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Conker's Quest and Ken Griffey Jr.'s Slugfest for Game Boy Color, Tiger.com Pocket Pro By Chip and Jonathan Carter Tribune Media Services CONKER'S QUEST, FOR GAME BOY COLOR -- Here's a character who's been in the Nintendo lineup for quite a while without getting his own game. There's a reason for that. There's nothing wrong with either the character or the game independently. But together, they're an example of what can go wrong when worlds collide. Conker is a terminally cute little squirrel, and he and his world are too cute for gamers older than about 6 to appreciate. And, unfortunately, the action requires a lot more skill and coordination than the average tot can muster. At a birthday party for Conker, the Evil Acorn kidnaps his best friend Berri -- and all of the presents! Conker has to explore his forest world to find them. The action's a top-down exploring game, like the original Legend of Zelda for the old NES. You see the land and characters from above. As Conker explores, he encounters enemies like squirrel-eating plants and mechanical mice, and finds new places that offer clues to the whereabouts of his friend and the birthday goodies. All in all, we'd say Conker's real quest is to find a fit with an audience. JONATHAN SAYS : Gee, Conker is awfully ... cute. Girls might like the character, but I don't think they'll like punching and shooting things with slingshots, which is how Conker conquers bad guys. C. CHIP SAYS : If you can get beyond the fact that Conker is this adorable, fuzzy little squirrel, there's actually a pretty fair adventure game here. I especially like the way he scampers across the screen in running mode -- it's pretty funny, but it also helps move the game along quickly. B. OVERALL RATING: B -- NOT SURE WHO YOU’D RENT IT FOR! KEN GRIFFEY JR'S SLUGFEST, FOR GAME BOY COLOR -- Here's a chance for the Griffey gang to put the embarrassment of the N64 game behind them, and they seize it well. The Game Boy Color version of Slugfest is absolutely nothing like it's big brother -- and that's a good thing. This one reminds us of the old eight-bit NES baseball games -- and it should, since it is eight bits -- but it's much better than any of those moldy oldies. You get all the real teams and players, with rosters that fairly represent the '99 season. At the plate, there's no real interface -- you just move back and forth and up and down in the box and swing away when the pitcher throws the ball. There's no target locator when you're pitching, either -- you try to change speeds and manually make the ball curve to fool hitters into missing or hitting pop-ups and grounders. This is the best baseball title we've seen for the small screen. Don't come in expecting all the bells and whistles of a Next Gen baseball game and you won't be disappointed. JONATHAN SAYS : I guess I'm spoiled, but it's hard for me to go back to eight-bit baseball after playing the N64 and PlayStation versions. I'm not enough of a baseball fan to deal with it on Game Boy. C. CHIP SAYS : On the other hand, I'm a real baseball fan -- that's what lured me to home video games in the first place oh so many years ago. That means I'm more willing to suspend disbelief and be a little more forgiving in what I expect from a hand-held baseball game. Real teams, real players, decent action and good graphics -- what more could you want in a Game Boy baseball title? A. OVERALL RATING: A -- BUY IT FOR ALL AGES GAME.COM POCKET PRO, FROM TIGER -- Here's an updated version of Tiger's hand-held game system. It's a cheap ($29.99) alternative to other systems that has plenty of plusses, and a vast improvement over the original game.com. For starters, it's compact -- about the size of two Pop-Tarts stacked one atop the other. The touch-sensitive screen is monochrome (same as regular Game Boy), but there is a backlight you can turn on and off at will -- meaning you can play in low light conditions and even in total darkness. There's also a stylus that stores away neatly in back of the unit that let's you touch the screen with pinpoint control (and avoid all those messy finger smudges). But don't worry -- you don't do everything by touch. There's a directional controller on the left side of the screen, and four multipurpose buttons to the right, plus start/select buttons. Wheels on the side of the unit let you adjust volume and contrast. Games come in matchbook-sized cartridges and cost about $20. You can choose from a handful of titles ranging from Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune to trivia and memory games to brawlers like Mortal Kombat Trilogy and Duke Nukem. But equally important are the other functions. There's a phonebook that lets you store a handful of numbers, addresses and notes, a perpetual calendar, and a calculator, all of which makes this a very handy game system to have on the road. The original game.com had an Internet link that required special equipment to go on-line. That's not an option in the new version, but it doesn't really matter because that wasn't a very good idea in the first place. You don't really want to go-online when your keyboard interface is a stylus that does one letter at a time! JONATHAN SAYS : Games like Resident Evil and Mortal Kombat Trilogy don't do so well here (they don't on Game Boy either). But puzzle games like Jeopardy and the memory quiz Henry are a lot of fun. The real question is, will game makers continue to support the system with new titles? If they don't, then what's the point? You can't rent games for this system anywhere I know of, and even at $20 a pop, teens on a budget can't afford too many. B+. CHIP SAYS : At a bargain basement $29.99, nobody but a teen on a budget is much going to care how long the game.com sticks around. Who cares if it's obsolete in a year -- it's cool now! The system made it through its first year in a much-less convenient form -- the new configuration can't do anything but help its survival odds. The game.com wouldn't be my first choice as a gaming system, but it does a lot of things well. I like the puzzle games too, but the other functions are equally appealing -- and the back light alone makes game.com worth the price. It's convenient to me to have a single unit that lets me travel with so many options at my fingertips. A. OVERALL RATING: A -- BUY IT FOR ALL AGES. TIPS AND TRICKS SOUTH PARK PINBALL, AND SOUTH PARK FOR N64 -- So, is South Park on its last legs like some folks are saying? We hope not. With the movie due in theaters in a week and two new games coming this summer, we're betting there's life in Parker's and Stone's boys yet. Meanwhile, if you haven't seen the new South Park pinball machine in arcades, it's a must. It's also the first pinballer we've ever seen with codes! For a league play mode, deposit your dough, then hold the left flipper button and press start. For a "wizard" mode, hold both flippers and press start. The N64 South Park title is still going strong, especially among gamers who like multiplayer action, so we thought some of the best codes for that one could bear repeating. To access all characters in multiplayer mode, enter the password OMGTKKYB. And for an ultimate code that gives you all the cheats, enter the password BOBBYBIRD. 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