DREAMCAST

Worldwide Soccer 2000 Euro Edition

(Sega) £39.99

Another football champronshrp, another re-Jrgged football trtle. Sega Worldly/dc? Soccer has been around srnce Saturn and, graphrcs asrde, has changed lrttle durrng transrtron onto the Dreamcast. Then agarn, rf rt plays as well as thrs, only pedants w0uld moan at rts lack of progress.

The new Euro Edrton allows both clornestrc and natronal teams to be gurded thr0ugh a wrde varratron of cornpetrtrons rangrng from knockout cups to fully blown leagues. Control rs easy and rnturtrve, Wrth dozens of spec ral moves to be drscovered as well as some crackrng hrdden teams and leagues Graphrcally, WW5 200 Euro Ed/tron rs crrsp and detarled, featurrng some rmpressrvely flurcl movement. And yet, the pedants may have a pornt Those who own 'Wor/dw/de Soccer 2000 wrl! not frnd much to be exc rtecl about as Euro Edrtron offers lrttle extra Those new to WW5 delrghts however wrll have therr purchase well rewarded. darn Davrdsonl

Chu-Chu Rocket (Sega) Free Nothing rn lrfe can be as nrce as a free game, partrcularly when rt Is as ‘.'.r( kedly enjoyable as Cfru-Chu Rocket. Drearncast owners can order the game by srrnply regrsterrng on DreamArena, and a few days later nrce Mr Postman :arll pop rt through therr letterbox. (,r’ru-C/ru Rocket rs a srmple puzzle game regurrrng you to gurde the oppressed Chu-Chu's round a grrd to tnerr escape rockets whrle av0rdrng obstacles and therr Vrcrous predators the KapuKapus

As wrth the best puzzles, the srrnplrc rty of the rclea produces some rrrrtatrngly acldrctrve gameplay, Wlih many an hour spent usherrng the lrttle blrghters around yOur telly screen. And to top rt all, rt features Internet multrplay, allowrng four-way battles to

112 THE “ST 72 Jan 6 Ju

Delivered to you by 6 a.

PC Daikatana (Eidos) £34.99 «a e: v it Well, it has been a long time coming. A very long time. When it was originally conceived, Daikatana promised to use the cutting edge technology of OuakeZ to bring a new level of single player, first person shooter action. As we are all aware, Ouake3 has come and gone and finally Daikatana makes an appearance in all its Quake2 glory. Does it still stand up?

For the most part the answer has to be yes. After the glorious, sweeping levels of Quake Arena

and the detailed intricacies of Unreal Tournament, the visuals of Daikatana look a little dated. However, some clever level design, and no small amount of ingenious lighting, make Daikatana a very moody piece. And to prevent optic boredom the story spans four time zones, presenting an ever-changing set of textures and styles.

Four time zones you say?

Daikatana tries to expand upon the normal first person shooter in two respects. Firstly, it has a complicated plotline involving the search for the mythical sword, Daikatana. Such is the power of this mighty weapon that it can warp time and space, throwing our hero, Hiro, from futuristic Japan into, among others, ancient Greece. And to help him along the way we have the second break from the norm: a

role playing element.

Complex plot and roleplay in one

As Hiro progresses he gains experience, improving his health, damage, etc. He is also joined by sidekicks along the way, non-player characters who can be ordered around like wingmen but must also be protected. Although the novelty of this soon wears off, it lends a little more importance and a little more tactical

difficulty to the game.

mist.

(Iain Davidson)

Yet, for all its cleverness Daikatana sometimes fails to hit the spot. The initial levels are dark and confusing, with very little in the way of engaging enemies. Later levels open out but often fail to raise the red fighting

An impressive solo player, Daikatana suffers quite a bit from old age even before it is given a chance. Doom 3 can't come quick enough.

wage across Europe. It may not be as vrsually stunnrng as Quake, and Chu- Chu clans seem unlrkely, but Chu-Chu Rocket matches rt for sheer multrplayer emoyrnent. Tonnes of fun for absolutely no pence. (larn Davrdson)

PLAYSTATlON

Dukes Of Hazzard: Racing For Home (Ubisoft) £29.99 r «-

Sharrng honours wrth KITT and the red and whrte hotrod of Starsky and Hutch, the General Lee rs one of the most famous cars rn televrsron hrstory. And now you have the opportunrty to roar rt round Hazzard C0unty, hotly pursued by Sherrff Rosco P. Coltrane

and hrs dog, Flash.

Dukes Of Hazzard Rac’rng For Home rs made up of two drstrncit elements Frrst up are the glorrously nostalgrc anrmatron sequences whrc'n herald each level, brrngrng the long mrssed hokurn of Boss Hog, Cooter, Uncle Jessre and Darsy Dukes’ mrcroscoprc. shorts back to the small screen

Unfortunately, the accompanyrng drrvrng game falls very short of expectatron. The graphrcs are basrc., the General Lee handles lrke a tank and the ever-pursurng polrce cars accelerate faster than a Formula One machrne on nrtro What should have been a hrllbrlly Drrver rs nothrng but a shameful waste, doggone rt| (larn Davrdson)

Streetfi hter EXZ Plus (Capcom) £2 .99

Super-fast garneplay, blah, explosrve combos, blah blah, huge cast of characters, blah blah blah. Anyone who has ever played a computer game rn therr lrfe could tell you what to expect from the latest Streetf/ghter

' release Although rt now boasts

almost-3D, wrth the characters anrmatecl wrth depth, though strll frghtrng on one plane, EX2 Plus feels the same as rts thousands of predecessors

Sure rt rs slrck, gurck and has a huge array of moves to clrscover, but rf you have not played a Streetf/g/rter game by now, you're never gorng to and fans er| frncl rt old hat Wrth so many new beat-em-ups around, or on therr way, lrke Soul Cal/bur; Dead Or Al/ve 2

or the eagerly awarted Tekken Tag, there rs no real reason to shell out on yet another SF trtle. Roll on the true next generatron Streetfrgnter

llarn Davrdsonr

PC Open Tennis 2000 (Cryo) £34.99

There rs‘ sornethrng strangely appealrng abOLrt tennrs games. It rs no accrdent that the frrst computer game to break the mass market, 3Pong, was a tennrs srmulatron, and srnce then some of the most addrcitrve trtles have featured the racguet and felt-covered ball

Open Tenn/s 2000 from French publrsher's Cryo carrres on thrs grand traclrtron wrth another hugely playable trtle Featurrng 64 characters and four drfferent cOurt surfaces, Open Tenn/s 2000 offers everythrng a buddrng Sampras could wrsh for

ere the real thrng, rt rs furrously fast and takes a good few hours to become comfortable wrth, but perseverance rs rewarded wrth cross- (Ourt chrps and down-the-lrne o'rrves that have you screamrng How do you lrke them apples" at your opponents. Open Terms 2000 looks frne and, steep learnrng curve asrcle, should appeal to all but the most vehement of tennrs haters llarn Davrclsonl

STAR RATINGS

Unmrssable

Very good

Worth a shot

Below average You've been warned