The Apprentice

The Apprentice is for sure one of the absolutely best games available on CD-i, this is a must have and a must play title!
This platformer game from The Vision Factory (1994)  and published by Philips Media is graphically perfect, with amazing animations!

The story
You are Marvin, the apprentice of the castle’s sorcerer, and you will play 1 week in Marvin’s live and will make all sorcerer’s dirty work… The sorcerer will always find things for you to do, and you will do them always with a high level of joy! Find a book, find again the same book that falls into a well, find the sorcerer’s cat, get some ice cubes for the sorcerer’s drink, find the sorcerer’s crow and find the sorcerer’s teddy bear!

The game
This game is full of fun, but also extremely hard!! With bosses to defeat at the of each levels!

6 levels with 3 stages each, so 18 stages in total, plus all 6 bosses and bonus stages after defeating all bosses!
Hours and hours of fun in this amazing jewel!

Take a look at the screenshots!

Level 1 + Boss

Level 2 + Boss

Level 3 + Boss

Level 4 + Boss

Level 5 + Boss

Level 6 + Boss

You have 10 minutes to reach the end of each stages, and 1 or 2 check points are available to avoid starting from the very start of the one you are playing. In most part of the levels you go from the bottom to the top, except for level 2, were you start from the top and go to the bottom,as you are inside a well.
You use button 1 to JUMP and button 2 to FIRE. Using buttons 1+2 will PAUSE the game and let you decide if you want to quite the game.

A very smooth game, easy to control the character and no bugs at all, like in some games a character fall when he is still on the platform because of 1 or 2 pixels… This DO NOT APPEND here… a perfect game…!

As I said, the game is very hard. At the beginning it is quite easy, but it is just to let you get some experience and skills… The more you continue into the levels and stages, the harder its becomes! All stages are beautifully designed and calculated to be smoothly played.

After all 3 stages of each levels, you will reach a boss, and all of them are hard to defeat, but all of them have a trick 😉
And after defeating a boss, you will reach a Bonus Stage, where you can win an extra life collecting letters M-A-G-I-C.

The game features a Save Game option what is great! and only use a very small percentage of the CD-i system memory, a Hall of Fame is also showing the 20 high scores and a Demo mode that activate himself after a few moment.

I also must talk about the the fact this is also a CD-i Ready title format. For the ones that still don’t know what is a CD-i Ready disc, let me explain.
This is a format designed by Philips in the mid 90’s and is easily recognizable as after inserting the disc into your CD-i player, a “Play Audio” besides the “Play CD-i”.
On this special type of CD-i, the CD-i data track is stored in pause sectors preceding the track 1. That way it’s possible to play a CD-i on any Audio-CD player, including your car CD player!

This game uses a Digital Video Cartridge (DVC), but it is just optional. What does it mean? It means you can play the game without a DVC, but you will not be able to listen the Sound FX of the game. Only the background music.

Another important point to talk about is the fact CD-i Emulator has been developed by one of the guys who worked on the game 😉

Tips & Tricks
This part is awesome! Tons and tons of cheat codes!

Level select:
To enable the level select, hold down button 2 on the title screen and press Up, Up, Down, Down, Right, Right, Left, Left.
You will also get options for invincibility and choose the number of lives (if invincibility is set as off).

Marvinvaders Mini-game:
To play the “Marvinvaders2 mini-game, hold down the button 2 on the title screen and press:
Up, Right, Down, Left, Up, Down, Left, Right.

How to defeat all boss:
Boss 1:
Go to the second level, shoot, avoid projectiles, jump and go down.
Again more times.

Boss 2:
Shoot the tentaculs until the bandage appear.
Don’t forget to avoid fish-bones going up, to left and right.

Boss 3:
Go up, stay on the border and shoot jumping to avoid missiles and bombs fragments.

Boss 4:
Go up as you can, shoot until the seal move buttock to shoot the snow ball.
Go down 2 levels back, center and go up again.
Beware of stalactites falling.

Boss 5:
Shoot on the string of the bell always moving from the left to the right to avoid the bird and the spider.

Boss 6:
You must shoot the head.
The most difficult is to destroy the arrows (2 shoots for 1).

Nudalities:
At the game over screen, hold the button 2, and input the following codes to show special animations. These codes must be entered before Marvin stops walking across the screen.

Animality 1 – Up, Right, Down, and Left.

Animality 2 – Up, Left, Down, and Right.

Fatality – Down, Right, Left, Left

Nudality 1 – Right, Right, Down, Left, Up, and Up.

Nudality 2 – Left, Left, Down, Right, Up, and Up.

Nudality 3 – Right, Left, Right, Left, Down, and Up.

Nudality 4 – Left, Right, Left, Right, Down, and Up.

Nudality 5 – Down, Down, Right, Up, Up, and Left.

Good Points:
– 1 player.
– Any addicted gamer will love this game, a must have in your collection!
– DVC optional (to get Specail FX).
– CD-i Ready disc playable on any Audio-CD player.
– Great music
– Lot of cheat codes.
– Easy character control.
– Beautiful graphics.
– Fully compatible with the latest version of CD-i Emulator.

Bad Points:
– Who dares…

EVULUATION:
Graphics 10/10
Music 10/10
Gameplay 10/10
TOTAL 10/10

Contact: omegalfa@theworldofcdi.com
Twitter: @omegalfapt

Written by omegalfa, © 10/04/2020

The World of CD-i Chronicle #20

When I got my CD-i back in the 90’s, a demo CD was included. In this demo disc I remember to watch a demo of Richard Scarry’s Best Neighborhood Disc Ever. Even if I was already a teenager, I was delightful with the quality and possibilities the little kids had with games like this. To improve the imagination, the reaction, etc…
Today I am not going to talk about this one, I am going to review The Crayon Factory, a game for kids that is deeply placed near my heart… I am going to play the French version, “L’Usine aux Crayons”. I used the German covers because my covers aren’t in good condition for scanning.

I enjoy playing this game with my daughter aged 7, she really loves it, and the Roller Controller is her favorite accessory to play. We play together alternatively just like if I had her age!

SOME HISTORY:
Released in 1995 by Philips Sidewalk Studio, The Crayon Factory was release under 2 formats:
A normal one, in a jeweled case (or a long box), and a special big box with 8 crayola crayons and signed by Julie Walters, the voice of the game for the USA and European versions.

THE GAME:
You are a robot called Friday and love to spend your time in the Crayon Factory, watching all the phases of the creation. All the employees are also robots, that know exactly what to do and let you try all the stations.
But one day a new director buy the factory and decide to save money by eliminating colors.

Just like in most of the kids titles, this is a mini-games compilation to improve all the senses of your children, like the color, the reflex, the painting, the sound and the logic.

When accessing the factory, you have to validate the worker file. You can create up to 4 files for 4 different players.
This is a 1 player game, not an alternatively one. Each player will have to use his own file. Of course I play alternatively with my daughter 😉

There are 8 areas to play:

1. Colors creation.
2. Crayons creation.
3. Gears repair.
4. Wax replacement tubes.
5. Sort crayons.
6. Quality control.
7. Free painting.
8. Noises machine.

1- The colors creation:
Each time you access this area, you will have to combine colors to find the same one as the object nearby.
You have to find the color of 6 objects. 5 of them need 2 color combination, and the last one need 3 colors combination.

2- The crayons creation:
Here you create a color of your choice mixing up to 4 colors. Then the colors are mixed and placed on a mold to create the crayon shape. In the last step, you will have to name the color you have created.

3- Gears repair:
The gears are broken and need to be replaced by new ones. Find the right gear size and the motor will work perfectly.

4- Wax replacement tubes:
The tubes used by the was are now broken, no wax, no crayons,
Change all the broken tubes using the correct ones, rotate them if needed and get all working again!

5- Sort crayons:
Here you have to be very fast!  All the crayons are sorted by colors, but some of them are wrongly placed. Find them and remove them by clicking on it. The crayons are falling always with the same speed, but wrong crayons will appear more often.

6- Quality control:
Here you have to verify if all the boxes are the same as the one on the left top… every colors of the boxes.
If it is OK, then say yes, if it is not, say no and the box will be removed.

7- Noises machine:
45 sounds are available. Place them on the noise machine by creating a combination of sounds.
Musical instruments, animals, words and vehicles.

8- Free painting:
In this area you will be able to paint 34 drawings. All of them appears in the story of the game. By coloring them your way, the story will be tell with your colors! All the robots, machines, children, objects, etc…
There is a very cool detail… look at the Remote Controller in front of the monitor 😉

When leaving the factory, you have to validate again your file. At this moment you will know how many times you have played each areas. If you play many times a game, you will reach the status of “specialist”.

For each country versions, the voices are from different well-known women.
English: Shari Lewis
French: Marie Vincent
German: Monika Peitsch
Italian: Cristina D’Avena

The CD-i was definitely a great system for all the family! Teenagers, parents and like this game show, for kids!

Other information:
– 1 player only.
– No Digital Video Cartridge required.
– Roller Controller highly recomended.

CD-i Emulator Compatibility:
Not tested…

Good Points:
– 8 different areas to play.
– Improve the children’s colors idea.
– Easy to use (with the Roller Controller).

Bad Points:
– No music while playing, only on the story.

EVALUATION:
Graphics 9/10
Music 8/10
Gameplay 8/10
TOTAL 8,3/10

Find all the Chronicles at www.theworldofcdi.com
Contact: omegalfa@theworldofcdi.com
Twitter: @omegalfapt
Facebook: Support Group

Written by omegalfa, © 18/06/2020

The World of CD-i Chronicles #25

As many of you knows, I received a Portuguese version of UEFA® Champions League 95/96 title and I am now reviewing it.
This is a very interesting title, full of information about players, teams and and history…
Known as soccer from overseas, you will all enjoy it, definitely.
Back in this year, the teams that was competing in this league was only the winners of each country.

SOME HISTORY:
This title released by HyperVision back in 1995 has as interestinga fact, some matches between teams had already been played when published, so you will find some results between teams inserted by  the developer. We will see this later on this review.

SOME FACTS:
The UEFA® Champions League is the football (soccer) competition that all players and teams want to win, you can compare the UEFA® Champions League Final Match to the American Football Super Bowl Match to understand the importance of it.

THE TITLE:
The mouse is a black star taken from the logo the competition who turns red when placed on a link.
Button 1 and 2 will do the same action.
Tons of videos are available and there is the possibility to watch them in slow motion.

This title is divided 4 categories and other subcategories:
– Match schedule
– History
– Best players
– Teams

Choosing  match schedule from the main menu will send you to a subcategory with more 4 options:
– Competition
– Search
– Calendar
– Teams

Choosing competition, you will get to another screens with more options:
– Group matches
– 1/4 Final
– 1/2 Final
– Final

As this is preview of the upcoming competition (back in 1995), some matches has already been played, other not.
You will see some results on the screen, but the others… YOU WILL ADD THEM!
Go to the internet, browse the matches back in 1995/1996 and add all the results yourself.

Choosing group matches, you will get access to the 4 (A, B, C and D) groups results and classification.
To add the result of a match, just click on the line of the match, you will be able to add the scores.

The same happens for the rest of the competition.

From the main menu, choose History to watch all the goals in video from all the finals, since 1956 to 1995.

Back again to the main screen, choose Best Players and watch videos on Full Motion of each players listed. Get also information about them like all teams he represented, titles won, etc…

And for the last one but not least, Teams.

Here you will get all the information about each teams that are playing this UEFA® Champions League.
This part is divided in 3 sections that are:
– Video
– Players
– Team

I found a bug on the title, when all the results are stored, you will get the teams that will be on the the 1/4 finals, 1/2 finals and final.
But the Winner of group D and the 2nd of the same group does not appears on the list, staying only the reference of the position of the group. Look at the pictures:

To exit the title, just click on the ball in the middle of the screen and will see the credits before exiting.

For the Portuguese version, CITI, the same company that release Abrunhosa & Bandemónios and others, to convert to our (my) beautiful language.

Portuguese:
Fernando Correira
Italian:
Bruno Longhi
French:
…
English:
…
The Netherlands:
Theo Reitsma

This is a very good title to have in your collection, sadly this idea didn’t followed for other seasons like for the PC/CROM.
This is what we can call as a multimedia library for this competition, like our today internet data, but all inside one CD.
The best choice if you want to be the master of European Football knowledge!

For me, the best part of this title when I saw the “Philips CD-i” advertisement that was placed in all Champions League matches!

Other information:
– Digital Video Cartridge required.
– Remote can be used.

CD-i Emulator Compatibility:
Not tested

Good Points:
– Interactive as you insert the results.
– A lot of information!
– A lot of videos!

Bad Points:
– Bug on the group D.

EVALUATION:
Graphics 10/10
Music 9/10
Creativity 9/10
TOTAL 9/10

Find all the Chronicles at www.theworldofcdi.com
Contact: omegalfa@theworldofcdi.com
Twitter: @omegalfapt
Facebook: Support Group

Written by omegalfa, © 28/08/2020

The World of CD-i Chronicles #28

There is many unpublished or unreleased CD-i titles. I am going to review one for you and I choose What’s it Worth? This one never passed Testing Phase 2 and it is available for download at Hidden Palace. You will need to burn it in a CD-R to play it on your CD-i player, or just unzip the file to play it on CD-i emulator.
Use our CD-i Backup guide to learn how to burn the game!

SOME HISTORY: 
This game never passed the Testing Phase 2 and the latest known disc is version 1.03 from 30th May 1994.
Catalogue number 811 004 was already given to this title, but unfortunately, for some reason, it didn’t reach the release status.

SOME FACTS:
Marshall Cavendish Multimedia was an English company related with art and museums, that is why they decided to make a game that will show pieces of art. What’s it worth? is the only game they tried to make and they choose the CD-i due to the pictures quality and promote art in the family.

THE GAME:
This game, as a Testing Phase 2 disc is not fully finished. It is 100% working but this Testing Phase was to verify the good working of what was already done. To be finished, a Testing Phase 3 was needed before a published disc.
I didn’t find an official cover for this title, so I am using the game’s intro as cover. By the way. you will see many large pictures as the screen (of the playing game) scrolls from left to right. I have edited the pictures to get a complete vision of the artwork.

The game starts with a lady talking to you, explaining how to play the game, a background music will be always playing until she finish the tutorial.

So what kind of game is it…?
What’s it Worth? is an auction game, you are a collector and will compete against other collectors to get the most precious items at the best prices, complete collections from pieces that might be in possession of others to increase its value.

To start the game, you will have to choose your character.

This game was intended to be played to up to 6 players alternatively, but I will try it for 1 player only.
I choose Hisashi… let’s see if he will buy something else than rock guitars 😉

Then we have to define how many rounds (items) we will bid to win them and the other option is if we want or not instructions during the game.

Before the game starts all the players will be on a VIP airport lounge, many countries all other the world may appears.
It starts at Round 1.

For this auction place you will read an article on the newspaper about the items that might be there and the buyers.

The first place you are going will happen at the Lion Hotel, after seeing some locals photographs you will get the list of the pieces of art that will be available for bid.

The game will and you are now in the auction room. The first item is shown. In this case we are talking about a collection of 6 cars, but you will bid only on the colored one… the others will be bid separately…
You can choose to bid or skip this one if you are not interested.

Press button 1 to bid and your character will rise his red plate. Depending of the item value, the bid can go from 50$ to 500$ each bid.
All players starts will the same amount.

Many items will appear along the game, depending on how many you choose before beginning.

Be careful, if you spend all your money, you will not be able to bid more…
After the the auction, you will reach the hotel’s lounge.
There you will be able to see your classification and of your opponents.

You will also be able to sell what you don’t need anymore, if you can’t get a complete collection for example or if you need money. Choose items you own…

… and then sell it for the best price!

Auctions will then continue until the last item!

At the end, the players will show scores one by one and the game will end with the credits.

In conclusion, this was a promising title! Auction game wasn’t and still aren’t usual to see nowadays.
We still need to understand the reason why of this cancellation… In family or with friends this game, after finished, would be a cool title to have in your collection!

Other information:
– 6 players (alternatively).
– No Digital Video Cartridge required.
– Gamepad recommended.

CD-i Emulator Compatibility:
Not tested

Good Points:
– 6 players.
– Many pieces of art available.
– The ambiance in the auction room…

Bad Points:
– Not published for a truly test

Download:
– Hidden Palace

EVALUATION:
Graphics 7/10
Music 6/10
Gameplay 8/10
TOTAL 7/10

Find all the Chronicles at www.theworldofcdi.com
Contact: omegalfa@theworldofcdi.com
Twitter: @omegalfapt
Facebook: Support Group

Written by omegalfa, © 18/09/2020