LASERDISC: THE FORGOTTEN GAMING FORMAT

Created by MCA and Philips, Laserdisc was intended as a new home video format. Though higher quality than VHS or Betamax, it wasn't possible to record on Laserdisc, and its relatively low storage meant that movies often had to be split over two discs.

It's fair to suggest that Laserdisc is now best remembered for its contribution to gaming, a number of well-received arcade games leading to the Full Motion Video interactive movie fad of the early-90s. And  that, boys and girls, is what we shall be discussing today.

Here are the most significant Laserdisc games of all time. So, that's good. 

QUARTER HORSE (1981)

When I was a child, and my scummy family and I went on holidays to dirty caravan parks, and we went to the filthy clubhouse in the evening, they sometimes showed horse races on a big cinema screen. The awful guests could place bets on the outcome of these pre-recorded races, or something. I never really understood what was going on to be honest. I was too distracted with being so frightfully working-class.

Essentially, Electro Sport's Quarter Horse was the same idea, but holds the distinction of being the first game released on Laserdisc, tantalising arcade owners with the promise of "installing a real racetrack in your amusement area".

​Ha ha; "amusement area".

Electro Sport described itself as "The Rolls Royce of Video Entertainment", which might've been overstating the quality of its products.

​Horse!

ASTRON BELT (1983)

Sega's Astron Belt was a game about having to purchase something to stop your space trousers falling down... No. Not really - I'm just being whimsical!!!!!

Psyche!

Generally - and mistakenly - regarded as the first Laserdisc arcade game, Astron Belt was nevertheless the first non-gambling laserdisc game. It used original footage from a number of classic sci-fi movies - including Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Roger Corman's Battle Beyond The Stars, and obscure Japanese space opera Message From Space - as a backdrop, atop which a fairly rote shoot 'em up was slathered. 

Though it came out in Japan in 1982, its release in America - via Midway - was delayed due to licensing issues over the movie clips. In the interim, it had been beaten to market by a number of other laserdisc games.
​
​Which - ironically - made its trousers fall down! 

BEGA'S BATTLE (1983)

Not entirely dissimilar to Astron Belt in that it was a relatively standard , Data East's Bega's Battle was based upon the anime IHarmageddon Genma Taisen, whatever that is. It offered clips and backdrops taken from the film. As with the movie, character designs were by Akira creator Katsuhiro Otomo, with a soundtrack from prog rock keyboard legend Keith "The Sheath" Emerson. 

DRAGON'S LAIR (1983)

The big one. Dragon's Lair is the point at which Laserdisc games became a bona-fide phenomenon. Indeed, it was generally twice the price to play Dragon's Lair as most other games - and most of us were willing to pay it. I even remember the first time I saw it running. It was at local "show", and it had a queue stretching out of the arcade tent.

A few years later, the same show was opened by Bernie Winters and his dog Schnorbitz, and some friends of mine told me that some local toughs had shouted abuse at Bernie and tried to kick Schnorbitz. That has nothing to do with Dragon's Lair, probably.

Created by Rick Dyer, who was inspired by Atari's classic Adventure, it was originally a prototype called The Fantasy Machine. After seeing Sega's Astron Belt, Dyer switched development to more of an interactive movie, with animation from the company founded by ex-Disney animator Don "The Kissin' Booth" Bluth. 

Despite its high cost, and issues with the durability of its hardware, Dragon's Lair almost single-handedly aroused a suffering arcade industry.

​There was a follow-up - escape from Singe's Castle - released on home systems, and an arcade sequel in 1991 which refined the technology. By the point it was released, the market was drowning in Laserdisc games. 

FIREFOX (1983)

Based upon the Clint Eastwood movie - which saw him stealing a mind-controlled sausage (fighter jet) - Atari's Firefox was a return to video backdrops, with computer graphics over the top.

Working with the development team, Eastwood re-recorded lines from the movie, and loaned a scale model of the Firefox jet to Atari to be animated into the game. The team sifted through 30-40 hours of footage recorded for the movie's flying sequences, whittling it down into the 30-minutes worth included on the Laserdisc. What lucky punks! 

Though ambitious, it was something of a comedown after playing Dragon's Lair, and thus was Atari's one and only Laserdisc game. 

SPACE ACE (1984)

The follow-up to Dragon's Lair had a pulp sci-fi plot, but was less well-received - being pretty much more of the same. As with Dragon's Lair, most of the voices featured were provided by members of the animation team, with Don Bluth himself voicing the evil Commander Borf, and animator Jeff "The Wetter" Etter playing the titular Ace. Bluth described the game as being aimed more at "teenagers" than its predecessor. 

Nevertheless, it was popular enough to spawn a short-lived animated TV series. For children. 

MAD DOG MCCREE (1990)

Created by American Laser Games, the live action Mad Dog McCree succeeded in mixing light gun technology with the pre-recorded video, in a series of quick-draw shoot-outs. The game was filmed in New Mexico, with a local rancher playing various bad guys as well as the title character, and his wife playing one of the saloon drunks.

TIME TRAVELLER (1991)

Sega's big return to Laserdisc was this weird holographic nonsense, designed by Dragon's Lair creator Rick Dyer. It used a "Pepper's Ghost" effect to make the characters appear as if they were three-dimensional and hovering in space. Unfortunately, while being a head-turner in arcades, the gameplay was limited to Dragon's Lair quick-time-style choices.

Sega reused the hardware for a beat 'em up follow-up, Holosseum, featuring four characters; Chen, Garrison, Dompayagen, and... Dave.

Yes: ​Dave. 

I'M YOUR MAN (1992)

Strictly speaking not an arcade game, I'm Your Man was an ambitious, 20-minute, interactive movie, created by Loews Theatres. Audiences would vote on plot twists using seat-mounted joysticks. Though 43 cinemas installed Loews' interactive system, the prohibitive cost, and criticisms ranging from the gimmicky nature to the dreadful acting seen in I'm Your Man, eventually led to its demise. 

See also Cineworld's 4DX system, which "improves" the classic movie-going experience by making it feel as if the person behind you is constantly shaking your seat, and spraying his spores into your face.