SCANNER
PLAYSTATION Crash Team Racing (Sorry) £29.99 '
Play your carts right: Crash Team Racing
Sequels are damned by their very nature. They must follow the example of their predecessors or lose their audience; but too close a similarity and they are panned for being cheap attempts at cashing in. It is fantastic then that developers Naughty Dog have decided to completely dodge this double- edged sword by taking Crash Bandicoot into a different genre altogether. The only similarity between Crash Team Racing and its parent games is the bandicoot character travelling at great speed in both.
However, it does bear striking parallels to a few other titles, namely Super Mario Carts and Speed Freaks. CTR is a cart racing title, involving a massive array of racing options. 0f the many possibilities, the adventure-come- story single player mode is by far the most interesting. An initial choice of four tracks soon grows as victories are claimed, while there are extra items to win in special races and time trials. The wealth of racing possibilities ensures that, even before the multiplayer game is tried, there are a good
few hours of addictive play to be had.
Most of the tracks have an imaginative and fun layout, and the visuals are both bold and bright, zipping along at a fair old rate. Cartoon sound effects also add to the whole, producing a cheekin enjoyable little title. Not that it's easy, however. The combination of vicious weaponry and carts, which take a while to master, makes CTR quite taxing. Although you feel immediately at home behind the wheel, powersliding and speed-boosting may not be in your repertoire for some time. Stick at it, though, and Crash — or any of the other characters you choose — will be powering round the lava, the beach or the sewers with growing confidence.
Though not the most original game on the shelf, Crash Team Racing more than holds its own in the playability stakes. Falling short of Super Mario Carts' ferocious genius, it is far better than Speed Freaks and deserves much praise. A go-cart game to go-get. (lain Davidson)
Totally wired
The weird world of the Web.
On The Road From New York To San Francisco 'nttp: xxx-.rsr.kodakcomUS en corp features onTlreRoad
Tlrrs' rs a road move 0‘ a nebsrte A photographer set out "one
9‘0 Shiite?
Lrberft. and mapped out the journey to the Screen Gate 8' one a photograph every mrle And horn. far is that“ 3,304 photos, to be be .se \tee oft’ at any pornt along the may and send one of the Dl‘otos te a 'r em: as a postcard It beats takzr‘g a G'eyhound has
Map A Nuclear Blast
http: '\.'nv\.'-.r.pbsorgrwgbh'amex bomb sfeature blastmaplttrrrl
0mm “("1 CW 435‘
Unsurprrsrngly rn thrs age of Internet play, Codename Eagle has a multrplayer optron and, follotxrng the solo game, rt rs somewhat drft'erent The abrlrty to clrmb :nto a lwplane, tank or antr-arrc‘ralt gun makes for a nonsensrcal, yet rnfec‘trous slrce of head-to-head combat Codename Eagle wrll drsappomt those wrthout patrence, but an open mrnd wrll lrnd a r'efreshrng and challengrng change from the norm llDl
Urban Chaos (Eidos)£29.99 a » r
Erdos must be the only people rn Brrtarn who were annoyed when the dreaded Y2K bug farled to cause socral turmOII. Just thrnk of all the free publroty for therr latest release, Urban Chaos, that .vas mrssed For that rs what the game rs all about Controllrng yOur c'home of poirce offrcer rn thrrd person, a successron of mrssrons take the story from normal, run-of—the-mrll bag-snatchers to creepy, unreal dudes rn black Jackets
brandrshrng WIcked frrearms And guess who rs the last lrne of defence7
Because the mrssrons only cover a small geographrcal area of the crty, the detarl rs that much better Leaves blow, puddles splash and the pedestrrans all seem to go about therr busrness rn an eerre daze Although realrsm rs not an rssue, everythrng hangs together well and the crty soon becomes a character all of rts own
If only the character control, and rn partrcular the hand-to-hand combat, had been rmproved upon, Urban Chaos would be blessed With a frve star revrew A fantastic; envrronment and great story somewhat spOrled by average gameplay A new mrllennrum, but some thrngs never change (ID)
REVIEWER THIS ISSUE: larn Davrdson
STAR RATINGS
Unmrssable Very ood ‘~ 4 Won 1 a shot t * Below average " You've been warned
Brt of a werrd one here Amerrcan publrc
yOu can drsc'over the cle\./astatrorr of a nuclear blast on your home ton'.“
broadcasters PBS host a s te 1" .‘-.’l‘.:c ( lictcrse
between a one megatonne blast l8O trrnes Hrroshrn‘a: rn the arr or o" the surface, or a 25 megatonne arr blast You're shown a map ar‘cl the nngs of destructron, and are even rnvrted to type rn the "ame of your Sl'L'Ol lha‘. brt’s
especrally morb:d
Phone Bashing
http;,r"\rV\rrvw.phonebashing.com
You may hate mobrle phones, but probably not to the extent that thrs London-based operatron do Watch the apparently true vrdeos of men dressed as grant phones grabbrng mobrles off unsuspec trng vrctrms rn the street Thrs shows the true beauty of the Web you Just wc)u|dn't get thrs krnd of rubbrsh on TV
unless Noel Edmonds was Involved
Calculate A Cheaper Phone Bill
httpzr"wwwphonebillsorguk
Srmply enter your typrcal usage of your phone Irne
vorce, data, mobrie, etc
and thrs Independent OFTEL approved srte wrll Inform you of the best deal frorrr yOur local telectommunrcatron ciorrrpanres Hrnt none of them are cheap, some
jUSI less expensrve
The British Library
htlpir r'www. bl . uk
Havrng jUSl gone £479 mrllron over-budget wrth rts new prenrrses rn londo", tl~e Brrtrsh Lrbrary rs now avarlable onlrne ere Encyclopaeclra 8r‘rtannrca l)efocei"ar‘cl, thrs rs one of the great Brrtrsh rnstrtutrons '0 get web-unse View the irkes o‘ the Lrndrsfarne Gospel and the Bayeux Tapestry Without havrng to lrsten to Anetta" t0urrsts ask exactly when m the 60s they were actually made
Aphorisms Galore! http:r’lwwwaphorlsmsgalorecom
A formrdable collectron of wrttrosms and trursms, searc hable by author and SUblC‘Cl You’d want to know them all, Just to she them rnto conversatron D c: you know Ernstern sard, 'Put your hand on a hot stove tor a mrnute, and rt see'ns lrke an hour Srt Wrth a pretty grrl for an hour, and rt seems lrke a mrnute That's
relatrvrty' What a genrus
Simpsons Do Pulp FIctIon http://wwwjinxworldcom/bonushtm The story goes that some genome Srmpsons anrmatOrs drew up some 30 SkCiCl‘E‘S featurrng some of the cast from the Cult serres when Pulp Frctron was released Never before shown, they’ve only now been allowed to be seen Judge for y0urselves Steve Bra:r
20 Jan—3 Fe: 2000 THE llST 97