For the TL;DR crowd: Night Trap and Double Switch
I have recently reached a milestone in my game collection… Not too sure how proud I am about it though. Two games in my collection stand out above the rest. They are the only two games that I own four physical copies of for four different consoles.
The Quadruple Dip Tier is very rarified air.
First up is Night Trap from Digital Pictures. I picked up my first copy on Sega CD many moons ago. It was in the bargain bin of either an Electronics Boutique or Software Etc… at a New Jersey mall. When the game came out, it helped usher in a new era of what could be considered adult content in video games along with what should be allowed.
This all wasn’t done on purpose though. The game sorta sucked. It was a campy B-movie with vampires and Dana Plato from Diff’rent Strokes fits into the equation somewhere. You are part of the SCAT team which even as a kid I knew was a dumb name to give any group. Mortal Kombat did the heavy lifting with this new era ushering, but Night Trap sure was paraded around because it looked like a movie (in the 64 color palette of the Sega CD)
But because of all the controversy surrounding the game, it became a hot item for a bit. The beloved used video game chain Funcoland had the price for a used copy over $100 for a period of time. By 1997 – 1998 this was all forgotten as newer and grittier games were released. This was when I got the game for like $20 bucks new in box. That box has since gotten a lot of abuse because I didn’t have great storage options through the years. But other than some visual mileage, everything is still complete.
I could go on forever with the lore of Night Trap and how it has become one of those classic “B-movies” in game format where I just can’t say no to owning a copy of it. Around the time of the game’s 25th anniversary, it was re-released for PlayStation 4 in digital format. Not only a re-release but a remaster of the game as well using higher resolution video sourced from the original footage. It is definitely the best looking copy.
Limited Run Games, a company that specializes in releasing physical versions of digital games, worked out releasing real disc and cartridge versions of Night Trap. Over the past couple years of releases, I was able to get the PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and Nintendo Switch releases of the game. I decided not to get a PC version because I really don’t have a physical PC game collection outside of my 90’s Mac stuff.
I remember that Double Switch was originally hyped as a “spiritual successor” to Night Trap. Digital Pictures released the game about year later as people were still riding that brief wave of the Sega CD being relevant (I am guilty of this too). In terms of 1993 full motion video games, Double Switch was celebrity packed. It had Corey Haim, R. Lee Ermey, Debbie Harry, and a bunch of other people that don’t have as in-depth Wikipedia pages.
I picked up the game new at some point during the Sega CD lifecycle. It was much easier to get a copy of than Night Trap at the time most likely because of the “T” for teen rating it held. In terms of B-movie, Night Trap had it beat. It did have a fun trap system and the story was interesting enough for a teenage me to be entertained with.
The Sega Saturn version offered higher quality video and moved from 1 disc on Sega CD to 2 discs on Saturn. I picked my copy up only recently which brought Double Switch into the Quadruple Dip Tier.
Just like Night Trap, Double Switch got a digital re-release and remaster with higher resolution footage around the time of its 25th anniversary. Limited Run once again did physical releases only for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. I think they did a PC re-release as well, but I am not really collecting big box PC games.
Look, I know that both of these games are pretty horrible overall. They don’t move the needle very far in regards to gaming. Sure, Night Trap helped start the big conversation of censorship and regulation in video games, but look at games today. Anything released in the last two years with a Mature rating makes Night Trap look like a PG movie. These are just two titles that stood out for their campiness (is that a word) and their uniqueness at the time. A time where I was young and impressionable with full motion video and a Sega CD.
Shortly after Double Switch, I got out of console gaming and became more interested in computers and gaming on them.
