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This game is the very first homebrew released for the Jaguar by long term scene member Terance “The Graphics Man” Williams and was several years in the making. Rather original in concept, Madbodies is a cross between Breakout and a traditional space shooter. At the bottom of the screen you have a bat which you must use to deflect the planets and objects thrown at you by bosses. Then you also have a square target that you can move around the screen to shoot the baddies. Sounds complicated? Well yes it is at first and certainly takes some getting used to. If this isn’t enough though the game is also brutally hard. The enemies thrown at you are relentless, bosses take ages to kill and sometimes there are so many objects you need to deflect that its impossible to move your bat in time, cheap deaths are the order of the day here. Graphics wise the game is nothing special but one it comes to the sound this game really excels. There is great music and some of the funniest speech samples you will hear in a video game. I really wanted to like Madbodies because the idea is very cool and it’s clear that a massive amount of work when into it. An easier version was promised but has sadly never materialised, which is a shame because with some small fixes this game could be rather good.

Missile Command is still to this day, in my opinion, one of the greatest arcade games ever made. While its plot and gameplay was so indicative of the era with the nuclear weapons race and cold war paranoia constantly in the headlines its gameplay has never aged and remains just as addictive to this day. For those stupid enough to have never played Missile Command it involves using 3 bases to shoot down the incoming missiles in order to protect your cities. As the levels progress the missiles increase in both speed and number making it harder to take them down and use your limited ammo effectively. This Jaguar update of the game was actually the only game released to take advantage of the cancelled VR helmet. As well as the original game there is a plus mode that uses new graphics and a scrolling screen but the real coup de grace is the stunning VR mode. This doesn’t just transfer the game into a 3D texture mapped polygon environment, it also turns it into a whole new experience as you become completely immersed in each new 3D world. You watch the missiles fall all around you and now you also have enemy ships attacking you too that when shot down give you power-ups. At the end of each level there are massive bosses to contend with too. MC3D looks stunning in every way, sounds stunning in every way and plays stunning in every way. For me this is the best game on the system bar none and one that I only wish had come much earlier in the Jag’s life.

The original NBA Jam was a massive smash hit in the arcades, it took the popular sport of basketball and turned it into an outlandish multi-player experience. The Tournament Edition improved on this even further by adding a (you guessed it!) tournament mode and an even bigger roster. Rather than full NBA line-ups this game has just the top players from each team and takes the form of a 2-on-2 contest. Players have usual stats like 3 pointers, rebounds, speed and dunks but also now have outlandish special moves. These include dunks that set the net on fire, Superman like leaps and amazing bursts of speed. These can be activated in several ways including picking up the items that randomly litter the court. This is what NBA Jam is really all about and turns this into a real arcade experience over a traditional sports sim. Graphically is has a unique style too with it’s big heads on small bodies making it easy to recognise who you are, there are also a host of hidden celebrities to play as too! This is widely considered the best conversion of the game and when you hook up a multi-tap for some 4-player action this game is almost unbeatable!