Philips CD-i Reviews C-D

How long did it take the marketing gurus at Philips to come up with such a creative name? Well, considering it's a shooting game on a CD, I'd say they nailed it! CD Shoot offers several variations of trap shooting. This point-and-shoot title lets you take aim at "clay pigeon" discs launched into the sky, usually one at a time but occasionally in pairs.

To properly review CD Shoot I dutifully plugged in my light gun controller into the back of the CD-i unit, and it was a huge pain in the ass to reach back there. Upon starting the game I was prompted to clear out my "system storage". Huh? Next, I was forced to select from a myriad of "pointing" devices (mouse, trackball, remote), none of which vaguely resembled my light gun!

The main menu includes an explanation option, suggesting a helpful video tutorial. Instead it put me into a never-ending loop of menus. CD Shoot contains four flavors of trap shooting, all of which play pretty much the same. There's sporting, Olympic trap, balltrap, and English skeet. Each gives you 25 targets to hit. You initiate each clay "pigeon" by pulling the trigger, prompting some unseen voice to yell "Pull!"

Your view is of a quaint countryside with puffy white clouds. For the most part the shooting action is easy. The discs are large and tend to float through the air in slow motion. If your shot is anywhere in the vicinity the pigeon will shatter. It would be hard to hit less than 20 of the 25 targets.

I noticed that the light gun isn't anywhere near where you're pointing, and you can't calibrate it. It feels like you're not so much aiming as much as dragging a cursor around the screen. Even so, the gun is your best option as it provides a modicum of precision. Perhaps a mouse or trackball would work better, but I don't have those for the CD-i.

The English Skeet variation is the best of the bunch, if only because you don't know what direction the pigeons are coming from. The game supports up to six players, but on the off-chance I ever have that many people over for games, CD Shoot would definitely not be a game you'd see me reaching for. © Copyright 2022 The Video Game Critic.

If you have a gambling addiction or are at least willing to learn, you might be interested in this handsome casino title. Caesars World of Gambling purports to be "the first gambling casino on compact disc". Its main menu includes an introduction, tutorials on how to play the games, and a five-minute tour of the actual Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. I watched the tour with keen interest but was disappointed to see still photos instead of real video. The hairstyles and clothes give the impression the pictures were taken in the 1970's!

There are four games to choose from: roulette, craps, blackjack, and slot machines. Each is presented using actual video and photo stills. The animation is choppy but the presentation looks clean and attractive. I was particularly interested in craps because I had never learned how to play. I sat through the lengthy tutorial, and man, there sure are a lot of ways to play this game! It's a bit overwhelming but I guess if you stick to the basics it's not so bad. Blackjack is fun because you can play four hands at a time. Roulette is disappointing because you don't really see the ball rolling around the wheel - it's kind of a blur.

There are five unique slot machines, including two fun, poker-style games. The problem with the slots is there's no sound effects except for the coin payouts. And that's where this simulation falters. At the very least there should be ambient noise while playing all the games to make you feel as if you're in a bustling casino. If you do particularly well you should be approached by a hooker or something. As it is, Caesar's World of Gambling looks sharp but fails to capture the spirit of being in a live casino. © Copyright 2015 The Video Game Critic.

When I read that this was a "shooter" for the Philips CD-I, I didn't expect a first-person "just-aim-the-cursor" experience, but that's what I got. Chaos Control is a perfect example of style over substance - it relies almost totally on pure eye candy to win over the player. Historically, games like this make a splash initially but don't hold up well over time. The premise is your standard alien-invasion storyline, with verbose cut scenes that are not worth watching.

Once the action is underway, you'll find yourself gliding through expansive, pre-rendered scenery that was state-of-the-art in 1995. You can't control your direction or viewpoint - all you do is aim a cursor and shoot at targets. There's minimal strategy besides letting off your gun every now and then to avoid overheating. The first stage features an impressive virtual New York City. As you buzz the Statue of Liberty and careen down the building-lined avenues, I must admit it looks pretty amazing.

Later stages adopt a less-impressive, virtual-reality flavor. In one particularly boring one, you fly around a computer circuit board blasting metaphorical "bugs". Chaos Control's gameplay is pretty shabby. You can choose between two cursor speeds, but predictably, one is too slow and the other is too fast. It's very easy to lose track of your cursor with all the activity on the screen. The aliens and their ships are smoothly animated, but when shot they never really explode. Instead, they're obfuscated by some ugly gray "clouds" that are supposed to resemble smoke - not very satisfying.

Besides the changing scenery, there's little variety and the challenge is minimal. In terms of sound, a man's voice provides constant alerts and advice, but he's so muffled I can barely understand him. At least the game saves your high score. But in the end, Chaos Control is too shallow, especially now that its once-flashy graphics have faded. © Copyright 2005 The Video Game Critic.

After raving about Christmas Crisis (Philips, 1995), I was underwhelmed by this sequel, Christmas Country. Looking back however, this is a respectable little Super Mario Bros. (NES, 1985) clone. The game puts you in control of a little green elf, scampering through frigid environments and cozy castles while collecting stars and presents.

The game's most glaring flaw is the complete lack of music once you begin playing. That's got to be worth an entire letter grade! You play in silence, save for the occasional boing of a spring, splash of a fish, or "pop" when you pounce upon a snail, turtle, or ladybug.

The hand-drawn graphics have a certain charm but it's hard to tell the foreground from the background. Santa makes a cameo appearance early on, but much like the torches, appears frozen in time. That said, there are plenty of Christmas trees, snowmen, snowy hills, and candy canes to convey the spirit of the season.

The controls are very good, providing responsive run and jump buttons. You'll want to hold in that run button the entire time, as it facilitates lengthy, floaty leaps. The stages have multiple routes and hard-to-reach areas that beckon your elf. There are also hidden areas, most of which I discovered by accident.

A few stages don't make much sense, like when you jump into water and end up in a dry room below. Conveyor belts zip you around even though they are clearly not moving. During advanced stages bombs inexplicably rain from the sky.

Collecting all the letters to SPECIAL is fun, as it rewards you with a random bonus. Your score is only visible when you pause the game, although it is displayed at the end if you rank in. Christmas Country could be more festive, but it's festive enough, and should appeal to the inner elf in us all. No, I don't know what that means. © Copyright 2022 The Video Game Critic.

If this game doesn't get you into the Christmas spirit, nothing will! Christmas Crisis is kind of like a Mario game starring Santa Claus. More than just super fun, the game exudes holiday cheer with snowy stages, festive music, and Christmas-themed bonus icons. The gorgeous stage backdrops depict cozy cottages in dreamy snowscapes.

The controls are responsive as you hop Santa up the screen, scooping up items on his way to the chimney. You'll snag ornaments, wreaths, gifts, angels, candles, and sugary confections for bonus points. The pleasant Christmas tunes sound like they're being played on steel drums. Santa must steer clear of toy cars, trains, and planes. It's not a good idea to leap over these things because the collision detection is unforgiving. Fortunately Santa is armed with a supply of snowballs. You only throw them at an arc, but more times than not they find their target.

My biggest complaint is the way certain inanimate objects that appear to be part of the background (like snowmen) can be fatal to the touch. The levels are short and sweet and it's fun to play for high score. As icing on the cake, there's a 3D flying level that takes you through a pre-rendered Christmas village! Christmas Crisis is not just a great CD-i title; it might just be the best Christmas game you'll ever play. © Copyright 2016 The Video Game Critic.

You'd expect a murder mystery to take full advantage of the CD-i video capabilities and Clue certainly does! It boasts clear full-screen video with snooty British actors performing dramatic scenes in a stately manor where a murder has occurred. This game plays differently from other console versions of Clue. Instead of using cards to weed out possibilities you question characters, examine evidence, and watch clips shedding light on what happened.

Expect a lot of red herrings and some really peculiar lines like "I had a lead pipe, but had no idea what I was going to do with it." Some scenes are action packed, like when two suspects are wrestling over a gun. Clue offers three selectable mysteries to choose from. They don't always end the same, which helps the replay value.

Clue sounds like a winning formula yet poor controls and a plodding pace render it nearly unplayable. Players need to share a single controller and that is such a hassle! The controls for simply moving your piece around the board are horrible. You have to "point" to the desired space and the cursor is really touchy. Then there's a pause before your piece starts moving, as if the game is running some kind of sophisticated maze traversal algorithm.

Navigating the screens is clumsy (no back button) and there are many unnecessary pauses. Why does the video have to fade out so slowly? Too often you'll find yourself inadvertently watching the same video clips multiple times (ugh). You'll need to dedicate at least an hour to properly play this game. In my experience players become so impatient they start recklessly accusing people just to bring the game to a merciful conclusion. Like many CD-i titles, Clue has lofty production values but lousy playability. Looking on the bright side, this makes the Genesis version look like a real hoot! © Copyright 2016 The Video Game Critic.

A lot of people consult the Internet for their information, but I defer to my trusty copy of Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia for the CD-i. It only takes a few minutes to pop it the disk, watch the intro video, navigate the main menu, and methodically type in a subject of interest. Packed with over 100 images, more than 20 video clips, and over 5000 articles, Compton's Encyclopedia is a bastion of knowledge!

This is far more information than a person would ever need. The main menu is arranged with tiles providing various methods to navigate the veritable ocean of material. Selecting the "video" box presented me with footage of JFK giving a speech in a small box in the center of the screen. Flipping through the available clips reveals wide-ranging subjects like killer whales, tornados, and Babe Ruth. They're interesting to peruse just because they're so random, but they start repeating way too soon. The "pictures" menu option serves up the same sort of thing except with still images. There's a picture of a rock, a farmer, a fish... um, what is the point of this?

The search menu option lets you painstakingly enter keywords, and available topics are displayed as you type. Don't expect much in the way of pop culture. When I entered "Star Wars" my only options were Stalin and starfish. When I drilled down under "leisure and hobbies" there was nothing about video games, although needlepoint, falconry, and ventriloquism were well represented. The articles themselves are terribly mundane, describing the topics in the most general terms imaginable. And the text scrolls so slowly!

The atlas menu option would be completely useless if it weren't so hilarious. It's possible to zoom into any location on the earth, but it takes forever to redraw the screen, and you can only zoom into an area about the size of Maryland.

But the biggest disappointment is the "time machine". This could have been fun, but instead of recounting interesting events it's limited to boring topics like politics, money, and agriculture. I wasn't expecting Compton's Encyclopedia to rock my world, but they could have at least made an effort. I guess I won't be canceling my Internet service after all. Note: Despite widespread public perception this software was not produced in Compton CA, and is in no way affiliated with rap group NWA. © Copyright 2015 The Video Game Critic.

This platform game is not atypical for the Philips CD-i. Dark Castle boasts superb graphics (for its time), amazing sound effects, symphonic music, and some of the worst gameplay I've ever been subjected to! When you first start the game you're treated to eerie organ music, crashing thunder, and the sound of a drawbridge opening - complete with rattling chains. I can't get over how clear the audio is - it sounds like the bridge is about three feet away!

The gameplay involves conquering a selectable set of stages before facing off against a black knight. You'll jump between ledges, climb ropes (ala Donkey Kong Jr.), and toss biscuits at rats, bats, mummies, and executioners. The stage layouts are nicely detailed and the textures of the castle walls look photo-realistic. The crystal clear audio features slamming doors, flapping bat wings, and squeaking mice. Unfortunately, once you start playing Dark Castle, the illusion of quality rapidly dissipates.

The deplorable controls had my friends exclaiming, "Are you [expletive] kidding me?!" Your knight tends to take several steps at a time, making him prone to accidentally stepping off narrow platforms. He walks along stairs slowly, making him vulnerable to swarming bats and projectiles. He can only throw while standing still on a flat surface, where you adjust your "aim" by pressing up or down. Not only is the scheme wildly counter-intuitive, but the adjustment is painfully slow, making you a sitting duck for converging foes.

It feels like you're fighting the controls the entire time. Touching any object results in you falling flat on your face. The frustration factor is exacerbated by corny animations of your doofus stumbling around and tumbling down the stairs. The game ends with a high score screen and an option to save your negligible progress. Being on the lowly CD-i, I would have been willing to give Dark Castle the benefit of the doubt had it been the least bit playable. Sadly, it's not! © Copyright 2010 The Video Game Critic.

It's hard for me to be objective about Dragon's Lair, the original laserdisc video game. I remember hanging out at the arcades down at the beach in the early 80's watching this game being played from a monitor mounted above the arcade cabinet so everyone could see. I couldn't get enough of those cartoon-quality graphics. For those not familiar with the game, you play a daring knight named "Dirk" who must rescue a beautiful princess from a dragon in a castle loaded with monsters and traps.

The game plays like an interactive cartoon, but you can only interact with it at certain critical moments. Dragon Lair's gameplay is admittedly shallow and requires trial and error, but its fantastic visuals and imaginative scenarios will keep you intrigued. There's not much to fault with this particular version - it's probably the best I've seen on a home console. Don Bluth's classic animation is rendered in full-screen and there's no sign of pixelation.

As a bonus, this edition has some nifty extra features. First and foremost, once you enter the castle, the stages occur in random order, which is awesome. It means that even if you're not skilled at the game, you'll still get to see a lot of the scenes. I also appreciate how you're NOT penalized for entering moves prematurely, which makes the game quite a bit easier.

High scores are saved by the CD-i system. On the downside, when you lose a life you have to sit through an irritating "score screen" that prints numbers and letters one at a time along with some harsh sound effects. Also, you can't continue after losing your three lives. But despite these issues, I still prefer this version over the others I've played. © Copyright 2002 The Video Game Critic.

I always wondered why Timewarp is so obscure compared to the first Dragon's Lair. Heck, I had never even seen this game before. But now I think I know why. The developers went off the deep end with this sequel. Instead of simple puzzles and a straightforward storyline, Dirk now finds himself in some of the most bizarre and confusing predicaments I've ever seen.

To put things in perspective, let's look at the initial stages of both Dragon's Lair games. In the first, Dirk falls through a wooden bridge over the moat of a dark castle. In Timewarp, Dirk's obese mother-in-law comes charging down a long table to attack him with a rolling pin. See what I mean?

The game is full of disturbing characters, confusing dialog, and inexplicable situations. I couldn't figure out what the hell was going on half the time! The scenes run entirely too long, often requiring over 20 moves just to complete a single stage! One slip-up sends you ALL THE WAY back to the beginning. Worst of all, instead of logical puzzles, all you do is push the joystick towards the next flashing object.

Even the graphics are grainy, and the dialog hard to understand. One new "feature" is the fact that the scenes are randomly "mirrored" so half the time you'll have to push left instead of right, even though it's the same scene. Unfortunately, the scenes aren't randomized like the first CD-i Dragon's Lair, so your quest is always the same. What a disappointment. When you consider that this and Space Ace were the two lackluster follow-ups to Dragon's Lair, it's no wonder that laserdisc games faded away. © Copyright 2002 The Video Game Critic.