Prehistorik Man

What can we say about Prehistoric Man that hasn't already been said about so many iw other games. Floating platforms, jumping from vine to vine, whacking jungle animals for collectables - it's all here. Not to put too fine a point on it, but Prehistoric Man is somewhat lacking in innovation. The game begins to make up for its lack of new ideas in solid gameplay and (dare I say it?) fun. Don't get me wrong - it's not like you couldn't find fun in other carbon-copy games - but Prehistoric Man isn't bad.

If this game is an accurate depiction of 'pre-history', then it would be safe to say that the world used to be an extremely cute place. Big, lovable, deadly cats and coconut-throwing monkeys fill this world with a savage beauty. Even the ants have a strangely huggable quality to them. In other words, the graphics are a bit on the cutesy side, making this a safer bet for a younger audience.

Prehistoric Man dutifully carries on a long tradition of side-scrolling action games for all that continue to appreciate them. If there had to be any more of this style game produced, then at least this is a pretty good effort. GP

Now you, too, can be a caveman and fight off incredibly cute, little animals! Jump from one inexplicably suspended platform to another! Drag your knuckles from left to right, picking up objects! This game is too much fun - if you're six or seven years old.

Now you, too, can be a caveman and fight off incredibly cute, little animals! Jump from one inexplicably suspended platform to another! Drag your knuckles from left to right, picking up objects! This game is too much fun - if you're six or seven years old.

Just when you thought that Joe'n'Mac-style games were extinct, along comes this lightweight clone of the dino dudes' prehistoric adventures.

Time Machine

Prehistorik Man's plot is as primitive as its fur-dad hero. Sam's a caveman hoppin'-n- boppin' his way through prehistoric jungles in search of burgers, fries, and sundaes (all that cholesterol -- maybe that's what killed the dinosaurs).

Sam whomps beasties with his club, runs like a dog, and climbs vines. The action's simple, the enemies are easy, and everything will remind you of prehistoric 1992 games.

Unfortunately, the control limits the fun. While you do have a variety of skills -- including the ability to fly a hang glider -- they're tough to master. You can jump once onto a crawling enemy to score a hit, but multiple jumps are difficult to pull off without taking damage. And handling the hang glider requires more practice than younger gamers like.

B.C.: Before CDs

Neither the sounds nor the graphics advance the state of A the art, but they're okay. The tropical backgrounds are colorful and cartoony, populated by large, stiffly moving characters. The sounds are the game's strengths, with Sam's yelps and roars adding humor.

If the Joe 'n' Mac games seemed too short to you, or if you want to take a nice nostalgic trip back to the early '90s, go clubbing with Prehistorik Man. Young gamers will stay 'n' play, but older gamers will see why the SNES is going the ' way of the dinosaur.

Sam the Prehistorik Man is hungry. Subtitled Raiders of the Lost Nosh, this one-player game puts Sam on the trail of his dinner, but unfortunately that trail winds through a dinosaur-infested jungle. His weapons include a club, ax, and hammer, plus Sam can fly a hang glider. The ten levels of side-view platform action feature big bosses.

Much like prehistoric man, Prehistorik Man is fairly simple. Classic side-scrolling hop-n-bop action evolves into a rambunctious game.

Topnotch cartoony graphics, smooth animation, and crisp controls supplement nonstop Neanderthal mayhem. You club through a steady stream of pre-hysterical creatures, including goofy turtlesaurs and mangy sabertooth tigers.

At first, the cart seems like a walk in the park, but it's actually a rumble in the jungle. Bad creatures continuously spring from the ground, and the Man must make near-impossible leaps across chasms. You must also learn to fly a cool hang glider.

Prehistorik Man is proof that carts low on the evolutionary scale can be fun.