Title:                  CyberSled
System:                 PlayStation
Company:                Namco
Available:              Now
Rating (1 to 10):       9

Comments:
     SIMPLY WILD! I can't believe I was getting bummed out hearing some of
the negative reviews of this game floating around the Internet. I should 
have known that the early demos I'd seen of this game would only get 
better until they reached perfection. Well, as you had probably noticed, 
CyberSled was one of the hottest arcade titles released last year. 
Everyone knew that as soon as the PSX was out, the a conversion of 
CyberSled by Namcot (which is very chummy with Sony) would be soon to 
follow. The question was: Could it possibly be done? Can all of the 
incredible experience from the arcade version be retained? Fortunately 
for Namco, the answer is a resounding yes. 

What you get for the outrageous import price is a total arcade tank battle
package. Everything that made the arcade version so great is in here, along
with some nice enhancements. As in the arcade, the action takes place as two 
futuristic battle tanks (nicknamed SLEDS, so the story goes) fight it out
one-on-one in a fully 3D arena. The goal of both sides is to sneak up on the 
opponent tank and let him have it with cannon blasts and guided missiles. 
The movement throughout each of the various arenas is fast paced and very
realistic, and the new texture mapping (optional in the game) makes it that
much better than before. Complementing the awesome high-speed movements are
excellent animation and detail; so very close to flawlessness. The music
tracks in this game are EXACTLY as good as the arcade tracks with a few
changes and enhancements to be found in a few places. I was expecting a bit
more from the sound sampling and voice, but it's still very good. I was very 
pleased to see what Namco did with the controls. Reminiscent of the overhead
scenes in Konami's Contra Spirits on the SFC, the player shifts his position 
from right to left and backwards and forwards with the use of the directional
pad while using the top buttons to pivot left and right. Borrowing a feature 
from Acclaim's Smash TV on the SNES, Namcot also included an option that
lets you use the directional pad in conjunction with the four main buttons
to simulate the dual-stick setup found in the arcade version. All in all,
it's not letter-perfect, but it is as good as it gets... for now. I strongly 
recommend this one to anyone interested in this type of game. You won't be
disappointed!