PixlBit

Going retro/unique old skool on this one

Usually when I want to go for a light gun shooter during this time of year I usually go to ever present and faithful standby: The House of the Dead series. It’s been on my lists off and on over the years, most recently being the unique Dreamcast/PC release of “The Typing of the Dead”.  But this year I felt I wanted to try something different. Though there are a good number of light gun games out there, I wasn’t sure I could find something that could fit into a Halloween theme. Yet oddly I didn’t have to look far to find the game I wanted to try this year. I found it at one of my local retro game stores for only $14 so at that price I couldn’t pass it up. And given the game’s uniqueness I couldn’t pass it up. So here’s game #09: Corpse Killer for the Sega CD 32X.

Yes you read correctly.

For those not in the know, Corpse Killer is an FMV game title that came about near the end of the FMV gaming craze. Oddly it was ported to many formats during its time. It’s seen release on the Sega CD, the 3DO, the Sega Saturn as well as on both PC and Mac. Some of the footage was even used for the 2003 cheesefest of a movie called “Game Over”. But what some people may not know (along with the “Game Over” movie) was that a port of this game was also made for the ill-fated experiment that was the Sega CD 32X game format. There were a handful of titles, mostly FMV games that tried to utilize the memory capacities of the Sega CD along with the hardware upgrades that the 32X offered. The end result being a game that looked better than it did on the original Sega CD but not as good as what could be found on PC and Mac. Depending on whom you ask this was either a good thing or a waste of time.

In Corpse Killer you play the role of an unnamed Marine who’s sent on a top secret mission to a tropical island to stop the evil Dr. Hellman from making an army of the undead. After parachuting down your character gets bitten and the rest of your team get captured and later get turned into zombies. As you begin the game to stop Hellman you run into a female photojournalist and a male Rastafarian who tag along with you on your mission. As the game progresses you learn that each of them have their own agendas for being on the island. The female journalist wants to get the story about what’s really going on while the male Rastafarian is invested in finding a long lost treasure. Though the game was presented in the FMV format, complete with cheesy acting and even cheesier plot, the actual gameplay itself was more akin to what we had seen before in other light gun games like Lethal Enforcers, Area 51 and Revolution X.

 

So what’s good about it? Well unlike most light gun games, this game adds some of the FMV style of gameplay where you get to choose your path on what you want to do on the island. You can either continue your mission to stop Hellman and cure yourself from becoming a zombie, help the photojournalist to uncover the truth behind the island, assist the Rastafarian in finding the long lost treasure or seek a method to improve your arsenal to better take out the undead while at the same time rescuing/curing your team mates from becoming zombies. For a game that has linear style of gameplay like most light gun games, it’s interesting to be given branching paths on how to proceed in beating the game. You even get a chance to look up info in the game’s sub screen menu that gives you more in depth knowledge about some of your objectives. You get ransom videos from your fellow team mates, spy footage of how the photojournalist learned of the island and objectives about the island itself, types of enemies you face and where to get specific items to help improve your arsenal.

Like most FMV games released near the end cycle of the genre, the game’s coded better in video compression making images less blurry/grainy while shortening the load times between FMV and shooting stages. Though the voices maybe hard to hear it’s better than most games for its time. Add that with some really cheesy acting, some really silly zombie animations and attack patterns (some zombies actually fly toward you in a mad leap) and an over the top plot that would sit well in any B-rated horror flick and you got yourself the receipt for a really hilarious Halloween night playing this title. It’s pure FMV cheese in so many ways that by rights it shouldn’t be any good yet holds up rather well. The Sega CD 32X format holds up well when you compare the game to other Sega CD FMV titles I own like Sewer Shark, Double Switch, Supreme Warrior and Tomcat Alley. (Don’t judge me!) Despite me not playing this game with an actual light gun, the controller setup wasn’t that bad and actually helped me clear out areas when I was getting overrun.

 

So if the game is that good why does it show up as number 09? Well as you can expect it’s no House of the Dead. Though not actually meant to go up against that series (HoTD wasn’t released until 1997) it’s still an FMV game so you’ll still get the same hang ups that come with the genre. Like I mentioned before the sound is at times hard to understand and the game still does not display in full screen format. The acting is like you’d expect in an FMV game and though they did their best with the technology at the time it still falls short when compared to a handful of top tier FMV titles out there. (Bonus points on who guesses what titles those are!) Plus there are a handful of enemies in the game that are actually immune to your bullets until you obtain special ammo to take them out or a special, screen clearing, attack that are few and far between in locating.  Without them, or being unable to retreat to replay that stage later, your pretty much doomed to an instant, frustrating death during these sequences.

Though not as bad as the original release on the Sega CD or as technically enhanced like the Sega Saturn version, Corpse Killer on the Sega CD 32X is an odd little gem to try out if you’re lucky enough to have a working Sega CD and 32X system around. If not you can always try out the other version if only so you can say you played such an FMV title. For some this might not be a decent title to try during the octoberween season but given my last game was a unique FMV title, I thought I’d follow it up with another unique FMV title that most may not even know existed in that format.  

 

I was lucky to find this gem for $14 cheap at my local retro game store, plus I still have a working Sega CD/32X combo. So for me this titled worked well in being a budget buy. I’m not sure how much the game goes for the other systems, but if you can find it around the same price as what I got my copy for then it shouldn’t be too hard give this title a go for any late night B-rated movie themed Octoberween activities. And if all else fails there is the “Game Over” movie…

My Top 11 Halloween Games for 2013

#11) Resistance Retribution – PSP: $8 used.

#10) The X-Files Video Game – PSOne: $10 used.

#09) Corpse Killer – Sega CD 32X: $14 used.