The Addams Family (Sega Game Gear review)

Developer: Arc Developments
Publisher: Flying Edge
Released: 1993

The Addams Family is an adventure title that's loosely based on the 1991 film of the same name.

+ Mansion is an absolute joy to navigate due to its themed rooms, and the fun platform challenges add to the game's variety.

+ Does a brilliant job of guiding players to their next objective and there's plenty of secret rooms to find hidden cash.

+ Unlike many games in the genre, the puzzles aren't obtuse and the solutions can be figured out by using logical methods.

+ Graphics are a nice step up from the NES version (1992) with more detailed sprites and amazing character portraits.

- Hit detection can often be wonky, causing you to fall through platforms or take damage despite landing on an enemy.

- A few of the Mansion's rooms contain instant hazards upon entering, which is a rather cheap way of draining your life bar.

- Adventure is a very brief affair and the zoomed-in screen results in having little time to react to incoming enemies.

The Addams Family (Sega Master System review)

Developer: Arc Developments
Publisher: Flying Edge
Released: 1993

The Addams Family is an adventure title that's loosely based on the 1991 film of the same name.

+ Mansion is an absolute joy to navigate due to its themed rooms, and the fun platform challenges add to the game's variety.

+ Does a brilliant job of guiding players to their next objective and there's plenty of secret rooms to find hidden cash.

+ Unlike many games in the genre, the puzzles aren't obtuse and the solutions can be figured out by using logical methods.

+ Graphics are a nice step up from the NES version (1992) with more detailed sprites and amazing character portraits.

- Hit detection can often be wonky, causing you to fall through platforms or take damage despite landing on an enemy.

- A few of the Mansion's rooms contain instant hazards upon entering, which is a rather cheap way of draining your life bar.

- Doesn't take long for the credits to roll and one wonders if content was cut due to some padlocked doors never opening.

Super Smash T.V. (Sega Game Gear review)

Developer: Williams Electronics Games
Publisher: Flying Edge
Released: 1992

Super Smash T.V. is an action game that was originally released in the Arcades in 1990.

It supports single player only (no Link Cable option) and the objective is to destroy single screen waves of enemies in order to be crowned Smash T.V. Grand Champion. There's four stages and on top of your default Machine Gun, you can also collect power-ups such as Missiles and Ninja Blades. Various control schemes are available that allow you to fire in the same / opposite direction to your movement, or to lock your fire in one direction; all are terrible and don't provide you with the level of accuracy that's required for a game of this type, as you always have to temporarily take your hands off the d-pad and buttons to change firing angle. The action is fast and frenetic, but you'll always feel a half step behind as you try to adjust your shooting direction without a strafing ability to fall back on. Also, the difficulty in this handheld version is sky-high and usually for the wrong reasons. Firstly, there's the wildly inaccurate collision detection where you'll often reach for a prize, only to be killed by a mine despite your character having clear spatial distance. Also, the frame-rate is incredibly choppy making it far too easy to overshoot an intended safe area, and instead landing directly on top of an enemy sprite. And then there's the bosses which are bullet sponges to an infuriating degree; in fact, the initial boss is immune to your standard Machine Gun, so you'll need to wait for power-ups to appear meaning the whole battle can take 4-5 minutes before he's defeated! If that wasn't enough, enemies move much faster than you and can easily swarm on your location before you've had chance to readjust your direction of fire.

Super Smash T.V. is a curious inclusion in the Sega Game Gear library, as someone legitimately thought it was a viable idea to develop and release it for a handheld that only has two buttons. The control schemes simply do not work, which in turn makes the gameplay as close to broken as can possibly be.

Random trivia: Despite the game being released in Europe and North America in 1992, Japan had to wait until 1994 before it became available.

Super Smash T.V. (Sega Master System review)

Developer: Williams Electronics Games
Publisher: Flying Edge
Released: 1992

Super Smash T.V. is an action game that was also released on the Sega Game Gear in 1992.

It supports 1-2 players (simultaneously) and the objective is to destroy single screen waves of enemies in order to be crowned Smash T.V. Grand Champion. There's four stages and on top of your default Machine Gun, you can also collect power-ups such as Missiles and Ninja Blades. Various control schemes are available that allow you to fire in the same / opposite direction to your movement, or to lock your fire in one direction; all are terrible and don't provide you with the level of accuracy that's required for a game of this type, as you always have to temporarily take your hands off the d-pad and buttons in order to change firing angle. The action is fast and frenetic, but you'll always feel a half step behind as you try to adjust your shooting direction without a strafing ability to fall back on. Also, the frame-rate is incredibly choppy making it far too easy to overshoot an intended safe area, and instead landing directly on top of an enemy sprite. And then there's the bosses which are bullet sponges to an infuriating degree; in fact, the initial boss is immune to your standard Machine Gun, so you'll need to wait for power-ups to appear meaning the whole battle can take 4-5 minutes before he's defeated! If that wasn't enough, enemies move much faster than you and can easily swarm on your location before you've had chance to readjust your direction of fire. At least the collision detection (while still not being very accurate) is a bit more tolerable compared to the Sega Game Gear version, possibly due to the increased screen real estate that makes it easier to manoeuvre your character.

Super Smash T.V. plays slightly better than the 8-bit handheld port, but that's hardly a compliment. The wonky frame-rate would be bad enough to contend with, but the game's godawful control schemes and aggravating bosses that take an age to beat push this firmly into the 'avoid at all costs' category.

Random trivia: This Sega Master System version was only released in PAL regions.

WWF WrestleMania: Steel Cage Challenge (Sega Game Gear review)

Developer: Teeny Weeny Games
Publisher: Flying Edge
Released: 1993

WWF WrestleMania: Steel Cage Challenge is a sports game that was originally released on the Nintendo NES in 1992.

The line-up consists of Hulk Hogan, Irwin R. Schyster, Bret Hart, Macho Man, Ted DiBiase, The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Papa Shango, Tatanka and Ric Flair (the last four being exclusive to Sega platforms). Each has an impressive rendition of their entrance music, along with a competent mugshot, and they're even introduced by Howard Finkel beforehand! You can play one-on-one against the computer in either singles or Tag Team matches. A strength indicator shows how much life each wrestler has left; when your opponents bar has been decreased enough you'll want to press Down and B when they're on the ground to attempt a pin. If you're playing in a Steel Cage match you can also win by climbing up the cage before your opponent reaches his feet. Attacks include slams, head butts and flying elbows, and pressing A and B together allows you to run or bounce off the ropes to perform flying clotheslines and shoulder butts. The action plays more like a brawler than a wrestling game, as the moves list is small and no character specific stats or special moves are available. As a result, each wrestler plays exactly the same and with little strategy involved every match ends up with mindless and continuous button mashing. For example, you can literally win matches by standing stationary and repeatedly pressing the kick button! Whereas the Sega Master System version had slowdown in the Tag Team mode, this port crawls along throughout and it's quite shocking how lethargic everything feels. The ability to play against a friend has been stripped out too (e.g. there's no link cable support).

This handheld port of WWF WrestleMania: Steel Cage Challenge suffers from the same issues as the Sega Master System version, namely a lack of deviation in each wrestler's repertoire and a bare-bones move-set. However, it's further crippled by rampant slowdown in all modes, making this by far the worst version to play.

Random trivia: The wrestlers that were exclusive to the NES version were The Mountie, Roddy Piper, Sid Justice and Jake Roberts.

WWF WrestleMania: Steel Cage Challenge (Sega Master System review)

Developer: Teeny Weeny Games
Publisher: Flying Edge
Released: 1993

WWF WrestleMania: Steel Cage Challenge is a sports game that was originally released on the Nintendo NES in 1992.

The line-up consists of Hulk Hogan, Irwin R. Schyster, Bret Hart, Macho Man, Ted DiBiase, The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Papa Shango, Tatanka and Ric Flair (the last four being exclusive to Sega platforms). Each has an impressive rendition of their entrance music, along with a competent mugshot, and they're even introduced by Howard Finkel beforehand! You can play one-on-one against the computer or battle it out with two players competitively. There's also a two-player Tag Team mode where you work together to wrestle the computer. A strength indicator at the top of the screen shows how much life each wrestler has left; when your opponents bar has been decreased enough you'll want to press Down and B when they're on the ground to attempt a pin. If you're playing in a Steel Cage match you can also win by climbing up the cage before your opponent reaches his feet. Attacks include slams, head butts and flying elbows, and pressing A and B together allows you to run or bounce off the ropes to perform flying clotheslines and shoulder butts. The action plays more like a brawler than a wrestling game, as the moves list is small and no character specific stats or special moves are available. As a result, each wrestler plays exactly the same and with little strategy involved every match ends up with mindless and continuous button mashing. For example, you can literally win matches by standing stationary and repeatedly pressing the kick button! To make matters worse, the Tag Team mode features heavy slowdown, as the game engine can't handle four characters on screen at the same time.

WWF WrestleMania: Steel Cage Challenge is a very basic game and one that does its absolute best to implement everything as halfheartedly as possible. Its main gimmick is steel cage matches, but even these can't mask the shoddy gameplay, bare-bones moves list and lack of any deviation between each included wrestler.

Random trivia: The wrestlers that were exclusive to the NES version were The Mountie, Roddy Piper, Sid Justice and Jake Roberts.