Matrix Runner

From Sega Retro

MatrixRunner MD US gameplay.jpeg

Matrix Runner
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Genre: Adventure
Number of players: 1
Status of prototype(s): Unreleased
Peripheral(s): Sega VR

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Matrix Runner is an unreleased Sega Mega Drive first-person adventure game for use with the Sega VR headset. The game, alongside Nuclear Rush, was once considered for the Sega VR’s pack-in game.[1]

Plot

The August/September 1993 issue of Sega Visions magazine described the plot as allowing "play [as] an elite superhacker in this unique cyberspace voyage. You have to explore the dark, winding databanks of the Matrix to solve the mysterious disappearance of your colleagues, knowing that you might be the next victim. In your travels, you will collide with strange semi-humans and vulture-like beings."[2]

History

Announced alongside the Sega VR at Summer CES 1993, the game was a cyberpunk adventure game with polygonal 3D graphics, where the player must solve a murder mystery by entering a cyberspace called the Matrix. It was reportedly inspired by Hideo Kojima's Snatcher.[3]

Legacy

Matrix Runner‘s attempt at visualizing a cyberspace called the Matrix in turn appears to anticipate The Matrix.

It is unknown if Matrix Runner is related to the unreleased Sega Saturn game Free Runner. As little information on the project is preserved, the only known connections appear to be a similiar premise and name.

Images

Videos

Promotional material

1993 Sega Catalog.pdf

PDF
US trade catalogue
1993 Sega Catalog.pdf

References


CollapseSega VR
Topics Technical specifications | Magazine articles | Promotional material | Ono-Sendai Corporation
Games Iron Hammer | Matrix Runner | Nuclear Rush | Outlaw Racing