Retro Gaming Australia

So 17 years ago or so, Warner Bros. decided to team Michael Jordan up with the Looney Tunes characters in Space Jam, and Acclaim made a video game tie-in, as Acclaim usually did. You can guess what the quality was like.

Chicken Run is a stealth-focused platformer based on the Aardman Animation film of the same name, but shares more in common with the classic film The Great Escape. The stealth gameplay led to some folks referring to it as “Chicken Gear Solid” at the time.

Ballz was a…not-so-good “3D” fighting game released for the 16-bit consoles in 1994, with a “director’s cut” released for the 3DO in 1995. The game was developed by PF Magic, who had greater success with the Dogz and Catz desktop distractions (before Ubisoft got a hold of them).

Parasite Eve II is the follow up to the popular Square developed horror/RPG. The second game got a wider release, perhaps owing to it being a lot more akin to Resident Evil than its predecessor. The Parasite Eve video games serve as sequels to the Japanese novel of the same name.

Mega Man Legends was Capcom’s first attempt at bringing their mascot into 3D. The result was a bit mixed – some Mega Man fans don’t particularly care for it, but others are obsessed with it. Just look at the reaction to the cancellation of Mega Man Legends 3 for the 3DS last year for proof.

Mario Kart: Super Circuit is an often overlooked entry into the series, but it was the first to feature “classic” tracks from previous games (in this case, Super Mario Kart) in addition to new tracks of its own. It was also the first Mario Kart game to not be developed by Nintendo EAD, with development duties handled by Intelligent Systems instead.

There was a time, once, where Garfield was actually quite popular, and deserving of that popularity thanks to a quality cartoon show and a still halfway decent comic strip. Sega attempted to cash in on that popularity with Garfield: Caught in the Act, a somewhat average platformer.

Phantasy Star III is the most divisive game in the series among fans. Some fans were upset that the game seems to take place outside of the established sci-fi setting of the series, while others enjoyed the cross-generation story, twisting gameplay paths and multiple endings.

Ristar is a Sonic Team developed platformer that came along in the twilight years of the Mega Drive. It was positioned to be a successor to Sonic the Hedgehog, but never quite caught on. It’s interesting to note that in the original Japanese release, Ristar had two expressions – a happy one for regular level play, and a serious face for boss encounters. In order to appeal to the North American audience, Sega made the boss fight face the standard one for the Western release.

3 Count Bout is another one of those hybrid wrestling-fighting games, not unlike the more popular Saturday Night Slam Masters, except that SNK’s game is a little over the top with street fights and electric rings.