Console-tations by Ian Johnston

    Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
    Developer: Sony Computer Entertainment America
    Genre: Sports
    Title: Hot Shots Golf
    MSRP: $39.99

I'm a huge sports fan. From the NFL and NBA to MLB, Tennis, the PGA, and even World Cup Soccer. I've always enjoyed football games from the classic Madden games on the Sega Genesis to Joe Montana Sportstalk Football and even the Gameday series on the Playstation. The same can be said of basketball games from Arch Rivals to Slam N Jam on the 3DO, as well as NBA Jam and NBA Shootout. The one genre of sports titles I've never enjoyed are golf games. I found them boring, overly complicated, and just unfriendly to non golfers in general. Then along came an arcade golf game called "Golden Tee 3-D Golf" and I was hooked.

The game had vivid, colorful graphics, easy controls, and it was just plain fun. I hoped and hoped that the game would be translated for one of the console systems, but it never happened, and so I quickly forgot about it. A few months ago, the current issue of Playstation Underground, which happens to be a quarterly CD magazine, came in the mail, and on that issue was a demo of a game called Hot Shots Golf. I tried it out, and I was instantly hooked.

I played the demo endlessly, even though it was only 9 holes. From that point on I was eagerly anticipating what I felt would be a phenomenal game that would revolutionize golf games. I wasn't disappointed. Hot Shots Golf is not only the finest golf game available, it's one of the finest sports titles period. It's got easy to learn controls, a wide selection of characters, lots of options and modes of play, as well as vivid graphics and good music.

Let's now get into the specifics. Hot Shots has two characters initially selectable, with a total of 10 characters. Subsequent characters are earned by beating the unearned golfers with the available ones. While playing, you rack up experience points which you get for making birdies, eagles, and holes in one. Once you reach 5000 points, a consecutive five course tournament mode is unlocked which is a lot of fun. All in all, Hot Shots Golf has 6 courses, five of which are playable in the Tournament, Match Play, Vs., and 5 Course Mode, as well as a 6th course which is only playable in the Stroke Mode. The six courses are Green Country Club, Hawaiian Resort, Fujiyama Country Club, United Country, Vegas Desert Country Club, and the Extra Course. Each one is drastically different, giving Hot Shots lots of variety. Now, on to the different modes.

Stroke Mode pits you against a computer opponent or against three of your friends (optional multi tap adapter needed for the latter), where the person with the lowest total stokes at the end of eighteen holes wins. Tournament Mode simply pits you against an array of computer opponents in an 18 hole tournament. Match Play has you playing against a friend or a computer opponent in an 18 hole match. The winner is determined by who won the most holes out of the 18. Vs. Mode is essentially the same as Match Play Mode, the only difference being that Vs. Mode only lets you play against the computer, not a friend. You then have the Training Mode which lets you practice on any hole in the game, as well as the Lessons Mode which has beginner, intermediate, and advanced tutorials. As if that weren't enough, there's also an 18 hole Putt-Putt game as well, as both a Status and Config menu which lets you set various options and look at the accumulated scores and trophies you've recorded. Finally, there's the Five Course Mode, which as I said earlier, lets you play a continuous five course tournament. Also, in all of the modes, you have the option of saving your progress to a memory card after every 9 holes. The only flaw I've found with Hot Shots are the sound effects, which you can fortunately turn off. This game is a blast to play, and if you like golf or sports even remotely, give this game a go, you won't regret it.

    Developer: Sony Computer Entertainment America
    Genre: Peripheral
    Title: Dual Shock Controller
    MSRP: $29.99

Over the years it seems as though there have been as many controllers as games. From the paddle controller that was used to play Pong, to the NES's U-Force, Robby the Robot, and Zapper, to the Genesis's Menacer and the SNES's Super Scope 6, to today's digital analog pads, game gloves, and driving wheels. The videogame controller really has come a long way in the last decade and a half.

That brings me to Sony's latest controller offering, the Dual Shock Analog Pad. As you can see from the picture, the pad's overall design is quite similar to the stock Playstation controller, with a few differences. The most obvious difference is probably the two analog sticks that are located in between the directional pad and the four face buttons. Some of you may have used a Nintendo 64 controller, and so you know that it to has an analog feature, although it only has one analog stick. What separates the analog feature on the two controllers, and makes the Sony analog control superior, is that not only are the face of the analog sticks on the Sony pad bigger than they are on the Nintendo 64 pad, but they're also coated in rubber, whereas the Nintendo 64 controller's analog stick is simply coated in hard plastic. This means that during extended play, your thumb is going to take less abuse when using the Dual Shock Pad than if you were using the Nintendo 64 Pad.

The second major feature is, of course, the rumbling or shocking feature. The Nintendo 64 controller allows you to buy a separate add on called the Rumble Pack which you can plug into the back of the pad, but it requires two AA batteries and really doesn't do much more than synthesize the vibration of a pager. The Sony Dual Shock pad, on the other hand, has two separate rumblers built into the pad, and they require no batteries. They simply function off the Playstation's power supply. I have used the Nintendo 64 controller with the Rumble Pack on may occasions, and it doesn't even compare to the Sony Dual Shock Pad. The Dual Shock really shakes much, much more than the Nintendo 64 controller with Rumble Pack does. Its a great feature among many on the Dual Shock Pad.

Finally, and most inconspicuously, you're got the L&R buttons on the top of the controller. These buttons are nothing new as they are on virtually every Playstation pad available, but on the Dual Shock Pad they're slightly different. The L1 and R1 buttons on the top are the same size as on most other Playstation controllers, but the L2 and R2 buttons are twice as big as the L1 and R1 buttons and are sloped downward slightly. This is a welcome feature as on the stock Playstation controller, and most other Playstation pads, all of the top buttons are the same size and close together. This means that you can very easily accidentally press the wrong button, possibly screwing up the game you're playing. Games that are currently compatible with the Dual Shock Pad include Tekken 3, Gran Turismo, Ace Combat 2, Rally Cross, and Dead or Alive. I might've forgotten one or two titles, but regardless, more and more games will be taking advantage of the Dual Shock Pad.

All in all I'd say that the Sony Dual Shock Pad is one of the very best controllers I've ever had the pleasure of using, but I'd caution people not to run out and buy it immediately. There is a wave of 3rd party Dual Shock pads coming, and they differ quite a bit in design from the Sony Dual Shock pad. By waiting a bit, you might find a 3rd party Dual Shock Pad that's even more to your liking than the Sony Dual Shock. In any case, get a Dual Shock controller of some kind as a large number of new Playstation games will be taking advantage of the analog and rumbling feature that the Dual Shock offers; you'll have a lot more fun playing those games if you do.

    Publisher: Namco
    Developer: Namco
    Genre: Fighting
    Title: Tekken 3
    MSRP: $49.99

As some of you might remember from my Dead or Alive review a few months ago, I am a huge fighting game fan. I've played virtually every fighting game in the arcades and on the home systems. One sub genre of fighting games that has become increasingly popular, and that I happen to really like, are 3-D polygonal fighters. Games in this genre include Sega's Virtua Fighter series, Hudson Soft's Bloody Roar, Tecmo's Dead or Alive, and Namco's Tekken series. In my opinion, the best of the bunch has been the Tekken games. This is the subject of intense debate as many people feel the Virtua Fighter series has been superior. However, this is a review of Tekken 3, so I'll leave that issue alone.

When I first popped Tekken 3 into my Playstation and began playing, I was immediately disappointed. The graphics didn't seem to be on par with the arcade version, as the graphics had been for Tekken 1 and 2 on the Playstation, and the control also seemed off. I continued to feel this way until I finally decided to pop Tekken 2 into my Playstation and give it a whirl. Needless to say I was really surprised. I suppose my memory of Tekken 2's graphics on the Playstation was better than the graphics actually were. In any case, from that point on I wasn't too displeased with Tekken 3's graphics on the Playstation. The control also became easier and easier as I played more and more. I chalked it up to a long Tekken hiatus.

Aside from my initial qualms, I was very impressed at the sheer number of options and modes available in Tekken 3. From the onset you can choose from Arcade, Versus, Team Battle, Time Attack, Survival, and Tekken Force Mode, but there are also two hidden modes; Tekken Ball Mode and Theater Mode. Most people are familiar with the first five modes, but if you're not, check out my Dead or Alive review which is available in the Collector Times archives. The final three modes I mentioned, Tekken Force Mode, Tekken Ball Mode, and Theater Mode are nice additions to a great game. Tekken Force Mode plays a lot like the side scrolling beat em' up game Final Fight, which was released by Capcom in the 80's. Basically, you walk through different stages and eliminate the bad guys by hitting them a certain number of times. Tekken Ball Mode is a volleyball game that you can play with any selectable character. Finally, Theater Mode allows you to view all the endings and intros in the Tekken series. That's right, not only can you view the endings for all the characters you've won the game with in Tekken 3 as well as the intros, but you can also pop Tekken 1 or 2 into your Playstation and view all the endings and intros for those games as well. The Theater Mode also contains a music player which allows you to listen to ever single track from any and all Tekken games that you happen to have around. Very nice. As for the characters, there are ten initially selectable, with a grand total of twenty two characters. Additional characters are earned by beating the game with the already available characters, except in the case of the characters Gon and Dr. B. Gon can be made playable by beating him in the Tekken Ball Mode or by going through a series of complicated and elaborate steps. He's not hard to beat, so beating him in Tekken Ball is the best way to go. As for Dr. B., he is earned by beating Tekken Force Mode 4 consecutive times. Each time you beat Tekken Force Mode, you'll get a key. On your fourth time through, you'll face Dr. B. at the end. Beat him, and he's selectable. Dr. B. can also be earned through a series of complicated and elaborate steps, but again, it's much simpler to just earn him by beating Tekken Force Mode four times.

On to the options screen. Tekken 3's option screen allows you to do the usual things like adjust difficulty, setting the number of rounds, setting the round time, etc., but the option mode also allows you to adjust the display, set the memory card on auto save, view your record times, and configure your controller.

Then we come to the nearly endless list of combo's, moves, and juggles that exist in Tekken 3. I could go on and on about this game, but I think I've said enough. Tekken 3 for the Playstation does now, and will continue to stand as the best 3D fighter currently available for a home system. Something might come along that'll top it, but as of now, Tekken 3 is king. Bottom line. If you already own it, you know what I'm talking about. If you don't, well, what are you waiting for?! Go out and buy it!

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Copyright © 1998 Ian Johnston

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