What the nutsack is this beast that looks a bit like an industrial washing machine of some kind? Why, it's Hologram Time Traveler, developed by Virtual Image Productions and manufactured by Sega in 1991. It was a LaserDisc-based system that was not only the self-proclaimed world's first holographic arcade game but was supposed to revolutionize arcades forever.

Although you probably wouldn't be able to tell just by looking at its single action button and eight-way joystick. No, it's the display itself that makes this interesting. It's a combination of a special curved mirror and a 20-inch CRT monitor reflecting onto it in a certain way that resulted in the illusion of a stereographic 3D image for gameplay.

The mirror itself is what you actually look at, and underneath the control panel is where you'll find the CRT, which displays the LaserDisc video flipped around so you can see it properly. It's a unique effect that the camera doesn't do justice but basically the full-motion video appears to kind of float in front of you like the holograms from Star Wars.

At least if you're standing at just the right angle and height because otherwise the illusion is lost. Plus, it can just be hard to focus on anyway, especially if you have issues with depth perception. Still, it was a novel idea and attracted some initial success for Sega in its first year but didn't last very long at all as games like Street Fighter II came along and overshadowed the simplistic Dragon's Lair-style gameplay of Time Traveler.

In fact, as a result, Sega released a conversion kit for the game that made it into a fighting game called Holosseum but it was too little, too late. And that's getting off-track a bit so yeah let's look at the game itself.

And since I can't exactly capture good footage of the arcade version let's take a look at the two homeports of the game by Digital Leisure. The first up is the PC CD-ROM release from 2001, which was a simple Windows executable that ran some pretty low-quality compressed video of the game.

Screw this. Next is the DVD version also by Digital Leisure from 2001 and this is more like it. It's got DVD-quality video and 3D glasses to simulate some kind of stereographic look and it's playable in any DVD player. So, from the menu you can choose to play a 2D or 3D game but the 3D one you may as well skip over because all it does is add a silly-looking red-and-blue overlay and it doesn't look like anything I'd care about.

You don't even have skin! I guess I just don't have the patience for this kind of finicky trial-and-error game anymore especially if I didn't grow up with it. And I didn't you see games like this were essentially the genesis of quicktime events in video games so whether or not you like those will pretty much determine whether or not you enjoy the gameplay here.

And I think it can be done in a way that makes the game a bit more forgiving but THIS is an old-school quarter stealer and it's made to kill you cheaply. And while Dragon's Lair is more or less the same kind of thing I do like Dragon's Lair for the Don Bluth animation and the absurdity of the situations Dirk the Daring finds himself in.

But I'm really not a fan of Hologram Time Traveler's look characters or anything else than the weird holographic display of the arcade game. So when I take that away and bring it home all I'm left with is a basic FMV quicktime event game that's just kind of okay.

So if you happen to run across the arcade cabinet somewhere I would definitely give it a look just because of the novelty of the holographic display gimmick because it really is pretty cool. But otherwise I wouldn't recommend seeking out the home ports of the game unless you played it back in the day and want some nostalgia or are just too curious to pass it up.

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"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enWhat the nutsack is this beastthat looks a bit like an industrialwashing machine of some kind?Why, it's Hologram Time Traveler,developed by Virtual Image Productionsand manufactured by Sega in 1991.It was a LaserDisc-based systemthat was not only the self-proclaimedworld's first holographic arcade game,but was supposed to revolutionize arcades forever.Although you probably wouldn'tbe able to tell just by looking at itssingle action button and eight-way joystick.No, it's the display itself that makes this interesting.It's a combination of a special curvedmirror and a 20-inch CRT monitorreflecting onto it in a certain waythat resulted in the illusion of astereographic 3D image for gameplay.The mirror itself is what you actually look at,and underneath the controlpanel is where you'll find the CRT,which displays the LaserDisc videoflipped around so you can see it properly.It's a unique effect that the camera doesn't do justice,but basically the full-motion videoappears to kind of float in front of youlike the holograms from Star Wars.At least if you're standing atjust the right angle and height,because otherwise the illusion is lost.Plus, it can just be hard to focus on anyway,especially if you have issues with depth perception.Still, it was a novel idea and attractedsome initial success for Sega its first year.But it didn't last very long at all,as games like Street Fighter II came alongand overshadowed the simplistic Dragon'sLair-style gameplay of Time Traveler.In fact, as a result, Sega releaseda conversion kit for the gamethat made it into a fighting game called Holosseum,but it was too little, too late.And that's getting off-track a bit,so yeah, let's look at the game itself.And since I can't exactly capturegood footage of the arcade version,let's take a look at the two homeports of the game by Digital Leisure.The first up is the PC CD-ROM release from 2001,which was a simple Windows executablethat ran some pretty low-qualitycompressed video of the game.It sucks.Screw this.Next is the DVD version,also by Digital Leisure from 2001,and this is more like it.It's got DVD-quality video and 3D glassesto simulate some kind of stereographic lookand it's playable in any DVD player.So, from the menu you canchoose to play a 2D or 3D game,but the 3D one you may as well skip overbecause all it does is add asilly-looking red-and-blue overlayand it doesn't look like ANYTHINGI'd care to look at for any length of time.So as for the 2D gameplay,well, you control an Old West gunslingernamed Marshal Gram.You're teleported into somekind of galactic strangenessto try and save the universe, and space princess,from the clutches of Vulcor,a scientist-turned-evil time lord.Why some cowboy from the 19th Century was chosento travel across time and save the freaking universe,I don't know.You'd think if they could pick anyone from any time,they'd get someone with somethingmore than a six-shooter for a weapon,but whatever.PRINCESS:You are our last hope to defeat Vulcor.LGR:You can choose to do a tutorial firstor play the game right away,but really no money is at stake here.It's not in the arcade.So I just jump into the main gamebecause the tutorial really doesn't teach you much.It's the same thing, anyway.Time Traveler was actually designedby Dragon's Lair creator Rick Dyer,so it's no surprise that thegameplay is practically identical.You'll be presented with a sceneand have to find out how to survive itby pressing a direction on the joysickand/or pressing the action button atthe exact time the game wants you to.If you succeed enough times,you move on to a map screenand choose from seven time periods to play.You've got a handful of lives to use up,but you also have several Time Reversal Cubes,which can be earned and bought at the trader.TRADER:Welcome, adventurer.Would you like to buy some Time Reversal Cubes?Mmm... thank you.LGR:Ooh... you're welcome.At least that's how it is in this DVD version.You had to insert more creditsfor cubes in the arcade game.And you can actually complete theentire game in about ten minutesif you've got enough cubes and livesand have everything memorized.But chances are that'll take a lot freaking longer,because the game is just so daggoneparticular about when to press the buttons.And it's hard enough to get the timing anddirections right on the arcade machine,so playing it on a DVD playercan be THAT much more irritating.WIZARD:You missed your chance to attack!LGR:Seriously, this game gets on my nerves,especially the home ports.I can't even tell you how annoyed I getwhen I can absolutely swear I pressedthe right buttons at the right time,only to see that freaking facepop up and tell me I was wrong!Stupid eyeball skull thing!You don't even have skin!I guess I just don't have the patience for thiskind of finicky trial-and-error game anymore,especially if I didn't grow up with it.And I didn't.You see games like this were essentially thegenesis of quicktime events in video games.So whether or not you like thosewill pretty much determine whetheror not you enjoy the gameplay here.And I think it can be done in a way thatmakes the game a bit more forgiving,but THIS is an old-school quarter stealerand it's made to kill you cheaply.And while Dragon's Lair is moreor less the same kind of thing,I do like Dragon's Lair for the Don Bluth animationand the absurdity of the situationsDirk the Daring finds himself in.But I'm really not a fan ofHologram Time Traveler's look,characters or anything else,other than the weird holographicdisplay of the arcade game.So when I take that away and bring it home,all I'm left with is a basic FMV quicktimeevent game that's just kind of okay.So, if you happen to run acrossthe arcade cabinet somewhere,I would definitely give it a look,just because of the novelty ofthe holographic display gimmickbecause it really is pretty cool.But otherwise, I wouldn't recommendseeking out the home ports of the game,unless you played it back in theday and want some nostalgia,or are just too curious to pass it up.Wanna see more arcade game reviews?Click some stuff to see some things!Or subscribe to be notified when crap happens.And as always, thanks for watching.\n"