Midnight Raiders Explained

Midnight Raiders is a live-action, full-motion video game developed by American studio Stargate Productions and published by Sega for the Sega CD in North America in 1994 and PAL regions in 1995.

Plot

Joker, a military pilot, and his strike team gain orders to execute a top secret mission to save professor Victor Mensch who has the formula for a deadly new nerve gas. However, the CIA wants to stop Joker's strike force from accomplishing this task.

Gameplay

Midnight Raiders is an interactive film game in which the player shoots targets to continue the video and progress through the game. The player starts off shooting as an Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopter, then later operates on foot and then in a jeep.

Development and release

Midnight Raiders was developed by Stargate Productions as part of Sega's "TruVideo" line of interactive film games for the Sega CD.^[1] It was directed by Sam Nicholson, who also worked on Tomcat Alley, , Surgical Strike, Bug Blasters: The Exterminators and Star Strike.^{[2] [3]} These latter two Sega CD titles were produced by Stargate for publisher Sony Imagesoft. Both were cancelled during the console's life but eventually released by Good Deal Games.^{[2] [4]} A version of Midnight Raiders was announced and advertised for the Sega 32X for a late 1994 release^{[5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]} but it was cancelled.^[12]

Reception

Critical reception for Midnight Raiders has been mixed and similar between all three region-specific releases the game saw. Next Generation reviewed the game, rating it two stars out of five, and stated that "It's a step up from Masked Rider Z, but frankly, that's not saying much."^[13] Other reviews included the Sega Pro which stated, "Not bad. The FMV movie is good stuff, although the simple shoot-'em-up action becomes repetitive after a while", rating it 81 out of 100. Retro Games Reviews gave it 4 stars out of 10, stating "Midnight Raiders is a weak attempt at the FMV genre due to its limited action, technical issues and poor controls."^[14]

External links

• Midnight Raiders at GameFAQs
• Midnight Raiders at Giant Bomb
• Midnight Raiders at MobyGames

Notes and References

1. Sega Visions staff . August–September 1994 . Sizzling New Games for the Genesis 32X . . . 20 . 14 . 794192137.
2. Web site: Midnight Raiders . https://web.archive.org/web/20240310113733/https://fmvworld.com/midnightraiders.html . March 10, 2024 . FMV World . October 22, 2024.
3. Web site: Green, Matthew . January 1, 2015 . Sega's Absolutely Rose Street Infomercial Recovered . https://web.archive.org/web/20220809110911/https://www.pressthebuttons.com/2015/01/segas-absolutely-rose-street-infomercial-recovered.html . August 9, 2022 . Press the Buttons . October 22, 2024.
4. Web site: Sega CD . https://web.archive.org/web/20241003123154/https://www.gooddealgames.com/inventory/Sega%20CD.html . October 3, 2024 . Good Deal Games . October 22, 2024.
5. Sega staff . October 1994 . Sega Marketing Calendar . Sonic Times . . 2 . 9 . 8.
6. Leadbetter, Richard . September 1994 . Summer CES '94: Full Report . . . 23 . 9 . 0967-9014.
7. Mega Power staff . November 1994 . Power Dates . . . 17 . 0969-8434 . 7.
8. Sega Visions staff . February–March 1995 . Genesis 32X . . . 23 . 9 . 794192137.
9. The Whizz . August 1994 . The Cutting Edge: Sega of America Coming on Strong! . . . 61 . 31 . 1042-8658.
10. Constant, Nicholas . Hallock, Betty . August 1994 . 32X Brings the Arcade Home . . 67 . . 43 . 1059-2938.
11. Humphreys, Andrew . September 1994 . Summer CES: Hyper Hits Chicago . . . 10 . 20 . 1320-7458.
12. Web site: Barry . October 18, 2013 . The SEGA Five: Cancelled SEGA 32X games that could have been great . https://web.archive.org/web/20240720034025/https://segabits.com/blog/2013/10/18/the-weekly-five-cancelled-sega-32x-games-that-could-have-been-great/ . July 20, 2024 . SEGABits . October 26, 2024.
13. Next Generation staff. Finals: Midnight Raiders. Next Generation. 3. Imagine Media. March 1995. 98. 1078-9693.
14. Web site: Rodriguez, Robert . March 6, 2016 . Midnight Raiders (Mega CD / Sega CD review) . Retro Games Reviews . 5 April 2023.