Showing posts with label Time Gal for Sega CD print ad (1993). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Time Gal for Sega CD print ad (1993). Show all posts

Monday, February 16, 2015

Time Gal for Sega CD (1993)


Original ad published in the May 1993 of Electronic Gaming Monthly (no. 46)
Press to view or download image in higher resolution.

A Japanese heroine comes to America and is Westernized


Time Gal (1993) was a full motion video game developed by Taito and released in America for the Sega CD by Renovation in the system’s crucial formative years. It was first known to Japanese gamers in 1985. As you can expect, when the game was ported to the Sega-Mega CD it was hardly noticed.

The basis of Time Gal is of course Dragon’s Lair (1983), a very popular game in North America that was a massive arcade hit. Gamers noticed that Taito’s game had been re-released for the Japanese Mega CD and requested the game come to America. It did, but the seams where already quite visible, being that game was working with LaserDisc technology from the 80s. 

Still, the Sega CD version could not handle the color depth of the arcade machine, as you can see from the stills below. It was a graphical downgrade from the original, no doubt. It was also slightly censored in some of Time Gal’s death scenes. Check out the arcade stills, followed by a Sega CD example.







The American box-art and print marketing material are horrendous. Why did Renovation forego the awesome art of the arcade age and place a Western woman in the print ad? She looks nothing like the titular Time Gal. The original Japanese FMV sequences where done by none other than Toei Animation (Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball, et al). Even Hayao Miayazaki worked for this we’ll known company. The full list of anime products released by Toei is very impressive. Why did Renovation change the character's appearance when such rich material was readily available

The copy of the ad is dubious. I don’t like the portrayal of Time Gal as a skank. The sexual innuendoes are absurd and uncalled for. This is one the first heroines in all of video game history and Renovation treats her like a flimsy? She’s a cool, strong, anime heroine, not a wimpy American princess. Cultural standards differed this way with Japan and North America even in the 90s. Renovation did release some very good games during the period, but Time Gal seems like a wasted opportunity and the print campaign reflected this mistake.




Time Gal for Sega CD print ad copy

This Gal Gets Around!

This Gal’s been all over, from 70,000,000 B.C. to 4,000 A.D.! She’s traveling the world searching through time for the devious Luda. Help her stop before the world is destroyed. Jump onto your time machine as you travel through 16 exciting eras from the past, present and future. Leap from plane to plane in a WWII dog fight, sail a Spanish Galleon on the high seas, battle robots in a space station and escape from hungry dinosaurs.  Can you and Time Gal brave the challenges and catch Luda before time runs out?

Here’s one date you won’t forget!


  • Over 30 minutes of full motion animation
  • Test your action-reaction skills with 3 levels of difficulty!



Renovation.