Video Game Reviews

By ROBB GUIDO

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 2, 2000

Sega GT

SYSTEM: Dreamcast

PRICE: $49.99

MAKER: Sega

Remember Gran Turismo for the PlayStation? Now picture it with more beautifully rendered cars, picture-postcard-like vistas, more licenses to earn, and the option of not only buying cars with the money won from races but building a dream car from scratch. Sure, this title is a clone. But it's a fine clone.

Grade: B+

Valkyrie Profile

SYSTEM: PlayStation

PRICE: $39.99

MAKER: Enix

Enix created a beauty of a role player for the PlayStation in Valkyrie Profile. A few words can't sum up this multifaceted title in which players train an army of recently deceased soldiers for a final apocalyptic battle. Out in the field, characters work in tandem. For example, one character may break an enemy's defenses, while another strikes at it from behind. Once the skills and traits of characters are built up sufficiently, they're sent to the front lines, where players find out how well they prepared their soldiers.

Grade: B+

AeroWings 2

SYSTEM: Dreamcast

PRICE: $49.99

MAKER: Crave

AeroWings is so sophisticated it felt like flight school. The game is a series of exercises. In addition to shooting other planes out of the sky, players learn how to land, roll and perform loops. Just watch those Gs.

Grade: B

Duck Dodgers, Starring Daffy Duck

SYSTEM: Nintendo 64

PRICE: $49.99

MAKER: Infogrames

Daffy's first vehicle for the Nintendo 64 takes the famous sourpuss to five planets packed with Looney Tunes-perfect backdrops and animations. Like most 3-D action titles, players collect items, which, in this case, are cleverly hidden and require the use of silly ACME doodads to retrieve. Loose controls and camera issues, however, make it more of a rental.

Grade: C+

Spider-Man

SYSTEM: Game Boy Color

PRICE: $29.99

MAKER: Activision

Activision does a pretty fair job bringing our favorite web slinger to the small screen, considering the limitations of Game Boy Color. Unlike most 2-D platformers that have players running left to right, Spidey is free to move about and must find people and places within levels to push the plot forward. I wish I could have seen some of the darker areas better.

Grade: B

Digimon World

SYSTEM: PlayStation

PRICE: $39.99

MAKER: Bandai

Digimon World takes a Tamagotchi-like approach to the pocket monster craze, concentrating on the nurturing aspect of raising a Digimon rather than the battles. In fact, battles are almost entirely computer controlled. Players older than 10 probably should pass.

Grade: C-

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

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