Pathetic Game Titles and Virtually No Game Library
Left This Console Out In the Cold
The CD-I was both a video game console and a media player, giving this system the potential to be so much more to gamers – essentially, everything they might need.
However, there were very few games released on the system, and most of these games weren’t at all impressive. A few titles were simply the adaptations of board games, and while there was an attempt to release more and more games for the Philips CD-i, this effort was ditched when new consoles were released that were not only cheaper, but focused entirely on the aspect of video games.
Format Me, Baby.
The Compact Disc Interactive – the format the console is named after, CD-i – is a format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony, and shares its name with that of the multimedia player that was used to play the format.
Most of the software released on the CD-i wasn’t video games, though, but education, self-improvement, and music titles. There was scant choice for the gamer.
Don’t Be a Player…
The CD-i Player itself was able to play a number of different disc formats, though the only one that made it overly unique was the ability to play the CD-i format. It also supported the CD+G, a format that would play much like an audio CD, but when a CD+G was in a supporting player that was hooked up to a monitor or TV, it would display graphics – like lyrics, or something else entirely.
Audio CD, Karaoke CD, and VCDs are among the others supported by the Philips CD-i.
The graphics that were generated by the CD-i player were actually quite impressive. It rendered 2D graphics very well, and was able to play full motion video that, for its time, was of very good quality.
The audio was also quite good. The high quality music and digital sound effects were very impressive for the time, but even this didn’t make up for the consoles other, glaring faults.
A Game Console With A Notable Lack of Games
Much of the software available for the Philips CD-i was, without a doubt, not games. Music, self-help, and educational software were widely available, and even a few CD movies, but there was a clear lack of games for this game console.
Most of the games that were available on the CD-i weren’t what was most commonly thought of as popular games for that era – they more resembled movies, with some interactivity now and then. Most other ‘games’ available were based on the popular television shows of the time, like Jeopardy and Name That Tune.
Luckily, a few games made for the console were actually enjoyable. If you’re a fan of American Football, then you’d probably like NFL Instant Replay, in which you watch footage of an actual game, and then guess what the referee is going to call. Although the game was hard for those who didn’t know much about Football, it was better then the alternative games.
Another notable game is Flashback: The Quest of Identity, which is widely considered to be the best game on the CD-i. In Flashback, you play as Conrad Hart as you try to save the entire galaxy (Big quest, huh?). You can run, jump, climb, creep, and fire your pistol at evil aliens. However, the best of the game is the story itself. Conrad suffers from amnesia, and if you presume that after he gets his memory the game turns for the worst, but you’d be wrong – it actually gets better. It makes you want to play more and more, even staying up late into the night, just to find out more of the plot.
Unfortunately, there are also a number of utterly horrendous games for the CD-i. These titles took two of the most popular, most well loved Nintendo characters, and placed them in degrading, horrible games that barely deserve to be called that.
Poor Link and Mario.
In the Mario Game, Hotel Mario, Bowser has yet again kidnapped the lovely Princess, and Mario, of course, it fated to rescue this damsel in distress. Mario has to go into Bowser’s hotels and shut all of the doors, while the enemies open them back up. Although the Mario game is not overly bad, it is nowhere near the standard that Nintendo placed for Mario.
The games best on Link, from the Legend of Zelda series, are far, far worse. The games are Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon. The animated cut scenes are pure torture to sit through, and the graphics are nothing short of terrible, with Link blending into the background and disappearing, and the same happens with the projectiles (Like arrows)! The sound effects are almost non-existent, leaving you craving so much more. You should only expect few background effects, the swing of a sword, and maybe the sound of something hitting a shield. The bad voice acting doesn’t help the game, either.
Conclusion
The CD-i, like with many older game consoles, retains a loyal fan base. The consoles are also quite rare, and extremely hard to find. If you happen to stumble across one, though, expect to pay a much higher price then the initial release price, because so few were made. Some of the best games on the console are worth owning, but the majority is simply not worth your time.
