Hello, modern humans who are inclined to play games created by those less modern, and welcome back to The Last Official Release. Here, we dissect the final official games released for your favourite consoles with much vigour and candidness.

Ending 2018 with the Sega 32X, I thought it would be prudent to cover the Genesis/Mega Drive’s other add-on – known some places as the Mega-CD, and others as the Sega CD. However, I promise that this article will not include any whinging about heat or broken aircons. It’s been done already.

The Sega-CD (as I will refer to from now on for easiness of typing) was actually launched before the 32X. Hitting shop floors in the December of 1991, this add-on played games using the hot, rising format of the time, the compact disc. Touting a capacity 320 times larger than what Genesis cartridges were capable of holding, the humble CD was supported by a faster CPU and graphics processing in the Sega CD hardware.

However, much like the 32X, the extra capabilities were squandered. Most games did have a more crisp soundtrack and full motion video (FMV), but otherwise, the graphics and gameplay stayed identical to most Genesis games. However, there were some standout titles. Sonic CD is, of course, a classic, as is Night Trap – but for more nefarious reasons (depending on how much you supported Congress in 1993, anyway).

After 2.24 million units were sold, Sega decided to discontinue the Sega CD early 1996. It had been in decline regardless, but Sega wanted to focus on fewer formats overall. Not only did it have the shiny and new Sega Saturn in 1996, but also had the Genesis, the 32X, the Game Gear and even the Nomad to worry about as well.

We’re here to talk about the last games, though – so, let’s get cracking. North America kicked things off with Demolition Man in the November of 1995. Yes, the very same Demolition Man that graced the silver screen in 1993 that pitted Stallone against Snipes in a time travelling action-thriller adventure. Exciting! Except it was more or less a direct port of the Genesis version from a year earlier, including only a CD-audio soundtrack and a few FMV sequences from the film extra.

Funnily enough, I actually own the Genesis version. I paid an outstanding single dollar for it in a country thrift store complete in box, and have played in exactly one times. Not to say it’s an awful game or anything, but it’s just a standard platformer/shooter from the era that doesn’t really have any defining qualities. The game is also fond of making you perform blind jumps off platforms – so screw that right off. I did watch the film once in anticipation of reviewing the game on my YouTube channel, however, that was also quite standard. It runs for what feels like 45-minutes too much and my girlfriend fell asleep. Maybe I’ll review it one day. Maybe.

Moving on. The final game, and I mean the real final game was only released in Japan. Shadowrun was released in the February of 1996 and is derived from a pen and paper RPG by FASA Games. Shadowrun (the tabletop variety) has existed since the late 80’s with its fifth edition releasing as recently as 2013. Based in a future cyberpunk and fantasy version of Seattle for the most part, this console release is instead set in Japan.

The game mostly followed the rules of the tabletop original, however, in this universe all orcs and trolls are exiled from Japan, so, you can’t play as them. Too bad, fans of ugly, smelly creatures. It should also be noted that this game is completely different from the Genesis version of the same name, which is a nice change – but otherwise, that’s all I have to say on the subject. Thanks for reading.

Previously, on The Last Official Release:

The Last Official Release: 32X – The Amazing Spider-Man: Web of Fire (1996)
3DO – Creature Shock (1996)
CD-i – Solar Crusade (1999)
Atari Lynx – Super Asteroids & Missile Command (1995)
N-Gage – Civilization (2006)
Fairchild Channel F – Alien Invasion (1981)
Atari Jaguar – Worms (1998)
Virtual Boy – 3D Tetris (1996)
Sega Saturn – Undefined Japanese Game (2000)
Intellivision – Spiker! Super Pro Volleyball (1989)
Super Nintendo Entertainment System – Metal Slader Glory: Director’s Cut (2000)
Sega Genesis – Frogger (1998)
Sega Master System – Mickey’s Ultimate Challenge
Game & Watch – Mario the Juggler
PS1 – Schnappi: 3 Fun-Games
N64 – Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3
Game Gear – The Lost World: Jurassic Park
NES – The Lion King
Atari 2600 – Klax
Game Boy – Shikakei Atama o Kore Kusuru: Kanji/Keisan no Tatsujin
Dreamcast – Karous

Brendan Meharry (0 Posts)

Growing up while the fifth generation of consoles reigned supreme meant that Brendan missed out on much of the 80’s and early 90’s of gaming the first time around. He either lacked the cognitive ability to play them, as naturally, he was a baby - or he simply didn’t exist yet. Undeterred, Brendan started a blog called Retro Game On in 2011. This followed his exploits as he collected and played everything he could get his hands on no matter what the release date. While RGO is mainly YouTube focused these days concentrating on video reviews and historical features, the itch to do some old fashion writing never went away. More recently, Brendan has been a staff writer for the gaming website, GameCloud, mostly focusing on the indie gaming scene in his locale of Perth, Australia.