:: theLogBook.com’s Pixel Fiction ::

You know the routine! You and one other player (in this age of the Playstation multi-tap, why not a bunch of players?) compete to see who can give Regis the fastest finger (he’s a New Yorker, I’m sure he’s well accustomed to it by now). Whoever comes out on top earns the right to blast through sixteen increasingly frustrating trivia questions, aided only by two helpful lifelines and one marginally useless one. As the game progresses, gravity begins to fail with alarming regularity in the studio, as demonstrated by your repeatedly flying out of your own chair into the floor, ceiling, and all points in between. (Sony Computer Entertainment, 2000)

Review: I admit, my summary of the long-awaited Playstation version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? may be a little sarcastic, but I actually expected more - and less - from this game. (more…)

Starfleet’s long-range probes detect a massive Borg invasion fleet headed for Sector 001 - an incursion that couldn’t happen at a worse time, since Starfleet is still licking its wounds after the costly Dominion War. Worf, now Klingon Ambassador to the Federation, dons his Starfleet uniform once more to head up the training and deployment of the Academy’s ace Red Squad pilots in a new class of solo fighter vessel, the Valkyries. In the course of training, unwelcome surprises come from all corners - the Romulans, the last remnants of the Cardassian Empire, a Starfleet Captain who inexplicably goes renegade, and a new threat as well… (Activision, 2000)

Review: This long-awaited Star Trek game for the Playstation demonstrates that Sony’s nearly-ubiquitous little grey console still has a few tricks up its sleeve before the PS2 grabs the spotlight. (more…)

No one said it was easy being Mainframe’s Guardian, and this game is proof. You’re Bob the Guardian, trying to protect the citizens of Mainframe from a series of deadly tears unleashed upon the unsuspecting populace by an unholy alliance between Megabyte and Hexidecimal. Various characters show up along the way, like Mike TV, to offer advice, but aside from some vital health power-ups, you’re on your own. As you advance from level to level, a new ReBoot adventure is gradually revealed until you reach the end of the story - but if you fail in your mission to protect Mainframe, that episode’s going to come up short. (Electronic Arts, 1997)

Review: What better property to base a game on than ReBoot, the all-CGI animated show from Canada which has never gotten a decent time slot in the U.S.? Originally shown on ABC in the early 1990s, ReBoot started out as standard kid-friendly fare. Its second season introduced some more violent elements, after which ABC dropped the show and its third season - complete with battles, psychological drama and character development aplenty - wound up in a dead-of-night slot on the Cartoon Network. (And this treatment of the show hasn’t changed - the fourth season was aired on the Cartoon Network, and went almost completely unpromoted.) (more…)

Chef’s got his own cable access game show where eligible bachelorettes can compete for his affections! However, in the total absence of eligible bachelorettes, Kyle, Stan, Kenny and Cartman have shown up to play the game. They answer three rounds of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire-style trivia (only much more scatological than Regis usually gets) and then go into a randomly-selected “mini-game.” To the victor goes the Cheesy Poofs! (Acclaim Studios Austin, 1999)

Review: This hysterically funny party game is a hit around the Green household. Now, just the presence of the words “South Park” will very likely tell you that this isn’t a game to get for your kids. With that in mind, it’s still a good game. (more…)

As any one of a large number of residents of that blissful burg known as South Park, Colorado, you compete against the rest of the town in a no-holds-barred race through the snowy streets. Helpful power-ups and hapless cattle are sprinkled liberally through the town like so many Cheesy Poofs. (Acclaim, 2000)

Review: This hilarious third entry in Acclaim’s series of South Park video games takes a classic arcade staple - the first-person racing game - and adds some sound bytes, characters, and scatological humor to create what may be the best South Park title available. (more…)

As one of five Jedi Knights (or two, if you have a second player for cooperative mode), you take on the entire Trade Federation battle droid army in an attempt to reach Naboo, save Jar Jar and the Queen (and yes, you do have to save Jar Jar), and safeguard these two and a certain young potential Jedi from battle droids, Darth Maul and other menaces. And these aren’t your wimpy battle droids who short circuit if you tell ‘em you’re taking the queen to Coruscant, either - these are kick-ass droids with slick martial arts moves who can inflict some serious damage. But then again…so can you. (LucasArts, 2000)

Review: The second entry in LucasArts’ effort to mine Star Wars: Episode I for new Playstation games is a vast improvement over the previous, generically titled Phantom Menace game. And, at long last, Jedi Power Battles offers something that has been missing from the Star Wars video gaming genre for a long time: a chance to fight some battles with the lightsaber as your chief weapon. (more…)

The Padishah Emperor has declared open season on the planet Arrakis - better known as Dune. With no rules and no limits, the Houses of Atreides, Harkonnen and Ordos are cordially invited to mine the precious Spice from Dune’s subsurface strata - and smash each other into smithereens with any and all weapons and technologies available. (Electronic Arts [developed by Westwood Studios], 1998)

Review: Dune 2000 is an updated version of the Dune 2 computer game that has been around for a few years. I’ll warn you right now, and I’m only doing this because I feel it’s a valid warning…Dune 2000 is extremely addictive. It’s right up there with SimCity and the Ultima games - proving that complex computer games can eat up just as much time as any ultra-simple arcade-style action game. (more…)

An evil sorceress, in her plot to destroy the gods, needs to sacrifice a mortal queen - and decides that Gabrielle will do, since the bard is also the Queen of the Amazons. Xena must fight her way through numerous obstacles to challenge the might of the sorceress and defeat her - the world, and Gabrielle’s life, depend on her success. (Electronic Arts, 1999)

Review: Xena is a natural property for a video game, and indeed, there have already been games on earlier platforms such as the SNES that explored the Xenaverse. But this multi-level, first-person fighting game is the first to attempt to match the scope of the television series, offering individual “episodes” to fight your way through en route to the final goal. (more…)

The Emperor, tiring of the constant Rebel threat to his plans for conquest, plays his hidden ace - Arden Lyn, a deceptively young-looking woman who is the last known master of the ancient martial art of teras kasi. Her mission is to hunt down Luke, Han, Leia and the other Rebels…and eliminate them. Little does she know that the Rebels are aware of the new threat to their cause, and are preparing for her arrival as well. (LucasArts, 1997)

Review: How best to describe Teras Kasi? Think of MTV’s Celebrity Death Match set in the Star Wars universe, and you’ll have a pretty good idea, sans claymation. Teras Kasi could have been more easily titled Star Wars Ultimate Fighting and gotten the point across more succinctly (and probably would’ve sold better as well). (more…)

As various heroic characters from the days when Jedi Knights still enforced justice in that galaxy far, far away, you must expose the danger posed to peaceful Naboo by the Trade Federation’s army of battle and destroyer droids, and escort Queen Amidala out of the clutches of the invaders who would force her to surrender her world into slavery. (LucasArts, 1999)

Review: Oh, what a frustrating game! The Playstation is a recent acquisition for me, and I like the wealth of Retro Revivals and emulations available for Sony’s nifty little game console. But this game and the Xena game just about drove me nuts…yet this is the style of game that most everyone seems to be trying to create these days. (more…)