Tendo City

Platform Summary and History
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Ah, the Sega CD, Sega's first disc-based platform. The Sega CD was released in late 1991 in Japan, fall 1992 in the US, and 1993 in Europe. The system attaches to the Sega Genesis, and, as the name suggests, plays CD games. The system also has save memory in it, and some additional hardware as well -- in addition to some more RAM, the Sega CD has hardware scaling and rotation support, unlike the Genesis. The additional RAM makes video fairly easy, though hardware restrictions, and the Genesis 64-color limit, mean that video often has only 8-16 colors in it. It is real, moving video, though, which was an accomplishment at the time. Games which use the scaling and rotation hardware often look quite nice, as well.

As I mentioned, The Sega CD has 8KB of internal battery-backed save RAM for game saves, and also has a memory cartridge, the Sega CD Backup RAM Cart, for a much larger save space -- it's 128KB! Unfortunately almost no action games support any kind of saving; it's mostly only used by FMV games, sports games, and RPGs. Unlike the Turbografx CD, there are no shmups or shooting games which support saving your high scores to the system, for example. It's disappointing. Still, for the games that do support it, the very large size of the memory cart is fantastic. You'll really only ever need one.

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Sega CD Model 2, the kind I have.

The Sega CD was Sega's answer to the Turbografx CD (PC Engine CD in Japan), which was successful and gaining in strength when the Sega CD released in 1991. It was also a pre-emptive strike against Nintendo's upcoming [but never to be released] SNES CD. Sega failed to take over the CD market in Japan, and the TGCD easily won there, but it did do well in the US. Sega's newer system has some hardware advantages versus the Turbo CD... advantages which Japanese games did not always take advantage of. The Turbografx CD, the first console CD addon (it released in Japan in late 1988), didn't add any new hardware features other than the large disc and some internal save memory, but the Sega CD has hardware scaling and rotation, which is a huge plus. The additional RAM when compared to the original Turbo CD also makes video much easier; on the Turbografx cutscenes are more often than not inanimate stills, even for many games that require RAM-expanding system cards, but on Sega CD, video is easy. The Sega CD is limited by the Genesis' 64-color limit, however, and when playing video, that 64 color limit is restricted even more. As a result, video on the system is often using only a handful of colors. It ... can look bad. Even so, it IS video. I know that some Turbo CD games have [animated or live action] video (particularly on Super CD), but many titles do have only animated stills, while animated Sega CD games generally have video. Overall, compared to the TGCD, the Sega CD is more powerful, with easier video support and hardware scaling and rotation, but is severely limited by that 64-color limit. The TG16 can display hundreds of colors (even though both systems have 512-color palettes), so it wins in that for sure.

Now, the library. The Sega CD saw its greatest success in the US. Of the up to six million Sega CD systems sold, 2.5 probably million sold in the US. We do not know actual Sega CD sales numbers, and even a good estimate has eluded us, but it's somewhere between 1.5 and 6 million systems, anyway, and was most successful in the US. That 2.5 million number, if accurate, is more than two and a half times the probable total of TG16 plus TGCD plus Turbo Duo systems (about 900,000 TG16s plus ~20,000 Turbo CDs and 20-60 thousand Duos are the best estimates I've seen), and it's significantly more than the Sega Saturn sold in the US as well -- that system only managed about 1.5 million systems sold here. It's highly likely that the Sega CD did indeed outsell the Saturn in the US. And going by game availability I've seen around here, I believe that the Sega CD outsold the Saturn; I've certainly seen more Sega CD games around than Saturn games. In fact, the TG16 plus addons's worldwide total is in the same ballpark as the Sega CD's sales total! The system didn't do as well in Europe, but still, a solid majority of Sega CD systems sold in the West. Of course, that the Genesis sold tens of millions of systems in Western markets, while in Japan they finished in third place, obviously was a major factor behind that as well. The Japanese game library for the Sega CD is, overall, underwhelming. There are some great games in the Japanese library, including six shmups, several great strategy games and RPGs, and some more, but Sega of Japan itself failed to capitalize on their own hardware. There are almost no Japanese SCD games which make good use of the scaling and rotation hardware, for example; there's the Sonic CD bonus stages (average, looks like SNES Mode 7), the disappointing After Burner III, the impressive Formula One World Championship, and not much of anything else. And those latter two titles were outsourced, and not actually developed by Sega, even though Sega did publish them. For third party Japanese titles, Night Striker is about it; it's solidly done. Most of the games which pushed the scaling hardware are Western, though, primarily titles from Malibu/Clockwork Tortoise and Core Designs. The Japanese title Silpheed looks amazing, but ther than that, most of the most impressive looking games on the Sega CD are Western.

One major problem with the Sega CD's library is that Sega of Japan simply did not put the effort into supporting their CD system that NEC and Hudson did with the Turbo CD in Japan, and it shows. While NEC and Hudson moved the primary format for their system over to CDs, Sega of Japan mostly stuck with carts for the top games, and left the CD for enhanced ports of games from other platforms (mostly Turbo CD or Japanese computer games) and only a handful of internally developed top-tier efforts. Some games which did start on the Sega CD, such as Phantasy Star IV and Outrun 2019, ended up being cartridge releases. And Sega released the 32X in late 1994, only a few years after the Sega CD, and the Saturn at the same time as well. While the Sega CD released in 1991, Sega of Japan had almost no first-party software at first. The whole next year saw no improveemnt. You can see this when you look at the US launch, 9-10 months after the system released in Japan. Sega of America had so few options that they were forced to make all of their packin games in the first year of the systems' life be third-party titles, including first Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective (a game also available on Turbo CD and PC) and Sol-Feace (later also released on cartridge; it's a port of a Japanese computer game), and later Sewer Shark (later ported to 3DO). The situation improved somewhat in 1993 as Sega of Japan did release some high-quality major Sega CD titles in 1993 and 1994, most notably Sonic CD but also including Shining Force CD, Dark Wizard, Panic!, and more. Later Sega CD and CDX models in the US were packed in with Sonic CD, for example. However, at the end of 1994, with the 32X and Saturn releases Sega of Japan essentially abandoned the Sega CD. All of Sega of Japan's first-party releases in Japan in 1995 were Western titles, and they didn't even release all of them there. As a result of this, the Sega CD's first-party Japanese game library is singularly unimpressive. There are some hits, but far too many ports of B and C-tier games from other platforms (many of these never released in the West), and almost nothing that made any use of the scaling and rotation hardware, either.

In comparison, Sega of America put serious effort into supporting the Sega CD between 1992 and 1995. These efforts are often unappreciated today, as the largest part of their release library went into games full of live action video, but in 1992-1995, that kind of game was popular and highly desired, so regardless of how questionable many of the titles are as actual games, I think that SoA's decision to focus so much on live-action video FMV games was a reasonable, defensible choice. That FMV-game library is the primary reason why the Sega CD sold as well as it did in the US, after all; games like Sewer Shark, Night Trap, and the like sold a large number of those systems. I know many people hate FMV games, and I'm not much of a fan of them myself (I dislike a lot of them), but it was the right decision at the time. I do think that this was a factor in the Sega CD fading in 1995, as that year FMV was being replaced with polygonal 3D as the thing everyone wanted to see, but still, it brought it a level of success for a while, which is something. It would have been nice to see more platformers and action games from Sega of America on the Sega CD, but ah well... at least they did a few. Sega of Japan's library, Sonic CD aside, is extremely heavy on the RPGs, adventure games, and such, and very light on much of anything else. Those are games which work better on a CD than a cartridge, certainly, but it wasn't the kind of library that had made the Genesis successful in the West and wasn't going to sell here, and didn't succeed at making the Sega CD equal the Turbo CD in Japan, either. Continuing to support the Genesis was a good idea, but Sega needed more stuff on the Sega CD as well. Of course Sega was overloading themselves with far too much hardware, and thus supporting any one platform enough was a problem, but they should have been able to see that. They didn't until too late.

Regardless of that, largely thanks to third party efforts both Western and Japanese, I do like the Sega CD's library. Both Sega branches produced a few lasting classics for the system, and third-party companies like Core, Working Designs, and more made some great games as well. The Sega CD is a good console well worth owning. The library is only moderate-sized (100-something, in the US), but it is far larger than the 32X's library, and games like Silpheed, SoulStar, Battlecorps, and F1 World Championship are quite impressive looking (and playing!) as well. The Turbo CD is the better platform for CD versions of games that could have been on cartridge (minus the cutscenes and music), but the Sega CD has a clearly distinct library. Overall the Turbo CD IS probably the better platform, but the Sega CD is much cheaper and more affortable, and its top titles include some great classics, and some of the best shmups playable on the Genesis, too. Any serious Genesis fan should absolutely get a Sega CD. It has enough great games to definitely be worth it, even if Sega didn't capitalize on it as much as they could have.

There are several models of Sega CD. First, there is the original model, with a tray-load drive, which sits below the Genesis and was designed to match the original-model Genesis. Next came the side-by-side top-loaded Model 2 Sega CD, pictured above. It is more reliable than the model 1, and was designed to match the model 2 Genesis best. The last first-party model was the Sega CDX, a small Genesis and Sega CD combo unit which also works as a portable CD player. There are several third-party models as well, including the Sega PAC for the LaserActive, which can play regular Genesis and Sega CD as well as LaserActive-exclusive Mega LD games, and the JVC X'Eye and its Japanese equivalents, the Wondermega line. The X'Eye/Wondermega systems are all-in-one Genesis plus Sega CD clone systems licensed by Sega.

I bought my Sega CD in June 2006, one month after I got a [model 2] Genesis. I was very lucky, and found a Sega CD, attached to a model 1 Genesis, with one power supply and no controller, for $5 at a local pawnshop. It's the only time I saw a Sega CD for sale there, and it was really cheap! It was untested, though, so I was taking a chance, but when attached to my Genesis 2, not only did the Sega CD work, but it's worked flawlessly ever since. It even still had save files on the system when I got it, somehow! That Genesis 1 attached to it never worked, however. The power light turns on, but nothing else happens. Oh well, I have a Genesis 2. At first I did play quite a few games on CD-R, since the system has no copy protection, but over time I've bought a good-sized library of actual titles. The Sega CD is a good system worth having. It's not as good as the Genesis, and the Turbo CD is better overall even if it very rarely manages actual moving video because it's got more great games, but the Sega CD is still a very good console with more than enough good games to absolutely be worth owning. It's also an interesting piece of history, thanks to its huge FMV-game library, but there ARE great non-FMV games on the console as well.


My favorite games for the Sega CD
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1. Lunar 2: Eternal Blue
2. Sonic CD
3. SoulStar
4. Dark Wizard
5. Keio Flying Squadron
6. Silpheed
7. Robo Aleste
8. Shining Force CD
9. The Adventures of Batman & Robin
10. Popful Mail

Honorable Mentions: Battlecorps, Snatcher, Rise of the Dragon, Ecco the Dolphin, Ecco 2: The Tides of Time, Mickey Mania, Flink, Formula One World Championship: Beyond the Limit, Night Striker, Wirehead, Lodestar: The Legend of Tully Bodine, Star Wars: Rebel Assault (kind of), Lunar: The Silver Star

Worst Games: Bram Stoker's Dracula, Double Switch, Supreme Warrior, Tomcat Alley


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There are about 62 games reviewed. Games do not save unless I say so (listed after the number of players). The Sega CD Backup RAM Cart is the system's only memory card. It goes in the Genesis cart slot, and has a lithium cell battery in it (not a CR2032, though; it's a higher-density battery than that). The Sega CD itself has only 8KB of save space, which goes fast, but the Backup RAM Cart has 128KB. Not all games support saving directly to the cart, so for some games you have to transfer files back and forth in the Sega CD system menu, but either way, the Backup RAM Cart is an essential accessory. They're kind of pricey, but a must have. I also list it if games support the 6-button controller, and would mention the mouse if I had any of the few games that support it. I also mention the Cyber-Stick joystick/XE-1AP analog controller the few games that support it. It's an analog joystick and gamepad (both work the same way) that was only released in Japan, naturally. I list this as "XE-1AP" but the Cyber-Stick works with those games too.

As always, I only cover is only games I've played on actual hardware, not in emulation.

Summaries - Sega CD
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4 in 1 Classic Arcade Collection (contains Golden Axe (new version), ). This disc was a pack-in with the original US release of the Sega CD, and includes a slightly redone version of Golden Axe and straight, unaltered ports of three Genesis games, Revenge of Shinobi, Columns, and Streets of Rage. Yeah, it says "arcade collection", but it's basically a Genesis collection. Golden Axe's graphics are from the Genesis game, but two changes have been made, one good and one bad. On the good side, the game has CD audio, which is great. I like the CD audio mix of the soundtrack. On the bad side, for some bizarre reason the game was made single player only. Very disappointing! Multiplayer is one of the major reasons why beat 'em ups are fun, so with no multiplayer it's just not nearly the same. Still, this is worth considering if it's cheap, for the CD music. My copy of this is a dual-case game with the 4-in-1 on one side, and Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective on the other, as it apparently came in the original packin. (The other packin game with the original Sega CD 1 release, Sol-Feace, came in a separate paper jewelcase.)

5 in 1 Classic Arcade Collection - This is the same as the above collection, except with one game added to the collection of straight Genesis ports on the disc, Super Monaco GP. Otherwise it's identical to the first version. My copy of this is a dual-game paper case with the 5-in-1 and Ecco the Dolphin CD as the other disc. This Ecco and 5-in-1 dual-pack apparently was the pack-in with the Sega CDX, though I don't have a CDX; I got this by itself. And yes, Golden Axe is still single player only, but with CD audio, just like with the first version of this collection.

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Impressive graphics, and good gameplay too.

The Adventures of Batman & Robin - 1 player. The Adventures of Batman and Robin is a later Sega CD title (1995), developed externally by the same awesome but very short-lived team, Clockwork Tortoise, that also made the Genesis Adventures of Batman & Robin game. Sega published both titles, though the team had come from Malibu Interactive, who had made Batman Returns, Ex-Mutants, and some other games. Malibu had a great engine for SCD scaler games, as you can see in the Sega CD versions of Batman Returns, Hook, and Cliffhanger, and Clockwork Tortoise inherited it. The Adventures of Batman & Robin has the great graphics and solid gameplay you might hope for from a later release. This game is one of the best-looking Sega CD games. Unsurprisingly considering its developer, the game is a sequel of sorts to the Sega CD version of Batman Returns. Specifically, it is a sequel to the driving levels in that game, and it runs on the same engine, I think. Like that game, it's a "3d" (though sprite-based), scaler driving-shooter game. Some stages are in the Batwing, so they're straight-out rail shooters, though the whole game plays in that style. Unlike Batman Returns for the Sega CD, though, this game only has driving levels; once Batman reaches his destination, you see a cutscene instead of gameplay. The cutscenes are awesome, though. They look just like the cartoon of the same name as this game, and that cartoon, for those who haven't seen it, was probably the best Batman TV show ever. This game is essentially a "lost episode" of the TV show -- in total, there are 15 minutes of fully-animated cutscenes in the game, all fully voiced by the real voice actors from the show. As in the show, there's some dark imagery here sometimes; the scene of Batman and the plant monster has a memorable ending, for instance. Eerie.

The Adventures of Batman & Robin has fantastic graphics ingame, too. It makes great use of the Sega CD's sprite-scaling powers. It's really too bad that so, so few Japanese Sega CD games actually make use of the systems' sprite scaling power, but at least some Western games do, and this is one of the best. There's more to say about the game, but in short, The Adventures of Batman & Robin is a definite must-play Sega CD game. It's gruelingly hard, but keeps you coming back again and again, as the game is incredibly fun to play. You'll die a lot, and get game overs, but will keep coming back. The difficulty is something I need to say more about though. First, as with almost all Sega CD action games, the game does not support saving. I have no idea why almost no action games on the Sega CD support any form of saving (even just for high scores would be awesome!), but they don't, and this one is no exception. The game has limited continues too, and a very, very high difficulty level. Even just getting past the third level will be a very serious challenge, and I have never finished the Joker's cyber-world stage. It's a crazy-hard maze of dodging and shooting. Relentless, brutal stuff. But even if you can't beat it, as I can't, definitely get this game! It's a visual standout, it's connected to a great '90s cartoon, and the game plays great, even if it's unforgiving. Highly recommended!

The Adventures of Willy Beamish - 1 player, saves (to system only). Willy Beamish is a Dynamix (Sierra) adventure game from the early '90s. It's a good classic adventure game where you play as a "normal" fourth-grade boy, Willy Beamish, and have to go through various adventures in your town. You start out in detention, because you played a prank on the teacher, and ahve to get out, and try to get home before your bad report card does. Yeah, I can't relate to that much, but it's a solid setting for a fun adventure game. However, the game has a problem: the frequent long load times makes this version hard to justify playing today. The game itself is a fun, interesting graphic adventure from a great adventure game studio, but those load times... argh! I actually find most Sega CD loading tolerable, but in this game they're just so frequent (every screen!), and so long, that it is a problem, unfortunately. Still, the game is a good cartoon-style game. And yes, the game may start out normal, but it gets weirder farther on. This version is a port of the PC original. It's a lot like the PC game, except here it's on a CD, so of course it's fully voice acted, something you won't find in the floppy-disk-only PC game. The voice acting is okay, as usual for Sierra adventure games. I like Sierra adventure games, and this is a fun one, so it's cool to have for Sega CD. There's only one problem, but it's a really bad one: The load time are horrendous and frequent. If you play this game, you will spend a LOT of time staring at loading screens. In 1993 that was probably tolerable, but now? I do recommend playing this game, but play the PC version if you value your time. Fun stuff... if you can survive the innumerable loading screens. Overall though, I recommend playing the other Sega CD port of a Dynamix adventure game, Rise of the Dragon, instead; it's also a good game, but isn't crippled quite as badly by loading screens. That's a very different kind of game though, of course. Much more serious and adult. Anyway though, Willy Beamish is good classic adventure-game fun, but I just can't take the waiting. Also on PC, Mac, and Amiga (in Europe only on Amiga).

After Burner III - 1 player, supports XE-1AP analog controller. After Burner III is a port of a Sega rail shooter. While it has the "After Burner" name on it, this game is much more like a subpar predecessor to G-LOC than it is a sequel to After Burner, unfortunately. The game is a home port of Sega's arcade game "Strike Fighter", so the After Burner name was tacked on for greater sales of the home versions. The home ports were actually outsourced, too -- though Sega made the arcade game, the home versions were done by CRI. and they did a mediocre job. Yes, Sega's only first-party-IP Sega CD scaler-style game is a highly disappointing, bland, oursourced port. Sega of Japan's Sega CD release list was ... quite weak, and Sega of Japan never did do much of anything with the scaling and rotation powers of the system, Sonic CD bonus stages excepted. And compared to Wetsern stuff like SoulStar or The Adventures of Batman & Robin, those bonus stages, or this game here, look awful. It's really, really disappointing that Sega of Japan didn't put any effort into making action games for the Sega CD. They did some RPGs (mostly ports of Japanese computer games), sports games, and a handful of (2d) exclusives mostly in the RPG, strategy, and adventure fields, but not much like what you'd expect from Sega. I think I could make a good argument that there are more good great exclusive Sega of Japan games on the 32X than on the Sega CD, strangely enough, considering that they mostly dropped the 32X after like six or seven months, but supported Sega CD for three years!). Anyway, yeah, this game's actually by CRI, and it has very bland graphics. The objects on the ground are small and uninteresting. The game has limited motion, as in G-LOC -- you can't fully fly around like you could in After Burner I and II. You get used to it, but it's not quite as good. Also as in the aforementioned G-LOC, which released later, this game has you flying in the cockpit of a fighter plane, as you shoot down all of the planes coming at you. The graphics are just so, so bland, though, that the game quickly gets boring. I liked G-LOC (the arcade game, at least), but this one isn't much fun. I don't know if Strike Fighter is better, but I imagine the better arcade graphics, and a flightstick controller, would make this a bit more fun. Even in arcades, though, this surely was never After Burner's match. The arcade game isn't the greatest, but does look better than this, and the system can do better. This game is just decent enough to maybe be worth getting for a few bucks, but only get it if it's very, very cheap, and have very low expectations. If you want to play a great After Burner game on the Genesis, get After Burner for 32X -- it's a fantastic port of After Burner II, and it's a great game. This is not. It could have been had Sega cared about making good action games for the Sega CD, but they didn't, so it isn't, and Sega's attempts at publishing ports of arcade scaler games on their first system with scaling and rotation chips ended here. Pretty pathetic, that. Ah well, at least After Burner and Space Harrier made it out on 32X... though I badly wish Outrun had as well! Also on Fujitsu FM Towns (FM Towns Marty compatible, Japan only) and in arcades. Apparenly the FM Towns version is just as bland as this one.

AH-3 Thunderstrike - 1 player, saves (to system only). AH-3 ThunderStrike is the first of Core Designs' three scaler action games on the Sega CD, and it's the only one of them taht supports saving, stupidly enough; the two later games, Battlecorps and SoulStar, are better games than this, but it's really frustrating that they removed the save system from those games that this one has. This game was successful and popular, unlike those two games, and became a lasting franchise -- the game has two sequels, one on the Saturn and Playstation, and the last on Playstation 2. ThunderStrike was clearly successful. The game is a helicopter action game. You fly around, shoot at stuff, and win the mission once all of your objective targets have been destroyed. Unlike, say, Desert Strike, though, here you cotnrol the copter from a third-person view directly behind your vehicle. The game is a fairly simple shooting game. You fly around, use your different weapon types against their appropriate targets, and try to stay alive. There are military-style briefings before each mission that tell you your objectives. I don't find this game nearly as exciting to play as Battlecorps or SoulStar, as I prefer the deeper gameplay those games have, and like their sci-fi settings more than this modern-military setting as well, but still, ThunderStrike is definitely worth getting. It's a good game, first and foremost. It's not the best Core Design game for the Sega CD, but it's a fine one, and it's definitely fun enough to be worth playing at least some of. And with that save system there, you won't have to play it all in one sitting, either, which is great. Try it.

Android Assault: The Revenge of Bari-Arm - 1 player. Android Assault is a horizontal shmup. In this game, you control a plane that can transform into a robot, as you fight to save the universe from evil etc etc. The intro cutscene is solid, but predictable. The plot comes from Macross or Gundam or something like that, and the gameplay is a hybrid of Gate of Thunder (for Turbo CD) and the Thunder Force games (for Genesis). Don't expect any original ideas in this game, you won't find them. It's a clone, through and through. The game is a good game, it's well made, has good graphics, solid robot designs, and some solid level designs as well... but I can never shake the feeling that this game is too derivitive to love. I just can't entirely respect this game; they clearly didn't use any original ideas when designing it. The game does have some areas which are a few screens tall, but Lightening Force has that, so that wasn't first seen here either. The weapons are good, but the green laser can be tricky -- it shoots a column of narrow beams, so hitting enemies with it requires precise placement. Still, with good graphics, fine level designs, and plenty of fun, Android Assault is a pretty good game, it really is. It's probably my least favorite of the Sega CD shmups that I've played (and I've played all of them except for Lords of Thunder, which is probably better than this), but still, it IS a good game; the Sega CD's six or seven shmups are just all very good games. Android Assault isn't particularly expensive, and is a fine, quality shooter, so absolutely pick it up. I would recommend playing better games like Lightening Force or Gate of Thunder over this, if you have to choose, but still, Android Assault's worth playing sometime too, for sure.

Annet Futatabi (Annet Again) (Japan only release) - One player. I don't own this game right now, but I did play and complete the game on my Sega CD several years ago. I'll get a copy eventually for sure, even though it has issues. Annet Again is the third game in the series that includes Earnest Evans (GEN/SCD), the first game, which starred adventurer guy Earnest Evans and is generally considered to be poor, and El Viento (GEN), the second game, which is a good platformer. This one's entirely different from the first two, though, as it's a beat 'em up this time. As with El Viento, you play as Annet here. This time she's gotten involved with some evil neo-Nazis, or something, at a castle in Europe I think. The story is decent, as usual in the series. Unfortunately, the game has no multiplayer, which is never fun in this genre; one of the best things about a beat 'em up is always playing them co-op with others! You can't do that here, sadly. Otherwise though, it's a serviceable beat 'em up. It's not one of the greats of the genre certainly, but isn't awful either. Perhaps the most annoying design decision is that you can't use your super attacks during boss fights. The super meter charges up, and when full you can unleash a powerful blast against everyone on screen... as long as you're not in a situation where you actually need it, that is, in a boss fight. Actually letting you win bossfights without tedious frustration? That'd be crazy, these designers seem to have thought! Argh. And when you die in a level, you start it over; no continuing where you died here. You do get infinite continues though, at least, and the levels are on the short side, so it's not quite as bad as it sounds, but it is frustrating. The graphics are decent, and there is CD music of course. The game also has plenty of cutscenes which are fully voice acted in Japanese. Even though I don't know what's being said, with the pictures and vocal words (as opposed to text), I can get some of the sense of what's going on. The story and cutscenes are well-done, I wanted to keep playing in order to see what would happen next. Still, I'd like to see a translation sometime. I think that the game doesn't exactly end in the most conclusive of fashions, but unfortunately they never made another game, so this ending will have to do for the franchise. Maybe someone will bring it back someday... okay, likely not, but you never know.

Battlecorps - 1 player, 6 Button Controller supported. Battlecorps is Core Designs' second Sega CD scaler action game, and this one's quite the game. Battlecorps is a first-person mech shooter. It's got a cool futuristic theme, and looks and plays great. First, a guy explains what your mission is. The speech is kind of hard to understand, but fortunately the game is pretty straightforward. You walk around in a mech, exploring around a nice variety of levels, killing enemies and finding your way through the stage. Some levels have bosses to fight, so kill those too. You have six weapons, and can switch to them with X, Y, Z, and Mode plus X, Y, and Z; the 6-button controller is highly recommended for this game, it makes switching weapons much easier. The graphics are fantastic; this is one of the better-looking Sega CD games around. The mech cockpit looks very cool, and the "walking" sound you make asy ou move around is awesome. You can choose between three playable characters in this game, too. They have different stats, but also act as your lives -- after each dies you choose one of the others, and then lose all three and it's a game over. This game is hard, and long too; this really needed a save system! You had one in ThunderStrike Core... bah. At least there is a level-select cheat code. I recommend using it in lieu of that badly needed save system. Regardless, definitely, absolutely play Battlecorps. With great graphics, a nice variety of environments, lots of challenge, and plenty of reasons to come back and keep trying, Battlecorps is a must play Sega CD game. And fortunately, it's cheap and fairly common as well! Pick it up for sure. It's one of the system's best, and Core's second-best game on the console as well.

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The background graphics are the only good thing about this bad game. Also, note the final boss's health bar there, at all times in the game.

Bram Stoker's Dracula - 1 player. Bram Stoker's Dracula is a FMV platformer. Note that this is a Sega CD exclusive; it's not a port of any of the other "Bram Stoker's Dracula" games on other systems. Unfortunately, it might be even worse than what I've heard of the other games. So, you control a digitized actor-sprite, and walk to the right hitting bats and rats on your "epic" quest to stop Dracula. This game is a complete disaster of a game; the background graphics are great, but the "gameplay" is so bad that it's not much of any fun to play. The first problem is that the controls are very stiff and aren't any good. Your actions are restricted, perhaps because it's a digitized sprite of an actual actor. Good control? Yeah, you won't find that here. The gameplay is repetitive, simplistic, and seriously subpar, as well. This was one of the first Sega CD games I got, and man am I glad that I also found Battlecorps early on, because this game is quite the opposite of that one in quality. I do like the FMV backdrops, which get interesting a few levels in, but the gameplay... avoid! The game has very little enemy variety, too. Bats, rats, and not much else, a lot of the time. Hit kick to stomp on the rats, punch to punch the bats, and jump to attempt to jump over pits. Good luck with that; fortunately you don't die if you fall in them, only take damage, but still, they're annoying. Later on more enemy types appear, but this game doesn't have much variety. You can tell that the design was questionable once you notice that on the lower left of the screen, there's an enemy health bar... the FINAL BOSS'S health bar. Yes, that "Dracula" bar will sit there, full, all the way until you get to the very end of this tediously unfun game. I didn't stick with it long enough to get that far, and I wouldn't recommend anyone else do either. It's not worth it for the bad video clips, the bad controls, the bland and uninteresting gameplay, or much else either. Awful game.

Brutal: Paws of Fury - 2 players, 6 Button Controller supported, Password Save. Brutal: Paws of Fury is a slightly enhanced port of the Genesis cartridge version of this not-very-good fighting game. They added CD audio and adds one new character to the SNES/Genesis original ten. The game was apparently popular, because it got released on not only the Sega CD but also later had a 32X cart release as well, but it's not good on any system. This is a bad European fighting game inspired by the fighting game craze of the early '90s, which means think Mortal Kombat, but with comic-book-style animals as the fighters, and a WHOLE lot worse. The game isn't irredeemably terrible, admittedly, as the graphics are okay, the writing amusing, and the fighting average at times, but it's definitely not good, either. The characters are moderately entertaining, but once you actually get into a fight, you'll see how bland and lacking this game is. The game has a few unique features, including that you have to actually earn your special moves by winning matches, and some decent story bits in between fights too, but while that RPG element is kind of interesting, it also makes the early matches even MORE bland, as you don't even have special moves to use early on! And even once you get them, moves are hard to use. Argh. The password-only save system is also incredibly lazy. I know some other games do this too (Earthworm Jim CD, both Ecco CD titles...), but it's never forgivable, and these passwords are long! Have a password option too if you want, sure, but support save files on a system which can do it! Ah well. Overall I had low expectations for this game, given what I'd heard about Brutal, and unfortunately, the game lived up to my expectations: it's not that good. You can certainly do much worse than Brutal, and there are worse fighting games even on Sega CD, but you can do a lot, lot better, too. There isn't a whole lot of reason to play any version of Brutal, honestly, unless you really like the concept (anthropomorphic animals in a fighting game) or character art, or something. This game is an enhanced version Sega CD exclusive, but it's a slightly enhanced version of Brutal for the SNES, Genesis, Amiga, and Amiga CD32. The final version was the 32X version, Above the Claw, which adds two more characters to the game, but sadly removes one of the few good things in the Sega CD game, the story scenes. So yeah, if you MUST play Brutal, maybe try this version (Sega CD). It's below average at best, though.

Chuck Rock - 1 player, Password Save. Chuck Rock is another Core Designs game, but unlike the two Core games earlier on this list, this one isn't a Sega CD exclusive. Instead, it's a port. This game is one of the many Sega CD gaems which is simply a Genesis game with CD audio and a few video sequences added. Chuck Rock was a moderately successful 2d platformer, and was released on many platforms. This version is the same as the others, except it has pretty entertaining cartoon animation sequences added in at the beginning and end of the game. The intro's pretty good, and is well worth watching. As for the game, though, whether you like Chuck Rock or not depends somewhat on how much you like classic Euro-style platformers, because that's what this game is. In the game, you play as caveman Chuck Rock, out to save his kidnapped girlfriend. Yeah, zero points here for story. The gameplay has a few original elements, though. You don't just walk to the right and hit things here, Bonk-style; instead, this game has some puzzle elements. You have to figure out how to progress through the game, and there are some puzzles to solve, as well. Chuck has a ... large belly ... and can bump things in front of him with it. You can interact with stuff this way. Unfortunately, that is also Chuck's main attack, so your main weapon requires you to be at very close range. I think the game is alright though, with decent sprite work, a solid musical score, and okay gameplay, but it doesn't grab me and keep me coming back, and you can get stuck in this game, unless you use a guide, since it does have the puzzle elements. The game does have password save, but that they didn't toss in save files shows that it was yet another lazy port, even if they did those animated cutscenes. Still, it's an okay to good game. I can see why it was successful, even if I don't love it. Because of the animated scenes, this probably is the best version of the game. Without the animated parts, the game is also on SNES, Genesis, Game Gear, Game Boy, and, in Europe only, the SMS and five or six computer platforms.

Chuck Rock II: Son of Chuck - 1 player. Chuck Rock II is actually fairly different from the first game. While it is another caveman platformer, this time it's a more conventional game. In this game you play as Chuck's baby son, who has to rescue his father, who got kidnapped this time. He has a club, so you've got more attack power in this game than in the first one. The levels are also more straightforward, though there are still some puzzles, where you hit things around with your club. Unfortunately the save system was removed from this game, so there aren't even passwords. Lame! There is another nice animated cutscene at the beginning, though. As with in the first game, it's entertaining and worth watching, even if it is cliche. It's even better than the first games' intro, and is good length too. The CD version has more animations than the cart versions do, as well, and there is some use of voiced sound effects in the game also, as in Mickey Mania. Pretty nice. Overall Chuck Rock II is a fairly generic platform-action game, but it's decent to good, and I think I like it a bit more than the first game. It's nothing original, and may not hold your interest all the way through, but is decent fun for a while anyway. Pick it up if it's cheap. Also on Genesis, Game Gear, and in Europe only SMS, Amiga, and Amiga CD32 as well (without the CD extras on all but the last platform of course).

Cliffhanger - 1 player. Cliffhanger is another Genesis-to-Sega CD port, but this one has enough added content to definitely make it worth considering. Cliffhanger is a licensed game, based off of the Stallone movie of the same name where he plays a rock-climber guy. I've never seen the movie, but it involves guns and thieves or something. Unsurprising. The game is mostly a very mediocre, but overly difficult, beat 'em up. Expect to die a lot, run out of continues on a regular basis, and keep having to start over because the game has no saving on top of those limited continues, of course. This game has some long movie clips on the disc; many Sega CD games have only short movie clips (the ones in Bram Stoker's Dracula are only seconds long, for example, and may be new and not from the film), but a full 20 minutes of video from the movie were crammed onto this CD. The video quality is poor, of course, but still, it's impressive that they fit so much on the disc. In addition to the movie clips and some CD music, the other major addition is a scaler-style snowboarding section. The isometric snowboard levels of the SNES and Genesis game are gone here, and replaced with something much more impressive. Malibu Interactive made the SNES, Genesis, and Sega CD versions of this game, so they got their guy who'd done the Batman Returns scaler levels and had him do something like that for this game as well. The results are pretty good; it plays great and looks even better. It really shows off what the Sega CD can do when people who knew how to push it programmed for the system. There is a downside, though: it's HARD. The snowboarding levels come all at once, instead of being spread out through the game, and are a grueling, almost nightmarish ordeal of pain and suffering. Did you like how hard The Adventures of Batman & Robin quickly gets? Then this is a must-play too! You've got to dodge lots of stuff coming at you, and don't have much time to do that in given how fast you move in this game. The speed is impressive, but makes the game harder. I actually gave up before finishing the snowboard levels, myself... it's just so hard. Still, this game is absolutely worth getting; whether or not you get through the snowboard levels, they're a definite showcase for what the Sega CD can do, and the game is well worth getting on those grounds alone. And they are fun to play, too, when you're not hating them for their difficulty. Unfortunately there's no "snowboard only" mode in this game, unlike Batman Returns, so you do have to also play the mediocre beat 'em up before the snowboard section, and for the rest of the game after if you get farther than I did, but still, it's good. There are some little mini snowboard courses you can directly access form the main menu via a cheat code, which is cool. Try them out. This game is based off of the SNES and Genesis versions of Cliffhanger; though the snowboard section is entirely different, of course, and video clips were added, most of the rest of the game is the same. On one final note, Malibu also added some scaler parts into their other Sega CD game, 3 Ninjas Kick Back. I haven't played that one myself though.

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Too soon?

Cobra Command - 1 player. Cobra Command is an animated, Dragon's Lair-style QTE FMV game. It's actually a Japanese game, though it's dubbed here of course. In the game you have control of a helicopter, and have to do various missions to save the day from terrorists and the like. The first level's set in New York City, too. Yeah, it's ahead of its time! As it's a Dragon's Lair style game you have to press the correct direction, or the button, when prompted. This game does tell you what you should hit, but that doesn't make it easy, for sure. This game is tough. Is it fun? Eh... it's not awful, but this is definitely not my kind of game. The graphics are decent and the art and animation are nice, but the simplistic Dragon's Lair gameplay gets old fast, as it does with every game in this genre. I kept playing for a little while, to try to see more areas, but eventually got frustrated with the game and gave up. I'm not the greatest at this kind of game, and the interaction definitely is limited. Still, for its genre, decent effort here from Wolfteam. Arcade port.

Dark Wizard - 1 player, saves (to system or Backup RAM Cart). Dark Wizard is one of Sega of Japan's best releases for the Sega CD. The game is an outstanding, deep, and relatively complex fantasy strategy game. The game has anime-style character art and a generic '90s fantasy anime setting and art style, and it looks pretty good. The story is a fairly generic one of heroes who have to save the land from the ancient evil lord, but hey, at least there's no princess to rescue; just defeat the demon lord, and save the world. Simple enough.

However, while the story may be predictably average, the game isn't at all. A lot of effort clearly went into Dark Wizard, and it's awesome that it got a US release! This game is more complex than some others from its time on consoles, and it's a pretty interesting game. First, you have four different characters to choose from, two male and two female, and each with a different story to play through. If you want to beat all of them, there's a lot of content here. The four stories do eventually merge, but still, there are enough differences, particularly in their unique beginnings, to encourage repeat play. You control your chosen main character, and an army of troops that you can take from mission to mission as well. Yes, levelling up units is important, because some of them do carry over between missions. On that note, each mission takes place in a specific area of the world, but it really is one big map. Units can also become new classes once they reach high enough levels, too. But perhaps most importantly, the game uses a hex grid, instead of the usual square one. This was a just fantastic idea! Squares are okay, but hexes allow for more strategy, which is why the most serious strategy games, wargames, almost always use hex grids. It's very rare to see a Japanese fantasy strategy game with hexes, but here one is, on the Sega CD. The game has some complexity to it, too. As you send your army out around each mission, there are various secret things to find, as well as the main objective of simply defeating all of the enemies. The game also has various cities around each mission. If you take cities, you will then get additional income from each one. You can then buy items and such for your army with your income. Castles can only be taken by your leader, but cities can be taken by any member of your forces.

As for negatives, there really aren't many. I guess I can mention a few things, though. First, if you turn on the attack animations, the load times for those attacks is tediously long. Fortunately the designers realized this, and you do have the option of turning off attack animations. The only other real issue is that some of the secrets, in that classic JRPG/Japanese strategy game tradition, will be near-impossible to find unless you play the game with a guide. That kind of game design is always annoying, even if Japanese games do it all the time... ah well. Do make sure to talk to everyone, of course; some quests or conversations won't trigger until you talk to the right person, or unless you have the right item in your inventory, or unless you say the right thing. Some solutions are quite obscure. Whatever you do find though, may be helpful; this is a challenging game, and having a strong party is important. Overall, Dark Wizard is an absolute must-play for any strategy game or strategic-RPG fan. It's an outstanding game, easily one of the best on the console. Get Dark Wizard. It's one of the best console strategy games of its generation, hands down.

Demolition Man - 1 player, Password save. Demolition Man is a port of the Sega Genesis game of the same name. Yes, this is another cart-to-CD port. This game isn't as much enhanced as Cliffhanger or Mickey Mania, though; this is pretty much just the Genesis cart game, but with CD audio, CD cutscenes from the movie, and that's about it. It's yet another annoying game with password-only saving on a console with internal save memory, too. Even if it doesn't make the best use of the medium, though, Demolition Man is actually a pretty decent game. Yes, even 4th gen licensed games published by Acclaim could be okay. Demolition Man has good graphics (as with the Genesis game), decent controls, and solid action. The game has ten levels, mostly side-scrolling but a few top-down isometric. In either perspective, the game is an action-heavy game. This is an action game through and through, and you'll do a lot of shooting. With fine controls and decent, if average, level designs, though, the game's fun to play. I went into this game with low expectations, but it exceeded them. The game is a cartride title with CD audio and FMV cutscenes from the movie, so if you have a cart version this may not be worth getting, but for those without any version of the game, definitely consider Demolition Man for Sega CD. That CD audio soundtrack is good, and regardless of platform, the game is a fun, solidly above-average run & gun action shooting game which I certainly recommend playing on some platform. Also on SNES and Genesis. Apparently the SNES version might be slower than the Genesis and Sega CD ones, so they're probably the better choices.

Devastator (Japan only release) - One player. Devastator is a side-scrolling action/shooter game based on an anime of the same name that I have not seen. Devastator was yet another giant-robot-mech anime, clearly, because that's what this game is too. There are cutscenes, probably from the film, in the game every so often. They're well animated and look decent for the system; though they aren't quite as nice as, say, The Adventures of Batman & Robin, they're fine and add a bit to the game. I don't really know what the story is, but I do know that what you do in this game is simple enough: use your mech to defeat all the badguys and save the day. Devastator is a bit short, with only six or seven moderate-length levels and an average to low difficulty level, but the last two stages are tough, so the game will take a little effort to finish. The level designs are good, though, so the game kept me coming back until it was over -- I definitely didn't want to stop playing! There's also no saving, so you do have to play it in one sitting. Still, this game is definitely not going to last all that long, unfortunately. While it lasts, though, it's a pretty fun side-scrolling action-platformer/shooter. Devastator has decent to good graphics and fun gameplay, until you hit that hard part. The game is mostly a scrolling run & gun style game, but there is a flying level or two which feel more shmuplike (though it's mostly not autoscrolling). You've got several different weapons, and plenty of enemies to shoot at. It's simple, straightforward stuff, but fun. Devastator is too short, and when I was over I was left wanting more, but still, while it lasts, this game is good. I'd recommend playing it, but do try to find it cheap; the short length is a drawback. I wish this was in English so I knew what the story was... the cutscenes are voiced, so I can get the idea of the tone of voice and such, but I don't know what they're saying. Ah well. Overall, I like this game. The shooting action is good, the graphics decent, and it's fun to play. It's too bad it didn't release here.

Double Switch - One player, saves (to system only). Double Switch is, in terms of gameplay, the sequel to Night Trap. The gameplay is the same as that "classic", and the game is from the same developer, Digital Pictures. Now, I don't own Night Trap, and haven't played it, but I have played this game, and I absolutely hate it. So, I think I'd hate Night Trap too. But why do I dislike this game so much? From what I've read, it's supposedly better than Night Trap is, gameplay-wise. Ouch... if this one is this bad, and it's actually IMPROVED... seriously, why DID that game ever get popular? It's not like ALL of the live-action-video games were as bad as this one and Night Trap are, they aren't. But somehow that game succeeded. Ah well. But anyway, in the game, you have to trap thieves who are trying to break in to an apartment building that you are defending with a security system and traps. As in Night Trap, there are several different rooms in the building, and you have to monitor all of them at the same time. Now, the thieves usually appear in empty rooms, not occupied ones. So, just like in the first game, you have to spend most of your time looking at empty rooms, while FMV video scenes that you might want to be watching, but can't because you will lose, occur at the same time in other rooms. It's brain-hurtingly bad design... why have all that video there, and then not let you watch it? Really, really stupid. And beyond that, trying to trap the thieves is frustrating too. You have to hit the right button to activate the right trap while the enemy is over it, and timing things correctly can be frustrating. I don't feel much satisfaction from getting things right, either, honestly. This game is painfully horrible, one of the very worst "games" I own for the Sega CD. I can't think of anything good to say about it, not one thing. And once people finally realized that about Digital Pictures' games..., that's probably when they went under. Also on Saturn and PC.

Ecco the Dolphin - One player, Password Save. Ecco the Dolphin was a very popular game on the Genesis. The game's a brutally difficult, and very weird, undersea action-adventure game where you play as a dolphin who has to save the world from aliens, or something like that. Yeah, the plot starts out normal, but then gets very strange... and unique. With a difficulty level as high as Ecco's, though, only the best players got to the end. I haven't, myself. I keep meaning to put some serious time into this game sometime, but still have not. The few levels I have played I really like, though. It's a confusing, frusrating, and original title, as you swim around under the sea, try to solve puzzles, use your sonar, and look for air (since, as a dolphin, you have to breathe of course), but it's brilliant, it really is.

As for this version of the game, Ecco CD is a slightly enhanced cartridge port. The CD version adds six more levels (so 33, instead of 27), enhanced sound, two live action FMV videos of real dolphins at the beginning, and adds checkpoints to the levels, which is very nice. It's unfortunate that htye didn't add saving to the system, though. The sequel, Ecco 2, has no such enhancements, but does add animated CGI cutscenes telling backstory; they're good, Both games' CD versions also add one other major thing: those amazing CD soundtracks. Ecco CD's other additions are nice, but the music makes it an ABSOLUTE MUST OWN for anyone who likes electronic music. The Ecco CD soundtrack is absolutely exceptional. It perfectly fits the setting, and is just really, really good undersea atmospheric electronic sound. Awesome stuff. Buy Ecco CD, and get Ecco 2 CD too. (I haven't reviewed it here since I still don't own it, but I've listened to the soundtrack, and it's just as good as this games' is.) Also on Genesis and PC.

ESPN National Hockey Night - Two players, saves (to system only). ESPN National Hockey Night is a bland, generic, and mediocre hockey game from Sony. This game isn't awful, but there's nothing really to recommend it, either. I see that it got solid reviews, but I can't find this game fun at all. With average at best graphics, average at best controls, nothing original or interesting about the game at all, pointless CD addons like random little videos that it stupidly inserts at random points during play (with the expected loading screens too, into and out!), and more, there's no reason to play this game at all, unless you really, REALLY like 4th gen hockey games. Even if you do, though... play EA's NHL '94 for the Sega CD instead. That game is actually good, quite unlike this one. I only paid a couple of dollars for this game, but really, I don't think it was worth it; it's not fun, not worth playing, and not really worth owning either. Also on SNES and Genesis. Those versions are probably slightly better, but really, being slightly better than a bad game is not saying much positive. Pass!

Fahrenheit - One player, saves (to system only). See my review of the 32X CD version -- this is the same thing, pretty much, just with worse video quality and fewer colors. In short though, Fahrenheit is an adventure game, pretty much. It's an okay game, for an FMV game... but man is it frustrating.

Flink - One player. Flink is a European side-scrolling fantasy platformer from Psygnosis, and it's a great, highly under-rated game that should be a classic. Flink is a young apprentice wizard, and in this game he, and thus you, is the last hope to save the day from evil forces with, as you expect from a videogame, your platforming skills and magic. In addition to jumping on enemies and shooting them with spells, you also can collect items, in order to create new spells. There's a puzzle element to this part of the game, and if you don't look up the combinations, figuring out what will create what will take trial and error. If that frustrates, though, just look up the combinations. I did some of that myself; Flink is great, but I do like knowing what I should be doing, and looking for. And with a game as hard as this one is, you need the help.

Flink is yet another cart-to-CD conversion, but this time the cartridge version was only released in Europe, so if Americans want to play this game without importing, you've got to buy it for Sega CD. Fortunately the CD version is better than the cart. In addition to the expected CD audio and intro cutscene, it's also got enhanced sound and some added level segments in this version as well, so it's a bit longer. Also, having an intro is nice; the cart version doesn't really have one. As for the game though, Flink is a beautiful Euro-platformer. The cartoony graphics look fantastic, and the game controls quite well for a Euro-platformer too. The game is mostly linear, but the puzzle and spell-component-collection elements add some exploration to the game as well. Overall, as I suggested, Flink really is a fantastic game, and I highly recommend it! The game has only one flaw, its very high difficulty. That flaw is a potentially significant one, as this is a long and grueling game with many levels and even more areas. Since there is no saving allowed at all and not even any continues, beating Flink will take practice and serious effort. Well, unless you use the cheat menu, that is; I haven't. I think it's worth the time, though: this is one of the better Sega CD platformers around. Pick it up. The developers of this game went on to make the possibly even more obscure The Adventures of Lomax for the Playstation. It's a platformer with graphics very similar to this one, except you play as a Lemming and thus have Lemming skills, instead of magic. Look for that game as well. Also on Genesis, Amiga, and Amiga CD32, all in Europe only.

Formula One World Championship: Beyond the Limit - One player, saves (to system or Backup RAM Cart). Formula One World Championship: Beyond the Limit, known as Heavenly Symphony: Formula One World Championship 1993 in Japan, may have a very long name, but it's also a very interesting game. This game is one of the very, very few Japanese Sega CD games which actually push the hardwares' scaling and rotation powers. There's this, Night Striker, and not much else of note. Fuji Television directed and produced the game and did the videos, but Sega programmed it. The game has some flaws, most notably its very slow, tedious pace that will turn off most people who are not serious Formula One racing fans, something I am most definitely not. So, yes, I find this game incredibly tedious, boring, and dull. However, even so, the game is an extremely interesting one on technical grounds. Formula One World Championship's graphics engine really is great. This game really is in true 3d, and has a smooth framerate as well. Sure, everything is made out of sprites, but you're in a real 3d world, and the tracks in this game are laid out just like the real tracks are. No other 5th gen racing game could say the same; even Mode 7 games on SNES don't have anything on this in terms of accuracy. I badly wish that Sega had taken this engine, or team, and had them make an arcade-style racing game too; it could have been fantastic! It's really a big missed opportunity. With an engine this good, it's a real shame that it was only used for a hardcore sim.

Now, some people take issue with this games' controls. If you want the best controls in this game, you will definitely need to customize the car settings, and know what you're doing with them too. I don't, myself, so I can't really do that. I'm horrible at this kind of game anyway, though, so I doubt it would help very much. I do wish that you could skip the practice and qualifying before every race, though. By the time I get to the actual race, I'm pretty bored; you have to do quite a few laps around a mostly-empty track before you finally can race against actual cars, which, for me, is the only fun part. Ah well. Yeah, this game really isn't for me, but because of its technical accomplishment, I gave it a serious try anyway. I think it's worth playing, seriously. Play this game, watch some videos of the actual tracks, and be impressed at how accurate this game is. No linescroll game could ever, ever even hope to match this. I think that racing games benefited from 3d more than almost every other genre; sure, I love stuff like Micro Machines and Top Gear, but 3d gave racing games options that just didn't exist before. Other genres struggled to adapt well to 3d, but racing games took off on it from the beginning, and this game is one example of that. Give it a try, whether or not you find the subject interesting.

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Keep your trigger finger ready, you never know who's actually an alien...

Ground Zero Texas - One player, saves (to system only). Ground Zero Texas is a two-CD-long live-action-video FMV shooting game. The plot is that aliens, who are disguising themselves as humans surely for budget reasons, have invaded a small Texas town. Well, you've been called in to shoot them all dead. This is another Digital Pictures game, so when I put it in the system, I was expecting the worst. Well, I didn't get it. ...