It’s tough to create an exciting simulation of the decathlon.

It’s tough to create an exciting simulation of the decathlon, for one simple reason: As grueling a test as the decathlon is in real life, it doesn’t give a gamer very much to do in front of her monitor. Once you’ve mastered the techniques for running, jumping, and throwing - which usually involve little more than pounding two buttons in smooth rhythm and then hitting an action button to jump or throw - there’s just not much else to do.

Of course, the real challenge of the decathlon is achieving that perfect balance of speed, strength, and stamina through various types of training. A decathlon simulation without a training feature that actually affects those physical attributes forces you to simply do your best with whatever qualities you’ve been handed by the program, robbing the sim of any depth or true challenge.

And that brings us to the main problem with 3DO Games: Decathlon. It’s bad enough that a given athlete’s attributes can’t be altered through training, but to make matters worse there’s also a little case of misleading advertising. On the back of the box, a caption for one of the screen shots proclaims, “The Training Mode improves your athlete’s strength, speed, and stamina.” But turn to page 23 of the manual and you read that “training will not impact your athlete’s strength, stamina, or speed.” If you don’t think the athlete you’re using has enough stamina, for instance, your only recourse is to “roll the dice” and get an entirely new set of unchangeable attributes. All the Training Mode does is let you practice the mechanics of each event.

That’s not the only misleading aspect of 3DO Games: Decathlon. The box copy says that “Real-time texture mapped 3-D stadium and field graphics are portrayed in picture-perfect TV sports style,” implying you get announcers and commentators. But Decathlon is about as far removed from a television broadcast as it gets. The only sound you hear during an event is a wash of white noise; after each athlete’s turn in an individual event (not races), you hear what sounds like the development team shouting after a successful debugging session.

The same two crowd noises - one for a successful attempt, another for a fault or extremely poor showing - are used for every athlete, and all the athletes can manage is the occasional “unnh” as they lunge for the finish line. After hearing what’s been achieved with play-by-play commentary and crowd noises in sports sims like NHL 97, FIFA Soccer 97, and Full Court Press, the lack of any commentary and the lameness of the sound effects in 3DO Games: Decathlon are even more glaring.

Real decathlons take place over two days, but you won’t have that luxury in 3DO Games: Decathlon - there’s no option to save a decathlon or track meet in progress. Though you can change viewing perspectives for the athletes you control, that same basic feature doesn’t apply when watching computer-controlled athletes perform. And for what it’s worth, there’s a question of realism: When I played (and won the gold medal) on the “Stud” difficulty setting, I set a new point record for the decathlon, nearly 2,000 points higher than the real-life world record held by Dan O’Brien. But I wasn’t the only one who surpassed O’Brien: Three computer-controlled players also broke his record in the same decathlon.

3DO Games: Decathlon has support for up to eight players over a local area network, but whether you’re competing against your friends or computer-controlled opponents, the action remains the same: finger-wearying button tapping. That might have been good enough back when 8-bit Nintendos ruled the market, but it just doesn’t cut it on the PC.

Archimedean Dynasty gives computer gaming a good name even when you don’t know what the hell is going on.

Archimedean Dynasty is the kind of game that automatically makes you long for the extended weekend, the random holiday, the traffic-paralyzing blizzard, the three-day flu, or perhaps the odd death in the family - anything to justify staying away from school, work, or other responsibilities long enough for a serious immersion into an onscreen world.

Set in an ugly, nasty, dystopian future, Archimedean Dynasty can be seen as the aftermath of a high-speed collision between Waterworld and SeaQuest, with a dash of the optimistic cheer found in Blade Runner: The Big One has come and gone, and the endless exchanges of nukes have taken their toll, melting a third of the icecaps and flooding horrifying portions of terra firma, just in time for the nuclear winter to set in and render it all uninhabitable. Those determined to survive have fled beneath, to the cold, dark oceans. No ray of light can penetrate the stratospheric debris of the Last War, and even if it could, it wouldn’t penetrate the “Biogenic” - the 40-meter-thick layer of dead organic crud (!) sealing the oceans in their eternal night. Welcome to Aqua, the only world left on earth, and have a nice freakin’ day.

Part adventure game, part combat sim, and all ugly, Archimedean Dynasty gives computer gaming a good name even when you don’t know what the hell is going on. You take the role of a tough undersea mercenary, recently rescued from a botched escort job during which your charge was hijacked. Lucky to come out of the debacle with your butt intact, you turn up desperate for work at one of the many undersea cities which form the world known as Aqua. Your name precedes you, sort of, but you don’t have a ship anymore, and have to start at the bottom - literally - taking garbage/salvage duty or any other crap job that will let you accumulate enough money to buy a serious combat sub and get back into the hired gun business.

The game sports a vast world in which the player’s immediate goals are not always clear. With each person you talk to - via a simple select-an-answer interface - there comes a careful choice of how you present yourself. Be a big enough ass and you may alienate the wrong people…but be a little too nice, a little too soft, and your “sea cred” may plummet. Eventually, you will be able to work yourself up to a respectable combat craft.

Point-of-view combat and undersea action are the other half of Archimedean Dynasty, and they constitute the links between the undersea cities and installations you will encounter; while the “cityside” adventure-style dealings (with over 100 characters) is where you do all your talkin’, the real-time navigation/combat is where you do your walkin’. In other words, knowing that you need to get to City X to talk to Contact Y about Benefit Z is one thing, but actually getting there alive is another. The various types of craft you may eventually pilot can employ some 30 different types of customizable weapons (torpedoes, turrets, bombs, etc.), and if the pirates, governments, and competing mercenaries don’t mess up your plans, the considerations of currents, radioactive areas, and sonic countermeasures (the properties of “noise” that draw torpedoes to targets) just might. Long stretches of serene, unoccupied ocean will suddenly give way to pockets of warcraft lurking in the depths. The combat scheme fully illustrates the way many have summed up, in many different words, the essence of oceanic and/or space combat: “Six months of boredom followed by 60 seconds of stark, screaming terror.”

In all honesty, the mind-boggling array of tactical options and general open-endedness of the game’s objectives will be very confusing to some players - not to mention the fact that the people who were responsible for outlining the player’s objectives should be lined up against a wall and cream-pied - but it’s this very open-endedness which makes Archimedean Dynasty so absorbing. From the opening movie, you’ll know that this game is deadly serious, a sort of undersea film noir with a cyberpunk edge, and despite the respectable manuals (on weapon types, Aqua history, and combat tactics), it’s tempting to believe that if you’re not sure what’s going on, it’s your own fault. (Note to Blue Byte: An interactive primer for undersea navigation and combat basics would have been nice, guys.) If you’re a Serious, Frowning Gamer who delights in conquering challenges just to prove you can, coming across Archimedean Dynasty will be like finding a fat unclaimed wallet in the street. On the other hand, if your idea of a challenge encompasses Street Fighter in any form whatsoever, stay the hell away from Archimedean Dynasty; you’ll only hurt yourself.

Sixteen fan-favorite SEGA characters from Sonic to NiGHTS are serving up fun in SEGA Superstars Tennis. Multiple madcap mini-games keep the party rolling and up to four friends can challenge each other in tournaments, exhibitions and unlockable special events. With hilarious cameos and comical guest umpires from SEGA’s rich gaming history, this fun-filled tennis party promises to be a smashing good time for the whole family. Zany SEGA Characters with Superstar Abilities - Each of the 16 characters has their own superstar alter-ego, which gives them the winning edge on the court. Ten Fantastical Themed Courts - Guest umpires will supervise the action on a wide variety of colorful courts, from Sonic’s lush Green Hill Zone to Ulala’s galactic Space Channel 5 world, just to name a couple. Four Action-Packed Tournaments - As you slice your way through the competitive tournaments, you will unlock loads of bonus content. Classic Soundtrack - Faithfully recreated in full Dolby Digital 5.1, treasured SEGA tunes will entertain SEGA fans new and old. [Sega]

Allow me to make one crucial point: NASCAR 2 is not a toy.

Before I begin reviewing Sierra’s NASCAR 2, allow me to make one crucial point: NASCAR 2 is not a toy. I thought I was fairly adept at your average brake-accelerate PC racer, but NASCAR draws a thin line between exhilarating action-racing and strategic planning. This is a game where every track must be considered individually when tweaking the design of your car, where you need to know where and when to pit, all while staying aware of your competition’s position on the road. After a few hours of roaring around the oval, taking cues from your spotter through a headset (let’s assume you’re wearing headphones during your game) it becomes startlingly clear: NASCAR 2 is so realistic, it’s scary.

First of all, NASCAR 2’s graphics are top-notch. Sierra has improved on the frame rate of the first game, making for fluid car animation, and realistic body damage. Simply put, this is as close as most of us are going to come to participating in an actual televised race. As an added bonus, Sierra has included a paintshop-style program where you’re given the opportunity to customize the artwork of any car on the track. Slap your dog’s name on the hood, a smiley face on the bumper. The association doesn’t care: In NASCAR 2 the car is your canvas.

I don’t mean this wholly in an artistic sense. Half the fun of NASCAR 2 is making the ever-so-slight adjustments to your vehicle’s tire pressure, foil height, camber, and gear ratios to achieve optimal performance for a particular track. Experienced racers - whether they’re the real McCoy or just veteran desktop competitors - will know what all these arcane terms mean from the start. However, before hitting the first NASCAR track, most of us are going to need an quick learner’s course. An easy to understand which-element-on-your-car-affects-what diagram made it all clear, and in no time at all I began to experiment until I felt I had a firm grasp on exactly what I could tweak to make my V-8 the finest machine on the track.

The AI in the game is pretty incredible. When you accidentally blindside another vehicle (or even on purpose, if you don’t believe in good sportsmanship), the other cars realistically slow down or cautiously slide out to avoid a collision. It’s funny, but although NASCAR 2 doesn’t purport itself as being the kind of body-casualty ride that Psygnosis’ Destruction Derby 2 is (with its incredibly realistic incremental car damage - fenders mashing in, hoods flying off, wheels tearing from their axles, bouncing down the track, requiring a tow into the pit-stop), it certainly rivals that game damage-wise. . If you collide with another vehicle because you performed an action contradictory to your spotter’s directions, he’ll remind you of your ineptitude with a reprimanding “What kind of bone-headed move was that!” And at that point, you’re probably so absorbed in the race that you’ll want to go back and apologize to him personally.

That’s the kind of complete immersion NASCAR 2 offers. It’s a completely professional game, both in its execution and in its dedication to the NASCAR tradition. In fact, it’s so that Sierra and NASCAR have teamed up to bring the game to TEN (the online Total Entertainment Network) to allow players to compete and achieve “official” NASCAR standings in an Internet roster. Now how cool is that? People who played and worshipped the original NASCAR already own this game. I’m writing this review largely for gamers out there who are intimidated by realistic sims. Games like Grand Prix 2 and now NASCAR 2 have converted me: I can now rest my rocket-launcher temporarily to carry on some in-depth racing.

It’s a breath of very fresh air.

It won’t go down as a groundbreaking game, and it certainly isn’t perfect. But Killing Time, one of the newest 3DO-to-PC conversions from Studio 3DO, manages to stand out from the crowd of first-person action games on the market, thanks largely to a thoughtful design interweaving setting and story with healthy doses of gunplay and gore.

You play an Egyptologist exploring the island of Matinicus, home of the estate of wealthy heiress and lavish party-giver Tess Conway, in search of an ancient Egyptian waterclock said to grant eternal life to whoever possesses it. Unfortunately, it appears that even though Tess Conway was deeply intrigued by the occult, she didn’t know exactly how to utilize the waterclock’s powers: On the summer solstice in 1932 she vanished, along with several of her friends. Your obvious goal is to find the waterclock, but during the course of your adventure you’ll begin to unravel secrets that have been locked inside the Conway estate for more than 60 years - secrets that will reveal just what happened to Tess and her high-society pals.

But before you can even start worrying about all that you’ll need to get busy finding ammo and weapons so you can mow down the innumerable hordes of ghouls, ghosts, and critters who don’t share Tess Conway’s sense of hospitality. The pistol you’ve brought with you is more than enough to handle the zombies stomping around the entrance to the estate, but once you get past them you’ll quickly discover you need more firepower - a lot more.

There are eight weapons in all here, including a crowbar (definitely a last resort), shotgun, tommy gun, double pistols (a la John Woo), flamethrower, Molotov cocktails, and an ankh that wipes out every enemy in a room. While the more powerful weapons sound cool, they’re a little difficult to use accurately: The flamethrower requires a nearly perfect hit to be effective, and finding the right range when tossing a Molotov cocktail can take several tries. But you’ll get such a kick out of the enemies (22 in all) that you won’t mind struggling to master the weapons one bit. Using the trappings of the Roaring Twenties as a touchstone, Logicware has created a crew of nasties who are as hilarious as they are dangerous. In the wooded area surrounding the mansion you’ll meet shotgun-wielding hunters and their two-headed hounds of hell; you’ll be tipped off to their presence when you hear the hunters whisper a throaty “Here boy!” and then chuckle ominously. Demonic clowns in festive polka-dot jumpers cackle as their arms windmill toward you in a dance of death; portly chefs roaming a flame-filled kitchen hurl knives and cleavers that slam into walls and columns when they miss their target; maids and serving girls with blood-covered blouses chase you down narrow corridors; grasshoppers spit acid in your face as their heads bob inquisitively - the list goes on and on.

Even though the enemies are 2-D sprites (as far as a piker like me can tell) they’re rendered excellently, as are the scenery and object graphics. The musical score is also first-rate, building an ominous sense of dread before switching almost seamlessly to a hot jazz motif when you enter areas where Conway and friends were cutting the rug and guzzling bathtub gin those many years ago.

It’s all a breath of very fresh air, especially after dealing with the pretentious ZPC or the throwback Alien Trilogy. But as you can see from a glance at my scores, Killing Time has a few problems in the gameplay department - the biggest and most glaring being the lack of any type of multiplayer option. Considering that multiplayer gaming is probably the hottest trend in PC entertainment software, such an oversight is at the very least inexplicable; even two or three multiplayer levels would give this game a much longer shelf life.

Another problem is the level designs. You’re frequently forced to maneuver through cramped rooms and corridors in search of enemies and power-ups, which slows the action to a crawl. While there are a few puzzles to solve here (most based on finding an object to open passages or gain entrance to a new area), this is first and foremost a first-person shooter, where the real premium is on adrenaline rushes - and you don’t get a lot of those when you’re struggling just to move through a series of nooks, crannies, and tiny rooms.

Fortunately, Killing Time is challenging enough - and fun enough - that the vast majority of gamers will get their money’s worth just by finishing the single-player game. It may not push the technological envelope, but I’ve never heard it said that a game has to use new technology to be enjoyable - and if someone has said that, this one’s proof of how wrong they were.

It’s not a revolutionary game…but it is fun.

Tired of the recent glut in real-time strategy games? Looking for a conquest/research/resource management game that allows you to carefully plot the annihilation of other sentient species? Are you more interested in substance over style in a computer game? If you answer “yes” to any (or all) of these questions, then look no further than Cavewars. Avalon Hill’s new strategy game allows you to mercilessly crush up to four other players in an unusual underground environment.

Cavewars doesn’t promise much in the way of unique features. The average graphics, average sounds, and standard plot aren’t what sets this game apart. It’s the strategy. Since you (and your opponents) compete in a five-level world, you must maintain an awareness of what’s going on in all places. Within this setting, you must mine metallic resources, develop technologies and magic, and build military units. The game’s interface is well-designed, and most of the game’s many options are presented in a well-organized manner. The graphics in the main screen make good use of the SVGA mode. The sound effects are minimal, but the unearthly groans in the soundtrack certainly help put the player in the right frame of mind.

Follow the instructions for the Quick Start - and prepare to die. If at first you don’t succeed, try, die again. Cavewars does require some time for you to develop working tactics. An adjustable difficulty level ensures less time spent starting over. The whole three-dimensional concept adds flavor to the game. It brings to mind an enormous game of “Star Trek’s” 3-D chess…only with more killing and mayhem. The combat graphics are pretty poor, but oddly, I found myself coming back for more. Avalon Hill admits that the AI will not be confused with a sentient being. I agree - I spent several hours repeating Conan the Barbarian’s mantra of “Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their women.” One surprise was how the AI concedes defeat if its fortunes take a turn for the worse.

Cavewars is one of those games where the initial impression is not necessarily correct. It doesn’t mesmerize you with flashy graphics or awesome sound support. It’s not a revolutionary game…but it is fun. Unfortunately, the $69.95 suggested retail price may scare off many potential buyers before they would seriously consider purchasing it. If you find Cavewars at a reasonable price - pick it up.

This game is a must for anyone looking for a diversion from those carnage-fest action games.

Forgive me in advance if I gush a bit over Scorched Planet, but it’s rare that a game actually delivers on all the promises plastered on its box. Criterion Studios claimed its first title would be an exciting action game set in beautifully rendered, panoramic 3-D environments with cool weapons and full 360-degree movement. And that’s exactly what it created. For once, the box was right.

Set in the future, Scorched Planet is a heart-thumping 19 mission, first-person flying and driving game where action is king but strategy is still key. Using a vehicle that morphs between a flying craft and a tank-buggy, you must rescue colonists under attack by the Voraxians, an alien race destroying everything in their path. While you could tackle this problem like a maniac and simply start blasting - and this is extremely tempting - you won’t get very far if you do. This game is a test to see if you can think as well as you shoot.

Each mission involves saving a certain number of humans. Unfortunately, while you’re trying to gather your quota of colonists, the Voraxians are trying to turn them into zombies, kill them, or carry them off to their ship, all while launching attacks on your ship. (Hmmm…Defender, anyone?) The only way to complete each mission is to keep casualties to a minimum by launching the appropriate countermeasures - using weapons, inventory and power-ups. The colonists are also part of your arsenal as they can gather items and fend off the aliens. This added human element combines with the smooth controls and a plethora of powerful goodies to make Scorched Planet a surprisingly exciting experience.

In addition to the well-designed gameplay, Scorched Planet looks and sounds fantastic. Graphically it’s a visual symphony of real-time 3-D graphics combined with highly detailed terrain and true 3-D monsters. If you’re fortunate enough to own one of the 3-D cards supported by the game, you’ll see the full value of your investment as you blaze through the first level. If you don’t have a card, don’t panic - the graphics are still spectacular. Add in thumping music, fantastic full directional 3-D sound, and “danger music” that warns you of an approaching invasion, and Scorched Planet begins to show just how aesthetically pleasing a game can be.

Criterion deserves lots of kudos for Scorched Planet. It delivered on its promises and gave players more to accomplish in an action game than simply racking up the body count. This game is a must for anyone looking for a diversion from those carnage-fest action games. Better yet, it supports up to 8 players in two different types of match play - both of which are a blast. Even without this feature, Scorched Planet emerges as a mighty fine action game that is well worth a look.

Sometimes, when you get a game design just right, it’s okay to coast for awhile.

Sometimes, when you get a game design just right, it’s okay to coast for a while. That’s what SSI has done to some degree, and who can blame them? Panzer General was a slick, sweet design that became the best-selling war game of all time. It was easy to learn, hard to win, and very well-crafted. Allied General offered more of the same without much change to the system, while Fantasy General took the whole thing to the world of elves and fairies, complete with spells and fantasy landscapes. Now, Star General takes the system still further while staying with the basic design, and in the process creates an eminently fun, beer-n-pretzels conquer-the-galaxy game.

Star General is an intergalactic wargame with minor resource management and diplomatic elements. It is not, nor does it attempt to be, a deep, Master of Orion-style strategy game. The fun of it comes from its wide open play and two-level design. You begin a game of Star General in one of two ways: either as a single, set game or as a randomly generated campaign. The individual scenarios have specific goals, such as conquering planets A and B, and pre-set enemies. There are some problems with many of these scenarios, namely unrealistic turn limits that require you to conquer an armada and two planets in, say, 15 turns. Not bloody likely.

The best way to play is the custom campaign generator, which allows you to create the universe you want to play, and pick or randomize opponents. You can set universe size, planet density, diplomacy options, starting funds, tech levels, and other features to produce just the kind of game you want. The universe generates itself, and you begin the conquest of a new and unexplored galaxy, defeating enemies and seizing planets as you go.

Play itself is on two levels. You usually begin in the space around your base planet. Using some starting funds, you begin to build your empire on the ground and in space. You can zoom down to the planet level, which can have varying landscapes and city configurations. To help generate new resource points, the common coin of the game, you build revenue-generating structures on the planet such as mines, factories, and biodomes. A military complex enables you to build ground combat units, while a tech facility will research new unit technology.

You can then zoom out to the space level and build your armada of space ships, which follow the familiar patterns of naval combat from Panzer General. Battleships, cruisers, destroyers, gunboats, and other space ships each have their own unique abilities, with different ratings for range of movement, attack, defense, armor strength, and so on. With this armada, you will explore the black void of space, seeking out new planets to colonize and enemies to engage. When you have beat an enemy’s space fleet, you can close in on their planet, bring up troop transports loaded with ground units built on your home planet, and begin the ground war.

It’s this dual ground/space attack that makes Star General such a blast. Combat follows the Panzer General style of simplified move and attack, with some nuances to each unit ensuring a strong tactical wargame element. Play is tough - damn tough at times - and an early patch to the AI has already been released to make it tougher yet. If there is a flaw it is with the modest quality of the graphics. There are some 100 space units and almost as many ground units in this game, coming from seven different races. At times it’s almost impossible to tell a cruiser from a light cruiser from a destroyer, and more refined graphics would have lessened this problem. But that’s the only fly in the ointment here. While it’s no great leap in design innovation, Star General is simply a good, challenging, fun game.

Sadly, the cliched plot is the best aspect of this tedious and uninspired game.

The year is 2020, and the Earth’s ozone layer has completely collapsed from years of neglect. Fortunately, scientists have found a way to repair the damage to our atmosphere using a mysterious element named “Rachellium.” As luck would have it, this element can only be found on Titan (the largest of Saturn’s moons). To make matters worse, Titan is not the lifeless moon photographed by numerous space probes, but a world teaming with intelligent life…hostile intelligent life. As Earth’s most decorated astronaut, you must journey alone to this forbidding moon and obtain enough “Rachellium” to save the planet’s atmosphere.

This cliche-ridden premise forms the storyline for Microforum’s new action/adventure game, Huygen’s Disclosure (pronounced HOY-gen). Sadly, the cliched plot is the best aspect of this tedious and uninspired game.

Since Huygen contains many encounters with hostile life-forms, special mention should be made of the combat system. Abandoning the simple “point, click, shoot” system commonly found in action/adventure games, Microforum has created an unnecessarily complex “aiming panel” to control your weapons. By moving a crosshair inside this one-inch square box, you aim your various weapons in the “real world.” While it may sound simple, this system is far from intuitive.

In addition to wrestling with the aiming panel, you must also control the “aggression levels” of your NPC companions. This is achieved by issuing various orders via the keyboard. Attempting to act as both marksman (with the mouse) and commanding officer (via the keyboard), you quickly become so frustrated that you will lose any interest in ever completing the game.

To make matters worse, Huygen features some of the most ridiculous aliens to ever grace a video game. In fact, it appears that the artist merely took pieces of various animal meshes and grafted them together to make the aliens - often with laughable results. My personal favorite is an entity given the rather unglamorous name “Animal Type A.” Believe it or not, Animal Type A is simply a giant eyeball grafted to the rear end of a Zebra! The fact that the interface makes killing this “alien” so difficult truly adds insult to injury.

In conclusion, Huygen attempts to combine the action of “Crusader: No Remorse” with a storyline inspired by LucasArts’ “The Dig.” Unfortunately, a frustrating interface and amateurish visuals make Huygen’s Disclosure a chore to play - much less finish.

SWIV 3D blew me away!

OK, I have to admit that I’m not usually a fan of arcade shooters with no plot, but SWIV 3D blew me away! I remember playing SWIV on the Amiga500 years ago and have been salivating at the chance to play this updated classic - which, as it turns out, is very different from the original.

In SWIV 3D you fly/drive a helicopter, 4-wheel-drive jeep, ice buggy, or hovership through a variety of terrestrial and extraterrestrial landscapes. Several stages include garages where you switch from a ground vehicle to an air vehicle and vice-versa. Each of your vehicles carries more firepower than Quino or Campa (see Desperado), with weapons ranging from wimpy missiles to the almighty smart bomb. With over ten special weapons at your disposal, explosions and destruction are plentiful in SWIV.

The 3-D look of SWIV makes for a truly incredible gaming experience as you fly through canyons and speed over ice-covered terrain in search of rebel strongholds. On a P133, I experienced no graphical slowdown, even with a screen full of enemy helicopters, tanks, boats, and missile launchers. Gameplay is just as smooth, and the intuitive interface ensures that even the casual gamer will be up in the air attacking the treacherous rebel dogs in no time at all. A powerful soundtrack accents the action and offers you the choice between beat-pounding techno fare (which, surprisingly enough, is actually worth listening to in its own right) and classical pieces from Wagner and Mussorgsky - or a mix of the two. There is nothing quite as satisfying as laying waste to a rebel base while listening to Ride of the Valkyries or Night on Bald Mountain.

The only drawbacks to SWIV 3D are the lack of sound effects and the fact that the game is harder than winning a fight against Lou Ferrigno (you know, the Incredible Hulk). The only noticeable sound effect is the hum of the engine, and it’s almost completely overpowered by the music. Because SWIV 3D is so difficult(and I mean difficult…the rebels really open up a can of whoop-ass on you), you are often doomed to frustratingly and continually play the same level.

SWIV 3D kicks ass in the shooter genre and avid action gamers will almost certainly kick themselves for not picking up a copy.