Fatal Rewind

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Fatal Rewind
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Electronic Arts (US, EU), Electronic Arts Victor (JP)
Developer: Raising Hell Software
Licensor: Psygnosis
Original system(s): Commodore Amiga
Sound driver: Sound Images v1.0
Genre: Shooting, Action
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code JP 1993-08-20 ¥8,9008,900 EM20021 US 1991-10 $49.9549.95 709201 EU 1991-11 E183SMXI UK 1991-11 £34.9934.99 E183SMXI SE (Rental) 199x AU 199x BR 199x
Non-Sega versions Amiga Atari ST

Fatal Rewind, known in Japan as The Killing Game Show (キリング・ゲームショー) is a Sega Mega Drive action platform game developed by Raising Hell Software. A port of the developer's 1990 Commodore Amiga title The Killing Game Show, the game was first published in the United States by Electronic Arts in October 1991, was brought to Europe by the same publisher the following month, and was eventually localized and published in Japan by Electronic Arts Victor in August 1993.

Story

In a dystopian future, Fatal Rewind (or The Killing Game Show) is a television show where incarcerated criminals participate in a deadly contest. Their skin is removed and they are placed inside a bipedal robot armed with a cannon. The prisoners must escape from pits filled with killing machines called Hostile Artificial Life Forms (HALFs) and a lethal ooze that rises over time called Deadly to Organic Life Liquid (DOLL). If successful, the prisoner is awarded with freedom; if the prisoner dies, the show moves on to the next contestant.

Gameplay

The game is an action platformer. The player controls a walking robot equipped with a cannon that must make its way through a dozen maze-like levels to the exit at the top. Flying enemies called HALFs are released into the levels and swarm the player in waves, like enemies in a shoot-'em-up. Every level has a time limit, which is enforced by a constantly rising liquid called DOLL that destroys the robot on contact. Levels often require the player to find keys or hit buttons to unlock barriers or drop climbable chains in order to progress.

The robot moves with and and ducks with . Levels loop around horizontally. It jumps with or . It automatically grabs walls that it touches and can climb them with and . It fires its weapon with , which can be used to attack enemies or to push buttons. Its main weapon only fires a short distance forward and has unlimited ammunition, but the player can find special weapons that do more damage or cover more area but have limited supply. Weapons can be fired while jumping or ducking. The player can find special items in the levels such as energy refills or water freezer that temporarily keeps the DOLL from rising. Only one of these items can be held in reserve at a time, and it can be used by holding .

The robot has limited energy, which is loses when an enemy or hazard touches it. It is destroyed when energy is exhausted. Touching the DOLL instantly destroys the robot. Every level starts with a countdown timer before the DOLL starts rising. After losing a life, the game replays the player's gameplay. The replay can be fast-forwarded by holding . Pressing any other button stops the replay and continues playing from that point on a new life.

There are three difficulty levels (Normal, Hard, and Hardest), and the player can set the starting number of lives (between 1 and 9) and credits (between 0 and 9). There is an alternating two-player mode where the players take turns.

Items

Items are found in destructible containers, then picked up by pressing when in front of them. The robot has a slot for a weapon and a slot for a tool item. Collecting another weapon or tool replaces the one already in the slot and drops the old one on the ground to collect again if desired.

Weapons

Special weapons are limited use.

	Triple Lasers
	Shoots a conical spreadshot of bullets that are the same as the standard bullets.
	Missiles
	Launches a single missile that does more damage and travels the full width of the screen.
	Sky Missiles
	Launches two missiles, one straight ahead and one diagonally upward, that do more damage and travel the full width of the screen.
	Laser
	Fires a laser beam that pierces through multiple targets and travels the full width of the screen.
	Side Shot
	Augments the standard shot with two additional shots directly upward and downward.
	Mine Sweeper
	Fires a rectangular laser that pierces through multiple targets and travels the full width of the screen.
	Laser Bolt
	Fires two stacked lasers that pierce through multiple targets and travel the full width of the screen.
	Rear Shot
	Augments the standard shot with an additional shot in the opposite direction.
	Triple Missiles
	Launches three missiles in a conical spread that do more damage and travel the full width of the screen.

Tools

	Oracle
	Displays a text message, which is sometimes a gameplay tip.
	Water Freezer
	Prevents the DOLL from rising for as long as the button is held. It can be activated and deactivated multiple times until its power is totally drained, but the robot cannot fire while it is being used.
	Shape Keys
	Used on a receptacle of the matching shape to open a barrier or lower a chain in order to pass.
	Key Swapper
	A placeholder item that does nothing but allows the player to drop two items in a location.
	Red Herring
	An item that does nothing but hints that the player is going in the wrong direction.
	Half Energy
	Restores half of the robot's energy.
	Full Energy
	Completely restores the robot's energy.
	Energy Replenisher
	Gradually restores the robot's energy while the button is held. It can be activated and deactivated multiple times until its power is totally drained, but the robot cannot fire while it is being used.
	The Collector
	Shoots a long beam that collects the letters in level 5-2.

Other

	Flying Heart
	Recovers a small amount of energy. Appears after destroying a full wave of flying enemies.
	Flying Skull
	Costs a small amount of energy. Sometimes appears instead of a Flying Heart after destroying a full wave of flying enemies in the later levels.
	Diamond
	Collect for bonus points.

Levels

Each level has two separate parts.

	Level 1
	Level 2
	Level 3
	Level 4
	In level 4-2, the player must collect all of the red and blue skulls and find the exit.
	Level 5
	In level 5-2, the player must use the Collector item to collect all of the letters to spell "PSYGNOSIS." There are orange teleport pads that can be used by pressing when standing on top of them.
	Level 6

Versions

The Amiga original featured 8 worlds with two levels each. This has been cut down to 6 worlds with 2 levels each. As the cut worlds did not feature anything that would not have been possible on the Sega Mega Drive hardware, they were likely cut due to ROM size or cost restrictions. Liquids are reflective in the Amiga original. The effect was not reproduced for this port (possibly due to technical limitations). The Amiga version also has a map feature that is absent from this port.

Localised names

Also known as

Language	Localised Name	English Translation
English	Fatal Rewind	Fatal Rewind
English (US)	Fatal Rewind	Fatal Rewind
Japanese	キリング・ゲームショー	The Killing Game Show

Production credits

• Programming and Design: Martyn R Chudley
• Artwork: Martyn R Chudley, Jim Bowers, Jeff Bramfitt and Pete Lyon
• Music and FX: Sound Images
• Special Thanks to: Ian Hetherington, John White, Steve Riding, Nick Burcombe, Chris Stanley, Chris Wylie, Mike Waterworth, Garvan Corbett, Paul Frewin, Dave Worral, Sharon, Lorraine, Chris, Rob, Wayne Smithson and Keith Francart

Source:

In-game credits

---

• Design and Programming: Martyn R. Chudley
• Art: Martyn R. Chudley, Jeff Bramfitt, Jim Bowers, Pete Lyon
• Producer: Keith Francart
• Technical Director: Dominique Philipine
• Sounds and Music: Sound Images
• Product Management: Chip Lange, Lesley Mansford
• Package Design: Lance Anderson
• Cover Illustration: Roger Dean (Yes, THAT Roger Dean)
• Documentation: Marti McKenna
• Documentation Layout: Chandler Briggs
• Manual Illustrations: Adrian Bourne
• Testing: Gerald McLane
• Quality Assurance: Tim LeTourneau, Kevin C. Hogan

Source:

US manual

Magazine articles

Main article: Fatal Rewind/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #27: "October 1991" (1991-xx-xx)

Print advert in Gamers (DE) #1992-01: "Februar/März 1992" (1992-xx-xx)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 50 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) NTSC-J 50 ACE (UK) 75 Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 50 Console XS (UK) PAL 88 Cool Gamer (RU) 30 Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK) 78 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 55 Game Mania (UK) 85 Game Power (IT) 84 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 84 Games-X (UK) 90 Game Zone (UK) PAL 78 Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J 60 Hobby Consolas (ES) 70 Joypad (FR) PAL 76 Joystick (FR) 79 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL 85 Mega (UK) PAL 79 Mega Force (FR) PAL 75 MegaTech (UK) 83 Micromanía (segunda época) (ES) 78 Mean Machines (UK) PAL 83 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 83 Player One (FR) 76 Power Play (DE) 73 Sega Power (UK) PAL 71 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 87 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 88 Svet Kompjutera (YU) 69 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 56 Supergame (BR) 86 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 60 VideoGames & Computer Entertainment (US) NTSC-U 70 Video Games (DE) 75

	73
Based on 35 reviews

Fatal Rewind

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual Poster

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, SE (Rental)

Mega Drive, AU
Cover

Mega Drive, BR
Cover
Cart

Technical information

Main article: Fatal Rewind/Technical information.

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
✔	CRC32 e91aed05 MD5 ea45e8065ff64c4e5e41ce933828c854 SHA-1 02634d919ec7d08f3c6833f229b5127dd52c9e8a	512kB	1991-09	Cartridge (US/EU)
?	CRC32 21dbb69d MD5 348975e11a187025556b8d18194e502a SHA-1 cabd42d2edd333871269a7bc03a68f6765d254ce	512kB	1991-09		Prototype?
✔	CRC32 b8e7668a MD5 c2aaf9fe67d8b70108b01af37e55b05a SHA-1 47cdd668998139c92305e1b5abf7e196901490d6	1MB	1993	Cartridge (JP)