PlayStation

Coming from a time honored pedigree, it would seem that a Mega Man title bearing the surname Legends would be a polished concoction of all of the great Mega Man games of yore. But if you believe that, President Clinton probably fooled you as well. Mega Man Legends is a definite aberration from prior Mega Man games. The "Blue Bomber" is back, but this time he's traversing vast 3-D fields rather than jumping from disappearing platforms. He champions a local village instead of combing stages for goodies. And Mega Man's not even thinking about Wily as he tracks down the leader of the notorious Reaverbots. Think of it as a poor man's Tomb Raider but with the star not being so... well endowed.

Way back in the PlayStation's incipiency--back when Beyond the Beyond was considered a boon because its existence--a game by the name of Wild Arms was released amid the deafening buzz surrounding the adventitious Final Fantasy VII. But even though many a role player had their heads in the Clouds, Wild Arms managed to garner a loyal following from hard-core gamers who were attracted to its sprite-heavy style and familiar playability.

The concept of Parappa the Rapper is easy to understand. Parappa wants to impress Sunny Funny, the girl he likes. To do this, he must train under several rap masters to hone his skills. As the masters bust out the raps, the player presses buttons in time to the rhythm. It may sound simplistic on paper, but so does Pac-Man. The game is full of colorful characters, and the simple concept masks a very rich and rewarding game experience.

Prepare to once again enter the world of survival horror in Capcom's latest foray into Raccoon City. Resident Evil 3's high production values and reputation give it a lot of potential. All aspects of the series have been improved in this game [yes, even the voice acting is decent] which makes this possibly the best title in an already impressive lineage.

Upon first playing it, I thought Um Jammer Lammy was a decent game, marred by only a few flaws. While these flaws, namely insipid music--which is important in a game of this nature--still exist in the finished product, the game delivers several other features that redeem the title. The result is a game that's okay by itself, but really shines during shindigs with a couple of drunken--I mean, happy friends.

When you first sit down and play this one, you might think that you were playing the '99 version, but after a while you will realize that 989 sat down and beefed up the features and the authenticity. When I say beefed up authenticity, I'm talking about the game's plays, which were designed by UCLA head coach Bob Toledo. These plays are different than the other plays that you would find in another football game like Gameday 2k (yuck). The plays are unique, in that you won't be using the same play over and over again for a different team; you have to use a different play.

Benched
The Gameday series has tried to improve itself nearly every year, and this year is no exception. This year they added tons of new features, animations and game modes in hopes of making this the best Gameday ever. All of the options from the last title are back, like all of the NFL teams, season mode, create-a-player mode, and everything else. Although they added all of these new bells and whistles, Gameday fails to impress in the gameplay department, as you will soon find out.

Back in the days of the SNES, there were very few RPG's. And since the market for them was very tough, only the best made the cut. Square's legacy was virtually created with two games, Final Fantasy IV (which was known originally as II on the SNES) and Chrono Trigger. While the current generation of Square games looks better due to technology, fans usually will agree that FF4 and CT are two of the best games that ever have come out of Square's development studios ever.

Front Mission 3 is, by far, one of the best games I have played this year. From the first second of the opening movie, I was hooked. Front Mission 3 takes a whole new approach to the strategy and role-playing genres.

Final Fantasy 7 is a game that is surrounded by lots of hype. Like most games that are hyped, they never live up to it completely. FF7 is just this and was a game that was a very cool idea but just missed the mark. To begin with, Final Fantasy 7, in my opinion, has the best cinemas seen on a console to date! While the polygons used before and after the movies are average at best, the cinemas are what makes this game shine! By using the CD ROM format, Square has been able to have so many details in this massive epic. The extra space was put to good use by allowing so many CG movies. They are just too numerous to count!