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              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC">volume 
                1, issue 25</font></b></font></p>
              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC"> 
                </font></b></font></p>
              <p>  <p><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><b><font color="#339900" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Today 
                in loonygames:</font></b></font></p>

<P><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">New!!</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> The Archives have been cleaned up, fead links fixed, and printable versions restored! Also, don't miss the new comments <a href="../../../index.html">on the front page</a>!</font></p>
              
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        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0022A8"><b><a target="" href="../../columns.1"><font size="-1">From 
          the Mouth of Madness</font></a><font size="-1">:</font></b></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="+3" color="#0022A8"><br>
          Underrated</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="+3" color="#0022A8"><font size="+1"></font></font></p>
        <p align="RIGHT"><font color="#804000"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By 
          Jason &quot;<a target="" href="mailto:jason@loonygames.com">loonyboi</a>&quot; 
          Bergman</font></b></font></p>
        <p align="right">&nbsp;</p>
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        <p><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hexen II </font></b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">(PC)</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I wanted to throw this in 
          here, because I really enjoyed the game, and the impression I got from 
          a lot of people is that while they acknowledged it as a cool game, they 
          didn’t <i>really </i>enjoy it. I did, and while it’s not as good as 
          some of the higher profile releases this last christmas, it does stand 

          pretty well on its own as a classic first person shooter. Like <b>Hexen</b> 
          before it, the game uses a &quot;hub&quot; system of gameplay that alows 
          you to walk back and forth between levels until you solve the whole 
          set. These hubs are themed to different time periods (like the now classic 
          Egypt level). Throw in the ability to choose different characters, and 
          you’ve got yourself some fun times ahead. Oh, and be sure to try out 
          the multiplayer either straight out of the box, or with the HexenWorld 
          add-on that’s available online. It’s killer stuff. :)</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Slime World</b> (Lynx)</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><img src="images/slime1.jpg" width="200" height="128" align="right">Released 
          as <b>Todd’s Adventures in Slime World</b> for the pretty much unseen 
          Atari Lynx system, this game was a fairly decent single player title, 
          but it really shined in multiplayer. The Lynx was a short-lived color 
          portable system, but it offered some true innovations over its competitors…most 
          notably was its ComLynx system, that allowed the daisy-chaining of up 
          to <i>16</i> different systems (apparently it could even do more, although 
          no games ever took advantage of it…I didn’t know 16 people who owned 
          them…did you?). Anyway, <b>Slime World</b> was one of the few good reasons 
          to own a Lynx (another one is below). <b>Slime World</b> was my second 
          deathmatch addiction (my first was <b>Populous</b>). Here’s the schtick: 
          in <b>Slime World</b>, you and up to eight of your buddies are thrown 
          into a maze. You can pick up weapons, and you get to hunt down everyone. 
          It’s all done from a 2D sideways perspective, but don’t let that keep 
          you from it.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">How addicting was <b>Slime 
          World</b>? I have a fond memory of me and a friend playing it late at 
          night as his brother went to sleep…when he woke up, we were still playing 
          it. I think we played that thing for over eight hours straight that 
          night, and we never even noticed. It’s tough to describe just why it 
          was so fun to people who never got into the game, or even saw it, but 
          trust me. When you’re in a room trying to figure out where your opponent 
          is, and one of those bombs comes dropping down from above…well…let’s 
          just say it’s a thrilling experience. Nothing else ever came close. 
          The game was later released for the Sega Genesis system, but without 
          the separate consoles for multiplayer, it just wasn’t the same. Oh yeah…there 
          was a co-op mode in there too, but it was pretty silly…I just wanted 
          to kill back then, too. :)</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Aliens vs. Predator </b>(Atari 
          Jaguar)</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I never bought a Jaguar system, 
          but I tell you…I’ve considered it a number of times, just because of 
          this game (and the fact that I’ve seen the system selling for under 
          $50). <b>Aliens vs. Predator</b> is a first person shooter, but it’s 
          one that deserves to be up there with <b>Half-Life</b>, <b>System Shock</b>, 
          and even <b>Doom</b>. Here’s the deal: in <b>AvP</b> you can play as 
          an Alien, a Predator, or a Marine, and unlike other games, each class 
          has entirely different goals. It’s pretty much three different games 
          all thrown together. What made this so great, was the fact that all 
          the sounds were pulled straight from the movies, and the lighting was 
          so dead-on…<i>creepy</i> that it was one game you didn’t want to play 
          after dark. Adding to that creepiness factor was the complete lack of 
          any music…the only sounds are your own screams of agony. Muhahahahah. 
          Don’t miss this one. </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Klax </b>(Lynx)</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">There was a major boom in 
          puzzle games that started shortly after the initial release of Tetris 
          and ran all the way up until the final demise of the Super Nintendo 
          just a few years back. Of all the puzzle games released during that 
          period that tried to gain the sort of popularity that Tetris managed 
          to get, there were only a few genuine classics. <b>Klax</b> was one 
          of them, and probably the most easily overlooked of them. The game was 
          released for a number of systems, including the Genesis and there was 
          even a coin-op version, but the best one I played was probably the Atari 
          Lynx version. <b>Klax</b> put you in front of a conveyor belt of falling 
          bricks. The idea was to take each one and make stacks by color, which 
          would cause them to disappear. Sounds easy, right? Naturally, this got 
          pretty damn difficult pretty fast, but what made <b>Klax</b> different 
          (at least this version…the Genesis version wasn’t nearly as good) was 
          its offbeat sense of humor. When you screw up in <b>Klax</b>, the &quot;audience&quot; 
          yells at you…when you do well, they applaud. There’s no reason ever 
          given for this…but who cares? It makes the whole thing very surreal, 
          and terribly addicting. </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Abuse</b></font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><img src="images/abuse.jpg" width="217" height="136" align="right">The 
          last one on our list is another side scroller, but man, is this one 
          unique. Created by the now defunct Crack.com, &#9;Released in 1995 by 
          the Crack-smokers, Abuse represented a genuinely original take on the 
          sidescroller genre. Crack founder Dave Taylor had just left id Software, 
          and was obviously addicted to <b>Doom’s</b> insane level of violence 
          when he created this game, because jeeeeez…<b>Abuse</b> is just nuts. 
          Here’s the deal: in <b>Abuse</b>, you move about with the keyboard, 
          but you aim (and fire) with the mouse. It’s a pretty weird control scheme 
          at first, but once you get used to it (it’ll only take a few minutes) 
          you’ll find yourself really getting into it. <b>Abuse</b> is probably 
          one of the most violent games you’re likely to find anywhere…the game 
          is simply insane. Row after row of enemies will start coming after you, 
          and damn if it isn’t just a hoot to blow the bastards away. Considering 
          that it’s one of the few genuinely <i>action</i> based side scrollers 
          out there, you’d expect this one to be more widely recognized…go fig. 
          <b>Abuse</b> also gets some major points for being available for just 
          about every operating system around. Hell, there’s even a BeOS version. 
          Don’t miss <b>Abuse</b>…it’s too much fun.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Well there you have it…ten 
          games that if you haven’t played yet, you’re really missing out on something. 
          That should keep you nutty guys busy for a week, huh? I’ll be back next 
          week with even more looniness…the ten most <b>overrated</b> games of 
          all time. It's sure to piss quite a few people off. Trust me. ;)</font></p>
        <p>&nbsp;</p>
        <p align="RIGHT"><i><font size="-1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">- 
          Jason &quot;loonyboi&quot; Bergman is the editor-in-chief here at <b>loonygames</b>. 
          His girlfriend is very understanding.</font></i></p>
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      <p><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2"> </font></i><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2"><b>Credits:</b> 
        From the Mouth of Madness logo illustrated by and is &copy; 1999 Dan Zalkus. 
        From the Mouth of Madness is &copy; 1999 Jason Bergman. All other content 
        is &copy; 1999 <a target="_self" href="http://www.loonyboi.com">loonyboi 
        productions</a>. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited, so 
        don't do it...or we'll just forget about your. Let's see how <b>you</b> 
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