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A conversion of the arcade game by American Laser Games, Who Shot Johnny Rock? is similar to their many other gun games such as Mad Dog McCree and Crime Patrol as it uses FMV to present all the action. The original coin-op game streamed all of the audio and video from a huge laser disc, which are far more reliable than CD’s. Like Mad Dog McCree before it, this game soon made the easy translation to the CD based home systems that followed to, as this version of the game proves, mixed results. In this one you are a detective who must make his way round the town collecting clues to solve the crime and taking out bad guys as you go. You can select which location you want to go to and must even take a little journey to get there. It plays really well with just the right amount of time available to shoot the bad guys and the collision detection is superb. There are also civilians that can be shot too (causing you to lose) and sometimes you have a split second before the enemy reveals himself from a crowd of people! These new features make it a lot less linear than ALG’s previous games and gives it more long term playability. They also managed to hone the gameplay to make the shooting a lot more accurate too. Like the Mad Dog McCree conversion, ALG used full screen video to present the action. Thankfully they improved the technique greatly here and it’s far less pixelated than it was on Mad Dog. But it is still incredibly grainy and when you combine that with the murky colours it can make the graphics very hard to make out at times leading to some very cheap deaths. It also doesn’t improve very much on the slow loading too. Who Shot Johnny Rock? is certainly an improvement on Mad Dog McCree but is still left a bit wanting.

Core Design were one of the few companies to really push the Mega CD and show what the machine is truly capable of in the right hands. But some people forget that their early titles for the add-on were nothing more than Amiga ports with a few extra colours and CD sound. Wolfchild is one such game and this was proved to be the case when a cartridge version of it arrived a couple of months after the Mega CD version hit the shelves. The plot revolves around a biotechnology researcher called Kal Morrow and his son Saul. You take the part of Saul who must rescue his father from the clutches of the evil Chimera organisation who want to use his research to do naughty things. Saul uses one of his father's own inventions to turn himself into a wolf-human hybrid then sets out to defeat Chimera. You start the game off in human form but by collecting the power orbs that are scattered around the levels you can turn into a super-powered werewolf. The game itself is a pretty standard side scrolling arcade adventure combining elements of platformers and beat ‘em ups as you make your way through it. The design and detail throughout though is stunning with real attention paid to the animation of the main character. Wolfchild also has some amazingly atmospheric audio too that really helps set the scene combined with some nice FMV to help tell the story. This title might not push the system in anyway and apart from the audio and FMV it isn’t really any different to the cart version. But if you don’t own either version then I suggest that this is the one to go for, you won’t be disappointed.

Another early game for the Mega CD by Core Design, unlike Wolfchild this title actually started life on Sega’s system before being ported to the Amiga the following year. Wonder Dog was one of the first Mega CD titles to receive universal praise in the press, not for using the advanced capabilities of the system though, more for being a jolly good game. As you may have already guessed this is a platformer in the Sonic mould, but instead of being a prickly hedgehog you play a cute little god – one with super powers no less! The crazy plot revolves around some angry alien dogs (called the Pit Bullys - ha-de-ha!) who have invaded the planet K-9 and it’s up to you to stop them, or something like that. The story is of no consequence really but it’s nicely played out by some cartoon quality full motion video. Like any great platformer, it’s the gameplay that matters and this is where Wonder Dog succeeds. The well designed levels are a joy to play through and Core nailed the actually platforming part of the game and collision detection perfectly, a big complaint of many a game of this time. There are loads of enemies, big bosses to defeat and nicely themed levels. They are all drawn brilliantly and the animation is excellent here too. The soundtrack is nothing to write home about but is suitably twee for a game of this type. During the early nineties the 16-bit platforms suffered from a glut of animal mascots staring in generic platformers. But Core’s Wonder Dog rose above them all and stood beside Sonic CD as the best platformer on the machine, nothing much has changed to this day and Wonder Dog is an essential purchase.

Yay! A game based on upon probably my favourite World Cup of all time! Boo! It’s by U.S. Gold, a company with a less than sterling record when it comes to games based on the world’s biggest footy tournament. Those of you who owned an 8-bit computer will remember the horrendous pile of expletive that was World Cup Carnival. U.S. Gold’s shameful attempt to repackage an earlier game by Artic as a new “official World Cup” tie-in. World Cup Carnival is still regarded as one of the worst games of all time but let’s give them a chance eh, does this game from near enough ten years later fair any better? Well kind of, it’s certainly not as horrible as WCC but it’s not very good either. USA ’94 goes for a top down view like the brilliant Sensible Soccer and also relies on speed to provide a fast paced arcade like experience. Sounds good so far doesn’t it? Big problem is that USA ’94 is so fast that it makes it almost unplayable at times. The ball just seems to be hoofed up and down the pitch in rapid succession without any attention to skill or tactics. The game does have lots of customisable options you can play with but none of them really help with the games biggest fault. It doesn’t really help that the computer players are also completely devoid of any intelligence, I have seen them kick a corner out of play! There is very little here that makes it better than the cartridge version and very little reason to recommend it too, even the sound isn’t up to the usual standard set by the Mega CD! When you have Sensible Soccer available on the system any other football game pretty much becomes null and void, even more so in the Mega CD’s case.

Rage in the Cage was the very first WWF game to feature actual video footage of the wrestlers and their moves, something that is now standard in wrestling games. This took the form an opening video as well clips of the wrestlers' signature moves that can be viewed on the wrestler select screen. There are also individual FMV clips that play for each of the wrestlers when you complete the tournament mode. The game also features proper introductions by legendary Howard Finkel and rants between the competitors prior to each match, something else that soon became pretty standard. Rage in the Cage features 20 wrestlers, the most seen in a WWF game up to that point, so allows you play with almost an entire roster. Favourites like Bret Hart, Mr. Perfect and The Undertaker feature alongside superstars who rarely make it into the games such as Tatanka, Crush and Kamala. There are also several tag teams on the roster including The Nasty Boys, The Headshrinkers and three time champions Money Inc. Sounds good doesn’t it? One big problem though, there is no tag team mode! I am not kidding either! It is simply unfathomable that the programmers, Sculptured Software, didn’t include a tag team mode of any kind. Especially as this was by then a standard feature in all wrestling games. Despite this one omission, Rage In The Cage, is a very good game indeed. The huge roster, steel cage matches and video clips add to make it the best wrestling experience on the Mega Drive in pretty much every single way. The graphics and sound are both great and the game is very easy to pick up and play. If only they had included a tag team mode you be looking at a rating at least a notch higher, real missed opportunity there.

Many people reading this will remember the ground breaking 7th Guest. It was the game that started the whole CD revolution and opened us up to new world and possibilities in gaming. Well fast forward a few years and Sega decided to have their own crack at a spooky FMV adventure with Yumemi Mystery Mansion. Your sister is chasing butterflies and has mistakenly run into the abandoned mansion that people say is haunted. You hear a scream and so run in after her but she is nowhere to be seen. Can you find your sister and unravel the mysteries contained in the house? The game is presented by a mix of full motion video and pre-rendered graphics that show the mansion in all its glory. By entering the rooms you can pick up objects and solve puzzles to unlock more of the mansion, eventually leading you to your sister. If you enjoyed the original 7th Guest or the iconic Myst then you will know exactly what to expect here! Although the visuals are quite grainy they actually work really well in a game like this, I found that they actually added somewhat to the mystique and spooky atmosphere. The mansion’s gloomy dimly lit rooms seem to suit this sort of look perfectly. The puzzles aren’t to abstract and it’s easy to negotiate the house and retrace your steps. The audio also deserves credit for helping to set the scene with atmospheric music and voices that cry out to you. Yumemi Mystery Mansion is a very under rated game for Mega CD that is well worth experiencing, even just once, and should be considered a must have title for adventure fans.