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PAC-MAN
WORLD
Can you
believe it's been two decades since the back section of your corner
café wheeled in that mind blowing new technological marvel called Pac-Man?
How many 20c pieces slipped through those slots to activate the dot
chomping little yellow muncher? Billions, I'm sure. Aside from the totally
authentic original we've grown to love so much, you're also given a
new look, up dated 3-D Pac-Man. All the original characters are present
and 18 bonus stages await you. The Quest Mode (where you need to save
your pals from the imposter Toc-Man), is highly entertaining and pretty
exciting in parts. It features 6 worlds (space, funhouse, pirate etc.)
and turns the basic Pac-Man principle into one heck of an adventure.
Maze mode also serves up hours of fun with up to 30 varying mazes to
tackle. This game doesn't merely ride on the historical significance
attached to Pac-Man, its improvements are well executed and addictive
enough for modern gamers who might not have been around the time Pac-Man
hit its high in the 80's.
5
/ A
- PB
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PARAPPA
THE RAPPER
Amoungst the high tech blow 'em up games in every PlayStation category,
there is always a little glimmer of originality. Parappa is one
of those. You are Parappa, a 2-D character in a wacky 3-D world,
trying to win the heart of a babe (a flower, literally). This, however,
does not come easily. In between the cool animation which propels the
story, you need to rap your way through 6 stages with the help of instructors
ranging from an onion headed Kung-Fu instructor to a psycho TV-cook
hen. Sounds bizarre? Well, it is. But it's great fun as well. Getting
into the rapping mode takes a bit of practice, but what you need to
do is rap at the right cues or you have to do it again. Improvising
funky bits will be to your advantage, as long as it's to the beat. Therefor,
the rhythmically impaired and reflex deprived will have difficulty jumping
around your control on command. It might actually help to improve this
disability. Although Parappa looks like a full on kiddies game,
it definitely is not. You'll soon get into its weird world and it will
take a few days before you get those tunes out of your head ! This is
by far one of freshest a breaths of fresh air this month among the hordes
of destructive games (which we love so much) out there in the PlayStation
market.
4 / B
- PB
PARAPPA THE RAPPER in Afrikaans
Hier is nou 'n spelletjie wat heeltemal verskil van die rondvlieg en
opblaas temas (soos hierbo) wat in oorvloed is op die PlayStation mark.
Hoewel hulle fantasties is, het jy nou en dan lus vir ietsie anders.
Hierdie oorspronklike spelletjie plaas jou in die skoene van Parappa,
wat 'n meisie se hart wil wen. Om dit te kan doen moet jy deur ses vlakke
gaan en saam met vreemde karakters jouself tot sukses "rap". As jy nie
goeie ritme het nie, sal Parappa jou wel leer. Dit is uiters
gewild, veral in die Ooste, en bestaan uit 2-D karakters in 'n 3-D wereld
! Daar is wonderlike, vloeiende animasie soos die storie vorder tussen
jou rap sessies. Die musiek is lekker en steek deeglik in jou kop vas.
Sodra jy die rap tegniek bemeester het, loop dit vlot, maar moenie tou
op gooi nie, want dit neem 'n rukkie om dit presies te doen. Parappa
lyk wel soos 'n jongspan spelletjie, maar is definitief vir alle ouderdomme
se genot bedoel.
4 / B
- PB
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POINT
BLANK
Amid the spacey titles this month, a cartoon shooting gallery will go
down just fine. A shitload of targets including piranhas, bottles, armoured
tanks, skeletons, vultures and hundreds more serve as an almost bottomless
well of fun. Your hosts are the wacky Doctors Don & Dan, who are quite
often involved in the shooting tasks, be it an apple off one's head
or saving them by popping balloons, catching them in a life raft. You
can also take them on a crazy quest which works like a point and click
game - you encounter loads of shooting fests along the way, of course.
Some crazy challenges put your shootin' skills to the test when you
have a single bullet with which to nail a falling leaf or zipping UFO!
One little problem, though: the regular PlayStation control moves your
aim a little too slowly or too quick in other instances. The perfect
accessory in this case is the G-Con45 pistol, which you point
at the screen and let 'em have it. A multi-player party mode can be
the cause of one heck of a riot for up to eight people without so much
as a drop of blood spilt. Point
Blank
can be returned to for continuous play again and again.
4 / A
- PB
...the 2nd Opinion...
POINT BLANK
Even if you don't own a G-Con45 pistol control, this game still
kicks big time. There's a magnitude of shooting galleries ranging from
the normal to the outrageously wacky, and a whole team of friends can
play this one and have a hoot. Drs Don and Dan are the crazy hosts to
this trigger happy extravaganza where you can shoot anything from cars,
tanks, ninjas, ducks, piranhas, UFOs, flies, leaves, bottles, criminals
and just about anything you can imagine. Single shot challenges like
William Tell-style apple-on-head shots or hitting meteorites before
they strike the earth are but a few of the countless shooting experiences.
Hours of fun also spill over into an adventure mode where the two nutzos
go around exploring an island, encountering shoot-ups along the way.
A great laugh which also tests your aim.
4 / B
- PB
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POINT
BLANK 2
Alright you trigger happy sonsabitchas! Point
Blank
is back with another bevy of targets to blow to smithereens...several
thousand, in fact. Are you up to it?! Sure as shit ya are! Drs Don &
Dan are back to test your aim. If this game isn't enough reason for
you to acquire a G-Con45 lightgun control, then I don't know
what is. In many ways the standard control is more handy for some targets,
as it stays static without a shake, but then it moves too slowly for
quicker targets and could result in you cussin' around the pets. The
G-Con is essential, though, as I don't see you getting far in
the Insane stage without one. Beginner, sure, Advance,
perhaps... but no, I say no way in hell will you master Insane
without a G-Con!! The galleries this time round have much of
the same, but is by no means a mere Xerox (do we need a little
copyright sign for that, I wonder?) of its big Mama. You have red &
blue targets, black & white targets, grouping scenarios, rapid fire
set-ups, defensive modes, gangster hunts, single shot games, miscellaneous
anything goes galleries, variety, brain teasers, animal targets and
a bunch more bloodless mayhem. Be it potting a single coin with only
one bullet, nailing a car falling from a building with 60 shots before
you're crushed, UFO's attacking earth, sharks bobbing for Dr Don, conventional
galleries, bank robber & cowboy scenes with hostages, reaching certain
scores in a certain time, shooting targets that flash in sequence, shooting
addition and subtraction answers(!)...the list goes on and friggin'
on. It'll take a long while before you get bored with this sucker. Now,
your three main modes include the Party Mode, Point Blank
Castle and an interesting Theme Park Mode. Party contains
Team Battle where you can have up to 8 people compete against
each other in teams. You can alternate one at a time or two guys at
once (alternation will probably be at the order of the day as I haven't
met anyone with 2 G-Con's). The Tournament separates the
real gunslinga's from the capgun sissies. The Turf War has several
equally divided blocks covering an area with the character you chose
on them (be it Don, Dan, a dog, bird, whatever). Each stage you win,
your character block takes over that of the other guy 'till you've completely
overrun him. Again a bunch of you can join in and the hours will zip
on by. Losers get penalties like 20 push-ups! Cool! At Point Blank
Castle you have your conventional VS and Arcade sections.
Endurance doesn't allow you to restart and you head on up a tower with
numbered levels. Clearing each shooting challenge sends you on higher.
Once you've lost all your lives, it's over, and your little sister will
have to try hard to kick you from your reigning level. The Theme
Park is a rescue adventure. You have to find the King's kidnapped
daughter. You get 4 tickets with which to enter four different areas.
There is the Super Bullet Train which send you on a fast train,
shooting targets by the railside. When you get to a red light, you need
to complete a shooting challenge. If you lose your lives you're stuffed
- you only have one ticket for each ride. So, have your memory card
inserted if you're adamant on saving the princess. The Cosmic Drive
is a space situation - if you miss flying alien targets, you need to
prove yourself in a shooting challenge. Abyss Tours is an underwater
experience with similar principles, while the Haunted House has
a maze from which you need to exit with loads of shooting challenges
in it's dark halls. Basically, score doesn't mean a thing, it's just
such a pun filled blast to blow things away, knowing no-one got hurt.
6 / A
- PB
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POINT
BLANK 3
If you
still don't own any of the Point
Blank games,
get this one. Drs Don & Dan are back with another totally crazy collection
of shooting galleries, which include takes on previous favourite target
set-ups as well as a whole bunch of new, never before seen shootout
scenes. It’s not only a “shoot the target of your colour” scenario either,
as puzzle shots, target matching, single skill shots and insane rapid
fire mayhem will drive you up the wall with delectation. As usual, the
game’s real potential lies in its G-Con45 light gun peripheral’s
advantage over the conventional PS control. Party Mode gets a
crowd into the swing of things while the endurance and versus modes
add more dimension to a rootin’ tootin’ shootin’ time.
5
/ A
- PB
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