8A - The Michigan Daily - Monday, November 29, 1999
Blood,
sushi fly
inwild
C op
Dynamite Cop
Dreamcast
Sega
Somewhere in the alchemical world of
video game creation, someone mixed the
beat-the-crap-out-of-the-other-guy ethos
with the moving-along-a-lineal-course-
and-killing-your-opponents heart of gun
games and threw in a dash of running
around a room with your enemies aspect
of survival horror. The outcome is
"Dynamite Cop," its direct predecessor
"Die Hard Arcade" and the play related
game "Fighting Force."
It's your job to save the president's
daughter on her hijacked cruise ship, but
actually your job is to beat up terrorist
pirates with the weapons at hand in the
game, such as deck chairs, sushi, French
bread and high powered weapons. It's
great being able to smack someone with a
tuna until it squelches into a bunch of
pieces, then pick up their weapon that
you've made them drop and make them
sorry they ever chose the terrorist pirate
career path.
Being an arcade game, the action is
somewhat limited. The missions are dis-
crete and relatively short. All but the first
Lacking in graphics,' King
still holds rank with 'Fighters'
0
mission have limited continues however,
so there is at least a challenge involved in
some of the missions.
The Dreamcast version adds a few
wrinkles to the game; in addition to pick-
ing up illustrations during the game and
viewing them in a picture gallery, you
have the option of a versus mode and a
survival mode. In the first, you fight a
friend or some other person sitting next to
you; in the second you fight an endless
stream of corsair kidnapper wannabes
until they take you down for good.
"Dynamite Cop" has some interesting
functions. You can download a file called
a detonator pack from the internet or the
demo game disc from the last Official
Sega Dreamcast magazine and get an
additional character and other goodies.
There's a trade off between ease of use
and rewarding those willing to interact
with the game. It's hard to say whether
the trade off is objectively worth it.
This disc contains what promises to be
an odd development in the Dreamcast
story. Old Sega arcade games are starting
to get included with new Dreamcast
games. "Dynamite Cop" comes with the
ancient "Tranquilizer Gun." Simple yet
unplayable, the game is not enthralling or
even interesting. A mere artifact, it may
be of interest to those who enjoyed it
when it was state of the art in the early
'80s. But this game would've looked out-
dated on the Atari 2600. Hopefully, Sega
will continue to include their old games
on new games; they can only be better
than this.
"Dynamite Cop" is short and to the
point. Beat everything that moves with
everything that doesn't. And, on occasion,
beat the moving ones with some of the
other moving ones you've got by the
ankles. Dumb, violent fun for the whole
apartment.
- Ted Watts
King of Fighters
Dream Match 1999
Dreamcast
SNK
Classic arcade fighter game compa-
ny SNK has produced a classic game in
a classic genre. But above all else you
need to realize that "King of Fighters
Dream Match 1999" is, and there's no
nice way to put it, technologically infe-
rior to most other games on the
Dreamcast. If you think this fighter is
going to have figures that look amaz-
ingly realistic or have complex visual
effects, you will be disappointed.
"KOF99" is more on the order of the
greatest 2D fighting game from the last
generation of machines.
The surviving 2D fighters seem
hell bent on combining old rosters
from different areas and pitting them
against each other in some kind of
post modern cock fight. Here, you
can fight as a team, and even get help
from the characters you'll be fighting
with when the current fighter is
unconscious. Unless the other fight-
ers hate the current character, in
which case they're happy to stand
around not worrying about the close-
ness of his unconsciousness.
With 36 characters ready from the
get go, "KOF99" has an obvious char-
acter advantage over all the 3D fighters
on the Dreamcast; complex polygon
figures may look good, but they munch
the disc space. The game also has
straightforward traditional controls.
Sure, it may be due to the fact that there
are significantly fewer places for you to
move in than if that pesky third dimen-
sion was present, but an advantage is an
advantage.
The animation is pretty good, but
0
S
looks strange with the rendered back-
grounds. Like those "Popeye" cartoons
with the nice models of hills and cliffs
and palaces that just didn't fit with
Segar's sailorman. And it just isn't as
crisp as you might want it on the most
advanced home console in the world.
"KOF99" gets extra points for being
the first Dreamcast game that can be
linked to the NeoGeo Pocket Color.
Requiring "KOF99," "King of Fighters
R-2" for the NeoGeo and the NeoGeo
Pocket-Sega Dreamcast
Communications Connector Cable, you
can transfer data between the games.
The results are being able to see secret
images and gain points in "K0F99" or
get special skills in "R-2."
The Cable Connector has a lot of
promise. In addition to being a great
idea for a peripheral, it will hopeful-
ly encourage development of games
for the NeoGeo Pocket. The stylish
little handheld system, already
blessed with a forthcoming "Sonic
the Hedgehog" game, is worthy of
support. The functionality for "King
of Fighters" is hopefully just a down
payment.
- Ted Watts
efor an average of $4.50 per
Cd & $2.00 per record paid
e"fr the best selection of
rare and unusual music
O IIopn seven days
01
Frustrated and
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L-
~ r
Winter
cmmencement
0
Sunday, Dec
r 19, 1999
Crisler Art
Y
Doors op
remony begins at 2:00
enat 1:15 p.m.
p.m. and lasts about two hours
ELIGIBIIR
Summer Term f9
graduates and can
participate in Wint
TICKET DISTRIB
Tickets will be distr
December 13 - Thu
Sd Fall Term
Commencn
999
to
rat.
ACADEMW aI|;;Id
Michigan oo
Union Bk re,
;CAP & GOWN
py; Michigan
Qidich's Bookstore
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all carry cor's ir4° Both Michigan
Book & Sp1 ichigan Union
Bookstore er's ttire. Doctoral
attire is av 1 able from th Michigan
TION
uted Monday,
;day, December 16
d 4:30 p.m. in the
ichigan Union.
I
Union Boo]
(
tore.
between
Pond Rc
a .m.
1 of the
INDIVIDUA
S
WITH I
SABILITIES
isabilities
Graduatehnd candidates are eligible to
receive up ix(6) tickets during this
time. Additional tickets will be distributed
Graduates or g
should call (73
information abot
Saccei seating
Sr a nteenments.
on Fridav. December 17 from 8:30 a.m. to
and snecial parki
r
11