Soft toys with hard centres
Fur Fighters Sega Dreamcast £39.99 Bizarre/Acclaim ***
This is more Quack than Quake, but Fur Fighters solves the problem of gore in third-person shooters: you just have to knock the stuffing out of your opponents.
The idea behind Bizarre Creations' game is simple enough: put serious fire-power in the hands of some furry toys. This is carried through in Rayman-like 3D cartoon graphics and punning humour. The more difficult aspect of the game is that you have to play all six characters - Roofus the hound, Bungalow the kangaroo etc - choosing the correct one for the task in hand. It's all a bit tricksy.
But this isn't just a shooter. It's also a 3D action/adventure game, and you have to solve lots of puzzles to get around the six game zones. Some of them are compli cated, so finishing the game could take a long time.
The worst thing about the game is the opening "train ing" sequence, which also fills in the back story. It goes on far too long. The best thing is the split-screen Fluff Match, which provides an arena where you can go fur-to-fur with a friend. Wicked. (JS)
Little Lara
Tomb Raider
Game Boy Colour £24.99 THQ ***
While a date with Britney Spears or a goal at Wembley remain largely unfulfilled teenage dreams, one fantasy has now become reality.
Lara Croft is finally in the palm of your hand. The PlayStation heroine has arrived on the Game Boy and is set to introduce a new format to the frustrating, yet satisfying Tomb Raider series.
Bearing in mind the limitations of the hardware, the game has gorgeous visuals with some high-quality stills for scene setting. Lara is particularly well animated and far bigger than a typical Game Boy character. She can jump, vault, swim and climb ledges without catching her breath.
Unfortunately the same can't be said for you. In their brave attempt to enable Lara to do everything, the developers have forgotten that mere mortals will be playing the game. The myriad scorpions, snakes and bats will cause little more than annoyance, especially as medi-packs are everywhere. No, the real problems are caused by spikes and gaping pits, which regularly scupper you after another unsuccessful tussle with the horribly stubborn controls.
These can be blamed on the ancient platform game, Prince of Persia. On the PlayStation Lara always was Prince of Persia 3D and now the series has gone to back to its 2D roots with predictably frustrating consequences.
Nevertheless, if you can master those controls, the graphics and rewarding plot twists make this a classy Game Boy title. So, until Britney returns your call, handheld Lara will do nicely. (GH)
