SCANNER
N64 PREVIEW Bio Freaks
,J,‘ H W,” . “b . ‘5; :3: i gt meuer. nasnemio freaks
Ooh, this is nasty. In fact, nasty isn't really the word for what looks set to become the best beat 'em up for Nintendo’s machine. Bio Freaks is so horrible, it makes Resident Evil 2 look like Andy Pandy.
But we'll save descriptions of depravity till later - first the plot. In the future, Earth is no longer divided into nations, it's entirely run by massive conglomerates. War doesn't exist; disputes between corporations are settled by one-on-one, to-the-death combat between Bio Freaks - specially designed fighters with deadly physical modifications. Kinda like
Keith Flint with added bloodlust.
Like Sony's recent Cardinal Syn, the gameplay environment is gruesomely interactive. Opponents can be impaled on spikes, hurled into a meat grinder or shoved into a steaming pool of toxic waste. Plus, you can run away pretty effectively by jumping about and evading your
opponent
The fights themselves are spectacularly gruesome. There are ten Bio Freaks, including a zombie with a spiky club, a frog with deadly vomit and a scary clown with a scarier hammer. Each of these fearsome fellows just love to disfigure each other in strange and terrible ways — there's a lot of blood and an awful lot of dismemberment. Like John Cleese in Monty Python And The Holy Grail, you can fight on even when you've had both arms lopped off, although you probably won't last long.
The control system is an update on the Tekken model. Each limb is controlled by a separate button, while another two controls operate the jetpack and fire your gun. Sounds cool, doesn't it?
Bio Freaks is one of the sickest games ever to emerge and it's likely to be a big hit. Hard to believe that this is available on the same console as
Yoshi’s Story. (Peter Ross)
I Bio Freaks rs releaSed on GT Interactive, Fri 7 I Sep (prowsr'ona/i, around
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Totally wired
The weird world of the Web Rotten Dot Com
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Wedgie Page httpzl/wwwgeocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/9l 79/wedgie.htm
'l'hrs szte 'celebrates the time-honoured hiking of another boy's underwear up hIS
b..ttc ,"ac .-c ‘or‘ horn Latror‘ " front of others In the nine to fourteen age group' It's a guy l?‘..".(}, all r.gh:7
Slacker
http:"x’pllotmsueduruser 'ablesnat/divershtm
A ..r‘..-cs page wnc r‘. wnl help you, Elke, chrli out There are numerous clnnlcrng games featurxng The S/rnpsons and Star Wars, tons of Jokes srtes, and a new What’s My line-type twig called 'Guess the dictator/sitcom character’
Suicide Boy
http://wwwfractalcowcom/suicideboy/
Keep up \‘Jlll‘. the ‘seemrngly profound adventures' of Suicide Boy rn this reguiariy updated Net cartoon The trtle character likes nothing better than offing hrmscfif, but .s generally thwarted by love or the runs.
Inner Space
http://wwwobsolete.comr’anomaly/is/
Cool, Scotland-based E-xrne dedicated to 'all forms of electronic music'. Lots of club rev;ews, DJ rnterv.ews and all that sort of stuff. Plus, there's an 'Are you a
ned7' sec t.on w.th ten commandrrxents which should help you avord ned-dom. Number four ‘Thou shalt not wear more gel the less hair you have’
Interesting and devrous ways Orl spills, day-glo glue and fireballs are JUSl a few of the opponent-knobbling trrclcs at your disposal, whrle speed-bursts and the power of flight should help you reach the chequered flag first But be warned the other cars wnl do the same to you, leavrng you a seething mass of frustration It rs at thrs porn: that Cr'rc'urt Breakers' formidable 'just one more go' factor kl(k5 .n A small triumph. (PR)
SATURN
Burning Rangers (Sega) £30 at t a: *
Now that Sega have unvelled therr new Dreamcast console you would be forgiven for thinking that the Saturn was a dead man walking A last meal :s customary rn these cases and this excellent release from the famed Sonrc team should provrde some comfort before the sWItch rs thrown.
Fast-paced and sporting some Impressrve Vr’rtua On-type graphics, thus 30 platformer has y0u flying through towering rnfernos to rescue survrvors.
You've got a limited trme to accomplrsh this, and modern archrtecture berng what at rs, your greatest danger comes from getting lost In all the srntrzar-loorcrng corridors Fortunately, help Is avaziab.e from other Burning Rangers, who shout Sega Rally-style drrectrons over the rado Unfortunately, at doesn't always worlc and you often frnd yourself :r‘. a fzre- threatened dead end.
So, (an the Saturn expect a "epreve call from the Governor7 Weli, (hil‘tmqt‘. there (lfOtT'i a huge number of :evefs to complete and some of the later stages get a l)li conf'usmg, Burning Rangers has that endearxng gunlcness that has characterised so mac h of the Saturn's output Hot stuff (PO)
REVIEWERS THIS ISSUE: Paul Owens, Peter Ross
STAR RATINGS
t g t a a. Unmrssable
t t t a Very ood
* it t Wort a shot
* t Below average
it You’ve been warned
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23 Jul—6 Aug 1998 THE LIST 109