Even though this year's Electronic Entertainment Exposition seemed lackluster, the Interactive Digital Software Association reports that more than 55,000 industry professionals and media types from more than 70 countries attended this year's event held May 13-15. That's an increase of approximately 33% over 1998 attendance.

Maybe it was the introduction of Sega's new system, Dreamcast. Maybe it was anticipation of Sony and Nintendo's plans for new gaming systems. Maybe it was the splendid California weather.

New Games?
No matter, the electronic gaming industry seems to be following the movie industry when it comes to rehashing characters and story arcs. Sequels and stories based on animated properties and the comic genre seemed plentiful while new story and gaming ideas were few and far between.

Some "been there before" sequels fighting for attention on the floor included "Final Fantasy III" (Squaresoft/Electronic Arts for Playstation), "Um Jammer Lammy" (sequel to "Parappa the Rapper" by Sony for Playstation; August 1999), "Spyro II" (Sony for Playstation; November 1999), and "Croc 2" (Fox Interactive for PC, Color Game Boy and Playstation; 4th quarter 1999).

However, I still found a few games more than able to entertain cartoon fanatics:

Games for Big Kids
For the big kids there is "Fear Factor" an action/adventure/shooter that incorporates animated backgrounds with anime style character design (Eidos for Playstation; Fall 1999). This game promises to provide an interesting game play environment that combines camera position with real time 3D models allowing for seamless camera movement and creating a dynamic and alive world.

South Park remains an animated favorite for the older crowd and is coming on strong to gamers with two new titles. "Chef's Luv Shack" is filled with fun mini-games like Spank the Monkey with Mr. Hankey, Asses in Space with Terrance and Phillip and an insane game show hosted by Chef. Players can choose to assume the persona of Cartman, Stan, Kyle or Kenny and up to four can play.

"South Park Rally" has your favorite characters racing around their Colorado town in dozens of "sweet" vehicles including Cartman's police tricycle and Chef's station wagon. Racing tracks can be found in the South Park Forest, Big Gay Al's Big Gay Animal Sanctuary, downtown and more. The game provides multiple secret characters, shortcuts and gadgets like the Mexican Starting Frog, rats and chocolate salty balls to help confuse the race and racers (both games by Acclaim for N64, Playstation and PC; Winter 1999).

Back on the convention floor, "Mega Men Legends' The Misadventures of Tron Bonne," takes Tron and her trusty Servbots around the world in their air ship in search of adventure and priceless treasure. This game boasts over 100 worlds across eight distinct destinations. Multi-channel character animations allow the player to perform simultaneous actions, such as drawing and firing weapons while running, walking, crouching and sneaking around corners. Though "Mega Men" is an ongoing series, this game combines action, role playing and puzzle elements within a 3D polygonal environment (Capcom for the Playstation; Fall 1999).

"Stars Wars Episode 1: Racer." Courtesy of and © Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved.

Playing into this year's biggest silver screen hype are "Stars Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace" and "Episode 1: Racer" (Lucas Arts for PC). Lucas also announced two new Star Wars Episode One titles including Obi-Wan in a 3D action-adventure featuring motion-captured movements and the "Insiders Guide," which appears to be asequel to "Behind the Magic," and which answers the question of "How did they do that?" for the new movie.

Disney's Slate
Some of the most inventive new gaming comes from children's titles including Disney Interactive's "Winnie the Pooh Kindergarten," "Preschool" and "Toddler," which bring back the familiar A.A. Milne characters from 100 Acre Wood for another educational romp (hybrids for the Macintosh or PC; August 1999).

Also new from the Disney Folks will be "Toy Story 2 Action Game and Activity Center" (November 1999) and, bringing in the same stunning animation as seen in the feature film, the "Tarzan Action Game and Activity Center" titles (June 1999).

Bringing back classic characters, like Peter Pan and Captain Hook for a game of strategy, Alice in Wonderland in a 3-D cube hedge maze, and The Seven Dwarves from Snow White in a mining for gold game, is "Villain's Revenge" (October 1999). For the young, and young at heart, these titles will allow a wonderful visit back to some of Disney's first animated characters.

Disney Interactive titles can also be found on Sony PlayStation ("Tarzan," "Toy Story" and "A Bug's Life" titles), Nintendo 64 ("A Bug's Life" and "Toy Story 2") and Nintendo Game Boy Color ("Tarzan," "Toy Story 2," "Alice in Wonderland" and "Beauty and The Beast").