We took a little field trip this afternoon up to NewPark Mall in Newark
to see Sega's new motocross game at Tilt.  This game, Stadium Cross,  is 
two-player, will sell to distributors for about $10K and will be available 
in August.  Sega held a meeting in the UK recently to intro this game and
according to David Smith, his customers were did not like Stadium Cross as
well as Sega's other driving game, Virtua Racing.

Sega's bikes move side to side to steer, similar to Namco's Suzuka game.  On 
the Sega game, the player is also instructed on the screen to "pull up" on
the handle bars to jump the bumps and hills; the bike moves upward under
player control.  The flashing cabinet design and colors gives the game 
great curb appeal.

Game strengths:

Good graphics.  Growth motion pictures are smooth and very appealing.  There
is a diamond vision screen in the background with pictures that move and 
get larger as you get closer to it.

Good feel.  The steering control and wheelie feel pretty good.  The high-
flying airborn rush off the highest hills is great.

Great sounds.  The bike roars as you rev the throttle at the starting
line and adds a lot of excitement to the game play.  Also great is the
stadium announcers voice that keeps you up to date on the standings of the
race.  The announcer repeats certain phrases, though, which could become 
annoying.

Attack button is cool.  Instead of Moto's shooting, they have an attack
button that is used to punch out other riders near you on the track.

Game weaknesses:

Only one track.  Although competition between two players will keep the
game fresh, one track will get pretty boring after a while.

Little kids won't be able to move the bike to steer and do wheelies. 

Not enough feedback/reward to the player at the end of the race.  You are
told your place and that's about it.  Also, he manager of the location finished
the game and said that the final screen is not very exciting.


                                            --Linda