Night Trap was my Halloween game for 2009, I had just acquired a Sega CD and Shining Force and Night Trap were on the top of my list of games I wanted to play. Night Trap was released in October of 1992 (finally, a game that understands timing) and unbeknown to me was a game about vampires. I didn't own a Sega CD as a kid and I didn't even know anyone who owned one. To say Night Trap was not on my radar would be an understatment, but that would all change by Xmas 1993. In 1993 the Congressional hearings about violent video games would occur and Night Trap would be named as a prime offender. The result of the hearings would have Night Trap pulled from shelves of many stores, and whispered about by all the kids I knew. Wild rumors were be passed back and forth, they filmed actual murders, that the girl from Different Strokes get naked, that it was so violent that people actually threw up when watching it. Obviously that was all a bunch of nonsense but none of us had a Sega CD to see for ourselves. One thing is for sure, the Sega Cool Factor was on the rise amongst kids.
Amid all the controversy I was never mentioned that this game was about vampires, and I wouldn't find out until sometime in 2006 when I wrote a paper in college about Controversial Video Games. The lore and the subject matter were more than enough to put this on my must play list, but alas the hype, as it unusually is, was overblown. The controls are rough, the story is weak, the video is pretty grainy and worst of all, it just wasn't fun. Night Trap did not deliver, and it's sad that it is now known for it's controversy rather than the fact that it was pushing the envelope when it came to FMV in games.
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Vampires.
~Johnny~
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