
Thrs vrsually excellent American wrestling trtle allows you to play twenty of the greatest, most-ridiculous superstar wrestlers on the American Circurt rncludrng white-hatred RIC Flarr, white-faced Stung and absurdly- jumpsurted ’Macho Man’ Randy Savage. One grumble ~ where rs goth hero, The Undertaker?
Each character comes With a mammoth 30 moves, \Nthh you can employ over various modes such as tOurnament or exhibition bout. You can even play With a mate In a tag- team bout or rn one-on-one mode. Fancy-pants moves like the Prledrrver or Clotheslrne are effective, but you’ll probably manage Just as well kneerng your opponent In the nuts untrl hrs energy runs out and then prnning hrm.
WCW N/tro rs a good laugh and a tough game, rather lrke Mortal Kombat crossed wrth an adult pantomime. Big Daddy must be turning rn hrs grave. (PR)
Spice World
(SCEE) £19.99 at t *
She may have left the group to face
the pop dumper wrthout her, but Geri
Hallwell rs as loyal and Curvy as ever in
Sony’s lrttle-grrl-fleecrng extravaganza. Having SplCed up our lives With two
albums, colourful gigs and more merchandise than you can shake a Girl Power trainer bra at, It was Inevrtable that the Spice Girls would end up rn therr own vrdeo game.
ln a natural extension of the national pastime of naming a fave Spice Grrl, players choose a Manga-esque versron of one band member and take them through the game’s four stages — remrxrng a single, rehearsing a solo dance routine, choreography, and choosing camera angles for a TV spectacular.
ThlS game element, combined wrth exclusive video footage, music tracks and rntervrews With the Girls, makes an attractive package for the ardent fan to get her milk teeth into for a couple of weeks, Whrch leaves plenty of trme to save up for that B‘wrtched album. (PR)
N64 Kobe Br ant's NBA
Courtsi e (Nintendo) £49.99 at t t 1:
In thrs soccer-saturated nation, rt’s hard
to belreve that any sport exists whrch doesn't Involve twenty-two blokes wrth ' dodgy harr booting a pig’s bladder
around a park. But, over rn the States, football IS slightly less popular than the Fifth Annual Texas Greased Hog Buggerrng Tournament and its games