Retro Fusion looks back and celebrates the Sega Mega CD!
Posted by jdanddiet on Jul 10, 2010 21:08 (Jul 10, 2010 21:08)
I suppose I was lucky. I could have taken the dip and bought a 32x as well - as it was I just shelled out £199 (!) for a Mark 2 Mega CD from John Menzies and proceeded to gape in awe at some of the atrocities that were released on this much-maligned system. I bought this Mega Drive add-on (or add under?) a few months after it's launch - long enough for the releases to begin to die out and Sega to realise they'd made a bit of a blunder, but not enough time for the games to have become significantly cheaper. I also had a MD mark 2 so had to settle for the plasticy ugliness above. The mark 1 version below at least looked more high tech and just a little bit sexier. ack to the games, and in those heady days before the mass ubiquity of pre-owned software and on-line sources such as Ebay, I remember paying £44.95 for Ground Zero Texas and £29.95 for Night Trap before the failure of the Mega-CD as a system hit home and the games collapsed in price. Electronics Boutique in Lakeside, Essex, valiantly maintained their Mega CD, um, shelf, until the Playstation came along and pretty much signalled the end for Sega hardware in general. This was the time for the bargains, and I acquired most of the rest of my Mega CD games for under a tenner.
Yet despite it's failure, I still have some fond memories of the Mega-CD, so here's a rundown of the games I owned and what I thought of them. First of all the game I got with it: Road Avenger. This was a truly appalling reaction style game, almost an interactive movie with occasional input required from the player and no real control whatsoever over the events on screen. Some people like it; I think I played it for about half an hour before deciding it was total pants and moving on. Ground Zero Texas was an early purchase that I've covered before; it's a gallery shooter dressed up in an alien invasion plot as the player switches between cameras, trying to weed out the little green men. I recall playing it for quite some time back in the mid-nineties, but it really is a terribly limited game that bores very quickly these days. Long, grainy FMV clips detract rather than add to the experience.
Good article though I have to disagree on Road Avenger. It's actually pretty fun if you just go with the flow, try to enjoy the story and learn the correct responses, just like Dragon Lair it's not to everyones taste but when it's got Knightrider style action scenes....
Another nice article , i was (like others at the time) desperate for a mega cd , finally got one in 94 along with Sonic cd , Road avenger / Arcade classics etc . Paid £100 second hand off a mate for it and i still have it and it still works fine , pick up games here and there , bought brutal paws of fury last week for £2 at a car boot !
Mega CD fanatic here.. going for a complete PAL set here... 62/94 thus far! Include lots of rare (but not expensive if you know where to look games)
Final Fight CD Pricey.. I dont think so.... Is about 5-10 quid tops or was...
Sherlock Holmes RAWKS!!!!!!
Nightrap was already at least 4 years old when released on Mega CD it and Sewer Shark were filmed for a defunct VHS system.
Other good games not covered Batman Returns, Jag XJ 220, Keios Flying Squadron, Robo Aleste, Starblade, Surgical Strike, Puggsy F1 World Championship and so on there are some class titles out there
For what it is Road Avenger is quite good, much better than Cobra Command which is more glitchy than owt and the FMV works well in Microcosm, and the Lethal Enforcer as well as Surgical Strike and the Make My Video games
Thanks and excellent article! We bought this when it first came out and paid either £199 or £249.99 with Road Avenger. But then 6 months later it was being sold for £99 with 10 games! Couldnt believe it. Oh the looking for about an hour trying to find naked girls on Night trap, erm let;s say you werent the only 1 who did it he he. Anyway, I really do think The Mega CD was amazing and it never ever did get the credit it deserved as it was out the market as soon as it went in!!!! Was well ahead of it's time
I really wanted one of these at the time but couldn't afford it. I eventually bought one for £5 from Dixons on a clearance sale but did not have a MD with me at the time to try it on. I eventually sold the machine on eBay before I left the UK without once getting to try it and so had to sell it as 'untested' and didn't get much. I think Sonic CD was the main game that interested me, and I thought the Road Avenger screen shots looked amazing but can see from this article it was awful.
Jul 19, 2010 15:26:35 (
Jul 19, 2010 15:26
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