While CD-i was not designed to offer the same gaming experiences like rival Sega and Nintendo consoles did, Philips did a good job in trying to get popular game franchises to CD-i anyway. CD-i received ports of Flashback, Micro Machines and Lemmings (and many others) which all appeared on other consoles as well. What may surprise you is that these games did get an exclusive touch on CD-i: they all offered video sequences that were specifically made for CD-i only. All three were base case CD-i titles, so don't expect full motion video here, but the video scenes that were shown at the start or in between levels are all CD-i exclusive. Let's have a look at the details below:
Although you'd be hard pushed to find the credits, this version of Flashback was converted by Tiertex Ltd who also did the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) iteration of the game. Tiertex did a fantastic job on the translation of this classic to CD-i with all the animations intact and some improved cut scene screens in comparison to the original Amiga version. Unfortunately the game lacked the depth of sound offered by rival systems, in many points throughout the game where various sounds are overlayed the drawbacks of the limited sound channels offered by CD-i are quite evident. Another criticism was the incorporation of green borders either side of the screen possibly the result of saving CPU power for the intense use of complex animations on screen. The video sequences that were used in the CD-i version are different from the others (which were more 'cartoony').
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The intro sequence in Lemmings CD-i was an exclusive touch by Johhny Wood, who worked at Philips ADS at the time. Johnny Wood has been found with his fingers in more than a couple pies. Credits range from Lemmings, Striker Pro and he even worked on converting The 7th Guest, although Johnny is still unsure what 'Asset Archeology' actually means in real terms! Then during his time at Dorking/ADS whilst they weren't coding games for fun between tea breaks he actually did the job he was paid to do and supported all sorts of CD-i Games Development including Lost Eden. This is a nice example showcasing the influence of Philips in many CD-i games: Lemmings itself was converted by Philips inhouse.
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Conversion of the miniature toy car racer Micro Machines which appeared across many console platforms of the time. The front cover of this game featured a tag across the top revealing this release as an "Exclusive Edition". Possibly due to the inclusion of a 3D sequence showing a view behind the cars animating into a top down angle leading into the game itself. It's presumed this feature was only available to the CD-i version making it an "Exclusive Edition"! These 3D sequences were also exclusive to the CD-i edition of Micro Machines.
