The story of Tetris is long and convoluted enough to fill an entire book, and those wanting to know the full story about the tangled legal mess that the game’s home rights turned into are encouraged to check out David Sheff’s Game Over: Press Start to Continue. It has all the details about the litigation and underhanded plays that occurred as multiple entities and people tried to cash in on the Russian phenomenon. One company that was caught in the crossfire was Sega, which tried to release a version of Tetris for the Mega Drive, only to find itself slapped down by the legal issue. Few copies were actually released, and a slew of pirate versions have since cropped up, fetching ridiculous prices on eBay.
Genesis Reviews
Lotus II RECS
The range of computer ports Electronic Arts brought to the Genesis was quite broad, and everything from RPGs to platformers and action games made the jump. Even racing titles found their way onto Sega’s wonder console, and among the franchises that saw success there was the Lotus series of games. Featuring real cars and a ton of courses, the Genesis port of Lotus III was redubbed as RECS when it was ported. How did it fair against Sega’s own OutRun and others?
PGA Tour Golf II
No one today doubts the massive popularity of EA’s Tiger Woods series. It’s been a juggernaut for more than a decade, going back to its console roots on the Genesis as PGA Tour Golf, and even farther back than that on computers. The first title was a massive hit, and the sequel offered more of everything without really fiddling with the formula. Was it a recipe for success or did it hit the rough?
NFL Sports Talk Football ’93 Starring Joe Montana
What better way to compliment Monday Night Football than with a review of a Genesis NFL game? I’ll tell you a better way: include a game actually worth playing. The Joe Montana series was notoriously hit and miss, and the ’93 installment appears to be one of the bigger misses. Among the problems cited are a clunky interface and poor AI. Hey, that actually doesn’t sound too far off from this year’s Madden! We kid about that last part, but the Montana part is still true.
Super Battleship
Milton Bradley’s Battleship has been a family favorite since its introduction in 1943 (under a different name then), and several electronic version have made their way home over the last few decades. The company cashed in on the success of the 16-bit consoles by releasing a version for both the Genesis and the SNES, and while it wasn’t bad, it lacked the excitement that made the original board game so famous.