quickly. Hire this Out and you'll complete it before you have to take it back. There is even a limit to the amOunt of times yOu can drool at the Metal Gear So/id 2 demo before that begins to nip the head. Ouick. beautiful and mildly unsatisfying; Just like a John Woo movie.
PLAYSTATION SIMPSON’S WRESTLING
(Fox Interactive) £29.99 O
Simpson's Wrestling should have been something speCIal. All those fantastically familiar characters. catchphrases and all.
Zone of the Enders
drawn from the matter in hand, namely destroying
PS2 ZONE OF THE
ENDERS (Konami) £39 99 everything in sight. The beating the IIVIIlg .... Visuals are stunning. crapolla out of each
with weapons lighting up the soreen and bosses filling your trousers. Controls are easy to master while the different strategies required to complete each level keep the old brain cells working. However. the whole
thing is over far too
other in the silliest sport in history. Unfortunately. the reality is. well, duller. Sure the characters are there and the catchphrases are plentiful but everything else is sub-standard. The visuals are clumsy. broken and animated by a blind chimp. Combat
Imagine John Woo getting his hands on a Mech game and. hey presto. Zone Of The Enders. Such is the grace and fluidity of the animation of these huge. mechanical weapons of war that the concentration is often
PLAYSTATION ISS PRO EVOLUTION 2 (Konami) £29.99 0000.
.’ y,
A football game with astonishing depth and control
Call back the dogs, hang up the boots and sell that shrill horn for the hunt is over. Those long nights, joypad in hand, buzzing on caffeine, desperately trying to decide on a champion in the console soccer war are a thing of the past. ISS Pro Evolution 2 has arrived and claimed the crown. Good to know isn’t it?
First impressions would suggest that very little has changed since the last incarnation. The graphics are almost identical, ie dodgy, with the players loping around the pitch in that is-it-too-slow style which is the bane of the attacker and saviour of the defender. The kick-and-chase sprint remains, as does the gamble of the through ball, while tackles are as nasty or as nice as you want them to be. Sure this is all good stuff, but the numeral 2 after the title should suggest something a little more, shouldn’t it?
Well it does, sort of. The options while playing have been improved with the tactical game now playing more of a part. Lists of playing styles are easily accessible through the push of a couple of buttons and, after some practice, these can be initiated smoothly during play. Swinging from defence into attack, or vice versa, is now much more impressive and adds a lot to some already untouchable gameplay.
It is difficult to find a problem with ISS Pro Evo 2 at all. Visually it is unimpressive but this means nothing next to the astonishing depth and control that it provides for the player. If there is even one game-playing bone in your body this will be the next purchase on your list. ISS Pro Evo 2 further proves why the games market is now bigger than Hollywood.
(lain Davidson)
1 10 THE LIST 12—26 Apr 2001
COnSists of walking fonvard hammering the X button until your Opponent falls over. SpeCial moves are truly rubbish and there is no sense of satisfaction in any of the gameplay. You would think that at some pOint in the creative process someone at Fox would have stuck there hand up and asked the question ‘ls this not Just tripe?'. Needless to say the licence alone wrll sell a bunch of Simpson '3 Wrestling. Just don't be one of the mugs that falls for it.
PLAYSTATION RUGRATS IN PARIS
(THO) £19.99 00
The Rugrats cartoon is one of those magical media masterpieces that appeals to kids and adults alike. The clever recognition of both the adult and youngsters views of childhood makes for compulsive television and even reasonable cinema. Unfortunately, this duality
. doesn’t stretch to
computer games. Pugrats In Paris is cruelly childish in its execution and the suspicion is that no one. young or old. will truly enjoy it. As in the movie. the toddlers are in Paris
visiting Euroreptarland.
You wander the park
picking up tickets and playing mini-games for better tickets until you
' can buy some goodies at the store. It doesn't really matter why
because the likelihood of ever getting to that
' stage in the game is
slim. Basic. limiting and dull, Rugrats In Paris is a poor reflection of its non-interactive counterparts and will fail to entertain even the youngest of players
(lain Davidson)
ALSO RELEASED
. Black and White (PC
EA $29.99) Threatens to be the best game ever. Quake III (P82 EA $239.99) Legendary FPS arrives on PS2.
C-12 (PlayStation Sony £29.99) Rival to Metal Gear Solid.
Sims House Party (PC EA 531 9.99) Abigail '3 Party Sim style.
Time Crisis Project Titan (PlayStation Namco $229.99) Duck and shoot some more.
. Internet
internet@list.co.uk
EASTER EGGS
www.eeggs.com
With Easter Just around the corner. it's only fitting that we feature the so called ‘Easter Egg' phenomenon. These are hidden programmes Within programmes that can be triggered With a txewddering series of key presses. From simple hidden credits to simple flight Simulators. they're all here and many bottoms have been kicked at Microsoft because of them.
DVD EASTER EGGS
www.dvdeastereggs.com
Just as they lie hidden in software. so do they in DVDs. Easter Eggs are everywhere. Find extra scenes from films that were cut from the final release. music videos, documentaries. and even film wrthin films (M. Night Shyamalan's first film as a child in The Sixth Sense).
THE HUNGER SITE
www.thehungersite.com
We've seen this before. but it's always worthy of inclusion. Just visn this site every day and on- line advertisers will donate a cup of food to the starving millions. It may be a splash in the ocean. but if you make it your home page yOu can make a difference.
BANANALOTTO
www.bananalotto.co.uk
From a decent. praiseworthy site to one of crass commercialism. Forget Camelot and its twice weekly draw; how about a daily draw and a chance to win up to a million? And here's the
interesting bit: it doesn't cost you a penny. Just click on an athertiser's banner to finalise your selection and big business foots the bill. The chances are still laughably minuscule. but somehow by not paying it doesn't seem so bad,
BREAK THE CHAIN
www.breakthechain.org
The internet is amazing. It's your own personal library; the biggest in the world. Then there‘s e mail; ama/ing when it works. and annoying when it's abused. Unfortunatelychain I(?li()f53 (lit) illt? l)(?li()(ii medium to abuse, from on—Iine gypsies' curses to begging letters and Virus hoaxes. This seeks to inform us of such Junk mail debunk the myths, and once and for all conwnce us that Gap is not giwng away free clothes if you pass the letter on.
HYPEWRITER www.starhub.net.sg ~trash
Ever wanted to write a film? Maybe Just a scene from a film? This hi<tech version of “conse- guences' allows you to do lust that. It's ‘an attempt to make the public aware of the hyper fictional script exercise'. Start with a character profile and take your turn in building a script into a full-blown movie script. The design is fantastic. but the script so far reads a little dodgily. Intervene: maybe the film starts badly, but I'm sure after some decent creativity Coppola might be interested.
TOP FIVE 80$ NOSTALGIA SITES
In The 80$
www.inthe80scom Excellent Site with links to the
decade that taste forgot. 80$ Nostalgia
www.808nostalgiacom Refresh your memories of 80s phrases, Spectrum games. and events. Rad.
805 TV
wwwlycos. co.uk/dir/Arts_Entertainment_and _Games/Television/Nostalgia Theme tunes. Monkey, Dr Who and Bagpuss. What more could you want?
AToZOfTheBOs
homepage.ntlworld.com/alan.stuart A is for Adam Ant. Z is for Z Top. Get the idea?
Driko’s 805 Music and Nostalgia www.us.hsanet/user/driko/BOs.html An enthusiasts homage to all things 80s. (Victoria Gooch)