Madman's Cafè -A La Carte-

Headline News

-Click Left For In-Depth Articles

Note: In order to reduce loading time, a new system is taking place. Users have two options.
If you do not click on one of the options, a new window may automatically load up.

1- Resizeable Image Window System
***This loads by Default for Javascript users***
An Image window written "Soup Images -Do not close" will show up.
When clicking images, the actual image will show up in that "Soup Images" window.
Click ---> HERE <--- to re-open a Pop-up-window.

2- Resizeable Frame System
This window will split to two- one for the news, and one for the images.
When clicking images, the actual image will show in a frame below the news.
Click ---> HERE <--- to open a split frame.

-Fixed on 2/22/99-
*****Addition***** to Madman's Final Fantasy VIII Review Copyright Henry Moriarty, 1999

There are a few items which need to be added and revised.
Some are a weenie bit of spoilers though.

Here---> Please Click Here For the Addentum.

-Fixed on 2/22/99-
Madman's Final Fantasy VIII Review Copyright Henry Moriarty, 1999

Apologies as the link on the "Final Fantasy VIII Review" was.. dead.
No real spoilers, don't worry.

Please Click Here For the Review. <--- Here.

-Done on 2/19/99-
News in Sales of Final Fantasy VIII Copyright Square, 1999

Lines for Final Fantasy VIII

On 2/11, Square's latest sequel to their Final Fantasy series, Final Fantasy VIII was released. While no major chaos was seen on the day of its release due to tis wide distribution to sales not only in games stores and electronic stores but Convenience stores nationwide, lines over 400 customers were seen in some areas.

FFVIII flags all over Shibuya streets

Square announced sales of over 2 Million copies from reservation, and additional copies on from the store shelves as well. The effect of Final Fantasy VIII can even been seen in the streets of Tokyo such as one of the Madman's local hangout: Shibuya, where flags were hanged outside for the occasion.



For "Madman" Henry Moriarty's review of Final Fantasy VIII answering quesitons such as - "Is it worth the buy?   Is it all it's hyped to be? Is it better than FFVII?" Click Here.

-Done on 2/19/99-
Information on Last Blade 2 NeoCD Version Copyright SNK, 1999

Last Blade 2 Quiz

Information on the NeoGeo CD version of Last Blade 2 has been released by SNK.

Musashi

1- Akatsuki Musashi
While only available in versus mode, the middle boss from its prequel- Akatsuki Musashi is useable in the NeoGeo CD version of LB2.


Quiz Screen

2- Quiz Game
A multiple-choice quiz game consisting of sections for Game System questions, Charcater questions, and difficult "cult" questions are available.


Story Demo

3- Story Demo with Voices
The character demos which take place in the 7th battle for each character is now done with full voice in addition to the text.

In addition to the extras mentioned above, the "Kyoku" fighting mode for each character is playable with no use of codes. The usual "Survival Mode" and "Demo Viewer" is available as well.

Additional Images:

Loading Screen | Musashi

-Done on 2/19/99-
Private poll of Tokyo Mayor selects Sega Celebritie Copyright Sega, 1999

Yukawa Sennmu

In a recent servey for the next Tokyo mayor done by Nippon Radio to 3000 middle schoolers and highschoolers, Sega Dreamcast's mascot celebrity: Yukawa Senmu was ranked at 6th place.

In additional note, actor "Beat Takeshi" (Johnny Neumonic, Hana-bi, etc) was ranked at first place, and celebrity "Kimura Takuya" from the group "Smap" ranked second.



Comemrcial advertizement clips of Yukawa Sennmu are available at Sega's Homepage- http://www.sega.co.jp.

-Done on 2/17/99-
Street Fighter 3 -Third Strike Announced Copyright Capcom, 1999

Street Fighter 3 -Third Strike

Capcom released images of their next upcoming Street Fighter sequel, Street Fighter 3 -Third Strike "Fight for the Future".

Starting with Chun-li, 3rd Strike will have 4 other new characters as well as the previous characters from its prequel "2nd Impact", making a total of 19 characters to be included in the game. The game is expected to be shown in some form at the upcoming AOU show.

The New Characters

Chun-li in Parry
Chun-li in Leap

Chun-li
The original queen of the Street Fighter series is back in 3rd Strike with what seems to be her original costume. The images shown at right above are presumed to be her "parry" and "leap" attacks.

Makoto

Makoto
A Japanese character who has apparent looks like a Karateka. However it is not definite as to whether Makoto is male or female since the name can go both ways.

Q

Q
A man in a long coat, wearing a hat. Apparently it is a mask that he is wearing since not all his body is gray.

Remy

Remy
Has a fashionable and neutral-sex look. Not definite if male or female.

Twelve

Twelve
Looks un-human, similarly as to Necro. However Twelve can reshape the ends of his body when attacking opponents.

GJS

In addition, Third Strike now has a "Grade Judge System" -a system which grades players in 2P versus mode. However the effects it has directly to the game is not yet known.

Additional Images:

Character Select Screen | Super Art Select
Remy | Q | Twelve | Makoto | Elena | Akuma / Gouki

-Done on 2/6/99-
SCE & Sega accounces joining in NeoGeoPocket Color Copyright SNK, 1999

Sony Computer Entertainment revealed their decision to join in SNK's NeoGeoPocket Color as a third party. While not much official word has yet been released to public, Sony schedules to have their relation with SNK only as a software distributor at the moment. Sony currently declines on the possibility of the NeoGeoPocket Color to be connectable to their Playstation.

In related news, Compile, BPS, Takara, and Taito are joining in with SNK's NGPColor. Sega and Namco also announced their joining with SNK for the NGPColor as a license distributor. Namco's first licenses are scheduled as Pacman and Family Stadium (RBI Baseball). Sega's first license will be "PuyoPuyo",


NeoGeoPocket Color thus makes the first portable machine with two major game hardware corporations to join as third parties.

-Done on 2/17/99-
Dead or Alive 2 images Copyright Tecmo, 1999

Bass vs New Costume Tina

Two additional images of DOA2 have been released by Tecmo. While the game is scheduled for presentation at the AOU show, it is not yet clear as to what percentage of the game is completed. Tecmo has commented on the developing the game's system on the later half for its production- thus the game may not yet be playable at the AOU show.

Lei-fan vs Akane

-Done on 2/17/99-
Persona 2 for Playstation announced at Velfare Copyright Atlus, 1999

Designer Kaneda & Director Okada

The sequel to Atlus' popular Role Playing Game "Persona" was announced at Tokyo's Roppongi Velfare on 1/31. It was revealed at the time that the keyword in Persona2 is "rumors".

Game Screen

Persona 2 -Tsumi- (sin) is scheduled for Summer, the price is not yet known. A demo of the game will be compilated in "Devil Summoner -Soul Hackers" scheduled for release in April.

-Done on 2/17/99-
Fatal Fury- First Contact, KOFR-2, Samurai Shodown! 2, etc. Copyright SNK, 1999

Fatal Fury -first Contact

SNK released more information on games for their new portable machine, NeoGeo Color.

Fatal Fury

Fatal Fury -First Contact
The NGPColor version of Fatal Fury includes such traditional characters like Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui, but also new characters like Rick and Xiang-fei. The battle takes part in one plane unlike the traditional Fatal fury.

SS2

Samurai Spirits! 2
The sequel to SS!1 includes characters from the alternate 3D version of the series, such as Asura. By using a character often, they level up gaining more moves and power. Characters grown can be battled head to head with friends

KOFR-2

KOFR-2
More news on the "Making mode":
Characters in KOF-R2 can find new moves while being played. Other than engaging in fights, special moves can also be traded with other game players.

Puzzle Bobble

Puzzle Bobble Mini (Taito)
The NGPColor version of the arcade hit also known as "Bust a move".

Magical Drop

Magical Drop Pocket (Data East)
The NGPColor version of Magical drop, now celebrating its 5th anniversary.

Additional Images:
Fatal Fury | Samurai Shodown!2 | Magical Drop | Puzzle Bobble

KOF R-2
Moves Trade | Stage Select | Special Attack

-Done on 2/17/99-
Sentimental Graffiti 2 Announced for Dreamcast Copyright NEC InterChannel, 1999

Image illusts for Sequel

The sequel to NEC Interchannel's popular game "Sentimental Graffiti" has been announced on 2/3. The game's storyline is to take place 2 years after its prequel, with the death of the main character from SG1.

Sentimental Graffiti 2 is scheduled for 1/27/2000.

-Done on 2/6/99-
Sakura Wars Announced for GameBoy Color Copyright Malegal Management, 1999

Malegal Management announced the cooperation of Red Company and Nintendo in creation of Sakura Wars for the GameBoy Color.


Malegal Management is a company which acts as the middle-market of game companies and creators, in a similar manner to how a movie company contracts with an agency to find actors, script writers and other necessary human resources. Malegal Management is known for their association work in "Pikachu genki de chu", a voice recognition game for the Nintendo 64.   Sakura Wars has been scheduled for on port to the GameBoy Color due to the decision that the game's rights belong to its production company "Red Company" and its producer Ooji Hiroi.


In related note, Malegal Management also plans to release Columns for the GameBoy Color, Derbie Stallion for the Nintendo 64, and a new game for the Nintendo64 currently in development under the code name "DT", with Capcom and the director of the animation series "Gundam".

-Done on 2/5/99-
Additional Information on Final Fantasy VIII Copyright Square, 1999

Additional information on Final Fantasy VIII has been revealed.


The first is the special fighting abilities of Laguna's two partners, Kiros and Ward. Kiros uses his two hand blades named "Katar" and slices away his opponent in his move called BloodPain. The second is Ward's special ability named Mash Bunker. In his special, Ward throws his gigcantic harpoon into the air and quickly follows it by jumping high. Ward catches the harpoon in the air and pierces on the top off the opponent.

Strip Image of Kiros' BloodPain | Strip Image of Ward's Mash Bunker

Timing Meter

Timing Meter

The second is additional information on Squall's special ability "Renzoku-ken", Aka the rapid sword. When Squall executes his special, a meter appears and the player must press the button at the right timing to trigger a critical hit with his GunBlade. Squall slashes 4 Gunblade hits and then finishes off the opponent

Pet Magazine

The third is information on how some characters gain their special abilities.   In the field screen of the game, the player can find periodicals/magazines of their interest. In the case of Rinoa, her interest would be a magazine on pets since she has a dog named Angelo. By reading the magazine, Rinoa would learn new moves for her dog. Likewise, Zel would learn new moves by reading magazines on martial arts. Magazines can be found in many places such as book shelves and sold in stores.

In a similar note, Quistis learns enemy moves Aka Blue Magic as her special ability, but she does not gain it while she fights. Instead, Quistis learns enemy moves by using items which can sometimes be obtained by defeating enemies.

Laguna and Lady

Also, two additional images of Laguna has been obtained, one where he is slipping and another where he is explaining to the woman that his leg gets strained when in tense situations. The woman he is with is the same lady from previous images in a bedroom.

Tripping Laguna | Old Bedroom Image

-Done on 2/5/99-
The House of the Dead 2 Announced for DreamCast Copyright Sega, 1999

Sega announced the port of their zombie shooting horror game "House of the Dead 2" to the Dreamcast. The game is scheduled for 3/25.



Two versions will be available- a game only version and a Dreamcast Gun bundled version. The game only version is set at the price of 5800 yen and the Gun bundle version at 7800 yen.

-Done on 2/5/99-
Additional Information on FFVIII Chocobo Game Copyright Square, 1999

Chocobo game Data Load & Save Screen

Additional information on Final Fantasy VIII's PocketStation PDS game, "Odekake Chocobo" has been revealed.

By downloading game data into the Pocketstation from a Playstation machine with FFVIII, players can enjoy a Chocobo growing game. It the game the player gets to walk around a small chocobo "Cochocobo" throught 100 varieties of maps, either manually with the arrow buttons or automatically. The game as a number of events, 3 of which have been revealed yet thus far. Also, players with the Pocketstation can make their Cochocobos fight with each other.

Event 1- Battle

Enemy vs Cochocobo

The number in orange is the character's life- left(in this case 16) is the enemie's, and the right is Cochocobos. The two numbers in blue is the active time meter. Both the characters can attack when the meter runs down to zero- in this screen's case, the opponent is counting down to 6, and the Cochocobo is currently attacking since the meter is 0 -as can be seen the Cochocobo is inflicting 9 points of damage to the enemy. By gaining levels, Cochocobo's Hitpoint will increase. Also- by winning battles, some positive effect occurs upon the chocobo but no official word has yet been revealed.

Event 2- Item

Gift Giving Sabotender

At times the cochocobo will meet with a Sabotender. By meeting the Sabotender the player can receive s gift -however what the gift is cannot be seen until the player sets the Pocketstation into the Playstation and returns the Cochocobo in the the FFVIII game.

Event 2- Mumba

Status Window. Top: AP. Bottom: ID#

In the beginning, the Cochocobo only has 1 attack point of. However if an event happens and the Cochocobo meets with a Mumba, the attack point will increase. It has not yet been revealed what the ID# at the bottom works for.



Additional Images:

Pocket Station 1 | Pocket Station 2 | Pocket Station 3

-Done on 2/5/99-
MMCafe's FFVIII Section in Creation Copyright Madman's Cafe, 1999

Items & Goods Presentation- FFVIII Model Kits

As the date of Square's Final Fantasy VIII nears by, the Madman's Cafe has decided on making the game its first topic of the Seasonal Specials.
While the section is not yet opened, it will cumulatively grow in size as time goes by.

The following are previews on some of the materials which will be used for the section.

Game Images
Rinoa Heartilly | Quistis Trepe

Roughs and documents
Library Desks

Illustrations
Amano Squall w/ Seifer Reflection | Amano Seifer w/ Squall Reflection

Items & goods
Cards, T-shirt, Strapband, Stationaries

-Done on 2/5/99-
Street Fighter Zero 3 announced for Saturn and DreamCast Copyright Capcom, 1999

Capcom announced their decision to port the latest Street Fighter game "Street Fighter Zero 3" to the Saturn and DreamCast.

No date or price has yet been announced.

-Done on 2/5/99-
BeatMania announced for WonderSwan Copyright Konami, 1999

BeatMania

Konami's arcade DJ stimulation game- BeatMania,has been announced for the WonderSwan. The music used in the WonderWan version is 10 songs from the Playstation version of "3rd Mix". BeatMania for the WonderSwan comes equipped with a miniature Turntable in order to have the record-scratching feeling or the arcade.

BeatMania for the WonderSwan is scheduled for release in April.

-Done on 2/5/99-
Capcom's "Powerstone" to be animated Copyright Capcom, 1999

Capcom's new game for the arcade and Dreamcast "Powerstone" has been announced to be animated. Starting April the anime series will air in TBS broadcasting. The anime production will be done by Studio Pierrot and the music by Avex.

-Done on 2/5/99-
Additional Information on Bust-A-Move 2 Copyright Enix, 1999

Capoiera Aliens Return

The list of characters to be dancing in Bust-A-Move 2 has been released.

Heat A 20 year old floor-type breakdancer. Known as "fireboy".

Shorty A 13 year old girl with a mysterious talking pet named Columbo.

Strike A former criminal gone dance group, Strike still takes time off to rob banks with his manager and co-dancers.

Hiro Aka "Dancing Hero", this Italian man living in japan loves computers and is a narcissist.

Kelly A cos-play loving lady, Kelly sold her formal baby-ware and returns with a Police-ware.

Kitty-N Making a hit on TV, Kitty-N now has her own show at the TV station.

Kiki / Lala Two aliens from planet Capoiera. The two returned to earth to buy some items but is rumored to put their spaceship to the pawnshop for the money.

Comet Freeda's sister. has 12 part-times jobs and wears Roller Blades.

Bi-O The father to the mad scientist: Gas-O. However Bi-O gets turned into a zombie by his son after a family argument.

Tsutomu A 14 year old kid trying to be class president, however is hated by many of his fellow students due to his spoiled looks and attitude.

Note: The following 4 characters are missed in Bust-A-Move 2.

Gas-O
Gets sent to an institute after turning his father into a zombie and slashing him in the head with an axe.

Freeda
Freeda is busy traveling around the world to become a good artist.

Hamm
Hamm gets promoted to store manager and is busy thinking of new menus.

Pinky
Busy working as an assassin in Russia.


Additional Images:

Game Images
Tsutomu | Kelly | Kitty-N | Strike

-Done on 2/5/99-
Two new Peripherals announced for the DreamCast Copyright Sega, 1999

Sega revealed two Peripherals for their new game machine DreamCast.

DreamCast Gun

Fishing Rod

The first peripheral is called the "DreamCast Gun" and has a X-button at the end of its grip, allowing players to use the controller simultaneously while shooting. The Gun controller also has a socket for DreamCast's MemoryPDA.

The second peripheral is a rod for playing fishing games. The controller has a sensor to detect how strong it is swung, and a vibration unit is also inside of the unit.


The Dreamcast Gun is scheduled for compatibility with the upcoming "The house of the Dead 2", and the fishing rod with "GetBass".

-Done on 2/3/99-
Additional Information on Final Fantasy VIII Copyright Square, 1999

Odin

Two new Guardian Forces have been revealed by Square- One is the traditional Odin, the horseman with a sword which can slice any existing object. The other is a new character, Diablos.


Diablos -the Devil of bats, shoots a dark negative force at the enemies when summoned.


Other than Odin, Diablos and the multiple number of other guardian forces announced by Square yet so far, there seems to still be a number left unannounced at this point.

Missiles sent by Edea

In other news, an event in the game where Edea the Witch sends missiles to the Baramb Garden in which Squall resides after she teams up with the President of Garbadia, has been revealed. In the event, Squall's party tries to sabotage the missiles by entering the Garbadian military base as disguised soldiers.

Disguised team on mission

Attack of Diablos

-Done on 2/3/99-
Additional Information on Final Fantasy VIII Copyright Square, 1999

Calling for Angelo

Information on Rinoa & Seifer's specialties and some other news have been released by square.

Angelo Attack

Rinoa attacks with her partner Angelo (Sant' Angelo di Roma, age:2 Female), a rare tail-less dog. In Rinoa's specialty called "Combine", Angelo comes dashing after hearing Rinoa's whistle, jumps on top of her weapon and rushes into the opponent and blasts them away. Angelo then returns and gets rewarded by Rinoa with a doggie biscuit. Note however, that it is Angelo who learns new moves, not Rinoa.

Seifer's Special

While Seifer uses a Gunblade just as Squall does, his specialty is quite different. Seifer's specialty called "Shimatsu-ken" roughly translated into English as "Finale Sword", starts off with the "Fire" magic- the same magic he used in disbalancing the fight between Squall.


After using the Fire magic and putting enemies to a disadvantage, Seifer powers up his sword with a green aura and shoots out a galewind slash. Seifer's finishing blow on this move seems to power up as he gets stronger. His first level attack of Finale Sword/Shimatsu-ken is known as "Zako-chirashi", roughly translated as "Thug splitter".

Rinoa's circular Edge Boomerang

Rinoa's Weapon Upgraded to Blaster Edge

Unlike past Role playing games, in Final Fantasy VIII the weapon is not bought or exchanged with a stronger one- instead it is customized and upgraded. Upgrading can be done at Junk Shops anywhere in the world, but the player must have enough money and items to upgrade the weapon for.


In example, Rinoa's circular boomerang edge can be upgraded to a Blaster Edge weapon with 2 Wind Cutting Feathers, 6 Dragon Scales and 200 Gils. Not only the attack point and hit percentage increases with a weapon's upgrade, but the upgraded weapons seems to have an effect on the using character as well. It is not certain if this includes any changes to the Special Abilities a character has. The graphic of the weapon changes in the fighting screen as well.

Pet Shop Menu

In Additional note, Guardian forces do not recover their energy in tents or inns. Instead, they must be healed or recovered with items which are sold at pet shops. The image present at the top is the Pet Shop menu.


From the top, the menu reads as follows:
Pet's NameTag
Book of GF
Pet House
RenameCard
G Potion
G HighPotion
G Returner
ForgetGrass


Additional Images:

(Note: These two are strips of actions going from left image to right)
Rinoa Specialty 1 | Rinoa Specialty 2 | Rinoa Specialty 3 | Rinoa Specialty 4 | Rinoa Specialty 5 | Rinoa Specialty 6 | Rinoa Specialty 7

Seifer Specialty 1 | Seifer Specialty 2 | Seifer Specialty 3 | Seifer Specialty 4 | Seifer Specialty 5 | Seifer Specialty 6 | Seifer Specialty 7 | Seifer Specialty 8


(Misc.)
Squall Weapon -Before (Revolver) | Squall Weapon -After (Kia Straight) | Shop Locations
Laguna 1 | Laguna 2 | Laguna 3 | Squall & Zel

-Done on 2/3/99-
Final Fantasy VIII Reserved at near 1,000,000 copies Copyright Digicube, 1999

Over 1 Mil.. Digicube hopes for sales jump at end of January

The latest sequel to Square's hit series- Final Fantasy VIII (scheduled sale: 2/11), was announced by Digicube to have already cut 951,749 customer reservations at convenience stores nationwide in japan on 1/19.

According to Digicube, reservations reached 700,000 on 1/12, which indicates over 250,000 new reservations in just 1 week of time. Digicube aims to make over 1,500,000 reservations by the date of sale, topping over the record held by their previous Final Fantasy VII.


In additional note, those who live in Japan can reserve Final Fantasy VIII on the internet starting 1/20. Once reserved, the game will be delivered to the reservee's home on the day of its release. The delivery fee is 200 yen (a bit under 2$). However International orders are not available.
Reservations can be made at http://www.digicube.co.jp/

-Done on 2/3/99-
Jojo's Venture announced for the Playstation Copyright Capcom, 1999

Transparencies used for "Stands"

The arcade fighter game Jojo's venture has been announced for release on the Playstation.
No details have yet been revealed, however the "Stands" which each character possess are now semi-transparent with Playstation's abilities.

-Done on 2/3/99-
Parappa Rappa 2 / Unjara Rummy announced for the Playstation Copyright Sony, 1999

Parappa 2

The sequel to Parappa Rappa, Unjara Rummy has been announced. While the basics of the game is the same as before, unlike its prequel which was mostly Hip-hop, Parappa2 is based mainly on Rock melodies.

From the left- Maa, Rummy, Katie

The main characters in Parappa 2 are a group called the "Milkcan", consisting of three, members. The main character Rummy (a sheep) plays the Guitar, Katie (a Cat) plays the base and does the vocals, and Maa (a rat) plays the drums. Some old characters seem to make cameo appearances as well, as can be seen at the image at the top of this article.



Parappa 2 is 90% in completion and is scheduled for release on March. It is compatible to DualShock vibration, and in addition, the game now supports two players.

-Done on 2/3/99-
King Of Fighters R-2 announced for the NeoGeoPocket/Color Copyright SNK, 1999

KOF R-2

The sequel to NeoGeo Pocket's King Of FightersR-1, King Of FightersR-2 has been announced for release on 3/19.


14 characters such as Kyo and Rugal are useable. In addition to the usual Team battle and head-to-head versus, an original mode called "Making", where the player can grow up a character is available.   KOFR-1 is connectable to the Dreamcast for combined play with the DC version of King Of Fighters. The price is set at 4800 Yen.

KOF R-2

Other SNK games scheduled for NeoGeoPocket Color:
BaseballStars Color (3/19)
Samurai Spirits! 2 (April)
Metal Slug -First Mission (April)
Fatal Fury- First Contact (April)
NeoGeo Cup'98 Plus (May)
Big Tournament Golf (May)
Shang-hai (July)
Last Blade (Oct.)
Digital Primate (Sept.)

Additional Images:
Game Shot1 | Game Shot 2 | Game Shot 3

-Done on 2/3/99-
NeogeoPocket Color announced for 3/19 Copyright SNK, 1999

Left: NGP Color / Right: Previous NGP

SNK announced their new portable hardware NeoGeoPocket Color for release on 3/19. The price of NeoGeoPocket Color is 8900 yen. It is speculated by many that SNK is deciding to rival on Nintendo, as the price of NeogeoPocket Color and GameBoy color is identical. In addition NeoGeoPocket Color's sales phrase is " I'm not Boy" .

NeogeoPocket Color uses a 16 bit processor and works 40 continuous hours with 3 AA batteries. The maximum number of displayable colors is 146 out of 4096. Previously released games can also be played with emulated color. NeoGeo Pocket Color can be attached to the Dreamcast with a special cable, and also be played head-to-head with up to 64 opponents with the wireless communications unit.

Also, Numerous third parties have joined for software production:
ADK, Capcom (scheduled: MegaMan), Saurus, Japan Vistic, Data East, Visco, Boss Communications, Yumekoubou, Atari (Mortal Kombat), Alze, Taito, Kid




Those who purchase NeoGeoPocket Color are also treated to a free entrance ticket to the upcoming NeoGeo World at Tokyo Bayside, opening simultaneously on 3/19.

-Done on 2/3/99-
Bust-A-Move 2 announced for the Playstation Copyright Enix, 1999

New Stages, Renewed Costumes

Enix announced their sequel to the hit Dance and Rhythm action game, Bust-a-move/Groove.
Bust-A-Move 2 is being created by the same staffs from its prequel, except for the music staff. However this does not mean a deterioration to the game, as the music seems to have improved and now has tracks from such artists as Maurice White of Earth Wind and Fire.

The basics of the Bust-A-Move 2 is similar to its Prequel- press the arrows accurately as shown on the screen, and dance better performances.
However the set of commands are different between each character unlike the prequel, giving more personality to each individuals. Also, while the player still must press the rhythm button at the fourth note like the prequel, the dance motion now changes depending on the timing of the button pressed within the short acceptance time - this can be seen by the eye, as a Timing bar will show players if their input was exact or slightly missed.

Thus so far Heat, Shorty, Hiro, Kelly, Kitty-N and Strike are confirmed to be back in the game. Two new additional characters have also been announced. One of the new character's name is Comet, a waitress wearing RollerBlades and working as a waitress in a Sushi bar. Comet is also a sister to Bust-A-Move 1's Freeda. The second character is yet to be revealed, but is said to be a traditional Japanese dancer (Nihon-buyou Dance).

New Character, Comet

Likewise to its prequel, the dance stage changes within time and according to the player's performance, except more dramatically in Bust-A-Move 2. In example is Shorty's stage where the dance stage is a raft. The stage floats along and in its path comes many interesting background changes such as a biting dinosaur, Serpent-head cave, and ghosts. Shorty | Comet 1 | Comet 2 |

Bust-A-Move 2 is scheduled for release in the Spring of 99.

Arcade Bust-a-Move/Groove

The Dance and Rhythm action game Bust-a-Move has been announced for release at the arcades. The game is based on the playstation version with minor changes, but the music and characters are identical -hidden characters from the Playstation version such as Columbo the Dog and Capoiera will also be useable. At the end of each game, the player will be ranked from S, A, B, C, D, E -S being the highest and E being the lowest.


Minor changes include the controls, where the "down" button has been changed to a foot pedal, and only one rhythm button is used in opposition of the two in the original.

The Arcade Machine | Other game scenes

In the game itself, the Dance command is different by each stage instead of character, and the "Jammer" button can only be used when a mark appears on the screen -however the opponent can no longer avoid the "jammer" like in the home version. Also, the groove meter on the bottom indicates how well the player is dancing. However if the player misses too often and the meter resolves to zero, the game will end.

-Done on 2/3/99-
Kojiro Sanada Revealed for PSX version Last Blade Copyright SNK, 1999

Sanada Vs Washizuka

In the Playstation version of Last Blade, Kojiro Sanada- a character from its sequel Last Blade 2, has been revealed to be added in the game.
However the Kojirou in Last Blade 2 and the Playstation's Last Blade is a different character by storyline.
The Playstation version of Last Blade is set at 5800 Yen for sale on 2/25.

Additional Images:
Image1 | Image 2 | Advertisement poster

-Done on 2/3/99-
Marvel vs Capcom Announced for the DreamCast for 3/25 Copyright Capcom, 1999

Capcom announced their latest release of the "Vs" series, Marvels Vs Capcom for the Dreamcast. No details on any additions to the game have yet been released.


Marvels Vs Capcom is scheduled for 3/25 at 5800 Yen.

-Done on 2/3/99-
Dance Dance Revolution Announced for the Playstation Copyright Konami, 1999

Konami announced their arcade Dance game DanceDanceRevolution to be ported to the Playstation.


The game is scheduled for release on March. A special foot sensor controller mat will also be available for arcade-like play.