From news Thu Jul  1 11:42:42 1993
From: tmartin@dpw.com (Thomas Martin)
Subject: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> BIG Tom's Sega CD Ratings <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Date: Wed, 30 Jun 1993 22:29:12 +0000

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> BIG Tom's Genesis CD Game Ratings <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

This week:

     Unfortunately, I am still having posting difficulties.  If anyone has
a U.S. site where I can SEND this list to be posted by a news demon, please
write to me.
						  BIG Tom
						  tmartin@dpw.com

============================================================================
     Are you tired of spending $60 for a disk, getting it home, and
finding it would be best used as a coaster?  Is 4 hours of fun not
exactly what you had in mind when you layed out those bucks?  Here is
a list of ratings, from people like you who voted their mind about how
good or bad their cartridges are.  Read this list and don't buy crap!

     See the end of the list for how to vote, but at the very least:

WHOLE NUMBER VOTES ONLY!   WHOLE NUMBER VOTES ONLY!   WHOLE NUMBER VOTES ONLY!

============================================================================
New entries since last post:       Company:            Year:

     Cyber Aleste                  Tengen              1993
     Time Gal                      Renovation          1993

============================================================================
Those who voted this week:         Of:

     Bobby Martin                  prism.gatech.edu
     Sergey Shimkevish             acs.bu.edu

>>>>>>> Thanks for participating and making this list so successful. <<<<<<<

						       - BIG Tom M.
===========================================================================
			  # of  | Game ^ | Hours | # of |Votes|
Name of Game             Players| Rating |of Play|Voters|Tally| Description
============================================================================
Batman Returns                    **** 1/2    60     2     9    Multiple
Black Hole Assault           2    * 1/2        #    12    18    Fighting
Chuck Rock                   1    ** 1/4      14    10    24    Platform
Cobra Command                1    ** 3/4      16    16    47    Shooter
Cyber Aleste                 1    ***                1     3    Shooter
Jaguar XJ-220                2    **** 1/2     #     4    18    Racing
Marky Mark, Make y/o Video   1    *                  2     2    Interactive
Night Trap                   1    ** 3/4      20    18    53    Interactive
Road Avenger                 1    *** 3/4     16     5    19    Driving
Prince of Persia             1    ***         37    13    42    Platform
Sewer Shark                  1    ** 3/4      12    18    52    Shooter
Sherlock Holmes Con. Det.    1    ***         28    19    61    Mystery
Sol-Feace                    1    ** 1/2      60    26    70    Shooter
Time Gal                     1    ***                1     3    Interactive
Willy Beamish                1    ** 1/2      15     2     5    Adventure
Wolfchild                    1    **           6     3     6    Platform
Wonderdog                    1    ***         10    16    49    Platform
============================================================================
15 games reviewed                        # Means can be played over and over.
   ^ All game ratings above are rounded down to the nearest quarter star.

				  THE BEST
				  ========

Games with a 3 star rating or more, that 4 or more people voted for:
============================================================================
 Game                                # of   Votes    Year
Rating    Name of Game              Voters  Tally  Released   Company
============================================================================
 4.500    Jaguar XJ-220                4     18     1993
 3.800    Road Avenger                 5     19     1993
 3.230    Prince of Persia            13     42     1993     Imagesoft
 3.210    Sherlock Holmes Con. Det.   19     61     1992
 3.063    Wonderdog                   16     49     1993     JVC
============================================================================
5 games out of 11 with a 3 star or higher rating.  (40.0% of rated games)

				 THE WORST
				 =========

Games with less than a 3-star rating that 4 or more people voted for:
============================================================================
 Game                               # of   Votes    Year
Rating    Name of Game             Voters  Tally  Released   Company
============================================================================
 2.969    Sol-Feace                  26      70     1992     Sega
 2.944    Night Trap                 18      53     1992     Hasbro
 2.938    Cobra Command              16      47     1992     Wolfteam
 2.889    Sewer Shark                18      52     1992     Imagesoft
 2.400    Chuck Rock                  9      22     1992     Imagesoft
 1.500    Black Hole Assault         11      17     1992
============================================================================
6 out of 10 games with less than 3 stars.  (60.0 % of all reviewed games)

				   GLOSSARY
				   ========

     #      -  Game can be played over and over again.
     *      -  Dreck, yak, bleck, hack, gleck (Horrible beyond words).
     **     -  OK, playable, still dreck, although someone might like.
     ***    -  Decent game that will appeal to some (But not everyone).
     ****   -  Pretty good, a fun game that almost everyone will like.
     *****  -  Damn good, a real winner, every game should be this good.

			      GAME DESCRIPTIONS
			      =================

Adventure    -  Games where you must explore large worlds, killing enemies,
		and discovering hidden treasures, sometimes with a quest.
Arcade       -  Games that fit in no specific catagory except that they
		are easy to start playing and are like arcade games.
Copter Sim.  -  Games where you are controlling the flight and other capa-
		bilities of a helicopter, from a cockpit view.
Easy R.P.G.  -  Games that are role-playing games but are designed for the
		novice player to easily begin play.  See Role-Play.
Fight & Jump -  Games where you fight and jump to stay alive, and sometimes
		have other powers. Boards usually scrolling horizonatally.
Fighting     -  Games where you face off against another player, or the
		computer in some form of one-on-one combat.
Flight Sim.  -  Games where you are given a cockpit view of some sort of
		aircraft, and are given a flying mission.
Game/Show    -  Games that either emulate game-shows or board games.
		Competition is with other players or against the computer.
Interactive  -  Games where you interact with on-screen video characters in
		order to complete the given scenario.
Light-Gun    -  Games where you must use your system's light gun to perform
		some function, usually similar to Shooter-type games.
Maze Game    -  Games where navigating a maze is the main objective.  This
		can be from any perspective, such as above and inside.
Multiple     -  Games where there are a variety of game scenarios of
		differing sorts, played either randomly or in sequence.
Pinball      -  Games that emulate the playing of arcade-style pinball
		machines, usually with some different options though.
Platform     -  Games where moving from platform to platform, avoiding
		enemies, and getting prizes are the objective.
Reality Sim. -  Games of this type take place from the point of view of a
		fictional character's perspective.  Like virtual reality.
Role-Play    -  Games where you take on the role of some sort of adventurer,
		able to increase in abilities and experience along the way.
Shooter      -  Games where you shoot a lot and avoid being shot by the
		enemies you are shooting.  Most often are space scenarios.
Sports^      -  Games where there is some sort of sporting event to play
		other than everyday, normal sporting events.
Strategy     -  Games that require more thought than dexterity.  This can
		encompass a great variety of different type games.
Tank Sim.    -  Games where you are given the command and control of a tank
		and play from a viewpoint within the tank itself.
Think Fast   -  Games that require the player to make fast decisions and
		act on them, kind of a quick-thinking strategy.
Very Young   -  Games that are too easy for adults and even kids, these
		games are really meant for kids 5 and under.

^ Regular sports games will be described by their appropriate sporting event.

				 HOW TO VOTE
				 ===========

     Simply E-mail me (tmartin@dpw.com) with your votes.  You certainly can
vote for games that are not on this list and they will be added.  Please
make your vote an even number of stars 1-5 (NO 0's) or we will not include
it in our list.  Also include the number of hours of play you think the
average game player can reasonable expect to beat or play out the game.  If
you agree with the amount of hours already down, you needn't bother.  A
typical vote will look like this:

 Name of Game          Vote     Hours
============================================================================
 Black Hole Assault               *
 Chuck Rock             1         3
 Sol-Feace             One        #

     If you see there is some information in the list missing, or the game
you are voting for is new, please include the number of players (available
on the screen at once), as well as one of the descriptions found in the
previous glossary.  And, if you can, the company name and the year it was
originally released.  Something like this:

 Name of Game      Players   Vote   Hours   Description   Year   Company
============================================================================
 Prince of Persia     1       ***     60     Adventure    1991   Whatever

     Please vote for ALL your games, not just the good ones, people really
want to know what the crap games are.  Also, if you have a suggestion or a
complaint, send it to me - as you can see I've been more than willing to
to make changes - but I make no promises that everyone's ideas and changes
will be made.  I apologize to anyone who's votes I lose or mess up and any
mistakes I make in the future.  WARNING - you will find mistakes.  My
feelings will not be hurt if you write to correct any goofs that I make,
but I am sorry if I cannot respond to all the correspondence that I
receive.  To those who do participate though -
						  Thank You

						  BIG Tom Martin

