Tama: Adventurous Ball in Giddy Labyrinth (Sega Saturn review)

Developer: Time Warner Interactive
Publisher: Time Warner Interactive
Released: 1994

Tama: Adventurous Ball in Giddy Labyrinth is a ball rolling game that was only released in Japan.

+ The overhead map that's displayed prior to each level commencing is a good idea to help plan your route.

+ Some of the later levels feature nice puzzle elements that feature environmental interaction.

+ The music is charming and each track does a great job of encapsulating the mood of the themed worlds.

- The physics are incredibly floaty (making precision a challenge) and the camera angles never give you an ideal view. 

- The action is slow and it often feels like your ball is moving through treacle, even at its fastest speed.

- Only includes 30 levels, so unless you're interested in improving your stage times there's nothing else to do.

- The 3D polygons feature rudimentary textures and are sometimes missing them entirely.

Power Drive Rally (Atari Jaguar review)

Developer: Rage Software
Publisher: Time Warner Interactive
Released: 1995

Power Drive Rally is a racing game that's exclusive to the Atari Jaguar.

It includes a Season mode which houses various events including solo races (checkpoint based), rally cross (vs. a CPU opponent) and skills tests (obstacle courses against the clock). Each allows you to earn money in order to upgrade your vehicle, or to repair its state to improve performance (e.g. engine, tires, brakes). Season mode is lengthy and it's enjoyable working your way through, surviving to advance to another round and strategising on when to repair your car. The clarity of the voice samples from your navigator is fantastic and actually enhances your driving skills due to you not having to focus purely on on-screen arrows; they also allow you to judge and plan for upcoming turns much better and come in very handy when trying to shave off a few seconds from your closest rival. The action is lacking in personality though (e.g. there's no crowd noise or cut-scenes showing the racers) and it doesn't do anything to excite the player from a presentation standpoint. The courses do an adequate job of featuring multiple layouts per location, and although there's nothing here you haven't seen a million times before, I do like how items such as boosts are scattered throughout to add a risk-reward element. Also, the skills tests add some excellent gameplay variety and once you're familiar with what's required in each one (some trial-and-error is always involved due to the strict time limit) there's a lot of fun to be had in manoeuvring your vehicle in a more delicate manner to the main races. Another plus is that there are three save slots for multiple players to continue their progress at a later date.

Power Drive Rally is an unremarkable, yet solid racing game that plays well and has some nice vehicle upgrade options. It certainly doesn't reach the excitement and intensity of something like Neo Drift Out: New Technology (1996, Neo Geo CD), but it has plenty of content to satisfy if you're looking for a single-player only experience.

Random trivia: The first game in the series was Power Drive, which was released on various systems including the Commodore Amiga (1994) and Super Nintendo (1994).

RBI Baseball '95 (32X review)

Developer: Atari Games
Publisher: Time Warner Interactive
Released: 1995

RBI Baseball '95 is a sports game that's exclusive to the Sega 32X.

The 28 teams are only represented by their city name, but the game does feature an official MLB Players license. There's a large number of modes including an 80 or 162 Game Season, Home Run Derby, game-specific scenarios, and even an option to create your own teams. Offensively, batting has the usual pre-pitch options such as moving your batter (although only horizontally), and there's a satisfying thump when the ball is hit. Controlling each baserunner separately is great and the cool advanced options (such as taking an extra lead before each pitch) provides depth and strategy. There's even some humorous animations, such as when you hit a Home Run and the crowd start fighting over the ball! Defensively, pitching works fine, but without an overlay you basically have to guess where the strike zone is. If you throw pitches normally the CPU will destroy you, and the key to succeeding is to put a ton of movement on the ball; this is more 'Arcadey' than realistic (something I didn't enjoy), and it leads to cheap, cartoon-like pitches where the ball moves down, then up! Once the ball is in play the defense is perfectly adequate and the optional ability to have the CPU assist you before it comes into view is an excellent touch. Graphically, the behind-the-batter view features large, detailed sprites, but the rest of the players lack clarity and animation. The umpire audio is of decent quality (although a few wrong calls can be made), and the atmosphere is much better than World Series Baseball Starring Deion Sanders (1996, Sega 32X) due to the crowd noises and organ jingles.

RBI Baseball '95 is a playable sports game with some redeeming qualities, but it's also unremarkable in its gameplay, graphics and overall presentation. There's nothing inherently wrong with it, but there's also nothing that excites or innovates, and it's certainly no advancement over previous 16-bit baseball titles.

Random trivia: Bizarrely, the post-game stats feature an advertisement for Dick Vitale's "Awesome Baby" College Hoops (1994, Sega Genesis).