Midnight Raiders

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.

Midnight Raiders
Developer(s)	Stargate Productions
Publisher(s)	Sega
Director(s)	Sam Nicholson
Producer(s)	Tony Cabalu
Programmer(s)	Jay Tautges Kevin Ashley
Writer(s)	George Goldsmith
Composer(s)	Mars Lasar
Platform(s)	Sega CD
Release	NA: October 1994[1] EU: March 1995 AU: April 1995
Genre(s)	Interactive movie
Mode(s)	Single-player

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[2]

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.^[3] It was directed by Sam Nicholson, who also worked on Tomcat Alley, Wing Nuts: Battle in the Sky, Surgical Strike, Bug Blasters: The Exterminators and Star Strike.^[4][5] 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.^[4][6] A version of Midnight Raiders was announced and advertised for the Sega 32X for a late 1994 release^{[7][8][9][10][11][12][13]} but it was cancelled.^[14]

Reception

Review scores

Publication	Score
Game Players	58%[15]
GamePro	3.875/5[16]
Next Generation	[2]
Electronic Games	D[17]
MAN!AC	64%[18]
Mega Power	84%[19]
Sega Pro	81%[20]
VideoGames (US)	3/10[21]
Video Games (DE)	9%[22]

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."^[2] 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.^[20] 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."^[23]

References

1. Provick, Bill (July 23, 1994). "Sega to offer 32-bit action in November". Ottawa Citizen. p. 78. Retrieved September 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
2. Next Generation staff (March 1995). "Finals: Midnight Raiders". Next Generation. No. 3. Imagine Media. p. 98. ISSN 1078-9693.
3. Sega Visions staff (August–September 1994). "Sizzling New Games for the Genesis 32X". Sega Visions. No. 20. IDG. p. 14. OCLC 794192137.
4. "Midnight Raiders". FMV World. Archived from the original on March 10, 2024. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
5. Green, Matthew (January 1, 2015). "Sega's Absolutely Rose Street Infomercial Recovered". Press the Buttons. Archived from the original on August 9, 2022. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
6. "Sega CD". Good Deal Games. Archived from the original on October 3, 2024. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
7. Sega staff (October 1994). "Sega Marketing Calendar" (PDF). Sonic Times. Vol. 2, no. 9. Sega of America. p. 8.
8. Leadbetter, Richard (September 1994). "Summer CES '94: Full Report". Mean Machines Sega. No. 23. EMAP. p. 9. ISSN 0967-9014.
9. Mega Power staff (November 1994). "Power Dates". Mega Power. No. 17. Paragon Publishing. p. 7. ISSN 0969-8434.
10. Sega Visions staff (February–March 1995). "Genesis 32X". Sega Visions. No. 23. IDG. p. 9. OCLC 794192137.
11. The Whizz (August 1994). "The Cutting Edge: Sega of America Coming on Strong!". GamePro. No. 61. IDG. p. 31. ISSN 1042-8658.
12. Constant, Nicholas; Hallock, Betty (August 1994). "32X Brings the Arcade Home". VideoGames. No. 67. Larry Flynt Publications. p. 43. ISSN 1059-2938.
13. Humphreys, Andrew (September 1994). "Summer CES: Hyper Hits Chicago". Hyper. No. 10. nextmedia. p. 20. ISSN 1320-7458.
14. Barry (October 18, 2013). "The SEGA Five: Cancelled SEGA 32X games that could have been great". SEGABits. Archived from the original on July 20, 2024. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
15. Salmon, Mike (February 1995). "Sega CD Review: Midnight Raiders". Game Players. Future US. p. 40. ISSN 1087-2779.
16. Greasy Gus (April 1995). "ProReview: Midnight Raiders". GamePro. No. 69. IDG. p. 51. ISSN 1042-8658.
17. Hardin, John W. (May 1995). "Console: Midnight Raiders". Electronic Games. Vol. 3, no. 8. Decker Publications. p. 82. ISSN 0730-6687.
18. Bannert, Robert (October 1995). "Spiele-Tests: Midnight Raiders CD". MAN!AC (in German). No. 24. Cybermedia. p. 75. ISSN 2191-012X.
19. Pilkington, Mark (May 1995). "Review: Midnight Raiders". Mega Power. No. 21. Paragon Publishing. pp. 6–7. ISSN 0969-8434.
20. Pilkington, Mike (Easter 1995). "Review: Midnight Raiders". Sega Pro. No. 44. Paragon Publishing. pp. 48–9. ISSN 0964-2641.
21. Higgins, Geoff (April 1995). "Sega CD: Midnight Raiders". VideoGames. No. 75. Larry Flynt Publications. p. 74. ISSN 1059-2938.
22. Video Games staff (October 1995). "Reviews: Midnight Raiders". Video Games (in German). No. 37. Magna Media. p. 107. ISSN 0946-0985.
23. Rodriguez, Robert (March 6, 2016). "Midnight Raiders (Mega CD / Sega CD review)". Retro Games Reviews. Retrieved 5 April 2023.

External links

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