Source: PSM – Issue Number 6 – February 1998
I don’t know if it was in fact the most popular PlayStation magazine but PSM (short for PlayStation Monthly) always seemed to be. The February 1998 issue includes:
Features
- Cover Story: Massive Resident Evil 2 Preview! – Survival horror was all the rage at the time so the upcoming Resident Evil 2 was a pretty big deal. This was a last minute preview before the game was released.
- What Makes Good Gameplay? – This covers everything from innovation to character design to game length to difficulty level and much more.
- Alundra: The Ultimate Secrets Guide – Getting to secret places, finding secret items and how to use them.
- Final Fantasy Tactics: Tips and Items – Some tips on doing well in Final Fantasy Tactics as well as descriptions and abilities of all of the character classes and all of the items.
- Star Wars: The Ultimate Secrets Guide – This covers Masters of Teras Kasi. Not the best fighting game in the world but this strategy guide will teach you all of the moves and combos for each character.
- Broken Sword: The Complete Walkthrough – These guides can be a blessing and a curse. While it is useful to have somewhere to look if you are stuck, the temptation to look ahead and ruin the game for yourself is high for some reason.
- Steel Reign: All the Hidden Tank Power-Ups – Each level in this tank shooter has a hidden power up and this guide tells you where to find each one.
- Grand Tour Racing: The Hidden Bonus Levels – Three extra tracks and how to find them.
Main Menu
- Monitor – The latest PlayStation News: Metal Gear Solid gets U.S. release date; new 3D Contra game on the way; Eidos shows off Ninja; Sony exceeds sales goals (one million PlayStations sold in November 1997 alone); Alien: Resurrection game coming soon; info about the Net Yaroze Development system and how to get one; Tekken 3 coming soon; Metal Slug coming soon; Sony considers renaming Gran Turismo for U.S. market (but that didn’t happen); Square’s deal with Sony expires; Bushido Blade 2 in the works; Namco working on Soul Edge 2; some info on the upcoming Tenchu; other upcoming releases include Einhander, 3-D Fighter Maker, Bust A Move, Gundam the Battle Master 2, and more.
- Reviews
- Alundra – A pretty good action RPG from Working Designs.
- Micro Machines V3 – The latest iteration of Micro Machines gets an ok review here.
- FIFA ’98 – Is it soccer or football?
- Auto Destruct – Compared in this review to a city-based Spy Hunter.
- Nagano Winter Olympics ’98 – Winter Games on the Commodore 64 is still my favorite Olympics themed game.
- One – A 3rd person run and gun game reminiscent of an action movie.
- Tennis Arena – A mediocre tennis game.
- Lode Runner – An update of the classic that doesn’t get a very good review here.
- Reel Fishing – I was never a fan of video game fishing.
- NBA In The Zone ’98 – An OK basketball game that might tide over fans who were waiting for something better.
- Dragon Ball GT Final Bout – An apparently terrible fighting game.
- Broken Sword – What turns out to be a not so great graphics adventure.
- Ray Tracer – A racing game that looks and plays like a lot of others but isn’t as good.
- Also a look back at Twisted Metal, WipeOut and ESPN Extreme Games
- Previews – Previews of upcoming games, including: Bloody Roar, Gex 2, Breath of Fire III, Tekken 3, Rascal, Tonba, Newman-Hass Racing, Master of Monsters, Mega Man Neo, Power Boat Racing, Need for Speed 3, Diablo, Riven and NBA Shootout ’98.
- Code Junkies – Codes to get infinite lives in Frogger, various easter eggs in NCAA GameBreaker ’98, a first person view in Armored Core, invincibility and level select in Fighting Force, plus tons more codes for G Police, Pandemonium 2, MK Mythologies – Sub-Zero, NHL ’98, Tomb Raider 2, Courier Crisis, Resident Evil: Director’s Cut, NHL FaceOff’ 98, Nuclear Strike, Grand Tour Racing, Colony Wars, Fantastic Four, Bravo Air Race, Castlevania X, Moto Racer, Dragon Ball GT, and more plus a bunch of Game Shark codes too.
- Letters – Feedback on previous content, ‘Girls and Games’, questions about RPGs, retrogaming on the PlayStation, and more.
- Reset – Coming next month, a massive Resident Evil 2 strategy guide, a preview of Dead or Alive, and the PlayStation’s craziest, wackiest games (and much more I’m sure).
…and more!
