Digitiser

For the equipment used by Sega to draw 2D graphics, see Digitizer System.

Digitiser


Original airdate: 1993-01-01 — 2003-03-09
Original channel(s): Channel 4

This short article is in need of work. You can help Sega Retro by adding to it.

Digitiser was a feature broadcast as part of Channel 4's teletext service in the United Kingdom. I was updated regularly between January 1st 1993 and March 9th 2003, acting as a mini video games magazine, with news, reviews, quizzes and other editorials. A few months after launch it had reached a readership of 600,000, and at it's peak hit 1.5 million, numbers way in excess of traditional computer and video game print magazines. While not the only Teletext service to feature video games, it was by far the most successful.

History

Digitiser would begin broadcasting on January 1st 1993, and would typically consist of 6-8 teletext pages, containing news, a couple of reviews, editorials, sales charts and competitions, curated by Mr. Biffo (Paul Rose) and Mr. Hairs (Tim Moore). The service was broadcast Monday-Saturday (six days a week, later dropping to three towards the end), with Saturdays acting as a weekly round-up. Publishing daily allowed it to report news before most of its competition, though the limitations of Teletext kept any details brief and text-only.

Until late 1999 Digitiser did not have a permanent home in the listings, though would usually reside at 470-476 or 370-376 (always something-70). It then moved to 480-486 where it remained until late 2002 when it was slightly reduced in size and moved to 175-179.

As Channel 4 was a free to air broadcaster, Digitiser could be accessed by anyone living in the United Kingdom with a teletext-compatible television (which was a standard feature of new sets since the 1980s). While a rival to "traditional" commercial print-based video game magazines, most were welcoming of (or neutral about) its existence, however EMAP, publishers of two the biggest magazines of the 90s, Computer and Video Games and Mean Machines (Sega) had several public spats with Digitiser for the first few years.

All forms of teletext ceased broadcasting in the UK in 2012, and given the nature of the transmissions, the vast majority of teletext pages have not been archived. Remnants of Digitiser have been preserved by the Teletext Preservation Project and by its longest-running fan site, Super Page 58, possible due to VHS recordings storing Teletext information alongside the video signal (as was the case when originally broadcast).

Reviews

Mega Drive

Aaahh!!! Real Monsters

Great name for a cartoon; but oh, what a lovely war (average game)!

It's one of those platformers where you control three guys with different abilities, and you have to swap between them at the appropriate moments.

It's like a dream Mr Hairs once had.

The graphics are fair enough and faithful to the show, but the gameplay isn't worth commenting on.

by Viacom	Players: 1
Graphics	63%
Sonix	64%
Gameplay	70%
Lifespan	68%
Originality	48%
Uppers	Sometimes it can be fun
Downers	Mostly it's just boring
Overal 69%	Aaah! Dull Concept!

Another World

Bloodshot

There is really no great need for a Doom/Wolfenstein style game on the Mega Drive. Zero Tolerance was perfectly adequate, and the issue should have been laid to rest then.

Like Mr Biffo, Bloodshot has taken an age finally to come out. And sadly, the wait hasn't been really worth it.

Bang bang. Shoot shoot.

You know the score.

by Acclaim/Domark	Players 1-2
Graphics	68%
Sonix	70%
Gameplay	69%
Lifespan	70%
Originality	61%
Uppers	A fairly reasonable effort
Downers	Buy a PC if you want Doom
Overal 69%	Blood not

Cannon Fodder

This is such a good idea for a game, we still can't believe it!

You control a little squad of soldiers through an increasingly difficult series of battles. How do you do that?

You point to where you want to move your men and click a button. You point to where you want to shoot or throw a grenade and click a button.

It's as simple as a really stupid man.

Though Canon Fodder has coped with its move to console well, we still have a major reservation regarding the game.

There are weeks of gameplay in there, but we somehow feel that boredom will set in after a few days. The relatively poor sales of CF2 tell their own tale.

The deranged amongst you will enjoy repeatedly shooting wounded soldiers, and the introduction of vehicles later in the game helps, but a bit more depth wouldn't have gome amiss.

by Virgin	Players: 1
Graphics	73%
Sonix	74%
Gameplay	84%
Lifespan	85%
Originality	92%
Uppers	Totally original
Downers	A little repetitive
Overal 85%	Cannon/ball joke

Comix Zone

Question: How many games based on real comic books have been any good? Answer: Few games.

This makes us feel all funny about Comix Zone - you see, it's a beat 'em up set inside the pages of a fictional comic book.

Does that sound a bit funny? It is. You leap from panel to panel - enemies being drawn onto the "page" by the artist's giant slug (hand).

Comix Zone makes the most of those peculiar comic book conventions.

Batman-style "Biffs", "Pows" and "Trotski-doos" litter your battles, whilst speech bubbles spurt from your fighter's rotting gob.

Visually, it's all rather lovely. One of the best-looking games, indeed, ever to grace the Mega Drive.

What else? Oh yes. Though it plays like any other beat 'em up, there are minor puzzles to overcome. How so?

Comix Zone occasionally hinders your progress with a spinning blade or falling block or spike.

Often you simply throw your pet rat at a switch; elsewhere you push explosives beneath the offending obstacle. It breaks the beat 'em up monopoly - mahogany (monotony) - nicely.

But as brilliant as it first seems, Comix Zone has problems. Problems that not even the free CD of the in-game music can stop you from living through.

Though Sega would probably argue that the game is foxy, we'd say Comix Zone was damned unfair.

If your pocket is free of explosives, you've no choice but to punch doors and barrels out of the way. This activity eats away at your health.

Also, you only get one life - and only one continue per level.

The harsh difficulty factor spoils a potentially classic title.

by Sega	Players: 1
Graphics	86%
Sonix	82%
Gameplay	76%
Lifespan	74%
Originality	79%
Uppers	Such a neat idea, dad!
Downers	Too damn unfair
Overal 79%	Chronic loan

Crüe Ball

Daffy Duck in Hollywood

Don't. Please. We really can't be bothered with another platformer!

by Sega	Players: 1
Graphics	67%
Sonix	69%
Gameplay	49%
Lifespan	52%
Originality	2%
Uppers	It's got Daffy Duck in it
Downers	Everything else, dear
Overal 46%	Duffy Dack

Light Crusader

Every time we receive a new RPG we're sure it'll be the giant strawb that snaps the monkey's back.

But every now and then we get a game like Light Crusader which makes our lips curl and our legs straighten out. Though one of these effects is perhaps the by-product of the other.

Light Crusader is an isometric RPG like Landstalker, but replaces the cutesy characters with a load of "Slim Jims".

Though Light Crusader is an action-based RPG involving the graphic decapitation of goblins and zombies, it's far more enjoyable than puzzling.

The Puzzle Rooms reminded us of crumbly old Knight Lore on the Spectrum.

It's a matter of pushing blocks and moving bombs and pulling switches in the right order to open doors.

It could have proved tedious, but as we emerged from sessions with the game, our faces glowed like petrol bombs.

Light Crusader looks like no other RPG.

The Japanese obsession with making everyone a stocky dwarf has for once been abandoned in favour of a more realistic approach to the characters and environment.

What is weird is the way you can push almost everyone and everything in the game around. You'll have particular fun positioning the farmer and his cows.

So yes, it's rather great. It's looking an oddly good year for the Mega Drive.

by US Gold	Players: 1
Graphics	78%
Sonix	79%
Gameplay	87%
Lifespan	87%
Originality	56%
Uppers	Big. Tough. Looks great. Lovely
Downers	Cliched storyline
Overal 87%	(Ca)rt-sha(ped) Crusader

Madden NFL 96

NBA Jam Tournament Edition

Like the SNES version, this is well worth getting if you don't already own the original.

The basic game is near-identical, though it can now be customised through the use of power-ps and "hot spots".

And you can play a gorilla if you have the proper code, Mr Simons.

Fine basketball.

by Acclaim	Players: 1-4
Graphics	80%
Sonix	63%
Gameplay	91%
Lifespan	87%
Originality	59%
Uppers	Incredibly addictive
Downers	Amazingly NO tournament mode!
Overal 90%	Chicken in a basket joke

NBA Live 96

NHL 96

Hockey, hockey, hockey - oui, oui, oui!

Surely this must be the final Mega Drive update of EA's now legendary ice hockey series.

As we've no doubt said when reviewing the previous 60 versions, if you don't probably own the game this is probably worth buying. If you do - it isn't.

And hey now - they've put the fights back in! That's so beautiful.

by EA	Players: 1-4
Graphics	79%
Sonix	82%
Gameplay	84%
Lifespan	82%
Originality	34%
Uppers	The finest hockey sim around
Downers	Pointless update
Overal 83%	NHL 1990.

Pac-Panic

PGA Tour 96

It isn't very interesting, but you have noticed how whereas EA's sport titles used to imitate their MD counterpigs (FIFA), it's now turned the other way around (this)?

You see, MD PGA '96 is a bold bid to recreate the photo-realistic fairways and smooth digitised monsters (players) that made the PC version so liverish.

Which is a shame, because it's unfair to expect the MD to be able to manage.

PGA '96 is the first radical overhaul to the MD series. Gone are the lateral power bar, 2D rotatable green view and occasionally spartan graphics.

And in come a sort of 3D trace-the-club path power/accuracy arc (which splays confusingly over the putting line) and moderately enhanced views which take eons to re-draw. Courses? But three.

Poor EA. The one time they bow to pressure and make substantial changes in an MD sports update, and it turns out to be worse than its forerunner.

by EA Sports	Players: 1-4
Graphics	89%
Sonix	88%
Gameplay	79%
Lifespan	75%
Originality	86%
Uppers	Looks nice
Downers	So slow. Only three courses
Overal 82%	Bee Gee's saline T-sticks

Premier Manager

Let's not mess: this came out before Christmas. If you haven't bought it yet you've probably never even wanted to manage a football team.

As football management games go, it's all alone on the Mega Drive. It's also rather splendid, and though you've only one save position it probably won't make your skin crisp up and flake away.

It's so very thorough.

by Sega	Players: 1
Graphics	70%
Sonix	45%
Gameplay	84%
Lifespan	88%
Originality	76%
Uppers	Mmm. Good - and on its own
Downers	Non-foot-fans will hate
Overal 86%	Bremner anger

Rise of the Robots

Like its SNES counterpart, the Mega Drive version of Rise of the Robots barely appears finished.

If you want a decent beat 'em up buy Mortal Kombat II. On second thoughts don't. Both games are from Acclaim, and after the debacle on display here they don't deserve your money.

Buy some vodka instead.

by Acclaim	Players: 2
Graphics	84%
Sonix	63%
Gameplay	42%
Lifespan	57%
Originality	18%
Uppers	Impressive sprits
Downers	A total poo-fest
Overal 45%	Surp-rise-ingly bad. Hoo!

Ristar

Not since the Yosser demo on the old BBC has a game been based around headbutting. However, there's headbutting and there's headbutting.

Ristar follows the path of the latter, nicer variety.

You control some sort of starfish thing with stretchy arms. He does away with the enemy by grabbing hold of them and smacking his face into theirs.

Aside from the obvious differences in doing away with the nasties, Ristar has a distinctive Sonic quality.

The structure of the game is very similar - as are the graphics.

It's perhaps the curious feeling of pure playability coupled with very little challenge or depth that urges us to draw comparisons.

Don't get us wrong - it's a fun game. But so is throwing batteries into a fire. But don't you do that, now.

by Sega	Players: 1
Graphics	83%
Sonix	80%
Gameplay	86%
Lifespan	80%
Originality	49%
Uppers	Smooth and playable, daddy
Downers	Another platformer
Overal 79%	Pilau Ristar joke

Soleil

We simply can't get enough of Zelda-esque RPGs. As soon as a new one falls into our basket, we whip it out and smash it straight into an easel.

Ironically, thanks to Nintendo UK's lazy approach to releasing new games, the Mega Drive can probably boast more of these sort of RPGs than the SNES.

But Sega is always quick to cash in on a big thing. Hey - let's bite those hands that feed us!

Soleil is pretty much standard for overhead, action-based RPGs.

However, some splendid touches force the game into a bigger bra than would otherwise have been necessary.

There's loads of stuff about talking animals and holy swords and the like - but don't let that put you off.

If you like your games to last a little longer than a week, we advise you to hide Soleil under a special tarp.

by Sega	Players: 1
Graphics	83%
Sonix	80%
Gameplay	90%
Lifespan	91%
Originality	34%
Uppers	Plenty to do and see
Downers	Sometimes a little obscure
Overal 80%	Soleil-a St Claire

Spot Goes to Hollywood

Question: Do you remember Cool Spot? Answer: Yes. Yes you do.

The platform gameplay has been moulded into an isometric trough for this fine sequel: it plays like a platformer, but everything has gone all diagonal.

And - ha-ha - the levels are themed around popular movie genres (no, not that sort, Mr Hairs). Nice big levels; neat graphics. Neat and nice.

by Virgin	Players: 1
Graphics	74%
Sonix	70%
Gameplay	79%
Lifespan	78%
Originality	76%
Uppers	Not another platform sequel
Downers	Sometimes a bit fiddly
Overal 79%	Pop goes the weasle.

Thunder Force IV

Mega-CD

Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side

Eye of the Beholder

The latest twitch from the Mega CD's singed corpse, Eye of the Beholder admirably impersonates the PC original.

That's to say that you get six races, six classes, nine alignments and 40 faces from which to select your dungeon-questing foursome.

And that there's no scaling or baddie animation to speak of, making this one of the most visually-barren RPGs ever.

Eye of the Beholder is rare amongst console RPGs for its slavish adherence to the genre's stinking roots.

Experience tables, spell-memorising, ability score modifiers - all are here in their brown pomp. Along with a laughably misplaced rave soundtrack.

Why, they've even resisted the temptation to replace the click-on-sword-icon with a slightly more, ah, "fulfilling" combat method.

Or is the whole thing just very lazy?

by Sega	Players: 1
Graphics	35%
Sonix	65%
Gameplay	68%
Lifespan	66%
Originality	34%
Uppers	Faithful old-style RPG...
Downers	...and therefore stupid
Overal 62%	Why of the Beholder

Myst

Snatcher

This is Konami's first Mega CD-specific title, and will probably be the last. Something of a shame, as Snatcher is rather good fun.

Set in the future, the game sees you as the strangely-named Gabriel Seed, whose job it is to track down the Terminator-like Snatchers.

It's a fairly conventional adventure, but makes a nice change of pace for a console game.

From Snatcher's menu, you travel around a Japanese megopolis interrogating witnesses, eating clues and ringing saucy party lines on your phone.

The detective work is occasionally broken up by shoot 'em up sections - compatible with Konami's light gun, if you so desire.

The game can be saved at any stage via your irritating robot sidekick Metal Gear. We hated him.

Snatcher is a decent game. The graphics and interface are a bit dated, and at times the investigation becomes a little frustrating.

Mostly though, the game is a blast. The twisty-turny plot should see you sound for weeks. Sound like a dying bee.

Though unlikely to appeal to most console owners, if we mention the gratuitous sex and violence, their ears should prick up.

But it's over 18s only.

by Konami	Players: 1
Graphics	71%
Sonix	73%
Gameplay	86%
Lifespan	87%
Originality	64%
Uppers	A change of pace
Downers	A little dated
Overal 85%	Snatch yourself a copy

32X

Motocross Championship

Motocross is a two-pronged beast.

On the one hand it shows that in the right hands the 32X could almost handle something as graphically complex as Road Rash on the 3DO.

On the other, Sega have made such a pig's ear of putting it together that it just looks like a mess.

See now how we raise our arms in despair, dear.

Do you remember Kickstart with Peter Purves? It was a TV show which showcased the dirt bike antics of filthy young men.

That's sort of what Motocross is. Only Purves was more fun.

You can either choose to practice any of the muddy courses or take part in a special "season".

Of course, you can punch and kick out at your rivals. That is, if you can work out what's going on.

At times in Motocross - and at every start - there will be a multiple pile-up of bikers, generating a melee which makes it impossible to locate your own.

At other times your biker will dip off the bottom of the screen, or fly completely off the top.

And, of course, the scrolling is horrendously jerky.

But is that all bad? But is that all bad?

Despite its many faults, Motocross somehow proves stubbornly playable.

This said, any addictive qualities are promptly dashed by a lack of diversity among the courses.

All vaunt a similar muddy colour scheme, and all differ little from the curve/straight/bumpy bit pattern.

It's far from the worst 32X title, but if you're after racing thrills check out the superior Virtua Racing.

by Sega	Players: 1-2
Graphics	73%
Sonix	67%
Gameplay	70%
Lifespan	68%
Originality	52%
Uppers	Dirt bike racing is new!
Downers	But it could have been nicer
Overal 70%	Make-us-cross joke

Saturn

Blam! Machinehead

Bug!

After the terrible Virtual Hydlide and Digital Pinball, this more than clears the slime from Sega's rubber sledge.

Bottom line: Bug is the first proper 3D platformer. Yes.

From the collect-o-gem gameplay to the bonus rounds to the bosses to the power-ups to the jump-o-head attacks, Bug uses every platform cliche you can imagine. But that doesn't matter.

Where Bug doesn't bear the scars of its undistinguished platform lineage is in the layout of its levels.

If M C Escher had been a game designer and not a fart, this is the game he would have designed.

Not only can your character wander far into and out of the screen, but the stages stretch high for several screens. In/out; up/down. Incredible.

It's difficult to understand the score without playing the game.

Being a Bug, your character can walk up walls and across ceilings. He can also, depending on the power-up, zap them with his antennae or spit slime.

The 3D conceptualisation is quite incredible. Platforms, ramps and walkways criss-cross each other and overlap like veins on a cow's udder. Mapping the game must have been horrid.

Yet you can stand at one end of the level and look far into the distance to plan your route. It's like being in a coma.

Occasionally, one of Bug's enemies - perhaps an insane grasshopper, perhaps a sharpshooting snail - will spring from nowhere.

Generally, though, the game is fair in the extreme. For particularly tricky sections of platform-o-jump, the entire screen scrolls out and you're treated to a wider viewpoint.

That isn't to say it's easy. Bug is possibly the toughest platformer Sega have ever put together.

Bug's levels are vast. The first sub-stage of level one took us nigh-on 20 minutes to complete.

Even then we couldn't be sure we'd seen everything.

Subsequent levels become bigger and more complex, with multiple routes to the exit. For sheer ingenuity of level design, this game is on a par with Super Mario World.

Up there with Daytona and Fighter.

by Sega	Players: 1
Graphics	86%
Sonix	81%
Gameplay	89%
Lifespan	88%
Originality	90%
Uppers	The new era of platformer
Downers	Can be a bit TOO unforgiving
Overal 89%	Good (Bug)

Digital Pinball

F1 Challenge

Digitiser F1 Saturn Review Page1.png
Digitiser F1 Saturn Review Page2.png

Hi-Octane

A neat litle port over from the PC, Hi Octane is pretty much intact from the original, retaining the nine tracks, umpteen cars and Magic Carpets physics.

Its techno soundtrack, "space" courses and combat angle give it a Wipeout feel, though the glitch-prone graphics don't even come close.

It plays nicely, but when offered a choice between this and Sega Rally, we know which one we'd smash with a hook.

by EA Sports	Players: 1-2
Graphics	71%
Sonix	85%
Gameplay	79%
Lifespan	79%
Originality	60%
Uppers	Nice "space car" violence
Downers	Dodgy-ish graphics
Overal 77%	HIgh egg stain

Johnny Bazookatone

Question: What has a purple quiff, a gun/guitar combination, and an array of enemies ranging from skeletons to walking hooters?

Answer: You know - it's Daff Ducky!

Incorrect. It is Johnny Bazookatone, star of US Gold's new platformer. Hasn't he got a funny name, everyone? It's because he's Polish, of course!

Johnny Bazookatone doesn't really want to kiss all those new wave, new generation, 32-bit gentlemen. Which is a bit stupid, really.

It's a traditional platformer in every respect, despite some rendered graphics and the odd special effect.

That would probably be dumb enough, but the difficulty level is mercilessly harsh, nay, unfair. Enemies randomly appearing from nowhere is a bad thing.

Johnny Bazookatone isn't a very big game, which probably explains why the decision was taken to make it so tough early on.

However, the music is really nice - if occasionally out of place - and it does come with a free CD of the soundtrack.

We may have to wait for Mario 64 to kill the old school of platformers, but having said that, who paid any attention to Mario on SNES

by US Gold	Players: 1
Graphics	80%
Sonix	87%
Gameplay	72%
Lifespan	73%
Originality	23%
Uppers	It's not awful
Downers	Could have been done on SNES
Overal 70%	Johnny Rotten joke

Panzer Dragoon Saga

Pebble Beach Golf Links

Rayman

Sega Rally

The final spoke of Sega's ground-breaking arcade conversion trilogy succeeds in laying to rest the ghosts of Saturn's shaky start.

Whilst no-one could dismiss the fun to be had with Daytona Racing - Rally's thematic sibling - the graphics were a stark devoid of leterboxed shoddiness.

Full-screen and full-speed: that's Sega Rally. It should be called "Sega Really", as in "really great". Ha ha.

Sega Rally is fast. It looks superb - don't get us wrong - but the first thing that strikes you is the incredible speed.

In fact, we found it easier to play with the "out-car" view simply because it slowed things down a little.

Once you've recovered from the illusory G-force, the conversion's precision becomes apparent. Though not perfect, the four tracks are closer to the arcade than even Odin dared hope.

It's likely that your first attempts at Sega Rally will have you ricocheting across the tracks like a crab fired from a catapult.

But that's OK. Rally handles so differently to any other racing game - and so realistically - that learning to control the cars becomes the real joy of playing.

Of course, you can enter a championship in which victory grants you access to extra track, but there are other bonuses. Oh?

In reality, Sega Rally is so much more than the arcade game.

Sega has included all manner of extra features, such as a time attack mode, a brilliant split-screen two-player mode, the option to fine-tune the handling of the cars and many hidden secrets.

It's probably the fastest, most playable and thorough racing game available on any system. Let's hope Sega choose to convert Manx TT.

by Sega	Players: 1-2
Graphics	90%
Sonix	81%
Gameplay	84%
Lifespan	92%
Originality	45%
Uppers	Great in every respect
Downers	More courses, perhaps?
Overal 93%	Really smart

Sim City 2000

Digitiser SimCity2000 Saturn Review Page1.png
Digitiser SimCity2000 Saturn Review Page2.png

Shinobi X

Street Fighter: The Movie

We weren't expecting much of this. So sick to the lungs are we with side-on beat 'em ups, we're just about ready to cough up mud.

However, strip away the flashy digitised graphics and this is the same Street Fighter we've always loved - loved like a doe.

With a couple of new characters, super combo gauge and neat visuals and presentation, this may make you OK.

by Acclaim	Players: 1-2
Graphics	77%
Sonix	80%
Gameplay	90%
Lifespan	86%
Originality	50%
Uppers	As classic as ever
Downers	Animation is a bit jerky
Overal 88%	Do the locomotion.

Victory Boxing

Virtua Cop

Virtua Fighter

If you don't know about either (a) the Saturn, or (b) Virtua Fighter, then it's likely that you are someone who cannot decipher sensory information.

Or you have been dead for a year.

A quick summary for those unfortunates: the Sega Saturn is a flash new console, due out here in the autumn.

Virtua Fighter is a conversion of the smash arcade beat 'em up.

Though we had few doubts that Sega would produce a stunning title to showcase their new machine, Virtua Fighter still came as a bit of a shock.

The characters - though oboviously very stylised and blocky - move in a remarkably convincing 3D fashion, recoiling from every punch and kick.

The lack of fireball-style special moves is part of the game's appeal, and makes for a nice change.

It's easy to be blinded by Virtua Fighter's stunning visuals.

However, prolonged play of the game underlines subtleties not immediatedly apparent in the arcade version.

Each of the eight fighters is naturally empowered with different strengths and weaknesses.

Learning to use them to the full is a major part of the game's appeal.

As with all beat 'em ups, Virtua Fighter works best with two players, yet solo the game is more satisfying than any other basher we've played.

If criticism need be made, then the graphics aren't perfect. The polygons occasionally disappear, and we're not overly keen on the Saturn joypad.

At the end of the day, Sega has produced a title which not only showcases the Saturn's power, but should pacify the most angry gamester.

by Sega	Players: 1-2
Graphics	94%
Sonix	93%
Gameplay	91%
Lifespan	89%
Originality	75%
Uppers	One of the best fighters ever
Downers	Very expensive on import
Overal 92%	Virtually brilliant

Virtua Fighter Kids

Virtua Fighter Remix

Virtual Hydlide

Just as well we know that love lurks around the corner for the Saturn, or we'd have been tempted to write it off after witnessing this obscenity.

Virtual Hydlide purports to be some manner of RPG, though the virtual tag is a little misleading.

You control a massive sprite who sits directly in the centre of your field of vision as you usher him through a sluggish 3D environment.

Though Virtual Hydlide controls about as well as a sick horse in a tar pit, and the graphics jerk about like some seizure-wracked policeman, it has one potential ace up its nose.

A new game is randomly generated each time you play. Sounds good? It isn't.

Though VH contains all the usual RPG fantasy elements such as sword fights (real time Doom-style) and magic rings and such, the random landscape generator eliminates any plot.

Virtual Hydlide's lack of plot, coupled with graphics and controls that render the game all but unplayable, means there's little to tempt you to return.

You move from one monster encounter to another, occasionally being urged to enter a building or graveyard, but it all seems so pointless.

The Saturn is capable of so much more than this. With Bug, Sega Rally and Virtua Fighter 2 imminent, releasing this is likely to do more harm to the Sega's reputation than good. Silly.

by Sega	Players: 1
Graphics	35%
Sonix	79%
Gameplay	40%
Lifespan	60%
Originality	43%
Uppers	A new game every time!
Downers	Everything else
Overal 49%	Virtual Hide-Wipe

Wing Arms

Here is our latest joke: "Here comes old Wing Arms, again!"

It isn't a joke with a punchline, it is a new sort of joke: the kind of joke that is a pithy comment.

In this case it refers to the title of the game Wing Arms, and the humorous possibility that someone with the nickname "Wing Arms" is approaching.

Wing Arms is a shot 'em up.

Wing Arms offers you the choice of several WW2-style aircraft, though they're armed with anachronistic missiles and whistlers.

Aircraft chosen, you have to fly around and shoot other aircraft - sometimes really big ones!

It isn't awful, and the graphics improve as the game progresses, but we started to get annoyed because the enemy targets moved about so much.

A small game from Sega's big gob.

by Sega	Players: 1
Graphics	76%
Sonix	67%
Gameplay	75%
Lifespan	69%
Originality	19%
Uppers	Mildly engaging
Downers	Looks like a SNES game
Overal 73%	Hello, Wing Arms!

Sega PC

Panzer Dragoon

Digitiser Panzer Dragoon PC Review Page1.png
Digitiser Panzer Dragoon PC Review Page2.png
Digitiser Panzer Dragoon PC Review Page3.png

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