Link-up gaming. It's something that was thought of ages ago
but something that only recently
(I'm talking XBOX) really became what people had
in mind when they 'created' this 'style' of gaming.
It basicly involves 'linking-up' two consoles of a kind with
a cable and using a screen/tv for each player.
Something that already existed -albeit in a simple form- back
in the days of Tetris on the Game boy,
but -like said- it only became something that was used frequently
with the launch of Microsoft's XBOX
and HALO game. The luxury of having 16 player
bouts with multiple consoles and screens was something
that became incredibly appealing and rightly so.
Now, being the SEGA fanatic that I am, I started looking
for games that supported link-up gameplay back
in 2001. I imported a Blaze link-up cable for the
Saturn, bought two copies of DOOM and hoped for the best.
Well, we all know how that ended up but it basicly kickstarted my
lust (seriously) for more link-up games.
I was both surprised and let down by the amount of games that
supported link-up gaming. The list of games
was surprisingly small (especially for the Dreamcast) and
mainly consisted of games of a rather dubious
quality. (Doom, Hexen). But, thankfully, the
odd gem (Daytona USA CCE, F-355 challenge) made
it out as well.
The info below should give you a good idea of what games feature
link-up gaming and a lot of info on 'what
could've been' awesome link-up games. Depressing, but interesting
all the same. Who knows what we might
find someday..
Games
that support link-up gameplay:
|
Game Gear |
| Game |
Region |
| *5
in 1 fun pack |
|
| *Baku
Baku Animal |
|
| *Baseball
'91 |
|
| *Berlin
no Kabe (The Berlin wall) |
|
| *Bubble
Bobble |
|
| *Bust-a-move |
|
| *Buster
Fight |
|
| *Columns |
|
| *Clutch
Hitter |
|
| *Crayon
Shin-Chan |
|
| *Daisenryaku
G |
|
| *Dr.
Robotniks Mean Bean Machine |
|
| *Dunk
Kids |
|
| *Evander
Holyfield boxing |
|
| *F1 |
|
| *Faceball
2000 |
|
| *Fatal
Fury Special |
|
| *G-Loc - Air Battle |
|
| *George
Foreman K.O boxing |
|
| *GG
League '94 |
|
| *GP
Rider |
|
| *Head
buster |
|
| *Joe Montana Football |
|
| *Kawasaki Superbikes (Kawasaki
Superbike Challenge US) |
|
| *Kaito
Saint Tail |
|
| *Kick & Rush (Tengen
World Cup soccer) |
|
| *Micro
Machines |
|
| *Micro
Machines 2 |
|
| *Mighty
Morphin' Power Rangers |
|
| *Mortal
Kombat |
|
| *Mortal
Kombat 2 |
|
| *Mortal
Kombat III |
|
| *NHL Hockey |
|
| *Outrun |
|
| *Pac-attack |
|
| *Pac-man |
|
| *Pete
Sampras Tennis |
|
| *Pop
Breaker |
|
| *Popeye
beach volleyball |
|
| *Popils (*1) |
|
| *Power
Rangers: The movie |
|
| *Primal
Rage |
|
| *Pro Yakyuu GG League |
|
| *Putt & Putter |
|
| *Puyo Puyo |
|
| *Puyo
Puyo 2 |
|
| *Puzzle
& Action (Tant-R) |
|
| *Puzzle
& Action (Ichidant-R) |
|
| *Riddick
Bowe boxing |
|
| *Rise
of the Robots |
|
| *Ryuu
Kyuu |
|
| *Samurai Spirits (Samurai
Shodown) |
|
| *SD
Gundam |
|
| *Slam
Dunk (From TV anim.) |
|
| *Squinky Tennis (*2) |
|
| *Solitaire Poker |
|
| *Sonic Drift |
|
| *Sonic Drift 2 (Sonic
Drift Racing EU) |
|
| *Stargate |
|
| *Streets of Rage (Bare
Knuckle JP) |
|
| *Streets of Rage II
(Bare Knuckle II JP) |
|
| *Super
Columns |
|
| *Super Momotarou Dentetsu III |
|
| *Super
Monaco GP |
|
| *Super Monaco GP II (Ayrton Senna's..) |
|
| *Super Off-road |
|
| *Super
Space invaders |
|
| *Taisen
Mahjong Haopai |
|
| *Taisen
Mahjong Haopai 2 |
|
| *Tengen
world cup soccer |
|
| *The
Pro Yakyuu '91 |
|
| *The
quiz gear fight! |
|
| *Ultimate
Soccer |
|
| *Virtua
Fighter Animation |
|
| *Virtua
Fighter Mini |
|
| *Wimbledon |
|
| *World Cup USA '94 |
|
| *World Derby |
|
| *World
series baseball (Nomo's World Series
Baseball) |
|
| *World
series baseball '95 |
|
(*1) User made levels can
be transfered via the link cable. Cool!
(*2) Hidden in Pete Sampras Tennis, Micro Machines
& Micro Machinres 2. Link up two Game Gears
and hold START |
| Megadrive / Genesis |
| Game |
Region |
| *Beyond
Zero Tolerance |
PROTO |
*Zero
Tolerance |

|
|
Saturn |
| Game |
Region |
| *Daytona
USA: CCE |
|
| *Doom |
|
| *Gebockers |
|
| *Gun
Griffon II |
|
| *Hexen
(*1) |
|
| *Hyper
reverthion |
|
| *Steeldom |
|
| (*1)Via
Cheat menu. VERY buggy. |
|
Dreamcast |
| Game |
Region |
| *Aero
Dancing I |
|
| *Aero
Dancing F |
|
| *F-355
Challenge |
|
| *Sega
Tetris |
|
| *Virtual-on
Cyber Troopers: Oratorio Tangram |
|
Rumours,
false information and other 'unsupported' software:
| Saturn |
| Game |
Region |
? |
*Andretti
racing |
|
Highly
unlikely |
*Assault
rigs |
|
Unsupported |
*Baldy
land |

|
Under
investigation |
*Command
& Conquer |

|
Unsupported |
*Daytona
USA CCE: Netlink Edition |

|
Under
investigation |
*Destruction
derby |

|
Unsupported |
*Doom |

|
Unsupported |
*Duke
Nukem 3D |

|
Unsupported |
| *Gebockers (sample version) |
 |
Unsupported |
*Hi
Octane |

|
Unsupported |
*Independence
day |

|
Unsupported |
*Magic
Carpet |

|
Unsupported |
| *Syndicate Wars |
PROTO |
... |
*Virtual-On:
Cyber Troopers |

|
Unsupported |
*Virtual-On:
Cyber Troopers: X-BAND / Netlink |

|
Under
investigation |
*Wipeout |

|
Unsupported |
*Wipeout
XL |

|
Unsupported? |
|
Dreamcast |
| Game |
Region |
? |
| *Aero
wings |
|
Unsupported |
| *Capcom
vs SNK |
|
Unsupported |
| *Daytona
USA 2001 |
|
Unsupported |
| *Gundam
(All releases) |
|
Unsupported |
| *Heavy
metal: Geomatrix |
|
Unsupported |
| *Outtrigger |
|
Unsupported |
| *Spawn |
|
Unsupported |
Articles/snippets
about link-up games/gaming:
| About |
Magazine |
|
Sega
Mean Machines #52 |
|
DC UK
#18 |
|
Sega
Megazone #53 |
|
Saturn
Magazine (JPN) 1996/22 |
|
Sega
Power #88 |
|
Sega
Power #88 |
|
Sega
Power #91 |
|
ODM
(UK) #15 |
|
Tech
Saturn Com.(JPN) 1996/4 |
|
Sega
Saturn Magazine #30 |
|
Sega
Saturn Magazine #33 |
|
Dreamcast
Press 1999 #5 |
|
Saturn
Power #1 |
|
Sega
Power #88 |
|
Saturn
Magazine (JPN) 1997/1 |
|
Mean
Machines SEGA #41 |
|
Dreamcast
Magazine #18 |
|
DC-UK
#10 |
|
Dreamcast
Monthly (UK) #5 |
|
Sega
Power #78 |
Right, that's all for now. Naturally, you can expect more
link-up coverage, right here.
|