Anyone know about Hyperion?

[SamIAm]

Hyperion was a shmup released for the Pioneer Laseractive as a Mega LD game. Supposedly it superimposed computer-generated sprites over a real-time movie background during gameplay. You can see part of the intro movie on Youtube, and it looks pretty cool considering its age. It was made by Taito, so it just might be a good game.

Does anyone know?

[Ed Oscuro]

I don't know about the gameplay on that one in particular, although the system had a number of such games, like Vajra and Pyramid Patrol (also available on the 3DO. I bet you that they aren't amazing, but also probably markedly better than Tetsuo Gaiden :P

[SamIAm]

I didn't know that those other two games were in the same vein as Hyperion, so I'll have to keep an eye out for them as well. I know that they're probably not good, and in fact, I've even read a short review of Hyperion saying as much. All the same, though, I'm still fascinated by the Mega-LD exclusiveness of them. For a couple of years, Hyperion has been to me, like, the ultimate game that I will never play. Until the day comes when I'm making enough money to buy one of these things like it's a candy bar (yeah, right), I'll never get a Laseractive. And it sure seems like nobody is even trying to emulate Mega-LDs.

It's interesting how in this age of ROMs and emulators, I can indulge in any game from my childhood that I ever might have wanted, even if I never even knew about it at the time. Maybe my fascination with this game comes in part because the Laseractive is the system that was most out of my reach in those days, as well as now.

If anyone has played it, I would love to hear anything about it. Thanks!

[PC Engine Fan X!]

The Pioneer LaserActive Laserdisc player with the two appropiate add-on console packs: one is the Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis pack and the other is the NEC PC Engine/Turbo Grafx-16 pack. If you had the chance to visit an Incredible Universe story back in 1994-1995, they had the LaserActive setup with a Sega Genesis pack to play those cool MD-LDs software titles including Hyperion -- the CGI background imagery is stunning indeed! Like most high-end electronics when they first appear on the market, the MSRP is super expensive. The original USA debut price of a LaserActive Laserdisc player unit was at $899.99 USD back in 1994-1995 (that was considered paying some serious $$$ back in those days). Since then, prices on a mint but used LaserActive setup has come down in price like on eBay. One could even buy a LaserActive setup from their local USA-based Video Concepts store as well back in 1994-1995 + they had a bunch of LaserActive LD-based software to sell for it but still pricey. ^_~

You might notice that it's harder to find the NEC PC Engine/Turbo Grafx-16 add-on unit for the LaserActive unit but well worth the $$$ to acquire one anyways. A few LaserActive LD software even took advantage of the special Pioneer 3-D LCD-type shutter-based glasses as well (but as far as I can recall, no LaserActive shmup-based titles ever took advantage of this setup). ^_~

A few fellow shmuppers do have such a LaserActive setup in their gaming collection..... ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Here's a NEC produced LD-Rom2 software title that takes advangtage of the optional LaserActive 3-D Goggles setup on eBay right now (however, one would need the optional add-on pack of NEC Pack-N10 module to play with this particular LD-based software title):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ULTRA-RR-VAJRA-2-LA ... dZViewItem

Plus here's an eBay auction for a used but mint LaserActive player with optional Sega Pack-S10 add-on included for a mere $75.00 USD starting price -- not too expensive, hmmm?..... ^_~

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pioneer-LaserActive ... dZViewItem


PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[SamIAm]

If I had the money right now, I would indeed be interested in that auction, as it looks like as nice a unit as you could ask for. But the thing is, I've already got a JVC X'EYE, which by all appearances is as high quality a unit for MD/MCD games. I'll bet that the price of that system gets up to about $300 including shipping by its end, what with the good condition and good games. With the extra money to get a laserdisc game, we're talking about a lot just to play a couple Taito shmups. I can't justify that expense right now. But maybe someday...

[Ed Oscuro]

If I had the money right now

If cash flow is a consideration, don't do LD. The games aren't good enough to justify it, unless you are lucky and able to resell them at a profit when the crunch returns. That's just my opinion, of course...and I'm not one to talk about reckless pursuit of exotics, anyway.

[xexex]

I have a laseractive and most of the 'shooting' games. All are into the screen space harrier style with the disc supplying the backdrops. Hyperion is nice (I like it more than pyramid patrol and space berserker), although if you play something like Novastorm on the playstation you are getting a very similar experience. I had really, really wanted to experience these and got them off ebay a couple of years ago. I'm still holding onto them as relics from a bygone era, but after you play them a few times you don't really need to return to them and they certainly don't hold up the way true classic shmups do. Of course, I would still love to see Vajra and Vajra 2 (I never got the pc engine module for the laseractive)!

[Brian]

Yea, I have the Laseractive and the Seag expansion pack. I find the games great for novelty playing, but the gameplay really does not hold up well. All the games are basically Chaos Control Light, which can never scream quality.

Still, the games are fun for a spin and good fun when people come by who never even heard of the thing. It's too bad they didn't put out the "real" laserdisc games of the 80s and 90s. That would have been a true master stroke.

I never did get the PCE module, but still hold out hope to one day make the splash.

[xexex]

I believe they did release Time Gal and Road Avengers, which were arcade titles, although not as popular as Dragon's Lair (and the laseractive versions of those games are insanely expensive, especially Time Gal, and probably not a huge difference from the playstation version).
Also, if you want to look for laserdisc games that are even more rare, try finding information on some of the palcom titles (a laserdisc system for the msx computers way before the laseractive). I'd really love to see footage of some of those games because I'm sure I'll never own a palcom!

[segasonicfan]

Yup, I have Hyperion. and a Laseractive setup for sale if anyone's interested Hyperion is a great little game and its so unique. It's a lot like Soul Star for the Sega CD for those who've played it. Not always the most intense, but the graphics are a real treat and I've always fancied those types of shooters (panorama cotton, space harrier soul star, etc).

-Segasonicfan

[Ed Oscuro]

It would've been nice if they could've licensed some of the games that went to the Palcom (Albegas, Astron Belt, the - lousy, I hear - western-themed reaction game Badlands, Esh's Aurunmilla, etc.), certainly. Would've added somewhere between fifty percent or doubled the number of games on the system, none of them much worse than what was already on there.

Too bad the LActive was dead by the time Galaxian 3 came out...