Fur Fighters

With less controversial games receiving bad publicity and the threat of expulsion from the nation's shelves, Fur Fighters on Dreamcast seems to have crept past the public eye without a second glance, largely due to the fact that it involves mass destruction of some fairly lovable animals, it maintained a cute and cuddly style throughout and though it looks like one for the kids, looks can be deceiving.

Fur Fighters is a fairly enjoyable mixture of simple puzzles and third-person shooting, where you control six fluffy animals in an attempt to save the eponymous Fighters' babies who have been kidnapped by the evil General Viggo. Plenty of shooting and leaping about are the staple diet here, but there are also side tasks to enjoy, such as playing basketball or even controlling a space shuttle and switching between the different characters certainly adds variety, as you combine their different skills to rescue babies and complete the level.

Quirky references are frequently added to the plot and, while the dialogue isn't side-splitting, it's hard to hold back a chuckle every now and then. There are also some extremely satisfying weapons - most of which can be acquired early on in the game -such as the rocket launcher which manages to throw Naughty Bears 20ft in the air, something which we found faintly amusing.

However, despite the excellent ideas, there are some faults within. Firstly the camera often finds itself in some awkward positions, not helped when you lose your crosshair among the bright landscapes and characters. The engine itself does the job, but it's clear that this game is far better suited to a console. Plus the scenery is more of a backdrop than an interactive environment. Despite these faults Fur Fighters is an entertaining game, and although the puzzles aren't too taxing, they are different enough to keep plodding along without you feeling that you've wasted your cash.

Apart from a few new babies to discover and new Fluff(death)Match levels this is basically the same as it was on the Dreamcast version, but this isn't a bad thing as it happens. On PC, Fur Fighters is fairly original, if undemanding. You could do a hell of a lot worse.

This upcoming 3D action game stars a bunch of cute furry critters who are armed to the hilt with an array of heavy-duty weaponry. The game is best described as Banjo-Kazooie with huge colorful worlds and cutesy characters, with some Duke Nukem-styled action thrown in. It's a little weird, but strangely satisfying.

All is not right in the world of the furballs. An evil general by the name of Viggo (who was once defeated by the peaceful critters of the Fur Fighter village) has returned. So being the bad guy that he is, he kidnaps the families of our six furry heroes. This leaves you with the task of rescuing all of your kin--and of course putting a stop to Viggo.

So who are our heroes? Let's just call them the A-Team of the animal kingdom. Here's the roster: Bungalow, a high-jumping kangaroo: Rico, a dumb penguin; Chang, a crafty red panda; Roofus, an old dog; Juliette, a frisky feline; and Tweek, a day-old dragon who doesn't know his a$$ from a hole in the ground. Each fur fighter has a unique attack and can use a slew of different weaponry ranging from a simple pistol to a gargantuan BFG-esque canon.

Levels are gigantic and feature multiple objectives and a boss of some kind. They're also themed--some levels are set in a big city with towering skyscrapers and subways, others are more woodsy. Of course, stages are also littered with bad guys--or bad bears in this case. And even these enemies are cute in their own way.

But the game isn't just about blowing away bad guys. You must also solve a number of puzzles per level, most of which are humorous. For example, in one case you must play a simon-says type dancing game against your Zebra commander, (with disco music playing the whole time). Sure, it's a simple game, but why is the Zebra dancing to disco?

In addition to the game's main single-player mode, there's a fairly straightforward two-player head-to-head mode--though there is talk of four-player support. Visually, Fur Fighters is extremely sharp and uses a variety of special effects that really give the game an amazingly 3D cartoon-like look. Check www.videogames.com for more info.