Silicon Warrior    \|/    by Wayne Kawamoto
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~           Contributing Editor


      FROM RUSSIA TO SERF CITY            |   Wayne's Rating System     |
                                          |                             |
 Our valiant warrior takes on five games: | ***** Outstanding           |
                                          |  **** Excellent             |
   Cartoon Maker                          |   *** Good                  |
   Castles II: Siege and Conquest         |    ** Fair                  |
   Dennis Miller: That's News to Me       |     * Poor                  |
   Jeopardy!: Sports Edition              |   :-( The "Last Action Hero"|
   Russian Six Pak                        |          of Software        |


   Have you ever wanted to draw comics for  the newspaper's funny pages? 
If you're  chock full of ideas but have trouble putting ink to paper (a 
nice way of saying "little artistic talent"), IntraCorp's Cartoon Maker is 
the artistic equalizer that draws the comics for you. With the artsy 
right-brained stuff taken care of, you only have to use your left brain to 
come up with humorous situations.

   This month we'll draw with Cartoon Maker, look at Russian arcade games 
with Interplay's Russian Six Pak, laugh with Sanctuary Wood's Dennis 
Miller: That's News to Me, ask the questions in GameTek's Jeopardy Sports 
Edition, and build walls in Interplay's Castles II: Siege and Conquest CD-
ROM.


From Russia With Love

   The term "Russian games" conjures images of huge weight lifters, petite 
gymnasts and falling puzzle pieces. Although Spectrum HoloByte controls 
the PC Tetris business, there are other worthy games that originated in 
Russia. Interplay collects six Windows arcade games in Russian Six Pak.

   This package is much like the Windows Entertainment Packs by Microsoft 
and Microprose -- both offer a series of games that run in Windows. The 
games are similar in that they're easy to learn and quick to play -- you 
can usually play an entire session during an average coffee break. 
Following in their footsteps, Russian Six Pak succeeds, but it's no 
standout.

   "Master of Bombs" is a Tetris-like arcade game. Grenades with 
connectors on different sides cascade down the screen. By lining up these 
connectors, you can "blow up" groups of them with a periodic dropping pin. 
As in Tetris, the idea is to keep the screen clear. This one can make you 
sweat -- it's the best of the bunch. 

   "LineMan" looks like LucasArt's Pipe Dream, but it's different in play. 
Make enclosed shapes by simply rotating the pipes in place as fast as the 
program lays them down. This is also an entertaining diversion.

   In "Flying Pictures," you control a character and try to clear screens 
of objects by "throwing" identical objects. In "Shadows," you blast fields 
of asteroids and find the invisible ones by tracking their traces. "Fast 
Ring" asks you to connect a series of markers against the clock, and 
"Crete" has you manipulate tiles to create paths through mazes. Of these 
last four, "Fast Ring" is the easiest one to get into and the most 
compelling. I didn't enjoy "Flying Pictures," "Shadows" or "Crete." In all 
there's nothing groundbreaking here, but the games are fairly solid. 

   So how does Russian Six Pak fare against entertainment packs before it? 
Its graphics are clean and well-done, and the sound effects and music 
augment the game experience. But in general, I prefer the games in 
Microprose's Entertainment Pack (Dr. Floyd), and those in Microsoft's 
Entertainment Pack 2. Against these, Russian Six Pak is just all right. 
*** (3 stars)


Take My CD-ROM, Please

   After making a mark on TV's Saturday Night Live and performing on the 
comedy circuit, what's a comic to do? How about going interactive on CD-
ROM? Such is the case with comedian Dennis Miller in Sanctuary Wood's 
Dennis Miller: That's News to Me -- the first in Sanctuary Wood's I-Laugh 
series on CD-ROM.

   It is something of a historical (hysterical) retrospective of last 
year. Pick a month and a topic, and Miller, appearing in full video, 
speaks his mind and offers his perspective. You essentially pick and 
choose, then sit back and listen.

   The program delivers on its premise. The dialogue is clever, biting and 
entertaining, and the graphics and use of video are first-rate. This 
product is an innovative idea from Sanctuary Woods -- it's essentially 
interactive comedy.

   The down side is that the program is limited. After watching it a few 
times, you've heard all of the lines. Also, Miller's brand of cynical 
humor isn't for everyone. Personally I don't see what's so funny about 
some of the topics -- last year's Malibu fire in Southern California, for 
one. But the pokes at politicians are a scream. If you're a Miller fan, 
you'll especially enjoy this one. *** (3 stars)


A Day in the Life of Charles Schultz

   If you've always dreamt of publishing your own brand of humor in the 
Sunday comics, IntraCorp's Cartoon Maker may be for you. It lets you 
create single-panel cartoons, just like those that dress the newspaper's 
funny pages.

   The program comes with all the tools to create comics, including clip-
art that consists of backgrounds, figures, adjustable talking balloons and 
objects. You can adjust the position of the characters, along with their 
sizes, poses and facial expressions. With characters and objects in place, 
use the program's paint-like tools to color the comics. But unlike bit-map 
paint programs, once you color an object, you're free to move it around -- 
objects retain their colors and moving them won't change the background. 
Cartoon Maker also offers cartoon conventions to enhance your slides -- 
for example, smoke to indicate smoldering anger, pain "stars," blur lines 
to indicate motion and, of course, talking "balloons."

   After creating your comics, you can print them -- the program supports 
various black-and-white and color printers. You can also save your 
cartoons to PCX, TIF, and BMP files so you can use them in other 
applications. Cartoon Maker is something of a Print Shop for cartoons and, 
like Print Shop, it's very easy to use.

   Cartoon Maker is novel, and you can get some pretty good results. The 
only problem is, the program is just a starting point and makes you desire 
more. I want more comprehensive clip-art and more varied characters (the 
enclosed ones are rather stilted and average looking). Cartoon Maker is 
well done, but it can be so much more. *** (3 stars)


Take Computer Games for $100, Alex

   Jeopardy continues to play on television, and on the PC it's been 
around in several incarnations over the years. GameTek currently owns the 
PC license, and its versions (including this sports edition) feature Alex 
Trebek's digitized voice and images of the actual Jeopardy sets.

   As on TV, the game lets you play head-to-head against two opponents 
(computer or friends), and Alex himself moderates the contest. Choose 
categories and dollar amounts and, as you'd    expect, be on your toes to 
question the answers and take advantage of those daily doubles.

   Since the program can't recognize your voice and your answers, you have 
to type them. The program accepts similar answers in many cases, but don't 
make any spelling mistakes. The program will penalize you for bad spelling 
(something Alex would never do).

   The game offers several improvements over older versions. If you're 
intimidated by the caliber of players on the show, you can select three 
different skill levels. Beginner's is a cakewalk and the hardest mode is 
quite challenging. The game also has graphics that are a quantum leap 
ahead of the old CGA versions. Last, although you don't get any real cash 
for winning in virtual Jeopardy, at least you don't get a year's supply of 
Lee's Press-On Nails.

   One thing that bothered me in earlier PC Jeopardy versions -- and it's 
the same in this version -- is that you can't see your opponent's scores 
as you wager in Final Jeopardy. The $64,000 question is, why not? This is 
a major oversight. Other than that, it's fun to play and well done. *** (3 
stars)


Serf's Up

   Castles conjure images of chivalry, romance and adventure, and no 
program brings this to the PC better than Interplay's Castles II: Siege & 
Conquest. The original game is a sequel that's about a year old, and 
offers excellent strategy and political intrigue with real-time battles. 
And now it's back in an enhanced CD-ROM version.

   There are a lot of games resurrected on CD-ROM and, for the most part, 
they're recycled games -- shovelware. Most publishers use CD-ROM as a 
means to milk a little more out of their cash cows. But Castles II is not 
medieval replay. It's an entire new multimedia experience on CD-ROM.

   The excellent Castles game, which is intact, stands on its own. You 
become the lord of your castle, and you gain power and influence over the 
country through a combination of war and politics. Throughout, you choose 
how to use your resources. In the end, it's a matter of building your 
armies and negotiating allies, all while making sure there's enough food 
to feed your people and resources to work with.

   The CD-ROM version features BBC  videos that explain different aspects 
of castle construction, along with diagrams of famous castles. Also, the 
game offers enhanced sound effects that add to the game experience. 
Castles II is almost an interactive multimedia title on castles, although 
it doesn't offer the hypertext usually associated with these kinds of 
programs.

   I wasn't planning to review this one, but after taking a brief look I 
was impressed and wanted to make a mention. If you liked Castles II and 
are interested in castles, this one is worth a look. ***** (5 stars)

   Last, if you're hooked on Doom, make sure you check out the registered 
copy. It's well worth it. There are new levels, transporters, weapons, and 
hideous monsters, and it's also more challenging. This one is worth some 
late nights and coffee-filled days. Talk to you later, I've got some 
monsters to blow away.

                                  -=*=-

               Wayne Kawamoto works as a market analyst in 
            Los Angeles. When he's not writing about games, 
            Wayne says, he's playing them. He welcomes your 
            comments and suggestions for columns (addressed 
            to him in care of PCM, on CompuServe as 71O53,3O1O,
            or via the Internet at 71O53.3O1O @compuserve.com),
            but he regrets that he cannot respond individually
            to letters.

                                  -=*=-

                          TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS

Cartoon Maker: IntraCorp, 7200 Corporate Center Drive, Suite 500, Miami, 
FL 33126, (800) 468-7226. REQUIRES: 286+ CPU, 640K, DOS 3.3+, EGA or VGA. 
Epson dot-matrix, HP LaserJet, DeskJet and PaintJet printers are 
supported.

Castles II: Seige and Conquest: Interplay Productions, 17922 Fitch Ave., 
Irvine, CA 92714, (714) 553-6678; $49.95 for CD-ROM version, $19.95 for 
floppy-disk version. REQUIRES: 2MB of RAM, a CD-ROM drive and a sound 
card.

Dennis Miller: That's News to Me: Sanctuary Woods, 1875 S. Grant St., 
Suite 260, San Mateo, CA 94402, (415) 578-6340; $29.95. REQUIRES: 386SX+ 
CPU, 4MB of RAM, Windows 3.1, a CD-ROM drive, SVGA (256-color) graphics, 
and a sound card.

Jeopardy! Sports Edition: GameTek, 2999 NE 191st St., Suite 500, North 
Miami Beach, FL 33180, (305) 935-3995; $39.95. REQUIRES: 640K, MCGA or VGA 
graphics and a sound card.

Russian Six Pak: Interplay Productions, 17922 Fitch Ave., Irvine, CA 
92714, (714) 553-6678; $15.95 for DOS version, $19.95 for Windows version. 
REQUIRES: 286+ CPU, DOS 3.1+.

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