Super Turbo Lit Crit II, by Masthead, has just been released for the Playstation, which has sorely needed new blood in the fighting game arena. As in the original, STLCII allows opponents to choose their fighters from many eras of literary and social criticism, from the late-19th century intellectual circles of New York to the street-savvy journalists of Rolling Stone, Might Magazine, and the like. The game's best features are the devastating new finishing moves like Sweeping Crane Latin Phrase and Fist of Earnest Irony, and the hidden bosses for each character (this reviewer still hasn't kicked MechaMencken's ass). Sega fans are going to have to wait until that company's 64-bit console hits the market before they can play STLCII. According to Masthead, "The Saturn just can't handle the polygons we move around in Lit Crit."

--Churchbird

Before you rush out to buy STLCII, you should know it may not be quite the game you were expecting. In early press releases, lead programmer Hank Devereux promised us a much larger line-up of characters, including magical realists and linguists that would, in his words, "kick the old post-war characters right off the screen". If, like me, you were looking forward to face-offs between Saussure and Barthes and the much-publicized Thousand Definition Slap and Semiotic Throw moves, then you'll be disappointed here. All in all this is more of a tweak to the old game that a real sequel, and unless you're a die-hard Lit Crit fan you may want to save your money for Kika Blood VII, due out next month.

--Horseheads

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