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Release Date: October 20, 2000 WHEN THE MUPPETS GET TRANSFORMED INTO EVIL VERSIONS OF THEMSELVES WHO YOU GONNA CALL? A SMALL FROG, OF COURSE Cuteness. Love it □r loathe it, if* definitely a driving force - and selling point - in videogames, helping to propel the likes of Spyro, Rayman and Nintendo's Mario to Platinum levels of performance. So when Hermit The Frog's nephew Robin hops and gribbets his way on to your screen in Moppet Monster Adventure don't be surprised to find yourself cooing “Aww! He's 1 0000 cute!" Maybe. Sadly though, all is not well in the land of the Muppets, Kermit and the gang have been transformed into evil-doing versions of themselves; even The Frog himself has been changed into a bolt-necked Frankenstein's monster - with Miss Piggy as his bride, of course. Luckily for children, and nostalgia-mongers, everywhere Kermit's nephew Robin has taken it upon himself to set the world to rights, and rescue the Muppets from their evil purgatory. But aside from the cuteness-overload, the first thing that strikes you when you play Moppet Monster Adventure is how beautifully smooth the game engine is. Robin leaps, swims, flies and tussles with all the grace of a swan (pretty good going for a pubescent frog), and never once does the game seem to suffer from glitches or other ill-effects. It's also as pretty as a peach in the looks department, with plenty of eye-friendly colony smooth polygons and funny characters. Wisely, developer Traveller's Tales has added the kind of humorous little touches that “Even Kermit has been changed into a bolt-necked Frankenstein’s monster” makes the Muppet Show appealing to more than just the little 'urn. Take the voices, for example - surprise a wandering peacock, and hell squawk in an absurdly human manner before flapping off in a tizz. The game's awash with these incidental touches, and they really do help to enrich the environments you explore, and the mini-games you inevitably come across, We like it already. Whether we actually find ourselves falling In love with it, however, will depend on what turns up in the finished version.

Release Date: February 29, 2000 JOHN MCCLANE DIES HARDER DURING ANOTHER NIGHTMARE CHRISTMAS IN THIS LATEST BRUCIE BONUS. YIPPIE-KI-YAY, UM... YOU KNOW THE REST. Should you discover that some Eastern European terrorist organisation is threatening to take over your office building, our advice is to change into a vest and go kick Hans’ butt. It works for Bruce. The numerically challenged might struggle to comprehend the title to Fox’s latest game. As the sequel to 1996’s original, this version retains the three disparate genres (Goldeneye-style third person, Virtua Cop first person on rails, and Driver style abusive driving), but weaves its own story using John McClane and, yep, dodgy-accented terrorism. This time, though, rather than split the three genres, the game mixes and matches them within the story itself. The third person view gives you freedom of movement, your red laser sight illuminating the skulls of your targets. More puzzle-based than the original, this is a style that would rather have you exploring dangerous locations than provide a map. A range of weapons can be used to keep marauding guards and foreigners at bay, but sometimes stealth is the preferred option. The first-person levels are your classic light gun shooters on tracks. Supporting the G-Con45, the PlayStation Mouse and a standard controller, shooting hidden items can unlock options in later levels. For instance, should you find a set of keys, it can give you. an alternative vehicle in which to charge around Las Vegas. The driving sections are no less frantic. Tight for time, you are given a number of different missions, from collecting and delivering bombs to smashing up terrorists' getaway vehicles. There's even one level where you're an undercover cab driver and have to deliver fares across the city. The style-hopping Movie Mode covers 13 different missions, but there are 28 in the Arcade Mode, where, like the original, you play through a sequence of maps all set within the one game type. Secret levels demonstrate the developer's sense of fun and add longevity and depth - we particularly like the section in the First-Person Mode that lets you shoot mime artists before they, "annoy you to death." It's more of the same really, but a reasonably compelling Movie Mode and some more advanced puzzles and surprises should make Die Hard Trilogy 2 as big a hit as the original. If it all sounds a bit too much, we'd recommend making fists with your toes. "This time the game mixes the three genres within the story"