With the ability to capture film and combine it with video games – there has been a weird history of motion capture and video effects. In a world where players can make choices, it seems natural that movie watchers would want to make choices about their films.

Night Trap (1992)

Sometimes referred to as the first Interactive Movie game – starting development in 1986 with Hasbro for a game system they were working on. It would be many years before this maligned progenitor of the genre would come to the Sega CD – and then due to critical reception would also become very hard to find for many years until a remaster was attempted via Kickstarter. Now, this controversial game can be found in a range of formats including the Sega Genesis Mini 2 – which allows the game to be played on modern TV’s and the original controller style.

Goosebumps: Escape from Horrorland (1996)

Lizzy invites the player character to figure out the mystery of Horrorland – a theme park of fright and terror. After Lizzy survives the events of the R.L. Stein book, she invites the player to her house where both are sucked into Horrorland. Name cast members include the always stand out Jeff Goldblum and Isabella Rossellini – as well as the young and talented Jake Lloyd. Gameplay involves quick path choices and puzzle mixed with live performances from the lively cast. The games plot functions as a great way to move from puzzle to puzzle.

Having played Goosebumps at time of release – it worked well for a child oriented horror game – spurring a love for a goofy and shlock horror aesthetics in my mind. The game contained puzzles that wouldn’t be a challenge to complete as an adult – but is good enough to keep a kids attention for a few hours to complete the game. There is also an added bonus to having named actors like Jeff Goldblum, who don’t mind throwing themselves into a part.

Star Trek: Borg & Star Trek: Klingon (1996)

Borg was a story based adventure in the Star Trek universe. Staring John De Lancie as Q – the near god like trickster character first introduced to audiences in the pilot episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The character of Q was often played as a foil to Captains of the franchise – setting up pivotal moments in those captains careers. It was Q’s fault that the federation first interacted with the Borg. In the game of “Star Trek: Borg” instead the audiences will find themselves interacting with Q as Cadet Qaylan Furlong. The character of Furlong is given the ability to change the events of Wolf 359 – a deadly attack on the federation by the techno-mechanical and titular Borg – in order to save his father from death. Star Trek: Borg is a point and click video adventure developed by Simon & Schuster, who’s history with the franchise is lengthy and in-depth.

Having played the game, there were clear limitations to the format at the time. Additionally – eagle eyed viewers will note that sets, uniforms and props are those of the Star Trek: Voyager’s era, showing that Paramount didn’t believe in these games enough to dedicate a “large” budget to their production and set design. The gameplay is quick choices that lead to different story beats – but the time between choices is long and the answers often don’t reveal themselves until the player fails the task once.

Netflix’s Entries

When Netflix jumped on the Interactive Movie train there was an expectation that there would be a large number of these produced and released at near the same time – however Black Mirror: Bandersnatch released alone and it was many months before before it was joined by the Kimmy Schmidt interactive episode. The rest of the releases from Netflix’s interactive movie experiments have received lack luster reviews.

With Black Mirror: Bandersnatch being a very recent Interactive Movie – I gave it a number of play throughs. Fascinatingly – after a few runs of the game – I found that my favorite version of the story is the one where you watch passively and make no choices. The choices matter gameplay works across consecutive plays and adds an interesting level of depth to the insanity of the release. Ultimately – it’s disappointing that these releases weren’t pushed with gusto by their distributor, Netflix, however I understand that their other entries may not have been viewed at the same level.