SHANNARA

BRONA the ancient Warlock King has returned!

Slain decades ago, Brona's evil spirit has come back to wreak revenge upon those who killed him. Now, on the combined magic of the races can destroy him. You are Jak Ohmsford. Only you can overcome the ancestral hatreds that divide the Four Lands, and only you can wield the magic that will defeat Brona. It is your destiny to save your homeland -- but the price of destiny is far higher than you could have ever imagined.

This multimedia adventure features more than 30 speaking actors and tells a new story with the characters and settings of the #1 best selling fantasy series in the world today.

~ from the back of the box

In 1977, Terry Brooks wrote the first novel in his Shannara series and cemented epic fantasy on his readers rarely seen since The Lord of the Rings. In 1995 Legend Entertainment developed the as yet only adaptation of his work; Shannara (note: an underwhelming MTV series aimed at teens has since aired)...

ROLLCAGE HD

Rollcage takes everything you know about racing and turns it upside down.

No rules, adrenaline-pumping, 360° racing action that lets you drive anywhere and everywhere. Hate flipping over when you crash? Drive upside down. Need a little speed deterrent for an opponent? Blow up the nearest building and watch it come crashing down on him. Too much traffic on the road? Pass up the competition while driving on the ceiling. Rollcage - break every law, including gravity.

• Gravity-defying 360° racing. Drive anywhere - on the sides of walls, tunnel ceilings, even through buildings.
• 20 cleverly designed tracks spread over 4 distinct racing environments from deserted moon-like terrain to gorgeous tropical islands.
• Choose from 6 fully armed and indestructible vehicles each with its own unique attributes in speed, grip, acceleration, power, and more.
• Options include time-based events, championship mode, bonus vehicles, bonus tracks, stunning graphics, an army or special effects, and arena-based deathmatch.
• One car wrecking crew. Blast away giant skyscrapers and scenery with 8 innovative weapons including time warps, guided missiles, speed bursts, and electronic bolts.
• Multi-player supports up to 4 players via split screen or up to 6 players via LAN/Internet.

~ from the back of the US PC box

If there was any particular game that made you want a PlayStation at launch, it was Psygnosis' WipEout. Previously, racing games were mostly cutesy kart racers or realistic simulations. In 1999, they did it again with its spiritual successor - the blisteringly fast Rollcage series.

QUIK THE THUNDER RABBIT

No time for fun, the carrot-locker is empty! The rabbit tribe of the Angels Meadow is in great danger, predators are ready to attack. Only one solution: find the Ultimate Seed. It's a magical seed that can produce as many carrots as anyone could ever want, for eternity. But the Ultimate Seed belongs to Quok, the good sorcerer, who lives thousands of miles away from the village. It's an emergency! Only one rabbit can get his seed back, the quickest rabbit of the Angels Meadow, QUIK, The Thunder Rabbit...

• Quik, the rabbit that foes faster than any hedgehog
• Extraordinary playability
• Dozens of brutal enemies
• Time levels which will drive you nuts
• Gigantic labyrinths where you'll find the awful Beastmaster, an unbelievably cruel monster who knows Rock 'n' Roll as well as martial arts!

~ from the back of the Amiga box

The early to mid-nineties; a special time when every platformer ever conceived wanted to be either Sonic the Hedgehog or Mario the plumber. Some were not particularly shy in hiding this fact and none more so than Titus Software's 1994 attempt - Quik The Thunder Rabbit...

POCKY & ROCKY COLLECTION

Pocky was enjoying a quiet cup of tea in her shrine, when Rocky the Raccoon, a Nopino goblin came running to Pocky. 

"Something terrible has happened. My fellow Nopino goblins have lost their minds. When I woke up, they were very agitated. When I tried to calm them down, they came after me."

"Why"?

"I don't know, but I believe they are under the spell of another force... In any case, I can not handle this by myself. I need your help."

Who on earth has cast the spell and are controlling the Nopino goblins? And what for? Find out as Pocky and Rocky battle the Goblins in this epic adventure from Natsume.

• Two player simultaneous action
• Outstanding graphics
• Endless continues
• Action/Adventure game suitable for the entire family.

~ from the back of the US Pocky & Rocky Super Nintendo box

We're going Japanese again for today's review. It's a long running series based on well-known legends; Kiki KaiKai or Pocky & Rocky as it's better known over here.

OH NO!

Brain Attack!

Hello, this is Suzuki Shiro.

Today I'd like to introduce you to the hilarious action game "OH NO!". The objective is to control a character called "Brada" and safely reach the goal while avoiding cars and samba dancers that get in the way. Even I was amazed at how fun it was. You might be wondering, "What am I doing?" but I'm in charge of the narration. That's why I recommend "OH NO!" to everyone. Until next week, all the best.

~ badly translated from the back of the Japanese PlayStation box

Oh No! is a Japanese on-rails 3D running game developed by Tycoon and published in 2000 for the PlayStation by a collaboration between Asmik Ace Entertainment and TBS. TBS stands for the Tokyo Broadcasting System, the Japanese television giant that brought Takashi's Castle to the world. Anyone who has seen that show knows how crazy it is, and that's nothing compared to what we'll find in Oh No!...

NOCTURNE

USA, 1933. An ungodly evil inhabits the shadows. Werewolves, vampires, ghouls and flesh-eating zombies lurk in every darkened corner and under every unlit stairwell, their bloodlust sated only when preying on the innocent.

As an agent of The Spookhouse, a secret government agency that investigates the forces of darkness and evil, you have one purpose. To seek out and destroy these creatures. And you hunt, as your vile quarry does, at night...

• Hunt and destroy over forty types of foul creature in a wide variety of environments ranging from eerie, mountain top castles to dank, subterranean temples.
• Explore the lairs of the damned through intelligent, cinematic cameras and first-person night-vision goggles.
• Brave four individual tales of horrific adventure, each with its own unique characterisation and plot.
• Experience horror as you have never imagined it by creeping through the most realistic shadows, rolling fog and dramatic lighting ever created. 

~ from the back of the box

Nocturne is a fun 3D horror game that takes a lot of inspiration from the Resident Evil games as well as the cultural phenomenon that was The X-Files, but can this original tale of demon hunting capture an audience like those franchises could?

MONTY PYTHON & THE QUEST FOR THE HOLY GRAIL

Burn the Witch! Battle the Black knight! Then outwit the bridgekeeper at the perilous Bridge of Death in this enchanting interactive medieval experience - the first to earn an enthusiastic thumbscrews up from Vladimere the Impaled!

 

And, as an extra top-secret bonus, this game includes an exciting never-before-produced scene from the script of the original Monty Python film.

Collect clues and solve puzzles as you join King Arthur and his band of knights on their quest for the Holy Grail.

Declared "best CD-ROM game of 932 A.D." praises abound from those who have witnessed its glory...

  "Great! Great! This game is simply great!" - Otto the Great

  "It's readlly goof." - Arnulf the Good

  "It's not bad." - Arnulf the Bad

  "The killer rabbit game caught me completely by surprise!" - Etheired the

    Unready

  "I play Drop Dead with all my friends! Then I kill them." - Olaf Tryggvason,

    a viking with very few friends

  "Spank the Virgin has got me hooked! I'll never want to self-flagellate

    again!" - St. Off of Cluny

Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail, the comedy strategy-adventure game on CD-ROM that Charles the Simple is calling "Simply spectacular!" From the makers of the award-winning "Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time" CD-ROM game.

~ from the back of the box

Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail is a multi-media story book of sorts created by 7th Level in 1996. It is based off of the infamous Monty Python movie of (almost) the same name. If this movie doesn't top a list of Greatest Comedy Movies of All Time, it's because Life of Brian trumped it. Does the game live up to the lofty heights of the movie? Or John Cleese? Let's find out...