Time Traveler (video game)

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Hologram Time Traveler
Developer(s) GTE Interactive Media
Publisher(s) Sega (arcade), Digital Leisure (PC, DVD)
Designer(s) Rick Dyer
Engine custom (David Salizzoni)
Platform(s) Arcade game
Release date 1991 (arcade) 2001 (home)
Genre(s) Fighting, FMV game
Mode(s) Single player
Media CD-ROM, DVD-ROM
Input methods Joystick, Computer keyboard, DVD remote

Time Traveler or Hologram Time Traveler (タイムトラベラー?) was a stereographic FMV arcade game released in 1991 by Sega. It utilized a special arcade cabinet produced by Sega that projected the game's characters using refraction to make them appear free-standing, though this was not technically "3D". Characters appeared like flat cutouts and there was no separate image for the left and right eye. This innovative technology attracted many players; however, the poor acting and general decline of the popularity of laserdisc games caused Time Traveler to fade largely into obscurity. However, in 2000, a non-stereographic version that could be played on CD-ROM drives and DVD players was released for home use.

Despite the claims of being a "Hologram" game, the technique was actually an optical illusion using mirrors and a Laserdisc player. The intended effect is to mimic a volumetric display. The gimmick was effective enough to convince people that volumetric displays existed and helped perpetuate the confusion between these devices and holograms.


Like many arcade laserdisc games, it was meant to benefit from the massive popularity of Dragon's Lair; as a result the gameplay is similar, requiring a player to move the joystick in a specific direction at certain points in the game. By inputting the right direction, a movie clip would play that would progress the player, while the wrong move would result in a unique death scene for each segment.

Digital Leisure published a CD-ROM edition of the game for Microsoft Windows, as well as a DVD version that worked in standard players. The latter specifically advertised "PlayStation 2 Compatible" on the cover to attract console owners. As a bonus feature, the game included videos with creator Rick Dyer about the making of Time Traveler. Additionally, the game itself simulated the mirror reflection of the floor of the original arcade cabinet through software and an included pair of 3D glasses.

This game was the first game to receive a 0/10 rating in the Official UK Playstation 2 Magazine. The second was 21 Card Games.

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[edit] Gameplay

The player plays the role of Marshal Gram, a cowboy from the American Old West, who a future princess's computers have selected as the most likely candidate to rescue the captured princess, named Kyi-La, and defeat a mad scientist from the future named Vulcor, whose time experiments have "shattered" time. He can shoot some enemies, but others he must outmaneuver or fight hand-to-hand.

The player performs tasks as he travels non-linearly through several time periods (starting in the year 1873 and ending in the year 2552), including one called the "Age of Magic." The player has three lives and several time-reversal cubes, which allow the player to reverse time and escape his death, giving him another chance to make the right decision.

Along the way, players may buy more time-reversal cubes by inserting more coins into the arcade machine. In Hellgate, an "in-game" game, the player can bet a life to win in-game items.

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • Contrary to the time-reversal cube trader's statement telling you that you can not buy more reversal cubes at this time, if you insert coins afterward (but not after you've left her), your inventory of them will go up.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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