Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 59

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Pete www.baylendingcorp.com WOMEN PROFESSIONALS: REVIEWS Feeling e-mail deprived? Need a way to stay in touch with a friend a lot? Hasbro thinks it has an answer e-mail versions of the classic games Battleship, Chess and Scrabble. I think this is an idea whose time has not come. Here is how it works: One player buys the game, loads it onto a computer, sets up his ships on the game board and then sends an e-mail to someone, who has to download software (about 12 minutes on a 56k modem) to play. A friend and I tried Battleship and went for a fast-track version. Over three nights, passing the time between moves by surfing the Web, we played one game.

Granted, you can send messages with each move, so it is a way to stay in touch. But if we had answered e-mail normally, it could have taken weeks to complete. And it is not the kind of game one wants to fiddle with for days or weeks. My friend, whose family enjoys several computer versions of Hasbro board games, including Sorry, and I were just happy to see the game end. Chess might have been better, but it has been years since either of us has played.

On the kid scale, none of the three games drew any interest from my 13-year-old son, who is definitely into e-maiL PLATFORM: Windows 9598 PC only. Ill Continuing the trend of putting favorite pastimes on the computer, Patch has come out with Elite Darts. Yes, that is correct Darts on a computer. Play singles or doubles, choose from four dart boards, or have multiplayer games. But make sure your mouse is up to it The way you "throw the darf is to aim with the mouse, click and men move it back and forth before releasing it A few rounds persuaded me that this is not a game my wrist would enjoy for any extended period.

Of course, there weren't any holes in the wall, either. PLATFORM: Windows 9598 and Macintosh. One game that did pass the kid test was Rocky Bulhvinkle's Know-It-All Quiz Game from Houghton Mifflin Interactive. I thought it was cool too. It aims for the 9- to 12-year-old set in a game show format featuring characters from the classic cartoon series.

It has 2,800 questions in 12 categories, including science, history and "moosecellaneous." Questions can be challenging and fun, even for two teenagers older than the target audience. PLATFORM: Windows 9598 and Macintosh Dave Gussow, Times technology editor Assault: Retribution COMPANY: Midway SUGGESTED PRICE: $39.99 SYSTEM: PlayStation Ah, violence in a video game. It started well before Mortal Kombat, and we are all pretty desensitized to the phenomenon. But that doesn't mean it can't be presented in a fun way, even if from the outside it seems excessive. Assault Retribution is really no more than a REVIEW quasi-3-D, 32-bit version of Konami's classic shoot-'em-up Contra.

So the concept is nothing to shout about The fact that it comes off amazingly well when so many others have failed is what makes this game special. Retribution won't cramp your brain with a lot of pesky puzzles and adventure. It is simply you or you and a friend against an endless swarm of alien insects and mutants. Basically, you get to be Rambo (or Ramba), blessed with tons of futuristic firepower, including shock guns, heat-seeking rockets and smart bombs. So far, Retribution is a carbon copy ef the Bruce Willis game Apocalypse.

What makes Retribution work and Apocalypse a lackluster rental are the touches that made Contra so fun. First the graphics are a colorful representation of the future as opposed to the burned-out one in Apocalypse. There are also some great intermissions that put players in the middle of this intergalactic war. Then there are the computer-generated battles with some huge and wily foes. Throw in a few novelty levels such as the hover bikes and monorail, and you have the video game equivalent of an exciting, albeit mindless, action movie.

Retribution's controls won't frustrate players, who can use shadows and takeoff points to aid jumping and can lock in a single direction, shooting all the way. The ability to adjust the angle of your weapon takes a little getting used to but is a nice touch nonetheless. Perhaps the only fault of Retribution is the ephemeral thrill it provides, taking a mere three hours or so to beat on the normal setting. But the sheer fun of wiping out the enemy and the promise of hidden routes make it a must-rent and the best attempt at a PSX Contra yet seen. GRADE: Robb Guido, Times correspondent Realize your full potential as a Financial Consultant.

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