Title: Corpse Killer CD Released: 1995 Genre: Gun Shooter/Adventure Developer: Digital Pictures Publisher: Acclaim Regions: USA, UK Availability: Common

How on earth can you kill something that's already dead? All of the Sega 32x CD games were pretty much dead on arrival anyway, go it seems like a fair question to ask. The most common (and possibly the most playable) 32x CD title, Corpse Killer was the first 32x CD game to be released and served as a bad omen of things to come. Part gun shooter, part full motion video adventure, Corpse Killer has a convoluted plot involving a tropical island populated by flesh-eating zombies, as well as "Winston, your Rasta sidekick" and "Julie, the gorgeous journalist", both of whom are played by serviceable actors just waiting for a real feature film or television series. The video sequences are cheesy and grainy, though not nearly as bad the the original Sega CD release. The gun action sequences involve wave after wave of digitized actors dressed up like zombies superimposed on top of a jerky, badly scrolling background. Those of you expected something similar to Sega's popular The House of the Dead gun games are in for a big disappointment, as the shooting sequences are actually worse than the live action video. Corpse Killer is not to be confused with Konami's arcade game Crypt Killer, an enjoyable and similarly-themed (if shallow) gun shooter that also appeared on the Saturn and Playstation.

For such a mediocre game, Corpse Killer certainly did make the console rounds, appearing on the Sega CD, 32x CD, 3DO, and Saturn. There isn't much differance between any of the versions, other than cleaner video on the more powerful systems.
 
 

Sega may have gotten a bit of inspiration from Corpse Killer when it combined rotting corpses with the Virtua Cop 2 engine, also known as The House of the Dead. The original Model 2 arcade game was wildly popular and spawned numerous imitators and a sequel. The graphically ugly but immensely playable Saturn port of The House of the Dead was released at the tail-end of the Saturn's life and had a production run of only 5000 copies, making it a rare find today. The Dreamcast received The House of the Dead 2, plus an amazingly enjoyable off-shoot called The Typing of the Dead.