Hover Strike – By Atari

Hover Strike was originally called Battlezone 2000 and intended to be an updated version of classic vector arcade game. After it started to move away slightly Atari chose to rename the game but you can very much still see Battlezone’s influences here. Rather than a tank you now control a heavily armoured hovercraft as you make your way round a universe full of hostile worlds. Different weapons include mortars, homing missiles and rockets as well as a normal gun. Your craft also has armour and fuel that depletes, finding and collecting crates can replenish both. Each level has a set mission, which usually involves finding and taking out a series of targets. Like Battlezone you also have a handy scanner that shows you the position of enemies and crates. The levels vary in terrain and style and even include night missions where you have to use flares to light up the sky. The biggest thing about this game is learning to control your craft, while weird and floaty at first you will eventually get the hang of it. I was blown away by the quality of the graphics in this game when I first saw it, at the time it was certainly the most impressive example of 3D on the machine. It also has great sound too with speech and atmospheric tunes throughout. Hoverstrike is an absolutely fantastic game for the Jaguar that would score even higher if it wasn’t for the unbelievably good and much improved CD version.

8/10

 Hyper Force – By Songbird / Visual Impact

One genre the Jaguar really lacked in its commercial years was a decent run ‘n gun. This after market release from Songbird does help correct that somewhat and while it’s no Contra or Robocop Vs. Terminator it is a pretty good effort nonetheless. The game has some corny plot about evil people trying to take over the world, don’t they always? All you need to know is that it’s your job to stop them. The hero in this game is equipped with a gun and a jetpack, the latter of which is limited in its use only allowing you to use it to jump high. Around the vast levels you will find various power-ups, bonuses and cash that can be used in the end of level shops to purchase life or more weapons. One of the first things that strikes you about this game is the huge sprites, thankfully they don’t hinder the gameplay like they do in some other games. That said apart from this the graphics are less than impressive, to be honest they don’t look much better than a SNES or Megadrive game. In the sound department though it’s a whole different matter, Hyper Force has some really great music and loads of loud sound effects. It’s not very original and doesn’t look too great but this game does fill a nice gap in the Jaguar’s library and will certainly appeal to a wide audience of people.

7/10

 I-War – By Atari / Imagitec Design

This was a game I never owned back in the day but was actually one of the first games I picked up when I started collecting again and wow did I miss out! I-War plays very like Cybermorph but in a tank, the objective of collecting pods and making your way to the exit is pretty much the same too. But the graphics and sound in this game are so much better. The polygon visuals are brilliantly done with lots of gouraud shading, some limited texture mapping and a super smooth frame rate. This game was clearly inspired by Tron as the whole look of the game harks back to that classic movie and you really do get lost in the atmosphere of it at times. The missions vary enough to keep you interested and at times there so many enemies on screen attacking you it suffers from slowdown! The almost Tempest 2000 like bonus stages are especially impressive. There is also a great soundtrack, which I suppose isn't a surprise when you take into account Imagitec also did the music for Tempest 2000. If you are a fan of this style of 3D shooters that the Jaguar seems to do so well then you will simply love this. In fact I would say that I-War is without doubt the Jag’s best hidden gem and should be one of the first games any owner picks up.

8/10

 Iron Soldier – By Eclipse Software

Iron Soldier was one of the first mech games to come out for the new generation of 3D equipped machines in the early nineties when this genre had become all the rage. You get to control this giant metal warrior stomping around the city shooting down helicopters, stamping on tanks and punching down skyscrapers - sounds fun? You bet it is! Not all the levels are simple shoot and destroy missions though as some involve protecting buildings or acting as a courier to protect moving cargo. There are a host of mad weapons on this game that you can load onto your IS at the beginning of each level and each can be accessed by using the keypad buttons and a handy overlay, but choose wisely as not all can be taken. These weapons include a rail cannon, gatling gun, grenades, chain saw, rifle, rocket launcher and the ultimate weapon – the cruise missile. The latter becomes especially useful later in the game when you come up against other Iron Soldiers! With its amount of stages and variation in missions Iron Soldier is a game that will take up a lot of your time, thankfully your progress can be saved to the cartridge. The 3D polygon visuals are terrific, they are really smooth with a decent draw distance and convey the action perfectly. Some wonderfully moody music plays as you do along with a host of sound effects. For me Iron Soldier is one of the Jaguar’s most highly regarded exclusives for a reason, it’s bloody brilliant.

9/10

 Iron Soldier: BETA – By Eclipse Software

In this limited edition BETA version if Iron Soldier there are a number of changes from the original game. Firstly all the levels are available from the start, although several of them are sadly missing. Another difference is that all the weapons are also available from the start on this version! Of these weapons there are also some changes, in IS: BETA there is a smoke launcher and rose armour not present in the original game. The graphics look no different (apart from the crates) to the released version but there is no intro sequence, no mission screens and a very basic completion message. The music oddly sounds slightly different but sound effects remain intact. So there you have it a pretty complete beta with quite a few differences to the commercial release. For me the best feature is being able to play the levels as you want with all the weapons (+ more!) and no need to type in cheats. Not really different enough to warrant purchase though unless you are a die hard collector like me.

8/10

 Iron Soldier II – By Eclipse Software / Telegames

The first Iron Soldier was one of the very first games to really show what the Jag could do. A simply wonderful mech game that featured 3D polygon graphics and a wide selection of varied missions. The second game is pretty much more of the same just with better graphics, better sound and even more missions. There are also some fantastic secrets including a new mech you play as! Get in your 42-foot mech, arm it with a series of powerful weapons and set foot into the war zone. Some stages require you to just blow the crap out of everything and some actually require you to protect your surroundings from attack! I found this second game a bit harder than the first game but not to a point its unfair and it does help that you can save your progress. The 3D polygon graphics now have added texture mapping and look fantastic are among some of the best on the machine. Iron Soldier II was originally a CD game and this limited edition cartridge release is the same game minus the FMV intro, CD soundtrack and some of the textures. So if you have a Jag CD then get that version but otherwise make sure you get this instead!

9/10

 Kasumi Ninja – By Atari / Handmade Software

Kasumi Ninja is a rather notorious game among retro gaming fans. Many will remember it being featured in depth on the late night Games Master gore special back in the day. These days it seems to be a bit of a running joke, not necessarily for being bad but for being so outlandish. I mean how many games have you ever played where you get to play as a ginger Scotsman who shoots fireballs out from under his kilt?! The first thing to mention about this game is that it is incredibly gory, the blood doesn’t just drip from the enemies and fly all over the screen but it also gathers in pools on the floor! As most will know the game itself is a very blatant Mortal Kombat rip-off that pretty much copies every single feature from the Midway hit with a similar story line, digitised graphics and those obligatory death moves. The one original feature comes in the form of the character selection that has you moving through a Doom style dungeon to select your hero and choose your foe. The characters themselves range from an Amazon temptress and a Native American warrior to your standard ninja type character and every ones personal favourite the now legendary Angus McGregor. The graphics in Kasumi Ninja are superb and all digitised in incredibly high quality. The sound is also pretty good with music and lots of speech, some of which will really make you laugh (once again see Angus!). Where KN does fall down a bit is in its gameplay which while highly enjoyable it’s also quite slow. That said I still think Kasumi Ninja is a game that every Jaguar owner should have in their collection, even if for the novelty factor alone!

6/10