Sega CD A Great Father's Day Gift ... Really

h8b1llg8ts

So my wife and daughter tracked down a Sega CD system to add to my collection. To me it really is a great gift because it leaves me with only the Neo Geo and Atari Jaguar CD still outstanding. I'm not an Ebayer for systems, I enjoy the thrill of the hunt. She was also kind enough to get me the orginal Mega CD 1.00 version. This is the motorized tray version and a little more rare.

I have added some games to my collection before I even owned the system. Mortal Kombat, Sonic CD, Star Wars Chess, and Star Wars Rebal Assult. My question to you is there anything else I might be missing. Wiki, gave some great suggestions but I really want to know what you think I might be missing.

And may I also forward a Happy Father's Day to those lucky few PA'ers ...

Lunker

The only game that makes me wish I still had a functioning Sega CD (and hadn't sold my Genesis) is Snatcher. A Kojima-developed point-and-click-ish adventure that very blatantly rips off Blade Runner but it doesn't really matter because it's still awesome.

Besides that I don't really remember anything else besides how good Sonic CD was.

Gaming-Module

Lunar 1
Lunar 2
Vay
Spiderman Vs. Kingpin (great soundtrack)
Heimdall
Dark Wizard
Third World War
Sherlock Holmes (I enjoyed them)

Steev

Shining Force CD, the Lunar games (although they're probably a bit dated nowadays), Heart of the Alien, Dark Wizard

Good luck finding Snatcher, which is supposed to be excellent.

Mordrack

Popful Mail and Eternal Champions CD are both pretty good.

brynstar

My favorite Sega CD games were Final Fight CD, which I think is the best home version of that game and superior to the arcade version thanks to the CD music, and Ground Zero Texas, a goofy FMV shooter.

GrimReaper

Oh, what was that game that had a furore about some semi-naked chick in it or something?

Night Trap? It was a really cheesy fmv type affair for that. You could always try to get your hands on that just to say you have it. You would get so much damn kudos.

EDIT:

And to think this was considered controversial:

PeregrineFalcon

GrimReaper wrote: »

Oh, what was that game that had a furore about some semi-naked chick in it or something?

Night Trap? It was a really cheesy fmv type affair for that. You could always try to get your hands on that just to say you have it. You would get so much damn kudos.

EDIT:

And to think this was considered controversial:

No Sega CD 32X version, no care.

Yes, they made games that required both.

h8b1llg8ts

PeregrineFalcon wrote: »

GrimReaper wrote: »

Oh, what was that game that had a furore about some semi-naked chick in it or something?

Night Trap? It was a really cheesy fmv type affair for that. You could always try to get your hands on that just to say you have it. You would get so much damn kudos.

EDIT:

And to think this was considered controversial:

No Sega CD 32X version, no care.

Yes, they made games that required both.

Have it for the 3DO ... and yes, just to say I have it ...

Drakenhawk

My absolute favorite game Heart of the Alien.

The ending

made me go when I was a kid though

Sharp10r

Discworld, Willy Beamish, and (the most common) Sewer Shark. Do you have a 32x?

Kris_xK

Seriously, get Lunar and Eternal Champions CD. Such great games, so many fond memories of both from my childhood.

Also, I forgot that Willy Beamish was on the Sega CD (thanks Sharp10r!). I dunno how good it is on SEga CD, but the PC version was glorious.

h8b1llg8ts

Sharp10r wrote: »

Discworld, Willy Beamish, and (the most common) Sewer Shark. Do you have a 32x?

Yes. I have the Genesis 2 and 32x now on top of my Mega CD. For the 32x, I have Star Wars Arcade, Doom, Mortal Kombat II, and Knuckles.

MarvellousM

The driving sections in Batman Returns on the Sega CD fucking rule.

cj iwakura

That's one awesome, innovative gift.

Seconding both Lunars, Popful Mail, Heart of the Alien, and even Night Trap. The game has some hilarious moments, both intentional and not. The red box version is the best.
(The military group is called the 'Sega Control Attack Team' in the original version and use a Genesis controller as their remote control.)

Double Switch is more of the same, but with better traps(and harder difficulty, since the game isn't nearly as linear).

If you can't find Snatcher, Rise of the Dragon is a good similar experience.

Lastly, Panic! is hours of random insanity(you push buttons, stuff happens), and Road Avenger & Time Gal are fun for Dragon's Lair-esque gameplay. The former's shorter, but more fun.

Typhus733

Can't chime in on how necessary the Lunar games are enough.

astroboy

brynstar wrote: »

My favorite Sega CD games were Final Fight CD, which I think is the best home version of that game and superior to the arcade version thanks to the CD music, and Ground Zero Texas, a goofy FMV shooter.

I like Final Fight CD, too, despite the reduced color pallette.

4rch3nemy

DARK WIZARD

This is the only reason you need to own a Sega CD.

Steev

4rch3nemy wrote: »

DARK WIZARD

This is the only reason you need to own a Sega CD.

Just make sure you turn off the animated battles. I remember them being underwhelming and taking time to load.

LoveIsUnity

The Lunar Games and Shining Force CD are all indispensable. They are the reasons that I bought a Sega CD, and I already owned the Lunar Games for PSX.

Feral

Panic! is great if you like to drink heavily while playing video games.

AnakinOU

h8b1llg8ts wrote: »

Yes. I have the Genesis 2 and 32x now on top of my Mega CD.

A Genesis 2? Ewww. Genny Model 1 (w/ Model 1 SegaCD) is the only way to go.

Add Ecco CD to your list of games to get, too.

cj iwakura

Also, isn't it true that some late era Sega CD games don't work on the model 1?

h8b1llg8ts

Sorry to bump but I just got some great suggestions like Time Gal and Eternal Champions and wanted to see if anyone else see anything else that might not be already listed.

Shining Bowie

I know it WAS listed, but i don't think it was listed enough.

Shining Force CD is practically a necessity to enjoying life.

Sixfortyfive

cj iwakura wrote: »

Also, isn't it true that some late era Sega CD games don't work on the model 1?

No.

Lunker

LoveIsUnity wrote: »

The Lunar Games and Shining Force CD are all indispensable. They are the reasons that I bought a Sega CD, and I already owned the Lunar Games for PSX.

FWIW the save system in the Sega CD version of Lunar: Eternal Blue completely killed the game for me when it came out. Long story short, you gain magic XP along with regular XP, and use the magic XP to upgrade your characters' spells but it was also the currency you had to spend in order to actually save your game. This was changed in the PSX rerelease.

w00dm4n

Sixfortyfive wrote: »

cj iwakura wrote: »

Also, isn't it true that some late era Sega CD games don't work on the model 1?

No.

some copies of Mortal Kombat CD won't work on the model 1 system.



anyways...
Night Trap 32x CD
Thunderstrike
Prize Fighter
Dragon's Lair
Lunar 1 and 2
WWF Rage in the Cage (nothing like a classic one on one battle that takes 10 minutes to load up)
Spider-man vs Kingpin

NailbunnyPD

I remember thoroughly enjoying NHL '94 (?), if you're a glutton for old sports titles.

Rigor Mortis

You know, if any of you Sega CD fans are in Toronto, there's a copy of Night Trap* going for $5 at Gamecentre on the Danforth just east of Pape. In case you didn't want to pay the $40+ it seems to be going for on ebay.


*unless it got bought in the last week

lodger

FWIW the save system in the Sega CD version of Lunar: Eternal Blue completely killed the game for me when it came out. Long story short, you gain magic XP along with regular XP, and use the magic XP to upgrade your characters' spells but it was also the currency you had to spend in order to actually save your game. This was changed in the PSX rerelease.

As I recall, that save system wasn't even in the Japanese release; it was just another "improvement" courtesy of Working Designs' localization. I could probably go to therapy for how conflicted I felt about WD and Vic Ireland.

cj iwakura

The Sega CD version of Eternal Blue is still far superior to the remake in my opinion, since the dungeons/world map is much larger, the bosses(and game in general) is actually difficult, and Zophar doesn't look like a complete joke.

Also, they removed the Star Dragon in the remake, which was one of my favorite parts of the original.

As for the Silver Star, no question: the original wins over Complete.

I could write a short essay on the reasons why.

RainbowDespair

I thought the remake of Silver Star was vastly better than the original, but I'd be interested to hear why you disagree.

As for Eternal Blue, I'm not sure which version I favor. The Saturn version probably has the best visuals & audio of the lot, but sadly it was never released in English. The PS1 version had a couple of extra dungeons over the Saturn version, but also took out one of my favorite little features of the Saturn version, the elementally affiliated dungeons (certain elements are enhanced while the opposite is reduced) & spells that change the affiliation. The PS1/Saturn version both had a pretty fun accessory/relic system that I rather enjoyed (equip certain combinations of items and you get new abilities). On the other hand, the Sega CD version had some cool events that were cut out of the latter versions & the difficulty was higher (which may be a plus or a minus depending on the player).

In any case, Eternal Blue has very strong nostalgia value for me. It was the first Japanese RPG I had ever played with cutscenes and voices as well as the first JRPG I had ever played with a quality localization. Sure, the localization might not seem like much these days given the good work that companies like Atlus are doing now, but back then it was a revelation.

cj iwakura

Yeah, people really take Working Designs for granted nowadays. Back then, they did what no one else would do.

And I liked the Wheaties jokes.

That said, why I prefer Lunar Sega CD.

I added most of those, then the Lunar committee(and others, probably) went to town on it.

For me, the changes I hated the most:

-Removing Quark's murder and changing it to a capture
-Luna going to Meribia
-Burg not being wiped out by the Vile Tribe
-Removal of Ghaleon's 'true' final form (I have an image of it somewhere, rest assured it was epic)

And a few others.

Also, Harp >>> Ocarina.

Saddler

cj iwakura wrote: »

I could write a short essay on the reasons why.

I would read it. I only played the GBA Lunar (and liked it) so I am a pariah in the Lunar community.

lodger

Oh, I don't mean to dismiss WD's valiant efforts to bring over some quality games that never could have made it without them. They played a major role in sparking deeper interest in JRPGs that went beyond the major franchises. They put real effort into the localization, rather than just outsourcing the translation to the lowest, most flavorless bidder. They gave consumers premiums and omake that made them feel appreciated and offered some insight into how companies made, translated and released games. Vic Ireland was a regular on the rec.games.video.sega board. In these ways, WD was one of the most transparent, engaged companies of the era.

On the other hand... the games missed date after date. Many of their choices for games to bring over were odd, almost truculently so. VI was on the boards, but he was frequently high-handed and condescending. There were countless broken promises, especially to Saturn owners, who ended up a casualty of whatever drama went down between Sega and WD (was there ever a final answer as to what happened at E3 that year?) The localizations had character, but one often wondered how much of the original writers' vision remained amidst all the in-jokes and cultural references. That same cavalier attitude toward the originals led to such dubious improvements as the Lunar:EB save system.

In the end, WD and Vic Ireland end up a little like Harmony Gold and Carl Macek (who welded together 3 unrelated japanese cartoons to make the story of Robotech). Both brought over works that introduced people to a whole new world. Both made a mixed bag of changes to those works to make them more salable or accessible. And in some ways, their localizations became new creatures. In both cases, I think the balance sheet weighs in their favor. But I still can't help but feel a bit ambivalent.

cj iwakura

Saddler wrote: »

cj iwakura wrote: »

I could write a short essay on the reasons why.

I would read it. I only played the GBA Lunar (and liked it) so I am a pariah in the Lunar community.

My condolences. The GBA Lunar changed even more than Complete.

I hear it's not so bad if it's your first experience, though.

All I know for sure is that it took out Alex's father. I've never had the courage to play it and find out what else they changed.

Regarding Lunar's major plot twist:

Does Ghaleon capture Quark in Lunar Legend? Because that's the biggest difference.

In the Sega CD version, he murders Quark in cold blood, then Xenobia replaces Burg's villagers with demons and kidnaps Luna.

He captures Quark to power the Grindery in the remake(leaving him to pretty much waste away rather than go out with a bang), and nothing happens to Burg.


Much, much darker on the whole.

And I vaguely remember talking to VI on the boards in the rec. days... he always seemed helpful and outgoing from the messages I saw.