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Before DimensionZ was a food and travel blog, it was home to the Mac Gaming Alliance (MGA), a Mac games site that ran from 1997 into 2000. Back then Mac gamers were used to waiting a year or more for PC ports, and sites like the MGA covered every release, patch and 3D card that made gaming on a Power Mac possible.
All 54 MGA reviews are now back on the blog as regular posts, reproduced as they were originally written, typos and all, with their original screenshots and the MGA’s 1–5 apple ratings. They were written by Jonathan Dreyer and the MGA’s volunteer reviewers, including Marty Dodge, David Leinbach, Jon Ostenson, J. Driver, David Padula, Ian Russell, Ben Kilford, Cale Corbett and Martha Engber.
Perfect scores
Twelve titles earned a full 5 out of 5 apples overall: Age of Empires, Assault Vehicles, Carmageddon, Carmageddon: Splat Pack, Civilization 2, Duke it out in D.C., Future Cop: L.A.P.D., Hexen, Imperialism, Klingon Honor Guard, Power3D, X-Men: Ravages of the Apocalypse.
All Mac Gaming Alliance reviews
Strategy and war
- Age of Empires (1999, 5/5)
- Castles: Siege & Conquest (1998, 4/5)
- Civilization 2 (1997, 5/5)
- Civilization 2 Gold (1999, 3/5)
- Close Combat (1999, 4.5/5)
- Deadlock (1998, 4/5)
- Imperialism (1998, 5/5)
- Master of Orion II (1998, 3/5)
- Myth: The Fallen Lords (1998, 3/5)
- Star Control 3 (1998, 4.5/5)
- Starcraft (1998, 3.5/5)
- The Settlers 2 (1998, 4.5/5)
Action and shooters
- Damage Incorporated (1998, 4.5/5)
- Duke it out in D.C. (1998, 5/5)
- Duke Nukem 3D (1998, 4/5)
- Future Cop: L.A.P.D. (1998, 5/5)
- Hexen (1998, 5/5)
- Klingon Honor Guard (1999, 5/5)
- Postal (1997, 4/5)
- Prime Target (1998, 4/5)
- Quake (1997, 3/5)
- Quake II (1999, 4/5)
- Shadow Warrior (1998, 4/5)
- Unreal (1998, 4/5)
- X-Men: Ravages of the Apocalypse (1998, 5/5)
Racing
- Assault Vehicles (1999, 5/5)
- Carmageddon (1998, 5/5)
- Carmageddon 2 (1999, 4/5)
- Carmageddon: Splat Pack (1998, 5/5)
Flight and simulation
- A-10 Cuba! (1998, 4/5)
- Falcon 4.0 (1999, 4/5)
- Flying Circus (1998, 3.5/5)
- Starfleet Academy (1998, 4/5)
- Top Gun: Fire at Will (1998, 3.5/5)
Sports and hunting
- Deer Hunter (1998, 4/5)
- Jack Nicklaus 4 Golf (1998, 4/5)
- Play to Win Casino (1998, 3.5/5)
- Real Pool (1998, 3.5/5)
- Rocky Mountain Trophy Hunter (1999, 2/5)
RPG and adventure
- Diablo (1998, 4.5/5)
- Fallout (1998, 4.5/5)
- Heroes of Might and Magic (1998, 4/5)
- Infocom Collections (1998, 4/5)
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1998, 3/5)
- The Dark Eye (1998, 4/5)
Puzzle
- Lode Runner 2 (1999, 2/5)
- Riven (1997, 4/5)
Edutainment and other
- Learn to Speak French (1998, 4.5/5)
- Star Wars: Episode One Insider’s Guide (1999, 4/5)
- Tonka Search and Rescue (1998, 4/5)
Hardware: joysticks, throttles and 3D cards
- F-16 Fighterstick (1998, 4/5)
- Gravis Mousestick 2 (1998, 4/5)
- Power3D (1997, 5/5)
- Pro Throttle and CH Pedals (1998, 4/5)
The MGA news archive
The weekly MGA news pages, covering the Mac gaming industry from August 1997 to late 1999, are still online in their original 1990s form in the MGA news archive. Many of their outbound links died long ago.
Playing these games today
Most of these titles need a classic Mac (Mac OS 7 to 9) or an emulator such as SheepShaver or Basilisk II. Original CDs turn up second-hand, and a few classics have been re-released for modern systems. Each review has a link to search for a copy.
See every review in the Mac Gaming Alliance category.
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