Dogz from :  PF Magic Inc. Registration :  $20 or £15 Mac or PC versions

download from : http://www.pfmagic.com/dogz/adopt

Working at a computer all day, especially if you work alone, can get you down. It is not always easy to switch your mind off and relax for a few minutes, much as your own system needs it. There have been various amusements before, like the "After Dark" series of screensavers, but they are still a bit remote, the alienation is still there..... This is a different idea, though it does include an optional screensaver/password protector as well. Dogz is quite a big download, but worth it. You choose from five dog types, which you can play with in a demo area, and adopt them by phoning and getting a key number to unlock the dog of your choice onto the desktop. You can have them all if you feel energetic. Your screen pet will eat, drink, chase and fetch a ball, tug a shoe, roll about, beg for treats, come for a stroke - and the rather cute animation "learns" and reacts to what you do, complete with sound effects. There is a even a quick-disappear button in case your boss appears! Yes, the dogz really do cheer you up. Mine is called Wuffles, and already a friend wants one too...... Sad, isn't it? Review by Cliff

GAMES

Street Fighter Alpha

on Sega Saturn         Publisher: Virgin         Price: £49.99

This is an excellent - but difficult - game. It has three secret characters: Akuma/Aouki, Dan, and M Bison. Street Fighter Alpha also features a "training" mode, where you can practice all your special moves on someone who just stands there in front of you, and never dies....

Rating: 93%

Sega Rally

on Sega Saturn         Publisher: Sega         Price: £49.99

When you first try this game, it's good. After a while, however, it gets boring. It has four cars plus a secret car, the  Lancia Stratos Supercar.

Rating: 89%

Cheats for Sega Rally

Playing by the rules you can get the Lancia supercar by placing first on the Lakeside track in the championship race.
Alternatively, you can cheat and press X,Y,Z,Y and X in sequence during the "mode select" screen (Arcade/Time Attack/...). If the cheat has worked, go to the "car select" screen and highlight the manually-geared Toyota Celica in the bottom-left corner. Then move the pad left or right, and the Stratos will appear as if by magic in the square!

Reviews by Alistair

Normality

available on PC CD-ROM

Set in the near future in the city of Neutropolis, Normality is a game with a message. In Neutropolis differences are not celebrated, but denied. Weird "mood-magnets" and the dreaded Met, sorry Norm, police keep the populace in line. Our hero is Kent, who we find under house arrest and forced to watch TV 24 hours a day to restore him to "normality". But Kent rebels....
The game is very funny, and you can skip to different locations rather than wandering down endless corriders (as in some games).
When you win you will have the exhilaration of knowing that you have saved the World from Normality..... so you can sit back and contentedly watch Coronation Street, Eastenders, Home and Away, Neighbours, Emmerdale etc. -- or hey, be really out of the ordinary and go for The Bill!

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