November 2002 Volume 83 Number 11 "serving the protectors"
Edited By John Ballantyne

Medieval Total War

Format: PC

This is an extraordinarily comprehensive 3D war game, which is both engrossing and lavishly illustrated.

It encompasses 400 years of medieval warfare – from the First Crusade in 1095 to the fall of Constantinople in 1453.

Players take control of one of the great powers of the period and guide their kingdom’s fortunes through a time of brutal conflict and social upheaval.

You get to command vast armies and lay siege to mighty fortresses across the battlefields of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. In a world of fear, power and death, where empires are made and broken, you have to choose your allies wisely and deal mercilessly with your enemies. It is no time for the faint-hearted.

3D battles, involving more than 10,000 troops, rage across deserts, mountains, plains and forests.

Massive armies lay siege to mighty fortresses and pound them into dust with assorted weaponry, including catapults, cannons and siege engines.

You can even role-play famous historical figures, such as Richard the Lionheart, Joan of Arc, Saladin and Frederick Barbarossa, and re-enact famous historical campaigns including the Hundred Years War, the Crusades and the Mongol invasions.

You can also re-write history by leading a Saracen invasion of Europe.

F-14 Tomcat

Format: Gameboy

This exciting release puts you in the cockpit of the US Navy’s premiere fighter aircraft, the F-14 Tomcat.

You embark on a series of missions, whose ultimate objective is usually to eliminate enemy targets, such as aircraft, vessels, oil platforms and land-based military facilities.

You are equipped with an array of air-interceptor missiles and a 20mm cannon capable of firing up to 200 rounds of lethal ammunition per second.

Confronting you are Russian-built Mig 29s and MiG 24s.

The impressive 3D combat visuals give you a vivid experience of dogfighting with very sophisticated enemy aircraft.

Rear views can be unsettling when you see the enemy on your tail or missiles homing in on your craft.

The AI is of a particularly high order.

Although the novice options can enable a newcomer to enjoy the game, the Ace level for more advanced players is remorseless and unforgiving.

And even when you’ve successfully completed a mission, it is a mandatory requirement that you land your F-14 on an aircraft carrier deck. This can produce some hair-raising moments.

You can either go on solo missions or enjoy multiplayer action, which accommodates up to four players.

Gadget Tycoon

Format: PC

In this oddball management simulation, you start out as a humble college dropout who has control of an abandoned warehouse on the edge of town.

You set up your own company and can choose to bring to market one of three bizarre products – android home helps (domestic robots), jet-powered roller blades, or space-age toilets (complete with TV, voice-activated flush and built-in bidet action).

You are in charge of research, manufacturing, marketing and administration.

You can use either legitimate above-board means of reaching your goals (eg. using respectable banks) or shady means (using the Mafia or industrial espionage).

Your success depends on a number of factors, such as your cash-flow, debt level, the speed with which you repay your debts, the price of your shares on the market, the security in your plant, the volume and price of your sales, the public’s perception of your company’s credibility (a rumour spread by your competitors can seriously damage your reputation).

A fun aspect of the game is hiring guards, upgrading safes and reinforcing armoured doors to protect you against others.

Mario Sunshine

Format: GameCube

After saving the world from Bowser in previous games, Nintendo’s legendary Mario heads off for a well-earned tropical holiday on Isle Delfino, accompanied by friends Princess Peach and Professor Toadstool.

On arrival, however, he discovers that a Mario-lookalike has been vandalizing the resort, leaving a trail of paint and graffiti everywhere.

In a case of mistaken identity, the local inhabitants blame Mario for these misdeeds and sentence him to clean up the entire island before he can unwind.

Mario, fortunately, is equipped with a special water-powered jet pack to clean up the mess.

With this ingenious device strapped to his back, he is also able to squirt at enemies from a distance, hover in the air, jet through the water, and blast off like a rocket. This fun and challenging new game is without doubt the best Mario to date, with vivid colour, realistic waves and splashes, as well as stunning tropical scenery and wildlife.

Mario has some hilarious adventures as the paint he has to clean away takes on a life of its own, spurting out enemies, changing the landscape and clinging to Mario, making him slip and slide out of control.

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