Sun Herald from Biloxi, Mississippi • 98

Heroes of the past are resurrected Soap Opera Review By NANCY JOHNSON UNITED FEATURES SYNDICATE Video Game Reviews wraps them in a glitzy three-dimensional package with snazzy sound and an unfortunately clumsy camera You sprint through crypts caves and tombs leaping across chasms and slashing apart skeletons monsters and demon birds as you go In homage to once all your armor gets knocked off you bravely sport nothing but a pair of red heart-covered boxer shorts fun but the camera swivels verrry slowly to follow you when you make a quick turn or jump and you'll often sprint off a cliff before you know happening You can re-center the camera with the push of a button but you haw to come to a complete stop leaving you vulnerable to enemy attack Maximo is not quite top-notch but it may be worth a rental and ifs difficult enough to supply more than a few hours of entertainment Ifs rated for ages 13 and up and costs $49 Pirates of old The Legend of Black also for the PS2 a sequel or update to an older title but it feels like a throwback title Electronic Arts deserves credit for delving into a historically neglected genre Quick how many pirate games can you think of other than the comic series that debuted on the PC a decade ago and only recently petered out? what I thought of Black is cool because it fluidly combines island marauding and swordplay with seafaring and ship-to-ship combat You play as heroine Katarina the daughter of a legendary she-pirate who disappeared at sea some time ago With your governor father murdered by bandits and nefarious plots abounding you take to the high seas aboard your craft the Wind Dancer to avenge your family You travel from island to island firing cannon broadsides at enemy vessels on the way and disembarking to search for clues and chop open some pirate scum giant crabs and evil skeletons (a popular bad-guy demographic it seems) The island scenes are bland but file ocean-going portions are a blast Controlling your craft is simple but you have to maneuver deftly to get your cannon into position to bombard other ships or land-based fortresses and towers The water looks amazing and the ships take visible damage the masts crumple as the damage mounts and the keels lean viably lower into the ocean before exploding in a satisfying fireball Once you collect enough booty you can upgrade your weapons make repairs and purchase a bigger badder pirate ship from an impressive array of boats The Legend of Black probably get much hype but try it out anyway Ifs rated for ages 13 and up and costs $49 Video DVD releases By VICTOR GODINEZ THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS verything old is new again in die video game world Mario and Sonic Samus Aran of Metroid fame and Link from the Legend of Zelda are already back on the market or coming soon and all on Nintendo's GameCube incidentally The return of these early Nintendo 8-bit and franchises is catering to the nostalgic feelings of older (Le mid-20s) gamers At the same time exposing younger gamers to some of the original characters that brought video games out of the basement and into the living room Straddling this trend is new title Ghosts to for the Sony PlayStation 2 Maximo isn't exactly a sequel to Capcom's venerable for the Super Nintendo more of a re-creation Maximo borrows elements that made the original side-scrolling graveyard jaunt a classic but CHICAGO TRIBUNE Following is a partial schedule of upcoming movies on video Release dates are subject to change (DVD) indicates a DVD-only release (also DVD) indicates a simultaneous videoDVD release March 05: "Barabbas:" TriStar (DVD) 05: "Best of Anchor Bay (DVD) 05: "The Last Castle: DreamWorks (also DVD) 05: "The TriStar (also DVD) 05: "The Replacement Killers Special TriStar (DVD) 05: "Soccer TriStar (DVD) 05: "True TriStar (also DVD) 12: Warner (also DVD) 12: "The Wellspring Media (DVD) 12: "Moulin 20th Century Fox 12: "The TriStar (also DVD) 12: "New Waterford Girl: Well-spring Media (also DVD) 12: "Spongebob Square Paramount (also DVD) 12: Wash:" Lion Gate (also DVD) 12: Paramount (DVD) 19: Paramount (also My There was a after Vanessa pointed a gun at her own son Leo David I was arrested after Vanessa put files on his computer Chris took a bullet meant for Ryan and is now paralyzed Ryan was stunned to leam that Chris is his father The World Julia -trfced Jack to make love to her then revealed that before Carty returns she plans to kill Jack after she gets pregnant Abigail can't remember the identity of the person who was in the room with her and Nick before his murder Bold and The Beautiful:" Ridge resigned from Forrester after Eric sided with Brooke in the dispute over the company Whip realized that Deacon is the father of Brooke's baby Brooke worried gjthat Whip will tell Bridget about Brooke and Deacon of Our Lexie pre-3 tended surprise when Abe told her otrdlat Isaac is Hope's biological child Kate was furious when Sami accepted marriage pro-S posal Shawn went through with his promise to Jan and lied that he is her father 5 "General Elizabeth 5 refused to move in with Lucky after her release from the hospital Sonny was stunned when Jax told him that Courtney is hiding in home Edward interrupted a romantic moment between Kristina and Ned Light:" Josh received divorce papers ending his marriage to Olivia alter ego Lorelei refused to let Beth return completely Ross panicked when Blake asked if he had an affair with Tory Richard and Cassie left San Cristobel for good Life to To get attention Starr pretended that she was nearly abducted by a stranger Bo tricked Asa into a therapy session with Rae Nora confided to Hank that she has feelings for Troy Jessica told Seth that she wants to spend time with him TC was upset that Eve shouted name in her sleep During a suicide attempt Theresa came facetoface with Julian after demons dragged her into hell Ethan saved Theresa from drowning TC told Chad to fsAaway from Whitney and Qimonp After Paige left Christina's health began to fail rapidly Ed realized that Amy wants to regain her eyesight so that she can see what Ian looks like Ed learned that Rafe wants to stay on earth so that he can many Alison Casey dreamed that she married Ricky Young and the Phyllis was stunned when Jack confessed that he is the father of son Kyle Raul sensed that Brittany is attracted to him Victor offered to help Julia his ex-wife fight a hostile takeover of 46fcsr business 09: "No MGM (also DVD) 09: "The Buena Vista (also DVD) 09: Buena Vista (also DVD) 09: "Shakespeare in Lions Gate 09: TriStar (also DVD) 09: "The Skulls Universal Studios (DVD) 09: Lions Gate (DVD) 16: "The Deep 20th Century Fox (also DVD) 16: "Husbands and TriStar (DVD) 16: Wellspring Media (also DVD) 16: "Rancid Lions Gate (also DVD) 16: York (also DVD) 16: Lions Gate 16: 3 Worlds of TriStar (DVD) 16: "Ultimate Universal City (also DVD) 23: "Bare TriStar (also DVD) 23: "Behind Enemy 20th Century Fox (also DVD) 23: "Butterflies are TriStar (DVD) 23: "Cactus TriStar (DVD) 23: "Darkness Uons Gate (also DVD) 23: "Jay Jay the Jet TriStar (DVD) 23: "The Learning DVD) 19: "Gantry MTI(DVD) 19: "Like Old Times: TriStar (DVD) 19: "Riding in Cars With TriStar (also DVD) 19: Space TriStar (DVD) 19: "Training Warner (also DVD) 19: "Samurai Warner (also DVD) 26: "Bread TriStar (also DVD) 26: NewUne(DVD) 26: "Life as a New Line (also DVD) 26 "Original MGM (also DVD) 26: "Unseen Evil:" Monarch (also DVD) 26: "Watership Warner (DVD) April 02: MGM (also DVD) 02: "Bull MGM Home (DVD) 02: Warner Homes (also DVD) 02: "Drunken TriStar (also DVD) 02: Net" TriStar (DVD) 02: "Tupac Shakur Thug Angel: Image (also DVD) 09: "Domestic Paramount (also DVD) 09: "Love and Rage:" Lions Gate (also DVD) MGM (also DVD) 23: TriStar (also DVD) 23: First Paramount (also DVD) 23: Artisan (also DVD) 30: TriStar (also DVD) 30: Beach Hit Entertainment (also DVD) 30: "Blind Monarch (also DVD) 30: "Not Another Teen TriStar (also DVD) 30: "Race the Sun:" TriStar (DVD) May 14: "The Xfiles Season 20th Century Fox (DVD) 21: "A Shadow You Soon Will Vanguard (also DVD) 21: of the Vanguard (also DVD) 21: "Hard Vanguard (also DVD) 21: Vanguard (also DVD) June 04: "American History Final New Line (DVD) 04: "Dungeons New Line (DVD) 04: "Menace II New Une (DVD) 04: "Set It New Une (DVD) 04: "Turn It New Une (DVD) 11: "Butty the Vampire Slayer Season 20th Century Fox.