YOSHI'S ISLAND (SUPER MARIO WORLD 2)

Super Nintendo 1995 PAL

The late and great sequel (prequel actually) to Super Mario World and heralded by many as one the greatest platform games of all time. This game is certainly up there with the likes of Donkey Kong Country as Nintendo at its best.

The story is set when Mario and Luigi are babies being delivered by the stork. Its flight is interrupted by an evil force and Mario is dropped into the care of the Yoshis.

Whilst the gameplay is mostly the same as Super Mario World there are some distinct differences. The most obvious being the safety of baby Mario. Should Yoshi take a hit you only have a small amount of time to retrieve him from a floating bubble before losing a life.

In addition the game is fairly large with a good amount of levels and plenty of secrets to find.

The game is perhaps also known for its visuals which were stunning back in 1995 looking like a kids drawing book using hashed lines and blotchey patterns with vivid colours in addition to plenty of other graphical effects thrown in accomplished using the SuperFX chip found similarly in Star Wing and Stunt Race FX.

Audibly the sound effects and music compliment the visual theme with cutey tunes and melodies.

Yoshis Island was re-released for the Gameboy Advance in 2004 as Super Mario Advance 3 and has an official website: http://www.gameboyadvance.com/yoshi/

The game received a pseudo sequel Yoshis Story on the N64 a few years later.

BURNING RANGERS

Saturn PAL

From Sonic Team comes one of the final Saturn games to be released in Europe and the US.

You are part of a squad of futuristic firefighters. Your task is to rescue several victims before you and they come to harm from an increasingly more powerful fire. To makes things difficult you will have to contend with things like bursting walls and chemical drums. As long as you continue to collect red crystals you are safe.

Though there are only 4 levels upon replaying them opens up new sections within them.

This game really pushes the Saturn in terms of graphics with its modified NiGHTS engine and the sound is done well.

Like NiGHTS this is another game that deserves an update being made and was only ever released on the Saturn.

BOOGERMAN (A PICK AND FLICK ADVENTURE)

Mega Drive PAL

From Interplay came a rather refreshing(!) break from the platform norm.

On the surface Boogerman is your standard platformer; lots of running, jumping with enemies but kill. In Boogerman there is a slight difference; you kill your enemies with bodily functions. Enemies can be destroyed by flicking bogies, burping and farting. You can grab a radish to make your farts into flames so you can fly!

You are out on a mission to clear up the world against the evil Booger Meister.

The game has about 20 levels with names like Flatulent Swamps, The Pits and Mucous Mountains. I bet parents were so pleased their kids were playing this.

The game sports some rather excellent sprite animation and is a reasonable challenge.

Boogerman was also released on the SNES.

BEAVIS AND BUTTEHAD

Mega Drive PAL

MTVs cartoon characters make a single appearance on the Mega Drive. The game is a combination of Platform/Action/Adventure/Puzzler and is surprisingly good.

You are on a mission to reach the GWAR concert but the tickets you need have been destroyed. You must find all 9 pieces of the tickets. This trip will take you all around town where you solve puzzles like blowing up a toilet with a cherry bomb and encountering various characters from the show.

The game can be played as single player controlling both characters at times or in a 2-player co-op mode.

The graphics and sound are all in line with the show and are pretty good.

Beavis and Butthead appeared on several platforms including SNES and Game Boy.

VIRTUA COP

Saturn PAL 1995

One of the Sega AM#2s most popular Model 2 arcade games was ported to the Saturn in 1995. At the time people questioned whether Saturn could do 3D graphics. This game was one of those that proved it could.

The gameplay is simple and addictive. Simply aim and shoot at the bad guys. The reload and do it some more. Dont kill the innocent people and get the power-ups when you can. Sounds too simple maybe, but the action in the game is non-stop. You get more points for shooting the weapon out of the bad guys hands.

The experience just can not be had playing this game with a standard control pad and the experience is enhanced further with 2 players and 2 guns.

The graphics are brilliant (for the day) and come very close to the arcade original. Audio is bearable but not paid attention to when your engrossed.

The sequel, Virtua Cop 2 was released in the arcades in 1996 and ported to Saturn, PC and Dreamcast.

VIRTUA COP 2

Saturn PAL | 1996

The sequel to the classic AM#2 arcade shooter arrived on the Saturn in perfect form.

Virtua City is in trouble once again. As one of two heroic cops you put your life on the line to clean up the city.

Whilst not much is changed in the area of gameplay but the action is intensified slightly. 4 new missions; longer and tougher with the ability to choose your path halfway through them.

The Saturn version boasts improvements of the arcade version. It has a mirror mode, Virtua Cop 1 mode and plenty of the speech that was missing in other home versions.

So grab your Vrtua Gun again and blow away some scum.

The Saturn conversion is the best for any system. Other versions include PC port (for Windows) and the game was included as part of the Dreamcast Smash Pack Vol 1.

WONDERBOY

Arcade | Sega System 1

The original arcade version of Westones addictive scrolling platformer.

Simple gameplay, cute graphics, catchy music (to some people) and a good challenge.

Perfectly playable with versions of MAME.

For more info check out January 2005.