_{Cover of the premiere issue of Maximum}

Maximum covered what at the time were "next generation" systems, including the Sega Saturn, PlayStation, 3DO, Neo Geo, and PC among other systems. Maximum was published in the U.K. but was very similar to Next Generation which was published in the U.S. In fact they were sister magazines and shared some content. The premiere issue of Maximum from 1995 includes:

Extended Play

Wipeout - The cover story this month includes coverage of Wipeout, a futuristic racer for the PlayStation. I remember really wanting this game and did eventually get the PC version. My PC at the time (a 486 DX2/66) met the minimum requirements but really wasn't fast enough to run it smoothly. I was a bit disappointed with this game. While it was graphically impressive and did a great job of presenting the illusion of speed, I thought games like F-Zero were more fun.

Tekken 2 - 3D fighters were all the rage (I STILL prefer 2D) and Tekken 2 was the latest arcade fighter from Namco. Tekken was a PlayStation franchise too so it would find its way there soon.

Kabuki Klash - Neo Geo's latest arcade fighter at the time. They had tons of 2D fighters and while some were better than others, I don't know that any of them were bad. This one is anime themed. The great thing about the Neo Geo of course is that an arcade version automatically meant a home version...if you had the money.

Air Combat - An early air combat simulator for the PlayStation. This was really as much an arcade game as a simulator resembling games like Space Harrier to some degree. I guess it could be thought of as a simplified simulator.

Street Fighter Alpha - "The best Street Fighter Yet" claims Maximum. I don't know if that's true or not but if you love fighting games you'll probably love this one. It included additional characters from the original Street Fighter as well as Final Fight.

Virtua Fighter - The first in Sega's 3D fighting series now available for the Saturn. 32-bit systems could get very close to arcade perfection which was a big deal at the time.

_{Table of Contents from the premiere issue of Maximum}

Maximum Close-Up

Daytona USA - A full guide to this racer for the Sega Saturn.

Panzer Dragoon - Another cult classic for the Saturn. This was one of the best 3D shooters around at the time. This article provides a guide, codes, cheats, hidden items and more.

Maximum Regulars

New Games... Places... Events - News coverage of Virtua Fighter 3, Sega Saturn criticism, Virtua Fighter 2, Capcom's fighting game competition, X-Men on the Sega Saturn, a new Battle Arena Toshinden, King's Field 2 for the PlayStation, Virtua Cop 2 for the Saturn, Sega Rally Championship, Yoshi's Island and much more.

Reviews - The reviews section this month includes reviews of the following games:

Virtua Fighter (Sega Saturn)
Panzer Dragoon (Sega Saturn)
Daytona USA (Sega Saturn)
Bug! (Sega Saturn)
Wipeout (PlayStation)
Ridge Racer (PlayStation)
Battle Arena Toshinden (PlayStation)
Rapid Reload (PlayStation)
Jumping Flash (PlayStation)
Kileak The Blood (PlayStation)
King of Fighter '95 (Neo Geo CD)
Kabuki Klash (Neo Geo CD)
Savage Reign (Neo Geo CD)
...and more!

Correspondence Required - This would be the letters from readers section but since this is the first issue, there are none yet. Instead we just have a request for letters...

Maximum – Issue Number 1 – 1995

Extended Play

Maximum Close-Up

Maximum Regulars