The sequel to the notorious crime simulator, Grand Theft Auto, was developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games in 1999. Grand Theft Auto 2 is more of the same overhead, scrolling car-stealing action, although this time it is a set in a futuristic metropolis known as “Anywhere City“, where three feuding gangs are competing to become the dominant crime syndicate in the city.
Tag Archives: 1999
Pokémon Gold Version, Game Boy Color
Pokémon Gold and Silver Versions were developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo in 1999 in Japan and 2000 everywhere else. They are ‘second generation’ Pokémon games and were released simultaneously as twin titles, as has become the norm with Pokémon games.
These were the first proper, full-colour Pokémon games, with graphics that have been created to take advantage of the Game Boy Color‘s extended palette (Pokémon Yellow, which preceded this game, didn’t really do that; the graphics were simply colourised from the black and white originals). And you can tell from the very beginning that the visuals in Gold/Silver are a step-up from what we saw previously.
Classic Bubble Bobble, Game Boy Color
Is the Game Boy Color conversion of Bubble Bobble better than the awful Game Boy version? In a word: no. It isn’t. It’s arguably worse…
Vib-Ribbon, PlayStation
Vib-Ribbon is a unique game on the PlayStation. It is the only game I can think of that is mostly black and white and uses simple animated vector-style line art to present the visuals. That said: Vib-Ribbon is full of character and charm and goes to show what can be achieved when developers think out of the box.
Pepsiman, PlayStation
Now here’s a game that’ll make you laugh out loud… Pepsiman by Japanese developer Kindle Imagine Develop (aka KID). It was only ever released in Japan, although the game is entirely in English and features full motion video segments in English too.
Pepsiman was the Japanese Pepsi mascot who appeared in TV commercials for the famous soft drink manufacturer in the mid-to-late 1990s. He apparently became quite popular in Japan so naturally someone decided to make a video game based on him, and the resulting game is pretty funny. Pepsiman (the game) was apparently made on a low budget and sold for a low price when it came out, although I can’t find a reference to how much it sold for. If it was for the Japanese equivalent of less than ten pounds, then it was an okay purchase!
Quake III Arena, PC
Quake III took a different route to the previous Quakes – in this one it was all about deathmatching and player versus player arenas. Gone was the single-player, story-driven, puzzle/action side of the game, and in came finely-tuned deathmatch arenas. It’s not called Quake III Arena for nothing…
Legend of Mana, PlayStation
Legend of Mana is the fourth game in the Mana series. It was once again directed by Koichi Ishii and was published by Square on CD-ROM for the PlayStation only in 1999.
Harvest Moon: Back To Nature, PlayStation
Harvest Moon: Back To Nature is a sequel to the Super Nintendo classic from 1996, this time developed by Victor Interactive Software and first released for the Sony PlayStation in 1999 in its native Japan (2000 for North America and 2001 for Europe).
It is the sixth game in the Harvest Moon series, and the first on the PlayStation.
Star Wars: Yoda Stories, Game Boy Color
Released in 1999, Star Wars: Yoda Stories is a procedurally-generated pocket adventure featuring Luke Skywalker, and – of course – Yoda, and is set in the time between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi when Luke is still undergoing his Jedi training.
Final Fantasy VIII, PlayStation
Considered something of a curveball to the hugely successful episode seven, Final Fantasy VIII (eight) is more great level-grinding goodness from Japanese dev Gods, Square. This one released in 1999.
The King of Grabs 