Video Game Ads 16-Bit & Beyond

We return to our look at advertisements from the nineties by moving up to the 16-Bit era. Improvement in graphical muscle can only mean a parallel improvement in the marketing of games, yes?

 

First up, US Gold (remember them?) and Delphine Software bring us Flashback on the MegaDrive. Boasting that it's the first game to sqeeze CD quality images onto a humble cartridge, using a massive 12 Megs! The cut scenes in this game were brilliant for the time, but I honestly can't remember getting past the first level? Doesn't this print Ad just ooze excitement??

Hey Chico! The WWF got everywhere back in the 90s. Here we see the 5 major systems of the time each getting a wrestling game. But the main focus is on Royal Rumble, which was coming out on the SNES and Genesis. A fun game in multiplayer, made all the better by including one of the best wrestlers ever in the roster, 'The Model' Rick Martel. His pic does not appear on this Ad unfortunately!

What can I say about Mortal Kombat II that hasn't been said? It came out on all the main systems, and everyone played it at one time or another. Of all the versions that came out in the end, the 32X version is my favourite.

Konami released one of the best games on the Genesis with Rocket Knight Adventures. Its part platform game, part shooter. It's bright and colourful and stars an Opossum called Sparkster. Later Konami released a sequel, simply called Sparkster.

Go west young man! Konami follow up the popular Lethal Enforcers game with a sequel set in the old west called Gunfighters. It was ported over from the Arcade to the MegaDrive and MegaCD. You could also buy it with the Justifier LightGun, shown here bottom left. I think it only came in bright blue though, so police wouldn't confuse it with a real gun and blow you away while playing the game.

Mean Machines and Sega Pro review compilation mags



Sega Pro guide to Sega games Vol.4

Mean Machines tries to cover every Sega game

Here we have a quick look at two magazines that released a bumper collection of a year of their Sega reviews. Sega Pros The Complete A-Z of Sega Games from 1995 and Mean Machines, The Essential Sega Guide from 1993. The A-Z covers the early days of the Saturn (Victory Goal and Street Fighter the Movie both score 88%!) and the last death throes of the Game Gear and Mega CD, plus two arcade reviews for some reason. While editors Richard Leadbetter and Julian Rignall do their best to review over 350 Sega games between them, on the MegaDrive, Mega CD, Game Gear and Master System for the Essential Sega Guide.

Here are three pages from the A-Z, Brian Lara can still play a good game of cricket, has there even been a cricket game to match it since? I have never come across Revengers of Vengeance on the Mega CD but it looks interesting. Plus a look at AfterBurner on the 32X, great game. I will put up all the 32X reviews from this book when I get round to it. Eight games in all. (I know, I know!)
 

Ristar, a cut down but playable version for the Game Gear. Why hasn't poor Ristar been given a recent outing on DS or something? Indy 500 looks rather nice. The other arcade game reviewed was Rail Chase 2 and it got a Proscore of 85!

Considering they had so many games to get through, 374 in total, Richard and Jazza don't do too bad a job. The Game Gear gets the short end of the stick with six reviews per page. The Mega CD pics make it look even grainier than it actually was. While some of the pics don't even match the game being reviewed. Look at the screen shots accompanying Ghouls n Ghosts and Golden Axe Warrior on the Master System? Mistakes like this and some odd choices of font for the game names makes it look a very hurriedly done book in places.

Pit-Fighter 70%?? 'Amusingly Thuggish' are not the words I'd use to describe it. Poor Indy only scrapes a 47% but then Jack Nicklaus out does it with 42%, I didn't think it played too bad a game of golf, but Jaz is right it's no PGA Tour II.

John Madden games sold by the bucket load back then with each new year, and it improved every year too. Not like the phoned in updates you get today because it's the only game on the market. According to Mean Machines, '92 is the version you should pick up, getting a massive 95%. Rich calls Dick Tracy 'a pleasant change from the norm' and handing it 80%. The norm being a good game I presume! At the back of the book are a number of pages showing upcoming releases, if the hundreds of games reviewed that you could buy just didn't do it for you.

Pier Solar

2011 has arrived and it brings with it the long awaited release of the latest MegaDrive game, Pier Solar from WaterMelon. Who have spent many a long hour developing and working to publish this title. It was sent out to those who ordered it over Christmas, but as the weather was playing havoc with deliveries, I didn't receive my copy until the middle of January. The extra few weeks wait was not so bad considering it had been originally paid for in 2008! Pier Solar was due out for Christmas 08, but due to some hiccups it was delayed and pushed back until its release a few short weeks ago. Above shows the blister pack it came in and the letter and mini strategy guide that were included. I got the Pal MegaDrive box, you could also order a Japanese MegaDrive box or a red Genesis one, though the game plays on all versions.

This is one of the best put together game packs you will come across, really professional but still clearly a huge labour of love. Here is a pic showing what comes inside the box plus a look at the cartridge and the additional Mega CD, which includes the music for the game if played inside your Mega CD when playing the game cartridge (A First?). My MegaCD is stored away, along with my 32X, so will have to wait to see how it works. Putting the CD in your computer brings up extras such as photos, concept art and the musical score.

Along with the CD you get a poster, a sticker sheet, a flyer for an upcoming 32X game, some instructions in all the languages the game comes in. You also get a signed card showing what number of the game you were issued out of the initial 800 made. I got the magical number 42.

 

This shows a map from the game inside the strategy guide which is inside this mini Size magazine that also has some interviews and comments from the developers.

If you look closely you might just be able to pick out my name in the last pic! Everyone who paid for the Posterity package got a mention in the Pier Solar book at the front of the box. A very nice touch.

Apologies for the quality of the pics, only just got a new laptop, more on that in another update (Oh the trouble I've had!). So I haven't hooked up my scanner properly yet. Also the following screenshots are just quick grabs from my TV showing that I have played it, and will hopefully talk more about it when I get a good number of hours in. I think you'll agree it does look pretty good.

 

Here is a bigger shot of the flyer advertising Super Thunder Drive III, an upcoming 32X release. Although there is a belief that this game is a hoax, no-one having heard of Super Thunder Drive. But why would you bother promoting it? I hope it turns out the be the real thing. The 32X is short of games and as my legion of followers will know, it's one of my favourite systems. Plus is there an Easter Egg in Pier Solar if played through a 32X?

I have also picked up Blue Almanac for the Japanese MegaDrive, the only other game I've picked up recently to be honest. As you know this game was not released outside of Japan, but it is being translated by SuperFighterTeam, those of Beggar Prince and Legend of Wukong fame. They have renamed it Star Odyssey and it will hopefully be able to order soon.

Here are the websites, so check these games out for yourselves.

http://www.starodysseygame.com/

http://superthunderdrive.com/