My Unhealthy obsession with the Phillips CDI

[Ed Oscuro]

My all time favorite CD-i game (though it was eventually ported to PC) is BURN: CYCLE. This game was the answer to all my prayers, great story and techno/ rave style soundtrack. Very Japanese and Very BladeRunner influenced. Actually, its VERY similar to SNATCHER in many design aspects.

I can count on maybe two hands the number of Japanese words I can correctly pronounce (and I found recently I've been wrong about many for quite a while) but calling Burn: Cycle "Japanese influenced" is rather like calling Monty Python and the Holy Grail "Christian influenced." The difference here is that the people behind Burn Cycle thought annoying sound clips and short vid clips of an asian woman at the beginning would make it feel like the product of '90s Japan, they really only achieved a parody (if they realized that's what it was) of that whole society. I find it a bit offensive, actually. Blade Runner influenced? Maybe the out-of-place Russian bomb you plant at the beginning of the game...looks like a throwback to the U.S.-Russian war in the history of William Gibson's Neuromancer.

The game isn't quite the worst thing on the system, but the terrible cheesiness of it turns me off. Still, if you can stomach that (and the ridiculously complex hovercar booting sequence, which I never did figure out) it looks like it should be a bit of fun.

Space Ace didn't hold a lot of play time for me, but the smoothness of the FMV is pretty impressive, and it looks very nice on the portable's screen. It was rather difficult to control with the unit's onboard controls, but part of that was the fact that I'm a newbie to the game. I didn't have too much problem replicating sequences of key presses, and when I was pressing the fire button early on, the quick reload to the beginning of the sequence helped keep me in the game and to figure out what the game was about.

Overall, I think that the CD-i Space Ace isn't terribly playable, but it might be better recieved if you play it first...or it might just turn you off to the Dragon's Lair type game altogether.

I agree with Jive3D's take on the Zelda games most--tough play control, but good fun otherwise. That said, I'd rather be playing Mischief Makers on the N64.

[The Unknown Gamer]

Maybe that is why there is only 1 CD-I emulator out there and it only plays one game and that is Rise of the robots

[ventrra]

The game isn't quite the worst thing on the system, but the terrible cheesiness of it turns me off. Still, if you can stomach that <SNIP>

Oooohhhh!! CHEESEY GAMES!!! I love cheesey games! Does the CD-I have a lot of other games that fit that discription?

The Zelda games are VERY CHEASY

Besides that one? If many of them are, I may have to look more seriously into getting a CD-I system.

[Jive3D]

Wow you guys are really on a bashing streek here.

yes it is more of a japanese mockery, but more of just a wanna be. the style of the skylines and the (flying car) scenes were very Bladerunner and wanna-be anime. the advertisements on the skyline that are slightly japanese with that girl taking the Pill and saying "Pee-Poe!" was what I was refering to.

I HAVE played the game recently, and I still dig it. It's not a fun game to play unless you get into the story.

It really does suck that the system had so many truly horribile games. But I still had a lot of fun with it, like i did with Burn:Cycle.

[Ed Oscuro]

yes it is more of a japanese mockery, but more of just a wanna be. the style of the skylines and the (flying car) scenes were very Bladerunner and wanna-be anime. the advertisements on the skyline that are slightly japanese with that girl taking the Pill and saying "Pee-Poe!" was what I was refering to.

Yeah, same thing. I still don't like it, it seems to be saying that Japanese is just gibberish.

While I'm on this particular rant, I'm obliged to mention the game isn't nearly as bad as Tetsuo Gaiden, which falls directly into the Japanese-shooter wannabe category and in fact misses a couple rungs on the way down and drowns in the sewage. OK, maybe not, but if you're going to have voice-overs, try to pronounce things right and come up with a title that actually makes sense. Duke Nukem's "case of larengitis" sounds perfectly normal in comparison with this voice actor's horribly drawn out consonants and faked deep voice. That said, the lousy production values seem to have had a big hand in this. Such a shame, really, seeing how the CD-i could've done a pretty nice shooter even with FMV in the background--to say nothing of what it would've been without that FMV and used the digital video pack as extra RAM..!

[Jive3D]

Can you bash Zelda's Adventure so the price might start going down on eBay and I can buy a copy?

^_^

[Ed Oscuro]

Arr yes. Thar she blows, Zelda's Adventure. Horribly, and I dinna joke 'un bit when I say such, Horribly done! Graphics are rather nice for they have that special FMV quality, and them sprites are orientated such that they're always looking top down yer from the crow's nest. Still looks like a murky mess! Haven't played this one but I think I've got the hang of it from screenshots. Lots o' FMV, did I mention that? I do like the cover on 'er one bit, like a nice figurehead on a garbage scow.

Burn yer copies folks! Throw 'em to the CD-ROM shredders!

Oh wait, that's not what you wanted one bit, was it?

:D I do think it's wildly overpriced, but who knows...could be another Dracula X Rondo of Blood hidden underneath all those poorly chosen colors, somewhere, deep inside the game.

[Keir]

Oh poor, misguided Christian.

Looks like. Sounds like. But most certainly does NOT play like.

I predict that your attendees will enjoy CD-i Space Ace for an average of 3.5 minutes. You can save yourself a lot of hooking up and unhooking up by putting something more entertaining to a group of people on the set. Just my two cents.

I tried it out yesterday. I think I played less than 3.5 minutes. It looks great, but I couldn't get past the second jump. Then again, I never really liked those kinds of games anyway.

[Ed Oscuro]

That's not much worse than what I did--I think I got about five to ten moves in and then called it quits. Yes, the 3-5 minutes prediction is pretty good, actually. I put maybe 15-30 in.

[punkoffgirl]

Oh poor, misguided Christian.

Looks like. Sounds like. But most certainly does NOT play like.

I predict that your attendees will enjoy CD-i Space Ace for an average of 3.5 minutes. You can save yourself a lot of hooking up and unhooking up by putting something more entertaining to a group of people on the set. Just my two cents.

I tried it out yesterday. I think I played less than 3.5 minutes. It looks great, but I couldn't get past the second jump. Then again, I never really liked those kinds of games anyway.

I watched 5-6 people try it out, and only one person even bothered to play longer than it took to die three times.

[chadtower]

Yep, I tallied a high score of ten points before I gave up on it and went for more beer.

[christianscott27]

but it looked cool!

[Jive3D]

Space ace was always a novelty. I think that Philips gave me the game for free, they were giving away free software for a while at one point.

I won't get rid of it just because its a neat piece of gaming history, but its not very fun to play at all, can't say that it sees the light of day too often.

[Jive3D]

Can anyone let me know if Escape from Cyber City is a good game? I always wanted to pick it up. Some people loved it and others hated it. but that doesn't necessarily hold any weight seeing the silly Burn:Cycle comments above.

Escape from Cyber City at all lately? Anyone?

[Jorpho]

Maybe that is why there is only 1 CD-I emulator out there and it only plays one game and that is Rise of the robots

I think that emulator was only made because someone got their hands on the CDi ROTR source code. There is another emulator, actually, but it's not quite so functional.

Anyway, I would suspect that the old PC floppy version of Space Ace would be the worst version. Or maybe that SNES game.

Oh, and if you subscribe to IGN, you can get videos and screenshots of all the CDi Zelda games. As it is, the article on Link: The Faces of Evil is available to one and all. Be very afraid. Very, very, afraid:
http://insider.ign.com/articles/316625p1.html

[ReaXan]

Man what can I say,thanks for the great input from everybody,nice to know people actually care to give you some serious input on subjects such as these,one again thanks


And for the record I think my obsession has died down but I think it would be fun to try it out first hand,judging from the comments I shouldnt invest to heavily into getting it since the games are bad for the most part,I will
still look around ebay and maybe someone will sell their's for 30 bucks with a game someday

[digitalpress]

Oh poor, misguided Christian.

Looks like. Sounds like. But most certainly does NOT play like.

I predict that your attendees will enjoy CD-i Space Ace for an average of 3.5 minutes. You can save yourself a lot of hooking up and unhooking up by putting something more entertaining to a group of people on the set. Just my two cents.

I tried it out yesterday. I think I played less than 3.5 minutes. It looks great, but I couldn't get past the second jump. Then again, I never really liked those kinds of games anyway.

Told ya so. :P

[ReaXan]

I have been looking on Ebay for CDI's,their still to high

[nesuser2]

I have a crapload of CDi games........just 2 titles, but if any CDi seekers would like a copy, i can probably ship them to you for $3-$4 total or $5 shipped for both titles. kether and the encyclopedia. of you can buy all 20 of them for really cheap what a collector's item!!

[Bighab]

Have any of you CDi owners ever played the game Axis and Allies for it? Thats the only game I want to play on it. I know it seems silly to own a system for one game but what the hell