Demolition Man
Sega CD
Nostalgia Factor:
I reviewed the Super Nintendo version of Demolition Man back in 2015. Cripes, it's been seven years already? Hey Father Time: you need to calm down just a little bit. Anyway, I enjoyed my time with the game. It was fun, but it was short and easy. It didn't offer much in the way of replay value. I gave it the somewhat generous score of a B- and went on with my life.
I thought I was done with Demolition Man for good. I certainly had no plans to play through it again. But then the Sega CD version of the game dropped into my lap - and what can I say? I was curious. I wanted to see what the differences were between this game and the SNES/Genesis versions of the game.
My verdict? Aside from a few cosmetic differences, they are pretty much the exact same game. Read on for my full synopsis.
Story:
I love the movie Demolition Man, and the game does a relatively good job at following along with its story. You play as supercop John Spartan on his quest to catch fiendish supervillain Simon Phoenix. Your hunt takes you through modern day LA and into the cookie cutter future, where Phoenix instantly becomes the world's most dangerous criminal.
The game does a great job at showing you the various locations from the film, such as LA on fire, the shootout at the museum, and the battle at the cryo prison. The use of integrated cutscenes from the movie for the Sega CD version of the game is a nice touch. I really felt like I was making progress through the events of the film.
Gameplay:
I wish I could say there was something special about Demolition Man's gameplay, but there really isn't anything notable about it. This game is not as deep as similar games of its era, like Judge Dredd. There is no strategy involved other than plunging forward, taking damage, and shooting the crapola out of anything that moves.
You are going to take a ton of damage, but Sly absorbs bullets like a sponge. Luckily, there are health items aplenty to be found. Jumping over pits and across obstacles is another challenge. Some of the later levels involve zipline craziness and things can get a little hectic.
These side scrolling 2D stages make up the majority of the game, but there are isometric overhead stages thrown in as well, where you rescue innocent civilians from the havoc unleashed by Simon Phoenix. Although the perspective is different, the overall gameplay doesn't. Charge forward, shoot enemies, dodge bullets, and collect enough health items to stay alive. And charge forward.
I didn't pull out a stopwatch, but this entire game couldn't have taken me much more than an hour to complete. It's very short and easy. The only real challenge comes from mastering the controls, which can be a little touchy. I died many times trying to line up jumps correctly.
This game looks good. I like the environments. As I said before, they stay true to the spirit of the movie. The museum in particular is probably my favorite part of the whole game. I love the lighting effects in the subway car stage as well.
The FMV scenes from the movie are grainy and of a really poor quality by today's standards, but I'll be damned if they don't give this game some real character that's lacking in its 16-bit counterparts.
Sound:
I remember not liking the sound in the Super Nintendo version of Demolition Man. I don't remember having a problem with it this time around. It could be the same music and sound effects, for all I know - and for whatever reason they just didn't bother me this time. Or maybe this game, like many other Sega CD ports, has a new and improved soundtrack? I don't know. But all I can say is I have no complaints.
Overall:
My feelings about this game have not changed since I last reviewed the SNES version of it. I enjoy it, but at the same time I realize that it is no all-time classic.
Demolition Man is a great product of its time, when every big blockbuster movie got a video game adaptation. This is one of the better ones. It doesn't pretend to be anything it's not. It's a fun, relatively simple action/platformer that can easily be beaten in an hour or two.
If this sounds like something you'd enjoy, you definitely need to play this game. If not, I can't say you are missing out on a masterpiece or anything like that. But I still think you should play it. And if you are going to play it, this is the definitive version of the game. But I'm still giving it the same score as the SNES version.
THE GRADE:
B-
If you liked this review, check out some of my other game reviews:
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