LINKS

JUEGOS DEL MES DE ABRIL

Estas fechas corresponden al calendario de Estados Unidos. Para saber sobre fechas en tú pais llama directamente al distribuidor oficial. Estas fechas están pensadas como una guía de lo que ya se puede conseguir o está por conseguirse.

Los títulos son:

• All-Star Baseball 2000
• Bust-A-Move '99
• Blades of Steel NHL '99
• Bottom of the Ninth
• Charlie Blasts's Territory
• NBA In the Zone '99
• Starshot: Space Circus Fever
• Super Smash Bros.

Los títulos que originalmente se iban a conseguir este mes, y han sido aplazados son:

• Carmageddon 64 (pendiente por confirmar fecha)
• V-Rally Edition '99 (aplazado un mes)

	All-Star Baseball 2000
	Developer	Iguana	No. Jugadores	4 Jug.	Accesorios	Rumble Memory Expansion
	Publisher	Acclaim	Tamaño	128 megas

Acclaim's All-Star Baseball 2000 edges out Super Smash Bros. as IGN64's pick for Game of the Month. The sequel to last year's original features a series of refinements and enhancements in the vein of a revamped AI system, a finely tuned batting/pitching mechanic (that's simply unrivaled) and a handful of new options like the ability to create custom teams. Developer Iguana Entertainment has also improved upon last year's high resolution visuals, presenting more animation routines, polished textures and redesigned 3D stadiums. Even the game's sense of speed has undergone a boost, eliminating long, sometimes tedious delays between pitches.

	Bust-A-Move '99
	Developer	Taito	No. Jugadores	4 Jug.	Accesorios	Rumble
	Publisher	Acclaim	Tamaño	128 megas

graphics and sound will amaze you! Ooops, wrong game. Bust-A-Move 3 looks and sounds much like its arcade counterparts, meaning dated 3D visuals and Japanesey videogame music, but once you start playing, you can't stop. If you thought Bust-A-Move 2's two-player mode was addicting, wait till you go head-to-head with three other puzzle fans in Bust-A-Move '99. An insane and addictive experience that makes no pretenses to be anything but pure gameplay. Once this game has you hooked, you're doomed to eternal bubble popping.

	Blades of Steel NHL '99
	Developer	KCEO	No. Jugadores	2 Jug.	Accesorios	Rumble Memory
	Publisher	Konami	Tamaño	128 megas

With no Midway Gretzky title to compete with, Konami's first Blades of Steel sequel in years arrives as the only arcade hockey game on N64 this year. Sadly, instead of taking the excellent gameplay from Konami's own ISS series and mixing it with NHL '99-style hockey action, developer KCEO created a game that controls and plays too sluggish to compete with the rest of the N64 ice hockey games. The game has a few interesting features not found in other hockey games, but we still suggest you rent it before making a purchase decision.

	Bottom of the Ninth '99
	Developer	KCEO	No. Jugadores	2 Jug.	Accesorios	Rumble Memory
	Publisher	Konami	Tamaño	128 megas

GT Interactive dropped out of the N64 baseball realm this year -- but now Konami is stepping up to the plate to beat EA, Nintendo and Acclaim to the punch with an early release of its first N64 baseball title. Bottom of the Ninth is pretty much a slightly upgraded version of last year's PlayStation game, but it manages to be lots of fun nevertheless. While it's definitely not up there with Griffey or All-Star, it's better than both Triple play and Mike Piazza's StrikeZone. Give it a rental to see if you like the arcade approach.

	Charlie Blasts Territory
	Developer	Realtime Associates	No. Jugadores	2 Jug.	Accesorios	Rumble Memory
	Publisher	Vatical	Tamaño	128 megas

Charlie Blast is a pretty fun little game with some devilishly clever puzzles. While it may not have the immediate appeal of Tetris and co, the game really grows on you if you put in some time. Designed by puzzle creator Scott Kim (author of the book "Inversion"), many of the puzzles in the game will have you thinking for minutes before you can solve them. With only few puzzle games to choose from on N64, players who like a heavy dose of strategy but aren't too picky about graphics and action, should take a look. It's nowhere near Tetrisphere or Wetrix, but it's a nice break from the "geometric shapes falling from the sky" school of puzzle games.

	NBA In the Zone '99
	Developer	KCEO	No. Jugadores	2 Jug.	Accesorios	Rumble Memory
	Publisher	Konami	Tamaño	128 megas

The third Konami Sports title this month is an improved version of last year's basketball game. Next to better player AI and controls, developer KCEO also managed to reduce the screen blur prevalent in last year's game. Like its predecessor, the game is backed by full NBA and NBA Players licenses, and plays a decent game of basketball -- unfortunately, it's just not enough to make it compete with NBA Courtside and EA's NBA Live.

	Starshot: Space Circus Fever
	Developer	Infogrames	No. Jugadores	1 Jug.	Accesorios	Rumble Memory
	Publisher	Infogrames	Tamaño	128 megas

With Banjo-Kazooie and Mario 64 still generating high sales on N64, it's no surprise that French developer/publisher Infogrames has released a platformer of its own. Although it's more action shooter than jump'n'run, Starshot manages to come up with a variety of innovative touches, such as the ability to fly at fast speeds with the help of a rocket and maneuverable projectile attacks. Early revs we've seen of this title still suffered from framerate and camera problems, but we're hoping Infogrames has fixed these for the US release. We'll let you know more as soon as we get our hands on the final game.

	Super Smash Bros.
	Developer	HAL	No. Jugadores	4 Jug.	Accesorios	Rumble
	Publisher	Nintendo	Tamaño	128 megas

It was a close call this month -- we almost picked Smash Bros. as our top pick for April. This gem of a platform/fighting game never gets boring if you're playing with two, three or four players. The inclusion of many of the major Nintendo mascots (including Link, Samus, Donkey Kong, Mario, and more) along with the appropriate noises and melodies brings back so many memories, you'll be digging out your SNES before long to replay the old 16-bit classics. The game's only failure lies in the much too short one-player mode that is easily beaten and doesn't differ much from character to character. This title needs to be in every Nintendo fan's game library.