Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
N64 £49.99 Nintendo *****
Two years ago Nintendo released an epic game called Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It was a bit good. Actually, it was sleep-disturbingly tremendous and deservedly won as many awards as it could.
Now, the game has a sequel (actually it's the sixth in the long-running series but who's counting?).
Called Majora's Mask, the game is, on the surface, more of the same, with that familiar mix of action, adventure and inventive puzzles coupled with slightly improved graphics. However, the big twist is that you have only three days to save the world before the moon crashes into the earth.
This doesn't give you long and time plays a crucial part in proceedings, especially when you learn how to manipulate it.
As in the movie Groundhog Day, the player is able to constantly relive the three days and will get to know the comings and goings of the characters, which is essential.
In another innovation the player can wear a variety of masks that change your form as well as your ability. So, if you need to swim underwater, you simply need to slip on the Zora mask.
Zelda traditionalists will be pleased to hear that the dungeons are as well-designed as ever, with the player thwarted by the ingenious puzzles and not the controls or camera (which are both excellent).
In fact, the only real problem is the frustration caused by turning back time at the wrong point and having to re-do solved challenges. It may lack the wonderfully epic nature of its predecessor - it just isn't as big - but Majora's Mask is another Zelda triumph. (GH)
The World Is Not Enough
Sony PlayStation £29.99 Electronic Arts ***
Bond is back, and our favourite agent is packing some entertaining weapons: a mobile phone, a fountain pen, a miniature torch and a watch.
Naturally these gadgets do remarkable things. The mobile phone, for example, delivers an electric shock powerful enough to stun opponents several feet away.
But as you progress through the game, you quickly pick up more traditional alternatives, including a double-barrelled shotgun.
Twine (The World Is Not Enough) is a Goldeneye 007-style first person shooter for the PlayStation, though it will actually be a multi-format release. And if you can run any of the forthcoming Nintendo 64, PlayStation 2 or PC versions of the game, they will probably provide a more satisfying experience.
Maybe in some of them, you will be able to make the controls more like Quake 3, and turning won't take quite so much time. (That should be a safe bet because EA has licensed Id Software's Quake 3 Arena game engine for the PC and PS2 versions.)
This 15-rated version is said to stay pretty close to the film, which I haven't seen. Certainly there are plenty of scenarios, with more than a dozen missions to keep you busy, plus a cheats screen for special options. What Twine lacks is a multiplayer mode. However, it looks better put together than Black Ops' last Bond effort, Tomorrow Never Dies. And considering how well that sold, this could become a huge hit.
Sheep
Mind's Eye £29.99 Productions/ Empire Interactive **
It must have looked like a no-lose formula. Take a cute, harmless animal. Animate it cartoonishly, give it an absurd back story, and place it in situations that may cause it to undergo a bloody and violent death. By all rights, you should have a cult post-pub hit on your hands.
Alas, the programmers of Sheep left one vital ingredient out of the mix: fun.
The absurd back story, for what it is worth, goes like this: alien sheep have returned to earth to pick up their terrestrial brethren, and it's your job to round up the troops.
Run at them, creep up to them, shout at them, pick them up and throw them if necessary - whatever it takes to get the woolly wallies to safety. Needless to say, there are no end of hazards between you and your goal: allow them to stray into a minefield or too close to the jaws of a crab and splat, mint sauce time.
Herding is a fiddly, slow, frustrating pastime, and Sheep would appear to be a fairly accurate re-creation of the experience. Its newness makes it challenging, but it is no white-knuckle ride. Second, it has limited multiplayer appeal. The two-player option is a frenetic game of sheep football, in which you have to herd your sheep in such a manner that they manoeuvre the ball into the opponent's goal, but it's more a demonstration of Brownian motion than a tense tactical head-to-head.
Finally, while no one expects state-of-the-art graphics from a novelty title, this looks like it was written on an Amstrad for the ZX81.
If I wanted to watch teeny, tiny blurry things moving around slowly, I'd pour tea leaves in my eye.
In its defence, Sheep is, at least, original. Except for the fact that it's a bit like lemmings. And worms.
