GOTD 5/5/2016: Mega Maze (CD-i)

[celerystalker]

The CD-i is not exactly loaded with amazing games, and is often picked up as a morbid curiousity by Nintendo fans wanting to get a better look at the infamous Zeldas and Hotel Mario. I can admit that Link: Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon were driving forces for me, as I'd wanted to play them since reading about them in Game Pro in school, and they really reminded me of the Nintendo Valiant Comics I used to read. Anyway, whatever your reason is/was if you bought one, we're all inevitably looking for some playable, genuinely amusing content that won't break the bank. I have a few, but the first I'll mention was the game I got with my CD-i long ago, and that's Mega Maze.

Mega Maze is a top-down action puzzle game that tasks you to guide a blue ball through a set of 75 single screen mazes to become a Maze Master. If the hairs on the back of your neck aren't standing up at the thought of that achievement, you aren't human. Anyhow, these labyrinths are of course loaded with traps and hazards such as pitfalls, lazers (with a Z for emphasis), direction blocking doors, and enemy balls just waiting to make your little ball explode, or let out an oddly blood-curtling scream when it falls.

After a couple of learning boards, it becomes quickly apparent that the key to maze mastery is in manipulating rival balls. They move only when you do in the direction that you hold, so guiding them along shafts as you tuck yourself away againat a wall to get them out of the way or trigger traps and switches for you is the order of the day. Accidentally killing one at the wrong time may make a maze impossible to complete, but pressing button 2 will reset the current maze. If you want victory to come, mind those balls.

The graphics is Mega Maze are pretty spartan, and remind me of something that would have been included in a '90s edition of Windows. Every stage uses basically the same tile set, and not even colors change up often. Some mazes have multiple single-screen parts that must be completed to finish the whole level, which does add a degree of challenge, some even offering multiple paths. There is no music in game aside from a brief fanfare after each stage is completed, and few sound effects, which makes the horrific scream somehow emitted by a ball when it falls all the more jarring. Still, it does at least offer passwords after each stage, which is surprisingly helpful, as many CD-i systems have dead, difficult to replace batteries for their memory back-up.

Mega Maze is no show stopper, but it is a decent little game for the kind of person who can while away an afternoon with a picross or sokoban game. You can't die while you're not moving, making it a quiet thinking game instead of an intense reflex challenge... and on the CD-i, it has the added weight of being a pretty well-realized game.

Played this one?

[tom]

Used to own a CDi, never played that game. Looks interesting though.

Had all three Zelda games though, made me lots of bucks selling them. I guess they were good for something, as I only paid $20 for all three.

[Steve W]

I also have a CD-i and have never heard of this game. I also have a few of those Nintendo titles, but two of them are blank label "for promotional use - not for resale" versions. I wonder if that would make them more valuable. I actually picked up a boxload of CD-i titles that were promo versions about ten years back.

Out of all the titles I have, the only game I have that's playable is The Apprentice. It's a half-way decent platformer with an early '90s British look to it. It's also kind of hard, so I never played it very much. I wish I came across better titles in the wild, all I ever seemed to locate were edutainment stuff mostly. I have been told that there was a decent amount of good games for the CD-i, I've never witnessed it for myself sadly.

[celerystalker]

Used to own a CDi, never played that game. Looks interesting though.

Had all three Zelda games though, made me lots of bucks selling them. I guess they were good for something, as I only paid $20 for all three.

I legitimately like Faces of Evil and Wand of Gamelon, and have copies of them still. Up until I got and didn't like Ocarina of Time, I loved all things Zelda. Zelda II is still my favorite, but the CD-i games really remind me of the Zelda periphery media at the time. The cartoon on the Super Mario Bros. Super Show, the Valiant Comics series, Nintendo Cereal System commercials... they remind me of a more innocent time in gaming. I'm not saying they're master works or anything, but the way they're designed, challenging you to complete each area within three lives, ends up being a pretty fair challenge, even if the platforming is kinda slippery. I know they aren't for everyone, but I really like them.