Full Motion Video (FMV) games are the bastard children of gaming. Gamers once were as in love with FMV games as the developers and publishers were. I myself remember the first time I saw Kingdoms, Night Trap and Cobra Command. I was dumbfounded and actually truly, deeply, wanted this new genre to be as cool as it looked. We don’t always get what we want, as they say. Full Motion Video games being a rather public and “in your face” failure of gaming. The Sega CD was the first commercial product that offered access to FMV games, and plenty of them, at an affordable price. There were more than a few of these games on Sega’s second add-on hardware for the Sega Genesis. Here are the five best Full Motion Video games I could find.

Ground Zero Texas was interesting to me because of the style. Sure, Night Trap was interesting- what teenager would have a problem with playing a game with a bunch of girls in it? GZT though was about aliens invading, guns to defend the planet with- one small Texas town at a time, and of course more interaction than other Full Motion Video games of the time. It was as close to the A-Team as we were going to get in gaming and it played to fan base of that show quite well. Hell, most gamers are into blowing up aliens of some sort- Ground Zero Texas was not much of a stretch to grasp.

Boxing was big a few decades ago, kind of still is. When I first saw Prize Fighter, I was unimpressed. A black and white game in the early 90’s running on this “cutting edge CD-ROM technology”? Really? That was before I saw it in action and actually played it at a local Electronics Boutique store. I bought a JVC X-Eye before I left- one of the many pack in titles from that store was Prize Fighter. The video was fast enough to feel like an action game as the clips were short affairs so punching was quick and responsive. If they had continued down this road in general with Full Motion Video then we might have saw a longer run of the genre.

I know, not of all our readers are into boxing or military action. That is why I had to add Supreme Warrior to this list. Similar to Prize Fighter but much more Jackie Chan action flick than Stallone in the ring boxing. There is a lot going on in Supreme Warrior and it just adds to the feeling of interactivity. Also available on 3DO with much better video.

Dracula Unleashed was an attempt at a horror game. This was something that was not really attempted since Rescue on Fractalus and not again in any significant manner till Resident Evil on the Playstation. Sure, DU failed on being too scary, it was still a great story and showed that Full Motion Video games don’t all have to be the normal every day alien or scantily clad women. Dracula Unleashed showed that there could be mature stories told quite well using the new CD-ROM technology.

What is your favorite Sega CD Full Motion Video game? What is the worst in your opinion? Am I nuts for thinking ANY FMV game can be good?

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