Gremlin 1995
Genre: Sport, Strategy
Rating: 4/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

The third part of this series is very much similar to the second part so I just want to point out the major differences. For a more thorough description of the game concept itself have a look at the review of Premier Manager 2 on this site.

Infogrames 1995
Genre: Adventure
Rating: 3/6
Language: Francais, English, Deutsch
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Prisoner of Ice holds a special place in my heart, because it's one of the last three games I've ever bought for 'full price'. I ordered it immediately after it came out. So quickly that there weren't any walkthroughs for it. Remember those were the days when Internet access was unthinkable, and even if I had had it, I probably wouldn't have found any cheat sites/newsgroups/mailboxes. The only way to get solutions for games was with next month's computer magazine. That one wouldn't arrive before three weeks. I was on my own to successfully play the game. Not that I usually use walkthroughs to finish Adventures, but it gives a good feeling of security to have one lying around...

Square 1995
Genre: Adventure
Rating: 6/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: SNES

This is, in my opinion, THE best game ever made for the SNES. It has almost everything:
-A good storyline, with 6 different beginnings (one for each of the 6 characters) and 3 different final areas. It will keep you in front of your screen for many hours, with the occasional unexpected event, and then, just when you think you've almost finished the game, you find out that you're only at about one third of the game! (Yep, it's WAAAAY longer than Secret of Mana 1) and that's just with one party, with 119 other possible parties still waiting to be tried, or, if you have too little time for that, 2 other game endings...

Legend Entertainment 1995
Genre: Adventure
Rating: 3/6
Language: English, Deutsch
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Legend followed up their excellent Death Gate with a game which is quite similar on the surface. It uses the same game engine, graphics are similar and it is - again - based on a popular branch of fantasy novels: Shannara. The game isn't a direct 'port' of any book, but it takes place between the first two. Some evil warlock called Brona, whom the father of the game's protagonist Jak apparantely killed in the first book, is back. He can only be defeated with the 'Sword of Shannara' which in turn can only be used by offsprings of the Shannara family - namely you and your father.

Noriaworks 1995
Genre: Sport, Action
Rating: 3/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Speed Haste is a moderate arcade racing game which features 2 different car models and 8 tracks.

From the starting menu you can choose whether you want to run a full championship, just a single race or practice a little bit. Here you can also select you race car (Formula 1 or Stock Car) and if you want a certain number of laps or a race against the clock.

Lucas Arts 1995
Genre: Adventure
Rating: 3/6
Language: English, Deutsch, Français, Italiano, Castellano
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

The Dig - an experiment in megalomania. An epic science fiction adventure based on an idea by Steven Spielberg, made by the guys who made Star Wars (well, not quite). Special effects by Industrial Light and Magic. The hardest puzzles in a Lucas Arts game since Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. Isn't marketing great? Here's an experiment: Let's judge the game exactly according to all the marketing slogans they came up with then.

US Gold 1995
Genre: Adventure
Rating: 5/6
Language: English, Deutsch
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Geoffroi Le Brun, young Musketeer wannabe, arrives at the city of Rouen late at night only to find a dying man on the steps of the local tavern. It's the Comte de Peuple - stabbed and robbed by four assassins. Geoffroi promises to fulfill the dying man's last wish: to recover his stolen will and deliver it to Paris.

Graftgold 1995
Genre: Action
Rating: 4/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: Amiga

Virocop was one of the games which really got a lot of attention before it was released - at least from the readers of one specific German Amiga magazine: Amiga Games. This magazine published a "developer's diary" over several months, then it suddenly stopped - but the finished game didn't appear. No explanation, no comment. A lot later, they mentioned they had dropped this article because they couldn't squeeze these pages in anymore. Never sounded too believable to me. More likely that there just wasn't enough happening anymore. Still, it was quite interesting to read every month how the idea developed, how changes to the concept were made (it changed from "Tanky" to "D.A.V.E" over time), how the graphics changed from hand-drawn sketches to actual screenshots.

Acclaim 1995
Genre: Sport, Action
Rating: 4/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

WWF Wrestlemania - The name says it all. The official license has both its advantages and disadvantages for the game designers. Much room for creativity concerning character design and playing modes does not remain, but these are of course advantages, either. Because well-known fighter "personalities" already exist to whom the followers of this "sport" connect different cliché attributes, the typically ridiculous plot of an average fighting game can fortunately not be found. Another point is that potential weaknesses of the playability will be easier looked over by the players because of the disciples' emotional link to their idols. The designers could therefore put all their efforts in a conversion as "realistic" as possible.

Binary Asylum / Pinnacle 1995
Genre: Action
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: Amiga

Do the changes warrant a release as a standalone sequel, or is it just a data disk with new levels? One of the eternal questions of the gaming industry. Almost always answered to the customer's disadvantage. The question is also very valid for Zeewolf 2 (not going to repeat the nonsensical subtitle).