SCANNER
PLAYSTATION Crash Bandicoot 3 (SCEE)£39.99 l i... it
And lo! The Great God Crash did thrice visit the PlayStation owners of the Earth and they were most jubilant and did run whirling through the streets while those who had just bought Spyro did wail and gnash their
teeth and curse their hastiness.
Yes, here we have the third howlingly good instalment in Sony's classic series of Crash Bandicoot games and, although certainly not as sophisticated as free-roaming platformer Spyro The Dragon, it is constantly entertaining, visually stimulating, packed with action and, in a
nutshell, fun.
For those who haven’t followed the antics of the spinning bandicoot (no, us neither) since his debut in 1996, this is a 30 platform game which casts you in the role of an orange dog-type thing who must collect apples, gems and crystals and defeat end bosses over five worlds each containing five levels. Mostly you move into screen, but often you will scroll sideways or even toward the screen, pursued by some kind of ravenous monster. Occassionally, you'll even get to play as Crash's female counterpart, Cocoa, a female 'coot with blonde hair and hip hop dungarees.
At first glance, things seem pretty similar to the previous games, which is A Good Thing. The graphics (all hi-res) are chunky and colourful, featuring massive characters and a cartoony feel. The gameplay too is up to its own
high standards.
One radical difference, however, is in the two entirely new styles of level. There is a very tricky underwater level where you fight sharks with the aid of a mini-sub, and very post-Spyro free-roaming flying and driving
levels.
Excellent, too, are Crash's new moves, one of which you earn every time you kill an end boss. Chief among these is the Wumpa Fruit Launcher which allows you to fire apples at distant enemies, but there are also double jumps, a super spin and an improved belly-splash.
If you like your games to be chin-stroking free zones and put the emphasis on fun, then you'd be well advised to sniff out Crash Bandicoot 3.
(Peter Ross)
bUilders, diggers, bashers, bombers and so on.
Spunds boring, repetitive? Don’t believe it. With over 200 levels on one combined Lemmings and OH NO! More Lemmings disk, the increaSingly inventive obstacle c0urses lead to some addictive playing.
For all its faults (intensely irritating s0undtrack, eye-strain inducing graphics) the Lemmings Compilation proves that even in these BD-obsessed times, there’s a lot to be said for two dimen5ions and a bit of imagination. (DL)
Cool Boarders 3 (SCEE) £34.99 s at -r a» Grab those ironing boards, folks, ’cos the powder is knee-deep and ready to be carved and sprayed until the sun sets over yonder mountain tep. Coo/ Boarders is back With smarter graphics, fresher punk tunes and a whole new wardrobe of baggy board-wear
Most of the favourite events are still here, complemented by a bulging rucksack of extras including Slalom and Boarder X races and the ability to punch your opponents in the snorkel Y0u can take part in single race,
Wprac'tice and championship events over a total of 30 c0urses or, alternatively, get yOur mates round for dual action battle racing. The reworked graphics reSUlt in smoother, more realistic snow fields, changing weather and, despite a little problem With collmon detection, it is a definite step up from C82.
The difficulty has also been tweaked, meaning it Will take a little While to progress to the later levels, but you wouldn’t want it to end too soon, would you.7 Fans of C82 may be slightly annoyed that the control system has changed but it means they can have fun learning their busting moves all over again, It may struggle in the face of N64’s 7080" Snowboarding, but CB3 has the potential to turn you goofy, (ID)
REVIEWERS THIS ISSUE Iain DaVidSOn, Dawn Lindsey, Peter Ross, Jonathan Trew
STAR RATINGS
tr e r»- :r a Unmissable
1- tr * a» Very ood
* fir + Won 1 a shot
t * Below average
1- You’ve been warned
Totally wired
The weird world of the Web. This issue: 805 special.
Acid House
http://www.pathfinderco... ntries/a/acidxhouse.html
Possibly the defining Cultural event of the 80s, acid house just slunk in the back door, rearing its smiley face in 1988, a/tcu/ture, the on-line mag dedicated to modern pop and youth trends sums it up: ‘The status-conSCi0us dress codes of 80s clubbing dissolved in all-night raves, where the fashion- statement consisted of baggy jeans and hooded tops With garisth blithe logos, and faceless homemade recordings
topped the charts With little radio play or media attention.’
The 805 Server http://www.80s.com/VIP/
lein The 80s Server and indulge all at once yOur SICk fantasies about watching Falcon Crest in a crotchless puffball while 'John Wayne Is Big Leggy’ plays in the background 80s lTlUSIC, 80s telly, 80s triVia -- it’s all here.
Internet Ghetto Blaster '1ttp://www.igb.com/ \ musical form which first came to :ritish attention at the very start of he 1980s, hip hop has come to lominate pop, particularly in \merica, as we near the end of the nillennium. if yOu want to read intelligent, Opinionated and up-to- the-minute stuff about hip hop then go to this site, currently in its fourth year on-Iine.
Lost In The Translation
http://hearsaysimplenet.com/translation
This doesn’t have anything to do With the 80s, but it’s very funny. ’lvlangled English from around the world,’ is the raison d’etre of this Site which lists funny pigeon English spotted on signs overseas, The dry cleaners which hopes to pull in customers With the slogan ’Drop your trousers here for best results’ can,
appropriately enough, be found in Bangkok.
Chemikal Underground
httpzi’wawchemikal.demo...
k/newsletter/news_html
Recently updated, the site of excellent Glasgow record label Chemikal Underground has nothing to do With the 80s either, but has coo! information on The Delgados, Arab Strap (now Signed to (30' Beat), Magoo and the rather nifty Cha Cha Cohen.
Charlie's Sneaker Pages
http://sneakers.pair.com/
One important icon of the 80s is the humble sneaker. The boom in demand for trainers in the 80s IS largeiy thanks to aggresswe advertising from the likes of Nike and Reebok and it’s obViously had an effect on ’Charlie’, who has constructed a massive and surprisingly engrossmg site all about ’gutties’. He’s even got some trainer jokes: ’What do astronauts have to take when exploring Planet Reebok? Nike Air’
805 Arcade Machines
http://special.reserve.c...
public/retro/arcade.html
Back to the 80s again for a cool srte obsessed With the golden age of Video gaming. We may have polygons, four-player capacity and totally immerSive gaming experiences these days, but we don’t have Pac-man do we, eh? This site lets you play arcade perfect verSions of Frogger and the like by downloading Emulators and the ROM File for the game. It’s not strictly legal, but.
«I . . n. J . "j no.5. A! ; Inna-run 1.5 in minds. :1
Put tense
MM" :riri’i 1r ; -
3—17 Dec l998 THE “ST 123