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They’re creepy and kooky, but their game is simply mediocre. The Addams Family on the Genesis is a by-the-numbers platformer that does nothing new and doesn’t do the old stuff as good as a hundred other platformers of the era. It’s a shame that Flying Edge simply went with Ocean’s version instead of trying something new. Heck, an upgrade of Fester’s Quest would have been better.
Sonic The Hedgehog opened the floodgates for a slew of furry mascot characters that had attitude and some lame nemesis to destroy for the greater world good. Activision’s Radical Rex, released on both the Genesis and Sega CD (as well as the SNES), varied from that tired formula in one way: its hero wasn’t furry. Yes, Rex the Dinosaur bravely decided to stand out from the crowd by having skin and not fur, and his jumping, skateboard-riding, item-collecting talents were the envy of the platforming world. And thanks to his individuality and war against conformism, video games are better now.
Licensed games rarely work. Usually, the train wreck software that accompanies a movie is a total failure due to horrible gameplay or just an uninspired cash run banking on the property’s name (hello Transformers movie games!). Sometimes, however, developers get it right. Spot Goes to Hollywood was a game that showed signs that the industry was beginning to understand that justice could be done to marketing gimmicks, and it was successful enough to be released during two hardware generations at once. Though the isometric perspective might put off some gamers, this is definitely a neat little platformer that should definitely be played.
Genesis fans are well acquanted with Electronic Arts’ James Pond series. The Amiga-friendly fish had a total of four outings on Sega’s über console, the last of which was simply massive. Featuring over a hundred levles and a Super Mario World-like world map, it took Agent Pond on a mission to stop Dr. Maybe from crippling the world’s dairy industry by mining the Moon for cheese. Seriously. We have a full review of it for you, so please chedder out. Sorry, I had to try and slip at least one cheesy joke in. Ha! See what I did there?
The Flintstones weren’t the only ones to rock the stone age! In 1991, Core Design and Virgin Games released a hit platformer called Chuck Rock for multiple formats, and the game was a massive hit. It boasted lush visuals, large and detailed bosses, and possibly the most unattractive protagonist this side of Boogerman. It was followed by an enhanced Sega CD version and the eventual sequel. We’ve a full review of the Genesis original for ya, so put down that Brontosaurus (Apatosaurus?) burger and read up!