Newsletter: Sega World Weekly issue 28 (then Dreamcast Weekly)
From Video Game Morgue File
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/ ___> > > DREAMCAST WEEKLY MAGAZINE < < <____ \
/ / \ \
/ / ~Issue #28 - www.DreamcastWeekly.com~ \ \
\ \ / /
\ \ Sega 2000 - http://www.sega2000.com / /
\ \ Sega X - http://www.segadreamcast.net / /
\ \________________________________________/ /
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======| ABOUT THE MAGAZINE |==============================
Dreamcast Weekly is proudly sponsored by Consolexpress,
New Zealand's only import dedicated store. But not just
aimed for New Zealanders of course, they supply to all
around the world.
If you have any Dreamcast questions please e-mail Steve at
Steve@sega2000.com rather than clicking reply to this
e-mail. Please try not to send them to the reply address
here. Thanks.
The domain name www.DreamcastWeekly.com is provided thanks
to Total Video Games, the UK's premier video games magazine
up-dated daily, and The Junction, the best place for Teens
to chat.
www.the-junction.net & www.totalvideogames.com
======| EDITORS COMMENTS |================================
Would you like to win a copy of Power Stone or a Steering
Wheel? Be sure to check out our news section!
Well there was plenty of PSX2 talk this week. At first I
was worried that Sega are in trouble again, but after
watching the video of Dead Or Alive 2... heh, the Dreamcast
is only just warming up! Graphicly at least, it really shows
VF3 is just a first generation game. One round of DOA2 starts
with a huge panoramic view around the arena, mountains,
waterfalls, trees, huts and a river all put VF3 to shame. You
HAVE to see that scene. You can fight in the river, splashes
and everything are in of course. Then he kicks the other guy
off the waterfall and jumps down himself, the fight continues...
you've never seen a fighting game with such a big arena!
Later scenes include throwing your opponent through a stained
glass window, special moves and yes... perfectly animated
clothing. If the gameplay is as good as VF3, we have a new
king of 3D fighters everyone, and it's exclusive to Dreamcast
for at least 6 months ahead of any other version!
You just have to see this in action... then imagine it in
hi-res at 60fps in your very own living room :)
http://128.11.10.58/video/doa2.mpg
You won't believe your eyes! Here are 2 pics to show what
I was talking about as well...
http://www.sega2000.com/gamepics/doa2/doa.jpg
http://www.sega2000.com/gamepics/doa2/doa2.jpg
http://www.hardcoregaming.com/segaholic/images3/doa201.jpg
http://www.hardcoregaming.com/segaholic/images3/doa202.jpg
http://www.hardcoregaming.com/segaholic/images3/doa203.jpg
http://www.hardcoregaming.com/segaholic/images3/doa204.jpg
http://www.hardcoregaming.com/segaholic/images3/doa205.jpg
http://www.hardcoregaming.com/segaholic/images3/doa206.jpg
Is PSX2 anything to worry about? I don't think so!
Happy Gaming!
~ Tails (Editor)
---~> Page 1 - Cover Story <~---
---~> Page 2 - Importing <~---
---~> Page 3 - The News <~---
---~> Page 4 - Arcade Zone <~---
---~> Page 5 - Best Of The Web <~---
---~> Page 6 - Reader Survey <~---
---~> Page 7 - Credits & More <~---
---~> Page 8 - Finally... <~---
======| COVER STORY |=====================================
---~> House Of The Dead 2 Review
---~> By Gavin Matheson
---~> Naomi board - DC version March 25th
(Note: Exclusive HOTD2 fan fiction coming here next month!)
Blood, gore, power, destruction. These four things can be
caused by the power of one gun. In this case, one light
gun. The second installation of arguably the best shoot
em up game known in the gaming industry House Of The Dead,
has finally fallen to the local arcades. This highly
anticipated title is used to officially debut the highly
acclaimed Noami board. From this board it is promised from
Sega that the world would see just how far graphics has gone
in the arcade industry as opposed from any other incarnations.
Thus setting apart graphical differences from their famous
Model 3 board to the Naomi board.
House Of The Dead 2 developed from AM1 supposed to be the most
heart pounding, adrenaline rushing, quick responsive light gun
shooting game to date, and the title was strongly backed up by
its successful prequel, and the media. Even though the hype
wasn't elevated as opposed from the likes of Sonic Adventure,
but still the mediocrity received from this title was enough
to send the fans into a frenzy. Going back to the game,
fans have to not only once again go into the fundamentals
of shooting perfectly, but this time enhancing their
reflexes to an even more expeditious pace. Such quickness,
accuracy and timing has always been the fundamental concept
of the original. Now the second immerse you into the game
further by making you the player respond to the game with
feelings. This range from taking an act of revenge,
despondency from dying victims, asperity from offensive
enemies, and displace from unanticipated events. Each
point in the game involves either one of these feelings,
immersing the player into a world of where the game have
control over you.
You have to put your skills to the test through 6 gruelling
levels. Regardless of how your shooting skills are will
depend on what route you would take. This time there is a
greater demand of accuracy, and the required level of skill
is to be rewarded with either an extra life, or taking an
alternative route.
Thanks to the difficulty of the game, once again the urge
and persistent of having a second player to join and venture
in your battle is great. In order to reach the final boss,
team work is surprisingly essential. Especially when you
once again meet up with the Magician.
The improved artificial intelligence's (AI) in the game is
done to the extent to create realism. Now rather than
mindlessly shooting anywhere in the general direction of
the enemy, players must be accurate in their shooting skills.
No more can the inexperience avoid being eaten to their
death, if you're good, you'll get somewhere. However if
your skills are exceptional, then you will venture far.
All the bosses in the game are new except for Magician.
Magician this time is treated with the detail touch with
worms moving inside his corroded body, and extraordinary
special effects. He is just as hard as before so to beat
him, your aiming and reflexes must be second to none. What
makes it even worse is that he is the second to last boss,
so you must not even lose a life so that you can go for the
final showdown. Many people had many troubles getting pass
Magician and I am no exception. The final boss in the game
is the Emperor. This transparent human creature has the
ability to summon all the powers of the previous bosses
in the game.
The levels are wonderfully designed, imaging the vastness
of the city that is invested with Zombies and other ghouls.
The game shown beautifully in a resolution that could be
640 * 480, and running at 60 frames per second.
The graphical differences however isn't notable unless you
compare both House Of The Dead version side by side. One
thing is for sure, the prequel graphics are very admirable,
but this sequel is very detailed. With graphics that is
phenomenally detailed as this, together with such realistic
textures, this could be compared to any machine out there.
This detail is exceptionally noticed on the characters of
the game. AM1 attended to them near enough to the same
degree as how AM2 attended their amazing Virtua Fighter
characters. Meaning facial expressions, detailed fingers,
and life like skin. Such degree is even more noticed on
the zombies in the game. The skin textures on the Zombies
are unblemished. Far superior than the prequel effort.
To comprise with the highly detail graphics is the glorious
special effects. A prime example of the special effects
used in the game is when you come up to the 5 headed worm
creature on stage 4. The special effects when the worm
head power up is admirable. Making good use of the lighting
and lens flaring effects on the Naomi board. When the main
Worm attacks you in the water, the trailing and splashing
effects are by far excels the effects seen on Virtua Fighter
on Jeffrey's beach stage. Other areas worth noting is when
you come across a boss on Stage 2 called Hieurophen. His
entrance is astonishing. You come to a bridge that you
have to cross in order to reach to Goldman's building.
People arranging from the very young to the mid 40's starts
panicking from the zombies chasing after them. They all
look desperate, they all want get away from the terror that
would end their lives. You then get urge that you want to
save them all. Rescue them from their ill fated death.
Your adrenaline then really starts to pump through your veins.
As soon as the zombies comes to shooting range you then get
ready to fill the zombies with hot lead until… You then go
into shock as you see the whole bridge explode with water
spraying in the air in all directions. The transparent water
then falls back to earth and the black Lagoon type boss lands
in front of you.
The effects of the water is once again breath taking, and
used wisely to introduce the boss. Other addition attention
to detail is the way how the gun is utilized on the third stage.
On this stage before you reach to the 5 headed worm, you have
to shoot your way through the tower. However in this Tower
there are no lights to guild you. Therefor this unable you to
see properly against your enemies. So what AM1 did is that
they utilize the infra red in the light gun to act as a torch.
So you have to shine the light around until you find a target.
For some reason though, some how strange... Even though the
graphics are detailed and commendable, the House Of The Dead
graphics shouldn't used as a prime example of showing off
the differences between the Naomi and the Model 3 board. The
background is very pixilated. In fact, in some areas it is
pretty blocky compared to games in general on the Model 3 board.
Its as if AM1 concentrated so much on the character and layout
detail, but forgotten to anti alias the whole area.
The characters even though very detailed, they're poorly animated.
In fact, they have the same animation as the zombies, which is
pretty low. To be honest, this seems like an unfinished game,
much as how Virtua Fighter 3 is unfinished; but the difference
between the two is. Virtua Fighter 3 is a very important game,
and the demands for it to be a launch title was very high.
House Of The Dead 2 however never had a problem of media and
fan pressure. Even the Naomi board itself didn't need to be
rushed out, as the main concentration of the media was solely
on the Dreamcast itself.
A machine of such calibre called Naomi should perform graphics
that would make anyone notice a strong difference when compared
to the Model 3 board. However, House Of The Dead 2 do not make
it in this department. Maybe I was expecting too much, or maybe
I am thinking too much of the Model 3 board, but excuse me, isn't
the Naomi board supposed to be Sega's next jump in the graphics
class in the arcades?
House Of The Dead 2 is a great game with great graphics, but the
graphics is not ground breaking compared to Model 3 standards.
To be honest, its more or less the same level. This however leads
to many questions. Can the Dreamcast / Naomi really perform
graphics surpassing Model 3 standards by a far, or is it purely
down to the programmers of the game? This is not the jaw
dropping game that we are looking for, it feels rushed and AM1
had all the time in the world. Especially with the Naomi Naomi
games doesn't need to be quickly rushed out compared to the
Dreamcast games, but hopefully since the Dreamcast version is
easy to convert or should I say port, hopefully all of these
problems will be addressed for they'll have more time to do them.
Other than that, House Of The Dead 2 is a solid, serious,
responsive light gun title that I enjoy immensely, but the
graphical rush was not necessary.
Graphics : 88%
Sound : 92%
Playability : 96%
Lastsability : 92%
Overall : 94%
"Fun, fast, feeling non stop shooting action, and is a pleasure
to play and watch. Joined together with memorable moments; but
it shouldn't be used to debut the Naomi board."
======| IMPORTANT MATTERS |===============================
Consolexpress is taking orders by email or fax at:
***********************************
* http://www.consolexpress.co.nz/ *
***********************************
New stock in: DC units, Evolution, Sega Rally 2,
Controller, S-Video, VGA Box and the Steering Wheel.
All games and the Steering Wheel are priced at
NZ$96.67(around US$51). We are also taking preorders
for Power Stone, the Rumble (Puru Puru) pack and
Playstation Final Fantasy 8.
======| NEWS |============================================
---~> WIN 1 of 2 Steering Wheels
Even if you don't have an import console, we'll send you
one in September instead then. All you have to do to
enter is send a postcard with your e-mail and home address
on to me at...
Graham Parker
6 Quaifes Road
Halswell
Christchurch
New Zealand
---~> WIN 1 of 2 copys of Power Stone - Sega X Forum
Sega X's forum is now back online! Courtesy of Extreme Imports,
everyone who visits has a chance to win one of 2 copy's of
Powerstone! Here's the URL for the forum...
http://www.ugo.com/cgi-bin/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics
&forum=Sega&number=7&DaysPrune=
Be sure to check it out cause the new forum looks GREAT!
---~> Assistant Editor Returns
As you know last week Mike, our Assistant editor had some
problems with Sega X. Thankfully though the day after sending
out the last issue he e-mailed me and said things had be
soughed out. Apologizes to everyone for advertising a
position a DC Weekly last week.
======| ARCADE ZONE |======================================
---~> Fatal Fury Wild Ambition Review
---~> By Gavin Matheson
---~> Arcade Game - DC version possible
The ever long running series of 2D beat em up produced by
SNK maybe on the verge of coming to an end. After the
exceptional Samurai Showdown 64, SNK left many of their
fans in a state of curiosity. Thinking what would've the
Fatal Fury characters look and play like in complete 3D?
Now their prayers has been answered with Fatal Fury Wild
Ambitions. The new spin off 3D beat 'em up running on SNK's
arcade board Neo Geo 64.
Only some of the old characters that appeared in the
previous Fatal Fury are back again, including the popular
Kim Kap Hwan. Joined together with a couple of new faces,
they all together have complete variation in catering the
perfect style that suits your playing skills.
The amount of options isn't so phenomenal as oppose from King
of the Fighters '98 I'm afraid, as it seems that SNK mainly
focus on successfully porting the 2D characters into their 3D
forms. As of how the previous Fatal Fury's has a power bar,
this one is no exception. For every special move that you
activate, your power bar would slightly increase. When you
are at maximum level, you can perform a super special attack
at any moment in time, and this also slightly increases the
amount of damage you can inflict on your opponents. Combined
with this, the power bar can still increase until it reaches
a level called 'Overload'. From there you can activate a
special power move with an even higher damage level.
The backgrounds in the game are pretty detailed, and bond well
with the characters. They are on the flat side though, and it
seems that SNK didn't focus too much on the actual background
designs. This mean that even though they are detailed, they
are yet, simplistic in the way they initially appear.
In fact the whole stage is fully light sourced in respect to
the time of day, but the environment in general is very sparse.
In fact, the graphics in generally looks a tad similar to
Street Fighter EX 2.
The characters are very well designed in consideration on
the board they're using. SNK successfully ported the
characters across with the feel that they haven't truly
left their 2D world. They're however not as detail as
to say Tekken 3 though let alone Virtua Fighter 3, but they
look respectable none the less.
In the game, the character's does a lot of posing, from
showing off their martial arts, to taunting their opponents.
The game play is just the same as the previous games, so it
actually feels like that you're playing the original 2D
version.
One of the 3D moves that's implemented into the game is that
you can roll further into the background passing through
opponent's oncoming attack.
The trouble that always was against the Fatal Fury series is
that the games were unbalanced. Thankfully SNK has over
seen this and in result, each of the character's moves is
tweaked to get the balance of the game just right. So no
one have an advantage over the other. If you are familiar with
the King of the Fighters or Fatal Fury's combo system, this
would be mighty helpful in this version as the combo system
is in fact more easier. So it is possible that you can
perform up to a 12 hit combo with Terry Bogard alone. Now
that's impressive.
The momentum of the game is sadly on the slow side, until
you executed a special move. What makes it even worst is
that when the characters jump, it appears that they float
in the air a bit. Each character got special effects when
you pull of a special move that's all in all satisfactory.
However, nothing will prepare you for when you activate the
character's super special move. SNK went special FX crazy.
It's not mind boggling, but it's the way it is used that
wins you over. For example, when you activate Terry's
'Power Geyser', the whole screen burst into one wave of
flame on the last impact, then ends in a bright light
that fits well to the knocked out opponent.
SNK has satisfied their fans in showing them what Fatal Fury
would be like in 3D. The game is very good and is an experience
that I have to recommend to anyone. But is this the title that
would take over as the 3D beat 'em up king? No. Even in the
game play department; I can still see the punters leading
themselves back to their usual comfortable position in front of
the King of the Fighter '98 machine. The game feels like that
SNK actually taken a step backwards instead of forward, and the
whole fast pace glorious fun that have been presented in the
series has been slightly lost in this version. I'm not saying
this is a poor game. This is actually very good. In judgement
of a game in its own right, this provides the satisfaction that
punters needs in relieving their stressful days upon, and fine
tuning their gaming skills. However even though such provision
is received, the fact still remains that this ambitious title
could have been a lot better than it actually is.
I believe that this is only a testing ground for the
critically acclaimed King of the fighter to be finally
transformed to the 3D era; but as it stands, Fatal Fury
Wild Ambition is just another very good game.
Graphics: 82%
Sound: 79%
Gameplay: 93%
Lastsability: 79%
Overall: 87%
"Take out all your anger and hatred on this title, and
enjoy the satisfaction it provides; but don't expect
something better than the exceptional King Of The Fighter '98"
======| BEST OF THE WEB |=================================
There are sooooo many Sega sites across the web, wouldn't
it be great if one place listed the most interesting bits??
Presenting the "Best Of The Web" section...
---~> Sega 2000 - www.Sega2000.com
The last week to win one of 2 steering wheels, and so far
by the small number of post cards I've got it seems you'll
have an excellent chance of winning! Details on how to
enter on Sega 2000.
---~> Sega X - www.SegaDreamcast.net
Starting Thursday we'll have big Power Stone coverage,
including movies, shots, impressions, reviews, etc. Also
don't forget to visit our Forum and win one of 2 copy's!
---~> Dreamcast Life - www.DreamcastLife.com
Mothra VMS FAQ and translations are coming soon, and our
special Sonic Adventure site is now online.
---~> Dreamcast Australia - www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Fortress/6831/
Dreamcast Australia is very close to interviewing
Sega-Ozisoft about the upcoming Dreamcast launch in
Australia. I am currently taking questions from readers
to ask Sega-Ozisoft about the launch. Don't forget to
vote for your favourite light gun in this months poll
and with almost 60 previews now online Dreamcast Australia
is the place to be for all the latest news.
---~> The Sonic Zone - http://www.suneet.com/soniczone/
Updated daily with a HUGE amount of Sonic content that is
sure to blow you away! From Fan Fiction to Chatting to
Cheats and even Fan Created Games this is your one stop
Sonic site.
---~> Outpost Sega - http://outpostsega.hypermart.net
Daily updates, plenty of awesome downloads and a weekly
poll make this a Sega site defiantly worth visiting.
The official website for the Dreamcast Weekly is now open at
www.dreamcastweekly.com :) We've got the history of the
magazine, daily news and plenty more. Specially if your a
webmaster, there is lots of great information about how
you can be involved as well! Then in the future... who knows,
hopefully we'll be a print magazine one day :)
======[ ON YOUR MIND! ]===================================
---~> Reader Survey
We'd really like to know what you think of the magazine,
how could it be improved and things. Any comments or
suggestions you might have are all greatly appreated and
if you could e-mail them to me at webmaster@sega2000.com
we can help make Dreamcast Weekly the best it can be.
Here's a few things we have planed for next month...
Coverage of Power Stone, a House Of The Dead 2 story, a
feature of game music and plenty more.
======[ CREDITS ]=========================================
Editor: Graham Parker "Tails" - webmaster@sega2000.com
Assistant Editor: Mike - melbess@adelphia.net
DC Questions: Please send to - Steve@sega2000.com
---~> www.DreamcastWeekly.com - Official Website!
----------------------------------------------------------
Copyright, 1998-9 Graham Parker - WEBMASTER@SEGA2000.COM
Written and edited by Graham Parker. The Dreamcast Weekly
website is hosted thanks to www.totalvideogames.com
and the magazine is owned by... me :) No parts may be
copied without prior permission. I would have to send
out my group of highly trained thugs who will have
a tea party with you until you crack and your mind
turns into jello... MMmmmmm.... Sweet Sweet Jello....
hehe, anyway... If you have any friends that might be
interested in this magazine, it would be excellent
if you could let them know about it. Thanks!
Oh and finally...
-----------------
I just can't get over DOA2 this week! Incase you missed them
(heh) here are those URL's again...
http://www.hardcoregaming.com/segaholic/images3/doa201.jpg
http://www.hardcoregaming.com/segaholic/images3/doa202.jpg
http://www.hardcoregaming.com/segaholic/images3/doa203.jpg
http://www.hardcoregaming.com/segaholic/images3/doa204.jpg
http://www.hardcoregaming.com/segaholic/images3/doa205.jpg
http://www.hardcoregaming.com/segaholic/images3/doa206.jpg
