Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

Hey, seems like the oldies never die. They just find themselves back on my computer years later. Remember Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri? It came out way back when and it was heralded as one of the best turn-based games ever! You can still get it as EA Games mass-produces them for their laptop value packs. It's a good game, although ironically it doesn't seem to want to play on my laptop right out of the box. Something about an incompatible processor...

The game is really in-depth and it'll keep you busy for several hours. I plan on playing it on my next trip out to Illinois if I can figure out what's wrong and make it work on my laptop. It's a great game for that too since it doesn't use the CD-ROM drive, nor does it need 3D acceleration. The battery will last awhile during play time... a good thing too since the game is so very long.

The game is a lot like Sid Meier's Civilization and Civilization II which game out many years ago. You control a fledgling faction and guide it through the path you believe will lead to ultimate victory. You can choose to fight, negotiate, spy, or do many other things in order to win the game. The course of the game spans several hundred years, chronicaling the landing on "Planet" to the advancement and transcendence of the human race. You can play with up to six other AI's or six humans, or anything in-between. You can also customize the planet you're on and make it more (or less) suitable for growth. The game gives you lots of options, and you can even create your own worlds or modify the alphax.ini file in order to customize unit stats, technology names, and add your very own factions to the game. It'll definitely keep you busy once you get hooked. Hours will drift on by as you play...

You can buy this sucker online, or in one of EA's game packs. If you've never played a turn-based strategy game before, it may be a bit much to bite off, but once you get the hang of it it's really fun. I just can't seem to find anyone who is willing to play it with me. :-\

Raiden Trad

Do you remember those classic side-scrolling/vertical-scrolling shooters where your only objective was to stay alive and blow up as many things as you possibly could? Well, I pulled it out and dusted it off to give it a shot on the Super Nintendo. I originally bought the game for Sega Genesis, but I found out they made it for the SNES as well. I've officially played through and beaten both, and for the most part they're quite similar. The SNES version seems to be easier, and not quite as graphically-intense as the Genesis version. As gamers from that era know, the SNES had more colors to use, but it ran at a slower clock-speed than the Sega Genesis.

The controls are nearly identical, and other than the graphics and some different sound effects, they're the same exact game with the same bosses. If I had to pick between the two, I would go with the Genesis version since it has prettier graphics and doesn't have any slowdown when there is a lot of action on the screen. It may difficult to pick up either of those games, but you may be able to find them in the bargain bin at Electronics Boutique or online at E-Bay. If you liked those classic shooters with non-stop action, you'll like Raiden Trad!