The CD-i - Review - Game Sack

Episode 125 - Here we focus on the CD-i, widely known for its educational software and bad Zelda games. But is there anything more to the system?
Thanks to BlueBMW for supplying the CD-i, even though he might rather not be outed as an owner of such a thing.
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[@nights1515]

The only thing my dad left me before he left was his CD-i. Needless to say he really hated me.

[@kutulukutu]

nights1515 I mean... lol, tho...

[@excessmaterial]

Didn't you eat his corpse?

[@jp-47471]

They worth like 200-300 now.

[@kamengamer5372]

@LIQUID FX Thank you

[@xxSpike1989xx]

You're dad didnt leave you, hes just out buying cigarettes.. Some say to this day he's still out there trying to buy cigarettes and cdi games..

[@AdmiralBison]

how could they screw up Tetris on the CD-i? one direction turning level notification interrupting game flow

[@teamspirits732]

The Flowers of Robert Mapplethorpe... BEST GAME the CD-i had to offer.

[@HappyConsoleGamer]

Yeah I remember super long 30 mins infomercials trying to sell this that would just repeat allll day!

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Here in Europe these type of systems would sell much better than "traditional" consoles. Parents would only buy a video game system only if it had a educational side to it. Great episode!

[@Tolman18]

Happy Console Gamer! Love you like a brother man. Keep up your great videos. :)

[@retrogameraaron4778]

HappyConsoleGamer I remember those CD-I infomercials...they would usually be on late at night in my area. I was flipping through channels one night, and suddenly I see some guy on TV playing a side scrolling Zelda game I had never seen before.

[@JesseDylanMusic]

HappyConsoleGamer I was young enough that the infomercials made me want a CD-i. Thank goodness they were, what, $700?

[@pompomgirl422]

HappyConsoleGamer 🍽

[@Michirin9801]

The CD-i wasn't built for gaming. Phillips always said that the purpose of the system was CD multimedia and gaming was merely a last thought... (Kinda like a smartphone) Phillips never believed gaming and because of that they gave VERY low budgets and VERY tight deadlines for developers to make games for that system... Also, as far as I know, the CD-i didn't have a dedicated sprite layer, or heck, I don't even know if we can call what they used as backgrounds a "Background layer" Developing games for that system was kinda like developing for a machine like the PC-6001, the ZX spectrum or an old 90s cellphone... Not ideal, but it can be done... The difference is that the CD-i could display far prettier images as you can see in The Apprentice...

[@markasscop]

its like they knew the odds were stacked against them,so its like why even bother trying to make a decent game hi,by the way,even on people im not subscribed to i see you there

[@Grefintiuk]

+Ruko Michiharu They are better smartphones games than this CD-i crap.

[@retroland9703]

So true

[@LevelUp_ErikJ]

You're right. The CD-i didn't have a dedicated sprite layer.

[@petewillson205]

Yep it was a multimedia machine before dvds came out, bringing computer tech to the tv, hoping to bridge the gap, with consumers afraid of computers with something they could hook up to their tvs, midway through, when the multimedia education machine was selling they tried to turn it into a game machine,with a small install base and cds being cheap to make, they signed on some game developers, sega and Nintendo had all the good developers locked up, and this was an afterthought so you got this. I remeber a friend had it and the golf game and his group loved the machine, compared to snes and sega, grafix did blow competition away

[@Siknik64]

I had to take a break from watching this video because my viridis was acting up.

[@tetrisdave]

LoL. It's a serious condition. Get it checked out by a doctor before it's to late.

[@browsertab]

The ugly side of the multimedia age of gaming. You should do a whole episode devoted to interactive movies.

[@frankschneider6156]

Agree .... 1 or 2 episodes completely dedicated to FMVs would be interesting .... They are mostly crap, but they are part of gaming history.

[@frankschneider6156]

***** Really ? I've seen all of their episodes and don't recall. Well, its probably just the onset of Alzheimer. But thanks anyhow.

[@DuckAlertBeats]

***** are you genuinely trying to persuade people this was a good games system?! Oh man now I've heard it all

[@DuckAlertBeats]

It's all true!

[@frankschneider6156]

TheGameRage1 Dragon's Lair is a classic, but to me it's also a prime example of form over substance. Sure it looks absolutely awesome, but the gameplay ? You perform certain actions at exactly defined points in time, that you recall from former failures when you died, no skill needed and otherwise no possibility to influence the game (like a rail shooter). And after you have beaten it once, the replay value is not that high. Same with Space Ace. If you are objective, you'll agree, that Dragon's Lair is a bad GAME (from a gaming perspective), although the visuals are of course stunning (at least 1983 they were). Same is true eg with Rebel Assault - great visuals (well 1995 at least) - poor gameplay. And it's also true (at least in my opinion) with most other FMVs. Don't get me wrong, i don't want to badmouth them, so if YOU get a kick out of them, then this is great, but i simply don't, at least not from those, that i played. The only ones i really i liked were Wing Commander III and IV, and they didn't use videos for gameplay, so don't really qualify as FMVs. But maybe i've just played the bad ones. Cheers

[@hard4games]

2:33 'Actual legitimate games'. Now there's a phrase I never thought I'd hear in a CD-i review.

[@kayeplaguedoc9054]

My main memories of the CD-i pre Internet Infamy were mainly the educational titles due to the fact that my school actually sent some CD-i units home with certain students over weekends which was always a weird idea in my mind. Also, someone must have liked the CD-i Zelda games at some point because I remember critic reviews at the time being very positive, and I even found some of those old magazine reviews and even Wikipedia mentions them. It's hard to believe but true.

[@TechRyze]

Philips probably paid for adverts in the magazine in exchange for fake reviews. It's unfortunate, but there are lots of questionable reviews in magazines - even in a few otherwise decent publications.

[@TVsMrNeil]

The people who developed games for the CDi either didn't understand video games or had a great deal of contempt for what made video games good. Look at all the progress that the NES, Genesis, and SNES had made up to this point with responsible controls and non-stop gameplay. The CDi ignores all of that in favor of clunky controls that serve only to navigate you from one boring FMV to the next. Even Tetris, which plays respectably on the CDi, is hampered by some programmer who thought that the action needed to be interupted to remind you of your progress. It's like the design theory of the console was "How can we bring the fun to a screeching halt?" I think a lot of these FMV games could have been prevented if the designers were locked in a room for two weeks and forced to play their own games. Watch how annoying the same cut scenes become after you've seen them for the fifth or sixth time. Very few of the games on the platform are even worth playing, and that's pathetic. It's pretty sad when Pac Attack and Micro Machines are your two best games.

[@tetrisdave]

Good points.

[@idnyftw]

***** all that power but can't save without a working battery :/

[@idnyftw]

***** bet you don't even know how to use a saw

[@TVsMrNeil]

***** As good as SNES???? I'm just going to assume that you're joking. The CDi perplexes me. I'm not completely sure what they were trying to do. A lot of the software plays like a DVD menu without the movie. Maybe an annoying FMV every now and then. This was back in the days when we thought Encyclopedia Britannica on CD was going to be a thing. All I know is that the machine was NOT designed for games in mind. The games that try to run like software on other platforms are janky and slow. Even Micro Machines is not as good as the NES version. It's as if the CDi wasn't intended to be a game console.

[@idnyftw]

Neil Purcell don't bother, dude's a troll

[@MiNHODotus]

00:52 introduction of CD-i 02:59 Tetris 04:30 Hotel Mario 06:08 Pac-panic 06:58 Burn: Cycle 08:19 Zenith 09:29 The Apprentice 10:26 Link - The Faces of Evil / Zelda - The Wand of Gamelon 12:36 Tetsuo gaiden 14:20 Zelda's Adventure 17:02 Kingdom - The Far Reaches 17:57 Kingdom - Shadoan 18:46 MicroMachines 20:05 Solar Crusade 21:04 Escape from CyberCity 22:01 Kether 23:10 Mutant Rampage Bodyslam 25:10 Thunder in Paradise Interactive 27:17 Atlantis - The Last Resort 28:20 The 7th Guest 31:28 ┌∩┐(◣_◢)┌∩┐

[@asadavis9532]

Underrated comment

[@lowbudgetcontent8858]

Thank you for your work!

[@MrKroogur]

Dave I am that one person on the planet that likes the Zelda and Link games for the CD-I ! I have four of each game and use them as drink coasters, totally awesome conversation starters!

[@tetrisdave]

Well they would be good for holding drinks. Have you beaten any of them?

[@MrKroogur]

David White Actually i was joking. However! I will admit I was one of the suckers that bought the system near launch it came with the encyclopedia and I did have the 7th Guest which was indeed glitchy as well as Myst and thats as far as I went with the thing I was so disappointed in it I sold the lot and bought a 3D0 (which I still have and enjoy). Interesting side note Cd-I's were used by businesses for training videos, I took a part time job working at a Burger King (back in 2000) and they used it for their "interactive" training videos. www.telecompaper.com/news/burger-king-switches-to-cdi-for-staff-training--101509

[@RetroJaysFTW]

Me to a friend : OAHH!! Mah boi! This piece is what all true warriors strive for! *pointing at game cases*

[@reinforcedpenisstem]

Sounds like you like the cases, not the games.

[@MrKroogur]

I was joking with Dave about using the games as coasters but I will admit for the time both the system and the cases were rather appealing sadly the system and games were dismal as far as functionality . My Cd-i was the front loader and it blended in well with the VCR and other equipment in my entertainment center. I was happy to replace it with the 3DO.

[@MausAgain80]

The Escape From Cyber City game you showed is clips from the super awesome 70s anime Galaxy Express 999. That seems pretty cool at least. It explains why it was so much higher quality visually than the other FMV games.

[@n0isyturtle]

One of my first jobs (in Colorado too!) was at a 7-11 and the training videos they made me watch all ran on a CD-i which was surreal at the time. I remember the thing always had issues booting up, as about 50% of the time you turned it on it would just turn right back off again. Also: your editing skills are getting really good, this video was professional as fuck :)

[@RotaryPoweredRX]

they used a CD-i to train you? that's flippin funny

[@sperrin]

On the Micro Machines bit. "You're stuck using the yellow vehicle" It then cuts to footage of a red vehicle bring used.

[@davidforgeas2235]

it was yellow on yellow so I guess it was about this particular stage

[@Atlink]

I think he meant in races - the Red Car looks to be for time trials, as there's no placement indicator, and there's a timer.

[@WillKeaton]

The CD-i was developed as a multimedia platform first, and a game console second. A large part of the problem was it just wasn't designed to play video games, but design games for it people did.

[@JoeServo]

When I was nine or ten (around '92/'93), I stole one of these from the 'multimedia room' of a school that my sister took gymnastics lessons from. When I went back a week later for some of the 'games', I was terrified that they'd set up some kind of sting operation. But I'm guessing nobody noticed the system was even gone or whatever, and I left with about twelve titles in my backpack. They were all crap, and most of them were pre-school level 'edutainment' junk like 'Little Monster at School' and some Sesame Street thing, but I did get a few 'actual' games like 'Link: Faces of Evil' and 'Steel Machine'. Even for the time, I remember being drastically underwhelmed by the marvels of the 'futuristic' technology. Also, kids, don't steal, stealing is bad, mmmkay?

[@NijiDash]

Cool story brah.

[@BloodyBobJr]

Did u return to that school a 3rd time and steal the heart of young beautiful girl? Ahh that be like a plot to a sappy romance..

[@NijiDash]

Jere Aho The CD-i is his girl.

[@Danbotology]

***** Sadie-i.

[@tasken_lander_redux4775]

***** It turned him gay.

[@johnblanco9674]

My greatest memory of the CD-i was when I was a kid in New York and my mom and I went to The Wiz. (R.I.P. The Wiz!) I went over to the electronics section (as usual) to see what was new and I ended up by a TV watching a demo of the Golf game for CD-i. And I SWEAR to you I thought I was watching TV. They had all the NBC graphics and announcers and for about 15 seconds I thought it was real. And then I noticed the system there and a guy using the wireless controller. I was BLOWN AWAY! I look at the graphics now and wonder what was wrong with me. But back then, it was absolute realism.

[@tetrisdave]

I've had those moments also when I've looked at games thinking "How could it look any better then this? This is real!"

[@Tornado1994]

+happyhappy joyjoy CD-i looked impressive up until 1993. By then, it was a joke.

[@Tornado1994]

happyhappy joyjoy Even in 1993, to me it wasn't impressed. I tried it out just to see what it could do, I found it lame and terrible and overpriced.

[@AnonymousFrogNG]

Did you mean. R.I.P Your CD-i? Because of those shitty batteries

[@msx6800]

I like Game Sack. The videos are informative and I always find out about new old things. Also, beards!

[@TrollGamerStudios]

Choice of the day: Game Sack, Super Bowl Game Sack, Super Bowl Game Sack all day long, screw football

[@PaleoSteno]

MAH BOI The CD-i is what all true retro collectors strive for. (not really)

[@dancentral]

Awesome review guys, very in-depth. The CD-i was my first ever system I played believe it or not and I've had it over 15 years. Yeah most of the games are shocking but there area few hidden gems on it and I've got huge nostalgia for it. :)

[@PeteOliva]

"Tetsuo Gaiden is a shooter that kinda reminds me what Galaga would be like if it were horrible." I love you guys. Keep up the good work!

[@PeteSkerritt]

Freaking Media Play. Oh, man. I have some neat memories of that chain; I bought Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance for the PS2 from there with a mall gift card I got for Christmas in 2001. I went to a Titanic VHS launch party there (and even dressed as Jack Dawson). Fun times. The first (and only) game I ever saw and played on a CD-i was The Palm Springs Open, which looked and sounded tons better than any golf game I'd seen to that point. Sadly, the price was prohibitive... so I never bought one. Curiously: the FMV stuff looks really high-quality! Finally: That ending was fantastic. I'm still laughing over here. Thanks again for all you do; I really, really enjoy your work.

[@AmberShort]

OMG. The music from Tetris is something that I would make... Some of the games look alright. The CD-i kinda resembles like an old PC. I sorta find the "edutainment" games rather interesting. When I got my first Win PC, it came with an encyclopedia and was rather fascinated by it. Yeah I'm one of those weird ones.

[@anthonygonzalez934]

my game sack

[@RetroDawn]

Of course, when it came out, PCs of the day mostly could only put 16 colors on screen at once. Except for then-expensive and not yet ubiquitous VGA cards with 256 colors on-screen, and the Amiga, which could put up to 4096 on screen with HAM mode or color register changes via the Copper. With the CDi, any pixel could be any of 16.7 million colors, more than TVs could display. And it had a CD-ROM drive, which allowed for ~700MB of storage vs., at best, 1.44MB per floppy.

[@darrellabbott8828]

Thumbs up just because of the Yanni reference. Lmao that Tetris music rocks

[@AdmiralBison]

I still like Yanni, especially 'Aria on Air' I have the 'Opera House' rap remix of the song and I remember the British Airways commercial featuring the song.

[@Shorty_Lickens]

We had a place in town that rented CD-i titles, but I never even heard of anybody in our town who owned the system. And they sure didnt sell them anywhere we knew about.

[@DOM1NAT1ONX]

i watch youtube videos all day (during work, before bed, ect) and am subscribed to a ton of channels, but only game sack videos get me excited more than anything. i look forward to every new video! thank you guys for all you do

[@tetrisdave]

Thanks!

[@CazTheGamerGuy]

4:08 Because when you think Tetris, you think the great outdoors. Seriously, what's up with the background?

[@tetrisdave]

Seriously. New age Tetris.

[@kbbbb7]

Because they could. It seemed "cool" back then to have that style of music and "real photos on a console! Wow!"

[@JackBandicootsBunker]

Not like it was a bad combination. Check out "The New Tetris" for N64, its "New Age" feel was quite okay.

[@cheezerscameback9145]

Talk about ahead of its time. The tetris motion backgrounds are the same ones you can buy off psn for the background of your ps3

[@TheJeremyHolloway]

Tetris on computers had backgrounds. That was prior to the Atari Games/Tengen version and Nintendo's version for the Gameboy and NES. Those were the versions that focused on the game being front and center, if not the entire screen.

[@deepblue8143]

The Tetris music is great! So good in fact that I've got it on vinyl. It's vaporwave before such a genre existed, honestly one of my favorite albums and so glad I own it.

[@Sampler19]

Watching Game Sack feels like having a retro session with some good old friends who just came back from a games flea market with an exotic console.

[@markinius8866]

Kingdom: The far reaches. AKA Thayer's Quest. Was supposed to be released on the RDI Halcyon.

[@brickman409]

This probably one of the most in depth videos I have ever seen about the CD-i.

[@preston9668]

This is such a great video, I'm glad you guys covered so many games, usually videos about the CDI are just all about the Nintendo rips

[@tyleradam4836]

Kingdom: The Far Reaches is on the RDI Halcyon as Thayer's Quest, the system made by the same people who made Dragon's Lair in 1983.

[@Gorlokk666]

Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: Wand of Gamelon actually are guilty pleasures of mine.

[@raizenuraneshi4988]

"Can you imagine a company today making something that won't even boot when the battery dies?" Sony says "HI!"

[@crazisaturn2274]

I don't get it.

[@Xodyak]

Thank you for putting yourself through this pain for our enjoyment. Don't drink too heavily in trying to recover from playing this. And I really hope the night terrors aren't too bad. Maybe next you can do the Hyper Scan?

[@Zeldaschampion]

Wow. I wish I had a friend that beat the shit out of me like Dave does. He's a great buddy.

[@tetrisdave]

Do you also wish you had a friend like Joe who smashes your game boy?

[@AmberShort]

Yep. Both Joe and Dave get beat up by each other in their videos from time to time. How can you not love these guys? I like Joe's reaction when he gets punched. And Dave's cries to his mommy. Just wanna hug them both.

[@KWKBOX]

David White Do you think AVGN jumped the shark? hagensalley.wordpress.com/

[@tetrisdave]

In that leather jacket? No way!

[@Jmac1493]

I think it's a curious piece of history so it is fun to explore to learn more about it, but I will own 50 game systems before I get a CD-I.

[@chaosdimension6433]

got one for 20 at a thrift store, you dont say no to that lol

[@PrinceRawD]

Watching this gameplay reminds me of a severe punishment for gamers where you are forced to play these games for hours on end.

[@tetrisdave]

Yeah Clockwork Orange style.

[@Grefintiuk]

+Prince Raw D haha yeah man this games are pure shit.

[@takigan]

The music on some of these games is actually pretty awesome, especially some of the early 90s Indie Industrial stuff.

[@LowgaenSchmidt]

I loved that version of Tetris so much. Each level with moving water had the best music and it was just so relaxing.

[@havokiller8081]

Just riding out a cold before I go back to school, relaxing on the couch watching a bunch of episodes of game sack. love the show guys it's really chill. "HEY THIS IS NO VIDEO GAME"

[@FullInstall]

I agree with Bucky Monk about doing an Amiga review, although I would love to see an Acorn Archenemies review, not many people have heard let alone played one, it had somewhat of a British only fanbase, I have produced a review of what I have managed to play, but I'm sure you guys could give it the full once over.

[@Serros13]

This is by far the best review of the CD-i on the internet, nice job guys. And another thing, how did Philips got the licence for Zelda and Mario?

[@frankschneider6156]

Serros Retroman gamewise absolutely, hardware-wise imho not. If interested you might check out the channel of gerion79 for his reviews of the CD-i (or Sega CD, NeoGeo CD or Amiga CD32 etc). but be warned: the style also differs. While Game Sack is about fun, entertainment and games, his reviews are more hardware and fact-oriented.

[@ThunderDragonRandy]

Nintendo partnered with Philips during that time. But because Nintendo partnered with Sony's rival Philips, Sony dropped their Play Station (a CD addon) for the Super NES and turned it into a standalone console called PlayStation to compete in the gaming world.

[@Serros13]

Frank Schneider Yeah, I should've specify that I meant gamewise, that's where Game Sack is best (besides, games are all that matters about a console). About hardware stuff I usually check gamester81 but I would check that guy you mention as well.

[@Serros13]

***** No they don't. Mario and Zelda were created by Shigeru Miyamoto, get your facts straight bro.

[@Serros13]

***** Muted, because I don't waste my time with fucking trolls like you.

[@TheYamatoSushi]

"Escape from Cyber City" has actual clips from anime movie called "Galaxy Express 999 " , and was based on a series that aired for several years , spawning 113 episodes .

[@josh24441]

I think the reason why it bombed was because it was marketed wrong. People thought it was supposed to be like the next SNES when in reality, video games wasn't on the top of the list of what it does. I had one and in actuality it was a cd-rom like device that you can play on your tv, and it also plays video games. If Phillips would've marketed it as it was supposed to be seen as then I don't think it would've failed as hard as it did.

[@NickBLeaveIt]

Joe: Gee, it sure is boring around here. Dave: You call my house boring? Now you must die! Joe: My boy, have something I got from "The Mushroom Kingdom" (Later, when both are high) Joe: I wonder what's for dinner Dave: Whatever the wife says Joe: I hope she made lotsa spaghetti!

[@suhhduhh8088]

Yes! A new game sack, or should I say beard sack?

[@baloneypony966]

Nothing like waking up on my day off to a new Game Sack. A good start to the morning, for sure.

[@Twinbee74]

ok, ok I just have to say... I think a lot of people back in the CD-i days purchased one after seeing a game you didn't even talk about and that would be Dragon's Lair. That was the reason I purchased one (although it's long gone now) as back then no other home console could even come close to giving you the arcade experience of Dragon's Lair. The home computer versions were all cut down (like the animated Amiga version) or just completely different games (like the C64 version). I think the only version I can think of that came close was the Mega-CD version which was pretty much the full complete arcade game, The video quality however was vastly inferior to the CD-i version which looked pretty amazing back then on a crt screen. Sure it's a pretty terrible system overall but man those dragon's Lair and Space Ace games were the best looking home versions available anywhere. Great episode guys, keep up the good work.

[@Sirynx77]

Ha!! You can hear Joe laugh at that Viridis joke at 14:30

[@Wyrdwad]

Whoa. Escape From Cyber City is apparently based on Leiji Matsumoto's 1970s anime classic Galaxy Express 999? The character you're controlling in that game is unmistakably Tetsuro Hoshino, the protagonist of Galaxy Express 999. The old man you showed in that clip is an old man he befriends as part of the story. And the robots you're fighting all look like Count Mecha's soldiers. I'm not sure if the game was originally Japanese, and was based on the Galaxy Express 999 license, or if it's just an unabashed rip-off, but look up some footage of that show/movie sometime and you'll see exactly what I mean.

[@OrangeStar222]

Seeing 7th Guest footage brought back many childhood memories, I remember it and it's sequel being scary as hell back in the day. I wonder if I'll still like the game if I played it today.

[@larrshinshin7606]

Seriously you guys are like the James Brown of obscure retro consoles. I don't think anybody put more time into their research or actual game acquisition.Bravo good sirs!

[@mylifeingaming]

Fond memories of Media Play in the early days of DVD.

[@ElComanche]

Media play was the GOAT.

[@hil1893]

kingdom the far recas was originily a halcyon game and the halcyon in 2500$ console with only 2 games from 1985

[@PhilShary]

Thanks for doing The CD-i justice by covering some obscure titles and also hidden gems (such as The Apprentice which does seem like a hidden gem in this pile of software). Good to see that your system-focussed episodes are getting better and better over time.

[@Connor-Mcloude]

Been watching you guys for years. Keep up the good work

[@kenny9648]

Where is Dragon's Lair 1 & 2, Space Ace??? The best versions of these games out there. Anyway, great episode, like usually! Keep on going, guys. You do a fantastic job. By the way, I didn't know the thing with the battery. That makes me fear.

[@tetrisdave]

Thank You. We didn't cover Dragon's Lair and Space Ace since they were released on so many other systems. Hell I even had a copy of Dragon's Lair that played on my DVD player. Fun games.

[@Atlink]

Dave flipping off Joe always gets a chuckle out of me. Also, in terms of grinding off the case of the ROM chip, couldn't you just solder the wires onto the pins? Or is it more of the battery is stored within the casing?

[@FallicIdol]

Dave giving the bird is classic.

[@AzureSymbiote]

This is the best video on the CD-i anywhere. Thanks!

[@avideogamemaster]

WHOA, before clicking on this video I was already humming the Zelda Wand Of Gamelon map screen music (because in my opinion this song represent the CD-I), and you guys did put as the background music right at the beginning!

[@awelcruiz]

I can't hear that music anymore without also hearing "Looks like you've got a baby penis!"

[@avideogamemaster]

awelcruiz wth, is that a reference to what? lol

[@awelcruiz]

avideogamemaster Game Grumps' Wand of Gamelon playthrough.

[@avideogamemaster]

awelcruiz GG? yuck. But thanks

[@YumeKojoCosplay]

@awelcruiz Same

[@TheExaminedLifeofGaming]

I'm going to have to give the Beard Award to Joe, for consistency. But Dave gets Most Improved Beard.

[@lazerwolfdiecast]

i used to live in colorado springs and i would ge to media play all the time!!! i miss those days

[@Kafei2006]

Escape from Cyber City is a port of an arcade laserdisc game called Freedom Fighter, which itself was based on two of the animé movies taken from the manga Galaxy Express 999 by Leiji Matsumoto (the same guy who made all of the clips for the Daft Punk album Discovery if you didn't know :P). I knew I had seen the main character somewhere when i saw your footage XD.

[@millgiass]

Love the skits guys, it's always a laugh at the end.

[@Jumpboots_Jamstrang]

Finally! My favorite "bad" console. Very nostalgic for me, this is gonna be my favorite.

[@Bushiey]

Woke up with the worst headach and here is a gamesakku! and a CD-i episode! I miss oldschool media play :(

[@OreoChimp]

Great review but we sleeping on how funny that ending skit really was. Dave when in on them punches XD!!

[@alex.starostin]

yeah the ending skit cracked me up!

[@SomeOrangeCat]

That was an amusing episode, and the after-credits scene was by far one of your funniest, which is really saying something as there is no shortage of funny at Gamesack.

[@kite198]

escape from cyber city = anime galaxy express 999 incase you guys are wondering

[@MarsGundam]

Glad I'm not the only one who noticed.

[@kite198]

yeah galaxy express 999 is one of my favorite animes i had to say something XD

[@kite198]

nahhh its galaxy express they probably just grab scenes from the anime and decide HEY LETS MAKE A GAME OUT OF IT because theres alot of scenes from the footage of that game i recognize from the anime XD

[@AKATenn]

GE three nine was my favorite movie growing up, always wanted that game, but I always knew CD-I was crap and got a sega-cd instead :D best version of flashback I ever played was the sega cd version.

[@LouGojira2]

Escape from Cyber City was also released in arcades as Freedom Fighter. I couldn't make heads or tails of it and thought it was horrible, but surprised it actually made it to a console.

[@josphok4142]

thank you game sack and god bless you for all the hard work you do with these ...beautiful videos always ..please keep up you are No1

[@tetrisdave]

Thank You!

[@Locomamonk]

I love how you guys chose the popular more common genres that existed at the time to compare the performance and the gameplay of them in the CD-i, this is one of the best reviews of the "console" there is, it really shows how it was compared to the popular ones of the era. It really tried to bite more than it could chew! Great review and I loved the ending as always!

[@JakeSmith-ee9io]

My friend had a CDI growing up and we always use to play this mini golf game and it took me years of searching to find out what the title of it eas...Eugene Levy's Wacky World of Miniature Golf. I remember the cut scenes blew my mind back in the day.

[@YumeKojoCosplay]

Jake Smith Game Grumps played this and the results are hilarious.

[@StormsparkPegasus]

The problem with this thing is its graphic chip has NO features whatsoever, just a "dumb" framebuffer. No hardware sprites. No scrolling. Nothing. Even the NES is FAR more capable than this thing when it comes to putting things on the screen and moving them around. The only advantage it has is, it is technically a 32-bit system, so it has a huge color pallette. So most of the games ended up being pretty, non-moving backgrounds with VERY limited sprites (since it had to be done entirely in software), plus it could stream video off of the disk. I watched a video on the Zelda games, and they basically pushed the hardware to its limits. I have to say, the boneheaded design that is similar to the arcade board "suicide battery" is the worst thing about this system. That was absolutely unacceptable.

[@michaelwolfe9496]

I went into this video thinking I might find at least one reason to get a CDi, but no, all I found was disappointment. I'll take a 3DO over this any day.

[@canis77]

Good review and the best "post show" segment section in Game Sack history. Nice work lads!

[@J0MBi]

managed to make the Atari Jaguar's games look halfway decent. Thanks for the review guys.

[@jimmyeddy]

Wow, Media Play! I miss that place, it was awesome

[@geowa3724]

If I had bought this when it came out like I wanted I would have been so depressed

[@greenkoopa]

And broke

[@BrendanStuart]

that skit at the end was great. i was doubled over with laughter when dave flipped joe off. great stuff guys, as always.

[@cammelspit]

Hi guys! I love your videos... I used to own and run a retail video game store for a few years here in Mesa and we had CRATES of CD-i stuff, could never get it to sell even in bundles with arm loads of games. Then I hooked one up and "PLAYED" the CD-i. Now I understand why no one wanted it. You would think that with the extremely high price the machine could at least match the processing prowess of the SNES or the Genesis but it just never delivered. The 3DO was similar but at least there were a few games people wanted for that one. Keep up the good work!

[@andydavidson1278]

The FMV-like graphics may have been impressive at the time (?) but there appears to be NO gameplay! (Apart from maybe that fighting game)

[@TechniqueSan]

Kinda like this generation.

[@KillThad]

^ too many keks

[@johnandbrianversus5082]

Was that J.T from Step By Step in the Thunder In Paradise game ?

[@someinterwebguy6452]

It was! Also, that guy with the crap on one side of his face 26:43 in that game, looked like Patrick Swayze, though I'm not sure if it was.

[@kingti85]

Someinterweb guy You clearly have no idea what Patrick Swayze looks like

[@dammitdanFTW]

LightlySaltedNuts a rotting cadaver?

[@kingti85]

ebkdan Exactly. Thank you.

[@Dac_vak]

This still remains one of the best ending skits these lads have ever done.

[@WebVManReturns]

Thanks for telling me about the battery situation. I've been tempted to buy a CD-I a couple of times in the past 2 years and am sure glad I didn't.

[@Progearspec]

Must have been torture for you two to play the cd-i mai boy !! By the way dave,escape from cybercity uses the footage from the anime galaxy express.

[@tetrisdave]

Thanks for the info and I must be one of the few who haven't seen Galaxy Express.

[@the7kSRK]

I knew it looked like Galaxy Express! My only experience with that series was reading the monthly comic of it in NewType USA, but I couldn't help but feel like that main character looked really familiar.

[@thepirategamerboy12]

David White I love the first Galaxy Express 999 film. I'd even recommended it to people that aren't big on anime.

[@robertmartin5781]

Posts "Great vid" on a 32-minute long video 3 minutes after it's posted. Is obviously full of shit. (Not that it's not good but how do they really know?)

[@TonyLikeGames2]

I know. It seems like it happens every time.

[@JimBeezie]

I think it makes perfect sense. Such comments can be appropriate when the quality of a product is as consistent as found here on Game Sack. I myself would be more than willing to make such a comment having never-yet been disappointed by an episode of this series.

[@n0isyturtle]

Hi, I commented early and am sustained purely off of your KZbin comment likes. Please like my comment so that I don't die from attention starvation.

[@AKATenn]

anyone who even attempts a CD-I review deserves a "great vid" post, just plugging the system in without falling asleep with boredom takes great skill and effort :P

[@ShadeWMD]

They're all good so the viewer was assuming this would be, too. If I eat a pizza 20 times and like it, I don't have to wait until I finish the 21st to know I'm going to like it, too.

[@TheSleathable]

ha loved the bit about the battery, my saturn uses the exact same battery for saving and it so easy to replace.

[@ChrisEilander]

So me and my girlfriend actually have a Philips CDi (different model) and last few weeks we were watching the Star Trek movies on it. We also sometimes play games on it like Link the Faces of Evil (although localized, so it is even worse) and BurnCycle. Whenever we play on it we stream it on twitch but never for too long as we move over to something more fun ;-) If i'm right, there should also be a dial-up modum been released for this device for browsing on the World Wide Web. I have never seen it and I doubt it fits on our model...

[@ZANTYACS]

My toughts on it: 1- Tetris : This is so boring it makes me want to fall asleep. 2- Mario Hotel : The cutscenes are funny as hell, is this the worst mario ever?! 3- Pac Panic : Still better than the 1st Tetris game theyve showned ! 4- Burn Cycle : This seem to be the type so bad and cheesy its actually enjoyable :) 5- Zenith : Intersting concept executed so poorly and it seem so boringg 6- The Apprentice : Why is this Not on STEAM already?! :D 7- Zelda The wand of Gamelon : Can someone kill me with an icepick or something. 8- Tetsuo Gaiden : Wtf is this sh*t. 9- Zeldas Adventure : This could have been an amazing game. but nope.. its not. 10 - Kingdom the far reachers : Point & Click Dragon Lair !! im in !!! 11- Kingdom shadoan : I already told you i was in!! 12- Micro Machines : No thanks. 13- Solar Crusade : The music seems pretty cool.. 14- Escape from Cyber city : OMG i want to play a game like this on STEAM XD 15- Kether : WTF is this bs XD id play it to have a few laugh 16- Mutant Rampage : This is an horrible game 17- Thunder Paradise : OMG this is the game of my DREAMS XD a game that real life situations with game sequences, i love this idea and in the early 90s this could have made a big buzz! 18- Atlantis the last resort : Worst FPS ever -11/10 Ign 19 - The 7th Guest : Nice try at creeping me out... i guess? .. Conclusion : Dont buy a CD-i

[@GameSack]

Ha ha! I enjoyed reading your summary of the games we showed.

[@ZANTYACS]

Im glad you did :) i really enjoy all of your videos, keep it up guys!

[@HASCH05]

@@ZANTYACS 0

[@thevisitordr.emmettbrown2601]

0:13 Joe: "Hello and welcome to the Beard Sack."

[@thefreeman7237]

2:04 HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA That was fun!! You have my greatest respect and you made my day!!

[@Vicvines]

I fell asleep halfway through but only because I took some medication that made me fall asleep and not because your videos are boring or anything. But now I lost my place so I'm just going to watch it over again.

[@kdsburneraccount7476]

This is one of the greatest consoles ever. I don't know how someone could live without it.

[@tetrisdave]

We've managed so far....lol

[@materialdefender2351]

@@tetrisdave Speak for yourself. Without a CDi of my own, I’m unable to drive, write checks, grocery shop…frightened of post offices and haven’t seen my accountant in years. It’s no life, least not one worth mentioning…

[@dubzack344]

CD-i greatest video game console said no one ever

[@DanDoesGame]

i dont know how you guys do it, i have NEVER seen a bad video from you guys :) GREAT VIDEO GUYS

[@themightylebeau]

When we got this system it really did seem next gen lol Chaos Control and 7th Guest were my personal favorite games. Also, not read any comments so I don't know if this has been mentioned, but Burn:Cycle is actually the name of the virus Sol Cutter gets stuck in his head.