Pick of the puck crop

NHL 98 on the Playstation

This is it. This is the quintessential hockey game. A truly interactive extravaganza. Above and beyond anything vou'd expect from the genre, EA Sports has added unique and com- plex characteristics such as real-time play-by- play and color commentary.

It’s damn spooky. add to that the trighten- ing realism of motion-captured NHL athletes, which are blocky polygons but tremendously >... fluid just the same and vou'd swear that . Messicr/Bure give-and-go routine was sampled from an actual game, except you made it happen!

Conwrol is a breeze. Everything feels right making gameplay that much more absorbing. And, as any Canuck can tell you, being a great player often has nothing to do with being a winner. Introduce a few Mare Crawford- désigned offensive and defensive strategi¢s that are accessed/implemented on the fly, as you're playing. How cool is that? There is so much depth to this game it bog- gles the mind. From the teeth-rattling body checks to the enforcer slamming the door shut in the penalty box, EA's NHL 98 is as close to the real thing as you'll get. Invite your friends over for pizza and beer to watch the game, it’s that good. Excellent rental. Excellent purchase.

NHL Breakaway 98 on the Playstation

Perhaps the strongest contender for EA’s NHL crown is this Acclaim contemporary. A little heavy on flash and dash — glowing pucks and streaking slap shots et al — Breakaway 98 is among the better hockey games. While a

ples, tor example —

the overall experi-

ence is a good one.

Maybe it’s overly

intense, bat intensi-

ty can be refreshing.

Controls are very

touchy, though that

characteristic can be

modified along with

many other aspects

of the game. And players are just

a little too, well, vibrant. In fact,

the game is too game. While vou

can set offensive and defensive

strategy at the beginning of cach match (not on the fly, like EA‘s) it always ends up fooking like sloppy, wide-open hockey, which is cool if you’re a Canuck on a losing streak bur frustrating for armchair plavers like me. Still, hockey fans are sure to appreciate the. er, vibrancy of it all. Breakaway 98 ain’t no Hockey Night in Canada on CBC, burt it’s a good show just the same. Good rental. Good Purchase.

Shaun Contin

Steep Slope Sliders on the Saturn

Reportedly better than Sony’s Coolboarders 2, this Sega offering should appease Saturn die-hards waiting for the new system duc in 1999. Loads of snow-boarding fun, cool tricks, spaz music and all those baggy pants goodies. The controls are. casy to master, which would speed up the boredom factor were it not for Steep Slope’s nice array of

mean knowing the players, each of whom have unique styles as well as physical characteristics. Graphic are a little grainy but play is surprisingly fluid once you get the hang of it. Well-designed courses keep the invisible walls and overmapping to a minimum. Snowboarding’s never looked cooler. Great rental. Good purchase.

Who says cheaters never win? NHL98: Create a Superplaver by using a name from the credits in the instruction booklet.

Top Rentals:

1. WCW Nitro (Psx)

2. Nagano Winter Olympics (N64) 3. Resident Evil 2 (Psx)

4. Goldencye 007 (N64)

5. Final Fantasy Tactics (Psx)

few of the little things are lacking — quality sound sam-

selectable courses. Besides, knowing the controls does not

More Evil than ever in Capcom's Resident Evil 2

Da Da Da Dum, Dum Dum Dum, Duuuum. Can you smell the fear?

It can only mean one thing, the return of everyone’s favorite suspense thriller Resident Evil.

This reincarnation is bigger and badder than before with more monsters, larger levels and more interactivity. Capcom has improved upon a successful formula in just about every way

ible, What first strikes you is the incredible graphics. The evel of detail is so awesome that moving from the cut sequences to real gameplay is almost seamless. Next is the intense environment, right from the get-go the action starts. Zombies are everywhere and out to get you.

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Vincent Price said it best. Creatures crawl in search of blood to terrorize your neighborhood. But even he couldn’t have envisioned the spectacle that is Resident Evil 2. You can play through as two different characters and the storyline changes according, to which character you choose. In addition, your character now shows the damage he or she takes, going from healthy to a slowed walk, co a haltingly limp that only just bare- ly keeps you ahead of the zombies - better find herbs fast.

The game is a bit short, but boy is it sweet. I guarantee that if you buy this game you won’t be disappointed.

Quick! What do you think of when you think NBA In The Zone? Fast gameplay, arcade style action and jams, jams and

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more jams, right? Well, think again.

INZ 98 takes 2 good formula and sinks it faster than the Grizzlies during the third quarter. In an attempt to make the game more of a simulation they have lost almost all of what drew fans to the series in the first place. The pace is much slow- er, defensive AI has been ramped up and control is suspect. In some respects it is now a better one player game but the fun you had playing INZ with a friend is likely ar an end. The stats have been i improved upon for those of you wh6 like thar sort of thing and there is still some excitement in the game. Gameplay. is slow and, sin of sins, icon passing is still not included in this edition. Icon passing is so superior that I am at a lost to under- stand why it was not included. All in all INZ 98 is a game that took two steps forward and three steps back!

— Sean Millington is a seven-year veteran running back for the B.C. Lions. The North Vancouver resident is also the owner of North Vancouver's Gen2000 videogames & rentals store.

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