The Sega CD is a somewhat underrated, or at least overlooked, console. However, it's home to a number of unique games that are worthy of attention, one of the best of which is Snatcher. Snatcher was developed by Konami and released for Sega CD in 1994, six years after its original release in Japan. It's a visual novel with adventure elements whose story borrows heavily from movies such as The Terminator and Blade Runner. The game is one of Hideo Kojima's earliest works, but it highlights his unique style - the humor in the game is often bizarre and self-referential, the influence that cinema has on the game is evident, and he loves sexy, pixelated women. Though mechanically Snatcher can be somewhat awkward at times, it is a game where the whole is definitely more than the sum of its parts.
This video review is a bit older, but I think it's one of my best and I wanted to make a strong start for my first post here at RF Generation. Give it a watch if you're interested in hearing more about Snatcher.
Welcome to the front page Pam, and it's great to see more video reviews on the site. I'll give it a watch later on, but Kojima's early works were always an interesting look into how the Metal Gear series evolved into the cinematic Metal Gear Solid.
Snatcher was always a game that I had on my "to play" list but for some reason never picked it up. Of course, the price is so high now that getting it to just play is a little prohibitive to the everyday gamer (and the controversy that the game might not be all that rare all that harder to swallow). And I have to admit, even now after all the reviews and plays of Snatcher that I've seen, after I watched your review I still want to play it. Would it be so hard for Konami to re-release this on another platform? I'd even play it on my phone or tablet at this point.
Thanks for the contribution, Pam. Welcome to RFGen and I can't wait to see what it next.
@douglie007: I'd love to play more games like this as well, even if they aren't by Kojima. I picked up (but haven't tried yet) Rise of the Dragon, which is supposed to be similar. I'd also love to play Westwood's Blade Runner, though sadly it hasn't bee re-released anywhere.
@bombatomba: I wasn't aware there was controversy over Snatcher's rarity. I doubt Konami will ever re-release this, or make any good decisions ever again I know a lot of people emulate it but I don't know much about that stuff. I'd like to try the fan translation of Policenauts at some point though.
Wow, you are making me feel quite old; one of the first articles I wrote for RFG was on a then-recent play-through of Snatcher. That was six years ago... ouch.
And almost unbelievably, literally just last week a collecting buddy of mine found Snatcher at a local yard sale. CIB.
FOR. THREE. DOLLARS. (!!!)
I knew I had to mention that as soon as I read the front page. Despite having our own copy, when he told me I still almost struggled with envy. Then he traded me the Doshin for GameCube and Famicom Dragon Warrior II and Taiwan Mahjong 16 he also found there. The punchline is that he was out with his mom and wasn't even going to look until his mom came and told him there were video games at the sale. Probably right next to the Stradivarius and Hoffa Teamster ring.
Great piece to start with Pam. I was into SEGA CD back at the time and I don't recall any buzz around Snatcher at the time. I remember CollectorVision mentioned that they were working on a Dreamcast port of Snatcher a couple years ago, but I haven't heard more about the project since then.
@Pam: I have to agree, It would be great to have Snatcher for the PS1 translated and released on PSN even. The blade runner was great, I still have a windows 98 PC just to play the older windows games.
Policenauts took 6 years to translate, and though Snatcher has English dialog the same types of problems are encountered that delayed Policenauts. It'd be great to see Konami officially port it, but it's not likely to happen any time soon.
@slackur: $3 for Snatcher? Amazing find. I love stumbling on stuff like that in the wild. The thrill of the hunt!
Great video, Pam, and welcome to the group! Snatcher is a game I'd love to track down and play at some point, though unless it gets a re-release in a less expensive form, I may never get the chance, unless I resort to, um, nefarious means, to obtain a copy. Still, it's always been sort of intriguing from afar, and I think that helps keep the mystique of the game high enough that it's always in the conversation when people talk about Sega CD or Kojima.
@Pam: I don't either, especially when they're not otherwise available. If Konami was smart, they would have at least ported this over to the original Wii virtual console, but alas, no. That's why, despite the price, I've played and enjoyed Lords of Thunder for the Sega CD
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I know a lot of people emulate it but I don't know much about that stuff. I'd like to try the fan translation of Policenauts at some point though.
