SECRET GAMES BUSTED!
It’s happening! What is? Oooo, everything!! The Speccy games world burst into action recently at the annual European Computer Entertainment Show with a host of new announcements being made. If the software houses keep their promises we’re in for a rollicking good time for the rest of the yearl Check it out...
US Gold have loads of stuff lined up, including coin-op conversions of Final Fight, Mega Twins, G-Loc (now that should be an interesting one to see on the Speccy!) and Bonanza Bros. There’s also an adaptation of the Godfather 3 film, a great Indiana Jones game called Fate of Atlantis (but there’s no film, sadly), and Out Run Europa (finally!). Plenty more games still to be revealed, so stay tuned!
Ocean have grabbed the biggest licence of the year by snapping up the rights to The Simpsons — don’t have a cow until December, though. Also in the pipeline is Toki (shouldn’t be long), Wild Wheels (which is, apparently, football played by competitors driving bumper cars), Smash TV, Darkman (from the spook-like film), Terminator 2 (from the bash-like film yet to be seen in the UK) and Bruce Willis’s latest film, Hudson Hawk, gets the Ocean coding treatment for release in the autumn.
Hi-Tec have signed up with Warner Bros to produce a stack of mega-games based on the Loony Toons characters. Prepare to be dazzled with games starring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Sylvester and Tweetie Pie (did you see a puddy tat?)
Gremlin announced plans for two new labels. There’s the budget priced label, called GBH, and the first couple of releases are Footballer of the Year 2 and Impossamole. An educational software label called First Class launches with a game aimed at four to six-year-olds based around The Shoe People.
Imageworks get to grips with the slimey quartet of half-shelled heroes once again this Christmas with the release of Turtles 2 — The Arcade Game, taken from the Konami coin-op. Cowabunga all over again, anyone? Also, Jaleco’s coin-op Cisco Heat gets the conversion treatment for a release late this year. It’s a turbo-charged race through the hilly streets of San Francisco in a police car and promises fab 3D graphics and the most realistic handling on a computer screen. Well, that’s what they say...
Krisalis have another sporting effort in the shape of Manchester United Europe, a sequel to their best-selling Manchester Utd title. The game takes the club into the European Cup arena with all-new in-game features and includes a management and arcade action sections.
Mindscape have signed with the environmentally sound superhero Captain Planet for a Speccy game appearing around September. And they’re dead chuffed with their licence to convert Atari’s Paperboy 2. The original Paperboy is one of the best-selling Speccy games of al time, so Mindscape are hoping for a repeat performance which’il earn them plenty of dosh.
Domark, who have always been a few plums short of a pudding, revealed their Christmas list which includes conversions of the Atari coin-ops Pitfighter (an action-packed wrestling game), Rampart and the sequel to Hard Drivin’: Race Drivin’. Also in the Domark pipeline is Taito’s Super Space Invaders and should be making an appearance around September. Like Domark say, ‘Space Invaders was a phenomenon in the 1970s..,’ Unspeakably fiappy flares, ahoy!