"Jack Sprite" code named "Project Flix" ceased development in the early 1990's due to concerns from PF Magic about the shift of games from 2D to 3D with PlayStation and Saturn becoming the popular gaming platforms. So they decided to shift their interest to "Ballz" another title under development instead of finishing this CD-i project. The Crimson Ghost is a Sci-Fi film originally released in 1946 as a twelve chapter serial. The twelve chapters were later edited into a hundred minute feature called "Cyclotrode X". It and similarly reedited and retitled serials were part of a package that Republic Pictures sold to TV as a syndicated package in 1966. In the early nineties "The Crimson Ghost" was reedited to fit a two hour block of programming with chapter titles intact, so that it was like a serial, only without the cliffhangers. This version was colourised. The below abstract should give you a general jist of what the film is about.
- Power up for a killer 3-D combat game - The ultimate in-yer-face battle of the Ballz. Face upto 8 unique characters and 8 bosses that punch, kick, club, slam, humiliate and fart on their opponents. Check your damage rating on instant reply, or morph into another character to really faze the opposition. Forget the sad, flat 2-D fight scene - this is twisted combat in the 3RD demension.
This segment will catalogue any problems experienced by CD-i users with Jack Sprite: The Crimson Ghost:
- Game crashes when Jenkin's plays laser disc recording.
- Game crashes when Jenkin's enters the poison room.
- Sometimes crashes when the car chase game activates.
- During car chase scene when being played on a PAL machine or in PAL mode for portables, a band of repeated video appears across the bottom of the screen.
A great game but very disappointing due to the crashing and various hang ups that inevitably occur at the same points. When this game was played on the "Portable SONY CD-i Player" that was demonstrating the CD-i software at the Classic Gaming EXPO 2002 their were no problems. Yet when the software was tested on a host of machines including a CD-i 210 and two NTSC/PAL switchable machines including a Portable CD-i 370 and a DVS CD-i Player (Non-Philips Brand) these problems were encountered. These crashes can be avoided to an extent although you will run into them eventually so it does interrupt gameplay a great deal. Their is also no way to save the game in progress by default or possibly due to the game being incomplete, we simply can't tell. Overall it is an amazing game to experience and will put a smile on your face because it is so bizare. In my opinion it's worth it and gives you an insight into "Jack Sprite" a game that could have given CD-i a firm identity in the gaming scene after all Nintendo has Mario and SEGA has SONIC...what did Philips have?
[Thanks, CD-i members 'Videogame Obsession' and 'supergreatfriend']