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Aircars is a first person polygon shooter very much in the vein of Atari's own Hoverstrike only not as pretty. The plot is a load of old tosh with some business about scientists and stolen weapons, all you need know about is that you get to drive an Aircar and blast the shit out of the enemies! Much like another similar game Cybermorph you also have buildings that can be blasted away and teleports to take you to different parts of the level. Each level has set objectives that are presented to you before you start such as taking out radar or recovering stolen technology. Despite this there is really isn't much variation to the levels but there is plenty of variation to the enemies trying to stop you from tanks and hovercraft to gun towers and force fields and there are many bolt on weapons you can collect too such as machine guns and rocket launchers. You also have an on-screen radar to detect enemies and if you are lucky enough to own the instructions they have a keypad cover printed on the back to make weapon selection easy. This game may be all in 3D with polygons and shading but it ain't to pretty; the frame rate is pretty poor and some of the polys look very rough and there is some pretty garish colour used in parts. Sound wise it isn't too bad with speech music and plenty of effects but where this game does have a strongpoint is in its gameplay. Not only is it networkable but the single player game is challenging with great control, plenty to blast and superb enemy A.I. Overall Aircars is a decent FPS for the Jag that get far more criticism than it deserves. Sure it looks like the deformed bastard child of Cybermorph but is still great fun to play with.

Aircars ’94 is just an early prototype of the commercial Aircars game reviewed above. It was released to the community thanks to long time scener Gaztee and the owner of the prototype Marco Pasquale, otherwise known as Litoskin. Rather than explain what the game is all about again I will just list the differences for you: The Aircars themselves appear to be rougher models of the released game. The keypad configuration is different, with the biggest difference being that 'option' is used to zoom in/out of the map not the 0 key. The 0 key changes the colour of the compass, so that it doesn't mix with the background and Key 2 doesn't appear to do anything. The sound for the craft seems to be quieter. The orange power-up icons stay on the screen until you select them with button 5. The ability to stop your Aircar turning at 90 degrees cannot be switched off. The HUD is quite obviously different to the released version. There is no red border on the map or screen to tell you that you've come to the edge of the play field. Selecting the levels is different - you press up on the 94 version & down on the released version. The frame rate is much slower than the released version. The compass spins when your radar is damaged, you can however use the location co-ordinates if you know where you need to go! That’s it really, no massive difference to the actual gameplay and nothing to make it worth buying over the retail release.

AVP along with Tempest 2000 has become synonymous with the Jaguar and is often, also with T2K, cited as one of the machines only good games (very wrongly of course). Some people within the Jag scene feel that it hasn’t aged that well but for me this game is every bit the same atmospheric experience it was back in 1994. AVP is often described as a FPS, I have always had a problem with this as while it appears to be that way in style its really more of an adventure game. You get to choose to be the Alien, Predator or the Marine and each one has their own individual mission that also involves the other 2 characters. The game plays differently depending on which one of them you choose. The Predator’s mission involves more fighting, the Alien more stealth and the Marine is a cross between the two. The game is set in a space station with the Alien ship docked at one end and the Predator ship at the other. Moving around the different levels is a genuinely scary experience, I have never played another game that made me jump like this did when it first came out. Rebellion went on to do several sequels to this game on other platforms but I don’t think they ever captured the atmosphere and feel of this game again. If you own a Jaguar then you should own AVP, it’s that simple.

Released in limited numbers to the community by long serving Jag scene members Gusbucket 13 and OMF this is an early prototype of the Jaguar’s best selling Alien Vs. Predator game that features quite a few differences from the retail release. These include a different on-screen HUD, different wall textures and a different looking Predator. Apart from that the gameplay is pretty much identical apart from the fact this version crashes randomly when you are playing it. If you are a really hardcore collector or a huge fan of the original game then you may find this release interesting just to see how it progressed over its development cycle but for the rest of us out there it really isn’t worth bothering with.

Programmed back in the day by V-Real this is an un-completed game that was officially licensed from the US Arena Football league. The game starts off with some incredibly slick presentation screens including digitised images and options accompanied by some cool music. You can select to play exhibitions or a full season and then select your team. There is a write-up of each team telling you a brief bit of history and their chances for the season and then it’s into the game. This is where it begins to show its a proto, first of all it looks really nice with a 3D panning arena, scaling players and a good 3/4 perspective view. Then you start to notice that it’s very hard to distinguish your players from the opponents and that the crowd is 2D. Also the camera sometimes looses the action and flips views often to really confuse you. There is minimal sound with just a few crowd noises. It plays very much like Troy Aikmen with not as many plays; you can throw run and tackle but very strangely the game goes to set up a conversion after a touchdown then suddenly switches back to kicking again. I did find it very easy to score and its quite clear all the A.I. wasn't implemented but I still had loads of fun playing it. For an incomplete game Arena Football is really cool and shows once again what could have been for the Jag.

An unashamed Mario Kart rip-off the most interesting thing about this game is that one of the stars of the game is none other than Bentley Bear who was last seen in the classic Crystal Castles! The rest of the characters you can race as are a bunch of nobodies but they do all have their own attributes. One thing Atari Karts has over the Nintendo game is that the courses also have hills and different terrain, which has been really nicely implemented. But you gain one thing and lose another as there aren’t any real power-ups in this game other than a few lame things like speed-up and traction. Atari Karts offers a host of different cups to race in and also a split screen 2-player mode, it looks utterly fantastic and has some superb music too. It starts to fall down a bit when it comes to the gameplay though due to 1 massive flaw. On the castle levels the tracks feature sharp stone corners, hit one of these and you stop dead. Leaving the rest of the pack to speed past you while you swear at the TV. This is incredibly annoying and spoils what is otherwise an amazingly enjoyable game. That said though you can get over it and the good does outweigh the bad here, be warned though as because this was one of the last games released for the system it now fetches a very high price!

The aliens have invaded and brought a terrible weapon of destruction with them called the Doomscale. Controlling either Bernard or Rodney you must stop them from activating it. You can arm Rodney with baseball bats, super clubs and torch breath or arm Bernard with frying pans, electric pans, boomerang pans and give him Samurai powers. These are not the only weapons at your disposal though as you can also use dynamite, glue and the machines too! The object of Attack of the Mutant Penguins is to get rid of the alien and mutant penguins any way you can and progress to the next level. I suppose this game is similar in ways to something like Lemmings or Dino Dudes as it’s essentially a strategy puzzle game but boy is it weird. It took me ages to figure out how to play this game properly and even when I did I still didn’t really get it. The game does look very nice with detailed high-colour graphics and very nice animation. It also has some nice music and sound effects adding to the comedy touches. But I just find this game hard to recommend due to the confusing and down right strange gameplay. This is definitely a Marmite game as there does seem to be many people out there who really enjoy it but I am most certainly not one of them!

This game starring former NBA MVP and Team USA member Charles Barkley was originally left unreleased for the Jaguar until a near complete prototype surfaced several years later and was sold by B&C Computer Visions. Shut Up & Jam is for the most part a rip-off of Midway’s popular NBA Jam but without such outlandish moves and lacks real players. Rather than just taking place in real arenas this game takes the action to out door courts too and has a much more street style to it. Like the other 2 basketball games on the Jaguar it also takes advantage of the multi-tap to offer up to 4-players competing at once, 2 on each team. One other quite cool feature of this game is the Pong mini-game. Because of its heavy use of digitised graphics it has to de-compress each game before you play it (AVP on the Jag does this too) and while you wait you get compete in a basketball themed version of the early video game. The use of all the digitised graphics is really nice but they really lack in animation and look a bit choppy at times. The game is also very frustrating to play with a strange method of player control and a high level of difficulty. Of the 3 Jaguar basketball games this is definitely the weakest and only worth picking up if you are a hardcore fan of the sport or a “must have them all” collector.

Originally known as Star Battle this very rare and controversial title for the Jaguar is very much like an update of Atari’s classic Star Raiders. The game involves 7 races, the Oppressors, the Smg'Heeds, the O'catanut, the Slith, the Se'bab, the Telchines and the Thunderbirds fighting a war over who will control and colonise the galaxy. It features 5 different play modes and the ability to play over a network of up to 16 consoles, each with a pilot and an optional gunner, for a total of 32 potential players. Of course given the rarity of the console not to mention the extreme rarity of the game and the Catbox needed for the network play it’s highly unlikely you will ever get to experience this, although 2-player link-up is not uncommon at Jagfest events. The single player modes in this 3D polygon space shooter include a mode where you play alone battling against the empire, an all out free for all war and the gauntlet mode that is played by completing increasingly tougher waves one after another. It is often boasted, especially by the coders, that Battle Sphere is the most impressive game for the Jaguar and although the 3D graphics are very good they are no way as impressive as games like Skyhammer or Missile Command 3D. There is a nice soundtrack, great sound effects and the gameplay is very well implemented. At the end of the day there is no denying that Battle Sphere is a good game but it’s a long way from being the best on the Jaguar and most certainly not worth the absurd $1000+ price that it regularly goes for on eBay.

Part of Atari’s 2000 series, that took their classic games and brought them up to date in 64-bit style, Breakout 2000 is based on the oldest game of them all. The original Breakout arcade game came out in 1976 and was actually the brainchild of the future Apple founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wosniak! This updated Jaguar version contains the very simple original game that launched thousands of clones along side a new 3D update. In the new version the basic gameplay is the same but there is one radical change. You now view the bat from behind in a 3D tunnel. As well as the rows of bricks there are also little alien space ships that try to shoot holes in your bat but also drop very useful power-ups, much like the famous Breakout clone Arkanoid. It sounds like it might be a little confusing and hard to see but when you play it you will find it works very well indeed. Both the graphics and sound in B2K are nothing special but both do the job well enough. The game is a lot of fun to play, especially in 2-player, as I said but I did find that after a few levels I do start to get a bit bored. Fans of these brick breaking style games should definitely check this one out.

For me this one of the most surprising unreleased Jaguar titles, given that this prototype is near enough finished and even more so considering the amount of money that must have been spent on the licensing too. Not only does it have the legendary Brett Hull’s name but also a full NHL license and even commentary by well-known American commentator Al Michaels! Using it special Dynamic Camera system Brett Hull gives the player a 3D view of the ice that moves and pans as you do meaning you don’t miss a bit of the action. Every element of the sport is here too with face offs, barges, penalties and of course fighting! The game features all the real NHL teams, all with their own attributes, as well as all-star teams too. The only thing you will notice that is lacking from making this complete is that on the commentary Al Michaels’ says the player number instead of the name, this is due to the studio waiting for current rosters to be finalised before release. The graphics are really nice, the sound is excellent and it’s very playable too. This is right up there with the best sports games for the system.

A conversion of the Commodore Amiga title of the same name this was the very first 3rd party game to come out for the Jaguar. It’s a perfect example of one of the things the Jaguar often gets derided for, a 16-bit port that doesn’t really seem to take any extra advantage of the hardware on offer. It would be a fair comment to say it looks and sounds no better than the Amiga original and it even has a bit of (downright inexcusable) slowdown too. But in common with several other Jaguar titles like Cannon Fodder and Sensible Soccer it doesn’t stop it from still being a really good game. I challenge anyone to tell me what isn’t fun about a footy (well it’s more like rugby actually) game where you get to stamp on, punch and even decapitate your opponents! To call this game violent is actually understating it and there is nothing more fun than removing the head of another player and kicking it into the goal! If you looking are looking for a brainless, fun and all action title for your Jaguar that you can play on your own or with a friend then look no further than Brutal Sports Football.

Bubsy one of the few mascots who came along to compete with Sonic that people not only remember but also survived beyond a couple of games and even made it into 3D. The one thing most people seem to remember about this feline is how bloody annoying he is! You will be pleased to hear that in this exclusive Jaguar game he is even more annoying than ever! The whole story of the game is based on popular children’s fairy takes from Alice In Wonderland and Jack & The Beanstalk to Ali Baba & The 40 Thieves. Each level takes on a different story and all the enemies and objects for that stage follow the same theme. It’s a shame that the programmers didn’t put as much effort into the actual game as they did in recreating all these popular stories. Bubsy is basically a very bog standard platformer that is not only devoid of originality but has some of the worst collision detection I have ever experienced. If this doesn’t make you swear profusely then the smart remarks that come out of Bubsy’s mouth will! The graphics aren’t too bad the sound is ok but nothing can really save this dog of a game. It’s titles like this that gave the Jaguar it’s unfair bad reputation.

War has never been so much fun! Well that’s what the song sings when you first boot up this game, a brilliant conversion of the hit 16-bit computer game. Using Sensible Software’s trademarks of small sprites, lots of humour and simple gameplay to create a strategy war game , Cannon Fodder, is one of those games that everyone should have played at least once. All you basically do is move your little band of troops around each level killing all the enemy soldiers. You do this by moving a target around that will either make your soldiers move to that place or shoot the hell out of what ever is there! It almost seems too simple and that’s the beauty of this game. The levels do get quite complex with real thought and tactics needed in order to complete some missions but the simplicity of the gameplay makes it so much more accessible than other games of this ilk. The graphics are pretty much the same as the 16-bit versions just with more colours on screen and the sound isn’t much different either. Cannon Fodder is game that you really should buy if you don’t already have it for another console or computer, apart from that there really isn’t any reason to own this version instead. Still a bloody excellent game though!

Originally known as Redline Racing the name was later changed to Checkered Flag II as a sequel to the excellent Lynx game before the dropped the 2 for whatever reason. Coded by Rebellion software, who were also responsible Alien Vs. Predator and are still around today, this game is nothing more than a blatant rip-off of Sega’s Virtua Racing arcade game. Checkered Flag has a multitude of options that can be played around with including a season mode but sadly no 2-player option. You soon start to see the 1 major failing of this game , the controls. The story goes that Rebellion were looking for a realistic control method but what’s here is an over sensitive frustrating mess. A careful combination of tapping the direction and the brake can be mastered and to be honest once you do this game actually becomes quite playable. There are plenty of good things about CF from the many options, great camera views and multitude of different tracks to the nice 3D graphics, music and save feature. It’s just a shame the controls were never fixed because if they had been then Checkered Flag would have been a very accomplished racer for the Jaguar.

Coming out at the same time as the much derided Checkered Flag this is the Jaguar’s other 3D polygon racer. Despite being lambasted in the press even more than Checkered Flag these days people tend to forget this title and turn all their vitriol to the Virtua Racing clone. I can safely say that this is by far the worst game of the two and its only redeeming feature is its multi-player mode. The main game is just so utterly pointless it honestly defies belief. All you do is drive your car around a 3D landscape, yep that’s it! No other cars, no time limits or checkpoints and no point! Just to make it worse the 3D graphics look ugly, have an incredibly choppy frame rate and have no textures. In the split screen two player mode the game becomes slightly more fun as you basically play tag around the levels, still nothing thrilling though. I will also say that Club Drive does have some good music and nice sound effects, which is something I suppose. If you have a Jag then avoid this game like the plague unless you really really want a new game to play against your friend.

Also often referred to as Trevor McFur this game was one of the launch titles for the system and began life as a title for the cancelled 32-bit Atari Panther console. I still remember seeing the first screenshots of this game in magazines back in the day and drooling over them. With it’s ray traced graphics and thousands of on screen colours it really was a sign of things to come. With this horizontal shooter though it’s a big case of all looks and no real product. As a graphics demo this is superb but as a game it’s not so great. The biggest problem with this title is that it’s just really generic and not that fun to play. I have always had a problem with its lack of sound too, no music and just a few measly effects isn’t really good enough for a game of this time. One interesting fact about this title is that it was originally billed as a sequel to Gates Of Zendocon on the Lynx and you will certainly see a number of the same enemies re-appear in this game. If you are a shoot ‘em up fanatic then you may want to give Crescent Galaxy a look but otherwise it’s a pretty mediocre experience.

Originally starting life on Atari’s abandoned 32-bit Atari Panther console, Cybermorph, became the launch / pack-in game for their new 64-bit console. For some reason this game seems to get a lot of stick these days and people seem forget all the awards and acclaim this game received when it was first released. Then there is also the laughable comparison to Star Fox on the SNES where the delusional Nintendo fanboys try to claim their game is somehow superior. Unlike the SNES game this space shooter is not on rails and offers a full fly anywhere 3D world. It also features gouraud shaded polygon landscapes and objects with some amazing (for the time) morphing effects. The levels require much more than shooting though as you also have to collect all the pods in order to open the exit. There are lots of other things to contend with too like teleporters, force fields and giant bosses. Even though it has now been surpassed by its CD sequel Battlemorph this is still an incredibly enjoyable game, even with the poor draw distance and lack of music. Where did you learn to fly?