Some love for the CD-i

[TornadoCreator]

By the way... is there any CD-i love on this forum? Surely we all have an urge to play Hotel Mario occationally. And who could pass up a chance to learn with the CD-i's additional feature, it's "interactive program" library. Oh yes, the CD-i is more than just a games console. There was Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia, The Smithsonian's The Riches Of Coins and The Visible Body interactive CD. An educational tool as well as a games console, how lucky we are... oh and don't forget they made a whole bunch of Books On CD for the CD-i complete with on screen illustrations, and it was a CD player, how could we possibly resist.

Honestly though, as much as I joke about this, the CD-i wasn't that bad. The thing was, it's not really a games console, it's and "interactive multimedia device" and when we got ours in 1995 to help me with my school work (we got it cheep second-hand), I basically considered it to be like a PC replacement because we couldn't afford to upgrade the PC to use all the swanky new CD-Roms that where coming out.

But yeah, the CD-i wasn't too bad. I actually used it for the educational stuff too, especially "The Visual Body" and interactive CD that was compatible with Windows 95 and CDi. I can still remember a very specific part of it "The 206 bones that hold up the human body provide a flexible framework for movement, anchor points for the muscles, and protection for delicate parts, like the brain, heart and lungs"... I sware, I can even remember the inflections in the narrators voice. It actually got me really interested in science though. And the Compton's Encyclopedia wasn't bad either. There was another one called the Oxford Encyclopedia of Space, which was also really cool and had animated models you could move on screen... the CD-i actually made me enjoy school because I already new stuff before going into class and it made me kinda smug.

Game wise it's not very good but it did have a couple of games with it, and as I was allowed to have it in my bedroom (because it was for school) it got much more play than my Mega Drive some weeks... luckily this rule was changed when I got my Sega Saturn a couple of years later as I was in high school therefor I was responsible and mature... apparently.

I only ever had 4 games for it, the ones that came with it. The Apprentice, a cute platformer which I completed multiple times, Micro Machines which was good, but I got Micro Machines 2 for the Mega Drive soon after so I rarely played it as the sequel is far superior, Mega Maze, a cool little puzzle game, and Lemmings, which was probably my most played game on it by a long way.

All in all, it was a good console and I appreciated it, even if it was a complete failure as a true games console. So does anyone else have any CD-i memories or even collects CD-i?

[flojocabron]

never owned one.

but once many years ago I had a disc only copy of Zelda Wand Of Gamelon. I got it for about a dollar. I then sold it to a friend that was a zelda collector.

Somewhere in a storage at my grandpas' place I do still own some CDI games, dont know where they're at, but I have a tennis game and a checkers game?

I do remember that those two games come in strange boxes! Not quite DVD sized, but have some buttons that get pushed down to open the case.

[alienjesus]

I own a CD-i. It's pretty awful.

In your context though, I can see how you might have fond memories of the system. I only got mine a few years back as a games machine, so perhaps my opinion on it isn't fully justified. I heard the apprentice isn't meant to be so bad. I had Hotel Mario, Caeser's Palace, Pinball and Pac-Panic. Pac-Panic was the only halfway decent game of those 4, and it was let down by the awful controls. I have 3 controllers for the thing, and they're all horrible.

My CD-i doesnt work anymore though. It swallowed my Hotel Mario disc into the depths of the system and it completely killed the thing/ Hotel Mario is the worse for wear too, I don't think it'd be playable anymore. I'm almost thankful, it was terribad.

[Hatta]

I pretty much agree with you. None of the games are very good, it's the interactive media that makes the CD-i worthwhile. It sounds like you had the experience Philips intended, so I guess it wasn't a complete failure. I always tell people that the main appeal of the CD-i is historical, if that's why you're into retrogames you'll enjoy it. It is definitely a product of its time.

TC, have you played Plunderball? It's a cancelled pinball game that got leaked. Actually pretty good, even though it's still obviously unfinished. Still one of the better games.

[TornadoCreator]

TC, have you played Plunderball? It's a cancelled pinball game that got leaked. Actually pretty good, even though it's still obviously unfinished. Still one of the better games.

No, unfortunately the CD-i wasn't well marketted over here so I never saw any other games other than the ones I had come with the console. Although I did once rent a copy of Hotel Mario from a local video-rental place, it was the only other time I'd seen a CD-i game in the wild.

[Hatta]

You know you can download and burn ISO images and run them on your CD-i. I wouldn't recommend spending money on CD-i games, heh.

[TornadoCreator]

I don't actually own a CD-i anymore, I've considered getting another one as a collector but it doesn't really seem like a console worth collecting. It may be better simply as a memory now... still, who knows, it may be fun to collect it again.

[Hatta]

Oh, that's too bad. It probably isn't worth reacquiring unless you happen across one for cheap. Mine was free from a relative.

[pepharytheworm]

Even though I make fun of the system, I do actually like the CD-i. There was a thread earlier about the cd-i and I listed some games I like.

I actually found quite a few games I like for my cd-i.

The Apprentice is a colorful quite enjoyable platformer, controls are little off though.


Vouyer is one of the better FMV games out there, it plays kinda like the movie Rear window.


Mutant Rampage Bodyslam, not the best Beat-em-up but still fun even with the goofy cutscenes.


Lucky Luke another colorful sidescroller.


Accelerator, a top view racer thats quite addictive.


Christmas Crisis another platformer not as fun as the other two.


Pyramid Adventures, yet again another platformer, this ones got to be the rarest cd-i game.


Tetsuo Gaiden an actually decent shmups on the cd-i.

[KillerJuan77]

Is Voyeur even good? I'm kind of interested on playing it...

Back to the topic though... as an educational tool it was OK but as a game console it was horrendous. But hey, it even had the only console port of The 7th Guest.