Pulstar

If you can count on one thing from the Neo Geo, it's a game with familiarity. Now, for some, this is a good thing.Those who fear change will be right at home in front of any current Neo Geo game. But for others, like myself, Neo-Geo represents the doldrums where only the most uninspired games dwell. Far be it for SNK to frighten its technophobic fans by drastically changing its games' engines, so they took one baby step in their new title, Pulstar.

If you can believe it, Pulstar will be the first Neo Geo game (that I know of) to contain rendered objects. Now, as you pilot your space ship through four levels of intergalac-tic warfare, you will get to blow up rendered bad guys. Not too shabby.This is, remember, only a baby step.

Visual change is all you'll see, though, because Pulstar plays like all other Neo-Geo shooters. Just like the game R-Type. Grab power-ups and hammer away at the fire button as mindlessly as you like.Thinking in a game like this is purely optional.