Summer Sports: Paradise Island

You can divide any game ever made into one of two categories: those that were designed in an effort to innovate and create something new, and those that were created by a formula in order to generate money. In Def Jam Vendetta, you play as a young tough making his way through an underground wrestling circuit by battling famous rappers. Welcome to Formula City!
Despite being a wrestling game at heart, DJV deviates from the standard path in a few ways by providing a story steeped in rap culture, established rap personalities, and even the ability to choose girlfriends for your fighter of choice. Unfortunately, these deviations are done poorly, and are probably the most disappointing aspect of the game. The storyline is laughable at best, and a textbook case of stereotyping at worst. When you encounter famous rappers like DMX or Method Man, they don't display any personality or affect the story in any significant way. They threaten you in one or two sentences, you fight them, and that's about it. The girlfriend routine is amusing exactly twice: The first time two girls get in a catfight over your player, and again when your girlfriend leaves you for another woman. Even the highly touted rap soundtrack is lame; they play stripped down muzak versions of rap during the game, and you only hear the full songs during menus.

The wrestling itself is stupendously mediocre. Your controls include the very standard attack, grapple, run, and block buttons. When your fighter gains enough "momentum" (read: fills up the blue meter), he can perform a devastating "Blazin' move" (read: special attack). It's precisely like every wrestling game made since Pro-Wrestling for the NES, except DJV is slower, unusually difficult, and the wrestlers are wearing FUBU.

The bottom line is that unless you've desperately got to settle a schoolyard debate over whether DMX or Ludacris would win in a fight, there are better wrestling titles out there to play that offer a whole lot more entertainment value, most notably the WWE Smackdown series. Fear not, Rock. Sleep soundly, Stone Cold. Your legacy lives on.

Why does it seem so damn hard to program a sound football AI? Arguably, there's never been a football game in which you couldn't find that gaping hole and drive your team right through it like a Mack truck, over and over again. You should be happy to hear that NCAA Football 99 is not one of those games. OK, there are few things you can exploit quite a bit, but play balancing is more to blame than AI.

Now, you might think football games are boring if you can't easily score close to 100 points per game. Fine, play NCAA Football 99 at the easiest junior varsity difficulty level and score all you like. But play it at the varsity level or especially the all-American level and you won't be completing bombs every time (just sometimes). In fact, computer opponents can be downright challenging. And if that team is considered one of your school's rivals, they seem to play even better.

When you're on offense, what you really have to watch out for are most teams' defensive ends. They usually have little trouble getting around your slower linemen who are trying to pass-block them. Ah-ha! That should be a hint to you when you're playing defense. If the computer is lined up in a typical two back, two wideout formation, take control of the weak-side defensive end (the one lined up to the outside of the weak-side tackle) and get ready to pounce on the quarterback. You might need to make a swim move, but usually you can get an unabated run at the quarterback. One of my defensive ends amassed 44 sacks and 71 tackles in the regular season! That's ridiculous. The next defensive player closest to him (besides the other DE on my team) had six sacks.

Fast linebackers are also a major nuisance. It's nearly impossible to run the ball outside if your opponent has them; and double trouble if they also have quick ends. Even if you have a speedy running back, you can't seem to get around the corner and turn upfield. (You can still have your usual share of success running up the middle, however.) Similarly, if you have speedy linebackers on your team, your opponent won't be able to run the ball outside on you either.

And that brings up a great aspect about NCAA Football 99: You can try to play the same way against every team you face, but there's a good chance you won't succeed. That means you actually have to make up a game plan by analyzing your next opponent's team, which is good. What's bad is player attributes (not game or season stats) are really inaccessible. The only way I could find to see attributes was from the Reorder Roster screen. You can also just start playing the game and see what kind of plays work, then keep using them.

Another great feature in the game is the dynasty mode, which is similar to season mode, except you're more like a newly hired coach with a five-year contract. Depending on the program you take over, there'll be constant pressure on you to win. When it comes time to recruit players, you can assign members of your coaching staff, including yourself, to recruit for certain positions. Obviously, your best chance at signing a blue chipper is if you send yourself, but you can still bag a budding young star otherwise.

NCAA Football 99 also has the full list of standard features, including a practice field and even a play and playbook editor. It's a pretty complete game and one that should satisfy just about any college football fan.

Get ready for sexy yet challenging in-the-ring combat. WWX: Rumble Rose delivers intense girl-on-girl wrestling action with an all-female roster of vixens--each with specialty moves. The combat system lets you humiliate your opponents through insults, taunting, and aggressive moves and holds. Your player's costume, attitude, and wrestling style change depending on whether you fight dirty or fair. Naughty or nice, becoming a popular wrestler will earn benefits, including expanded gameplay, additional skills and moves, and more-revealing and flamboyant costumes.

All-Star Baseball 2003 features all-new player models created with 3D CyberScan technology for one of the most realistic representations of player faces ever seen. There are also 10 game modes for greater replay depth. Modes include exhibition, season, career, franchise, expansion, All-Star Game, series, manager, home-run derby, and batting practice. Franchise mode allows users to play as and build their favorite teams for up to 20 consecutive seasons. All-new expansion play lets you choose a city, stadium, and team logo and add that team to the major leagues. And the expansion draft lets you draft from a pool of unprotected players and build a team from free agents and minor leaguers.
The game features a three-man broadcast booth with Bob Brenly, Thom Brennaman, and Steve Lyons providing in-depth commentary. The Cooperstown Hall of Fame team features sluggers from the past such as Mike Schmidt, Reggie Jackson, and Yogi Berra. All 30 major-league teams and more than 900 players are represented, all with official stadiums, logos, and uniforms. All-Star Baseball 2003 has more than 50 stadiums from which to choose, including eight classic stadiums and 10 expansion stadiums.