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Mario Golf, Barbie's Ocean Discovery, WWF Attitude By Chip and Jonathan Carter Tribune Media Services MARIO GOLF, FOR N64 � One of the greatest games ever made was a golf game for the Game Boy that came out under the simple title, Golf, almost a decade ago. The physics were tremendous, the graphics were great, the game play was fun and challenging. All of which made us wonder why the gang at Nintendo never came through with a follow-up. We're not wondering anymore. Instead, we're spending all our time playing the wondrous Mario Golf for the N64. You can play as famous Nintendo characters like Yoshi and the squawling Baby Mario, or pick more realistic characters and take to the links. Any of those characters can take advantage of different strengths and even limited-use features like "power shots" that let you muscle up and swing like Tiger or taunts that let you try to throw off your opponents' timing. There are six terrific courses to choose from, including a mini-golf course that's a hoot. You can play alone or with up to three friends in any variety of golfing competition imaginable. JONATHAN SAYS : I'm not much of a golfer, and I don't usually go for golf games, but this one's a gas. When it first arrived I played it nonstop for hours. A+. CHIP SAYS : I am a golfer, and I do go for golf games ... and this is one of the best I've ever seen. The non-Nintendo characters are a little cartoony, but the action's all real-life. A+. OVERALL RATING : A+ � BUY IT FOR ALL AGES. BARBIE'S OCEAN DISCOVERY, FOR GAME BOY COLOR � There's been a lot of noise in recent years that video games exclude girls. Companies have been trying to find ways to get more girls to play. So now we get this. Guess what? It ain�t gonna help. In this one, Barbie dons swim fins (but strangely no mask or air tanks) for a treasure hunting dip in the ocean depths. The graphics are actually quite good. Barbie paddles through a brightly-colored coral reef as pretty fishies swim around her. But it's all downhill from there. This one's about as challenging as typing a row of X's on a keyboard. As Barbie swims, she looks for shells that open the door to minigames. There's no other challenge as she swims � just look for the shells. And the minigames are horrible, ranging from a picture puzzle with a mere six pieces to a coloring book-style maze that asks you to reunite baby turtles with their mother. Finish the games once and you get to do them again and again and again, with a slight increase in difficulty � but not enjoyment � each time. There's not a shred of innovation or imagination here. It'll be a shame if girls buy this game just because of the Barbie name � it might actually drive more girls away from gaming than it draws to it. It's crass corporate manipulation at its worst, and all but the very youngest of players will be very disappointed. JONATHAN SAYS : I'm a certified scuba diver, so I kind of have to wonder how Barbie can get away with not wearing a mask and tanks. Is she worried about messing up her hair? Blecchhh! Burn it! Burn it! F. CHIP SAYS : Jonathan feels that way because he's a 13-year-old male. I, on the other hand, am a mature grown man with an all-encompassing perspective ... and I hate this game, too. This one's actually insulting to scuba divers and to girls. Especially girls. Is Mattel, by putting this one on the market, suggesting that the reason girls don't play video games is that they're too hard? Don't just burn it � flush the ashes as well. F. OVERALL RATINGS : F � SKIP IT, DESPITE THE TEMPTATION. WWF: ATTITUDE, FOR PLAYSTATION � Video rasslin's got a brand-new champeen. This game is tremendous. Sure it's been delayed, but it was worth the wait. Here now are more than 40 of your favorite grapplers, including Stone Cold, The Rock, Mankind, The Undertaker and dozens of others. You can also create and customize wrestlers � and we're not just talking about costumes. Sure you've seen games where you can pick size and hair color and the like � Attitude actually lets you choose your wrestlers move sets. You can also customize clothing with names or slogans (far as we can tell there's no censorship!) You get all the signature moves of the featured grapplers, plus 20 game modes with new specialty matches like Lumberjack (one-on-one with two partners lurking outside the ring to punish those who stray too far), Tornado (two-on-two at once, with no tag team rules) and four-on-one and tag team Gauntlet matches. This is Acclaim's last game with the WWF license, and they've apparently decided not to pull any punches. .. so to speak. This is smashin', bashin', rasslin' action at its very best. Fans will never have to buy pay-per-view again. JONATHAN SAYS : This one's da bomb. I love the create-a-character � I make giant wrestlers with goofy slogans on their shirts. A+. CHIP SAYS : If I had to play one wrestling game ... I wouldn't do it. Joke! I'm not the biggest WWF fan in the world, but this game certainly has its strong points. And it's by far the best ring game yet. A. OVERALL RATING : A � BUY IT FOR WRESTLING FANS. TIPS AND TRICKS Check out these great tricks and passwords for Quake II for the N64: For a bonus multiplayer level, enter the password: FBBC VBBB FBBC VBF7. For infinite ammo in mutiplayer mode, enter S3T1 NF1N 1T3S H0TS. And for low gravity, try S3TL 0WGR V1TY ????. For a special mission mode, enter FBBC VBBB FBBC VBF7. And if you just can't wait, here are the password for every level. Choose the "load game" option then press B and enter these: PGBG VF6B M0BH X3CF; 1KLS DN5H 7NBF DWRQ; 2KLR SDRY ?VV4 YQ8X; VK3T 7LFC 94B7 D3R3; WK3H QNBW NLV5 XGL3; TK7P 6LLP KWGY XD4V; ST0N QPX4 2WGY JXTS; R??P 7NY4 2WGX 99TX; Q??K BBBV NBQ1 7GCV; P64? ZM5B ?BM0 5YH6; N664 SQ63 XB?K B7LF; M682 M7QT 1215 8098; L669 H8MD G8XB JNYV; K681 X8CL H01K 1PF5; J6?0 BT5M NRZ2 QXLL; H6?0 XXFW PHV1 77P4; G6?9 GYMK RWNK SMSL; F6Y3 WXQK CHD0 8K4D; F60? VQCH ?BHF DQQL. Chip & Jonathan Carter are a father/son gaming team who've been twiddling their thumbs professionally since 1990. For more tips, tricks, reviews and news, check us out on-line at http://vgames.webpoint.com/vid/ecol/mainpage . Or e-mail us at [email protected] . Got a question? An inside tip you'd like to share? Write to Chip and Jonathan Carter in care of this newspaper. While they cannot respond individually, they will answer questions of general interest in their column. (C) 1999 TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC. Techno file index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA