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Features, Stories from the Book of Genesis

Stories from the Book of Genesis Vol. 29

Not everyone was able to enjoy the Genesis upon its launch, and for some people around the world, it took several years before they were finally able to jump into the 16-bit goodness. Having experienced other consoles before Sega’s wonder machine, making the adjustment could be hard, but the quality of the Genesis always shines through in the end. One reader shares such an experience in the latest installment of Stories from the Book of Genesis.

Genesis Reviews

Last Action Hero

It seems that no one liked Last Action Hero. The Governator was beginning his slow downward spiral into movie retirement, and his first movie after the incredible T2: Judgment Day got trounced at the box office by Sleepless in Seattle. So poorly did the movie do, that Shwarzenegger’s own salary was virtually equal to its opening weekend gross. Of course, Sony tried to capitalized on the movie with a video game tie-in, and to say that the game mimics the film isn’t entirely accurate. Let’s just say that as bad as the movie may be, the game is infinitely worse. Horrible gameplay, repetitive enemies, brutal difficulty, and levels that go on way too long are only some of the problems that plague this doorstop.

Features, Interviews

Interview: Christopher Bankston (SOA Producer)

Full-motion video games are something maost people think of whenever the Sega CD is mentioned. Love them or hate them, they had a major impact on the fate of the add-on, and Sega invested a ton of money into their development. Among the ranks of those behind the scenes was Christopher Bankston, a senior producer at Sega who had a hand in the creation of games like Ground Zero Texas and Double Switch. Before that, he worked at Accolade on games such as Onslaught and Super Off Road.

Genesis Reviews

Tetris

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?