Video games

By ROBB GUIDO

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 22, 2000

WWF Smackdown

• SYSTEM: PlayStation
• PRICE: $39.99
• COMPANY: THQ

WWF Smackdown is a turnbuckle above other wrestling games for PlayStation, with its 36 wrestlers and control that requires good timing rather than tedious button combos. Season mode, plus interconnected backstage rooms and a wide choice of match types, should give fans enough for now. Grade: B

MTV Music Generator

• SYSTEM: PlayStation
• PRICE: $39.99
• COMPANY: Codemasters

If you've wanted to be a musician, but never found time to practice, then this game's for you. MTV Music Generator lets you compose cool tunes from hundreds of riffs and add video to them. Grade: A

Hello Kitty: Cube Frenzy

• SYSTEM: Game Boy Color
• PRICE: $29.99
• COMPANY: NewKidCo

I may have slammed so-called girl games before, but this one is decent. It's basically Tetris, except this time you have to clear the way for Kitty, using blocks as steps in some cases. Grade: B-

Ghosts 'N Goblins

• SYSTEM: Game Boy Color
• PRICE: $29.99
• COMPANY: Capcom

The memories came flooding back the second I popped in this remake of the old Nintendo action game, especially the memory of how hard it was. At least there's a password feature this time. Grade: B-

Boarder Zone

• SYSTEM: Game Boy Color
• PRICE: $29.99
• COMPANY: Infogrames

Snowboarding games are all the rage on console systems, but the excitement doesn't translate to Game Boy. The graphics are too flat and the action is too slow. Grade: D

Test Drive: Off Road 3

• SYSTEM: Game Boy Color
• PRICE: $29.99
• COMPANY: Infogrames

If it seems as if Infogrames releases a lot of games, it does. And none is worse than its Test Drive series for Game Boy. Races are slow and graphics are hard on the eyes, though Test Drive does include a rumble feature. Grade: D

- Robb Guido is an avid gamer who lives in Clearwater.

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