Fans of the 16-Bit era of gaming will probably remember Full-Motion Video (FMV) games. Whether you like them or not, you surely know of them. One of the more popular titles from this generation, aside from Night Trap that got the United States government involved, was Time Gal. It was unique because it was animated, it probably helped that the main character was scantily clad as most women protagonists were at the time. Another, likely missed by most gamers due to release time, was Ninja Hayate (Revenge of the Ninja in North America). Both hit the Sega CD expansion module for the Sega Genesis and both are now available in HD versions thanks to Taito.

<h2>Big on Visuals, Light on Gameplay</h2>

If you are, somehow, not familiar with FMV games then here are the basics on them. They are known for being visually unique – using real people or animation for the “game”. Your control is quite limited, usually a direction or button press at a key moment, otherwise, just watch the show. 

Some, Ground Zero: Texas, Mad Dog McCree, etc offered a bit more gameplay as you had to shoot enemies before they shot you. Unfortunately, even these were limited by the enemies becoming repetitious extremely quickly.

Time Gal and Ninja Hayate are of the former of those options. They look great though. Just don’t expect to be pulling any Street Fighter II combos or having actual control over your character.

<h2>Limited Release in the Past, Wide Open Release Today</h2>

As I mentioned before, Time Gal and Ninja Hayate were released on the Sega CD in North America. I believe both hit the Pioneer LaserActive but not sure on a North American release on those. Even if they were released on the LaserActive, it was prohibitively expensive (base unit, Sega Genesis expansion module then the game). I am not sure on computer releases for either of these, or Saturn/PlayStation ports, at least in North America. I do not believe they made it here as I was big into gaming at that point and don’t remember seeing them.

The only other option was to play either game in the arcades of the time. That is if Aladdin’s Castle stocked them as these were released during the massive Neo Geo and Capcom arcade 1 on 1 fighting game craze.
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<h2>Nostalgia At Its Finest</h2>

[Time Gal (affiliate link)](https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=time+gal&_sacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_odkw=black+myth+wukong&_osacat=0&mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&siteid=0&campid=5338976226&customid=&toolid=10001&mkevt=1), as the name implies, is a time travelling romp. The story is sci-fi in nature and when you die here, for some reason the animators decided to change your character to something akin to the annoying kid in the Robotech: Southern Cross episodes. 


![RNG 1.jpg](https://images.hive.blog/DQmULTmm372d4JfFHkCVwPAr6ZAdVsgDZU6U5ghUP8Dtpz9/RNG%201.jpg)
[Image Source](https://romansreviews.blogspot.com/2017/02/full-invasion-part-2-robotech-new.html)

No idea why, it is just how the game was. It was lambasted in gaming magazines back in the day for this design choice. I am just continuing the tradition on this "what were they thinking" moment.

[Ninja Hayate (affiliate link](https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=revenge+of+the+ninja+sega+cd&_sacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&siteid=0&campid=5338976226&customid=&toolid=10001&mkevt=1) is a tale that might interest anyone that is a fan of [Black Myth Wukong (affiliate link)](https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=black+myth+wukong&_sacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&siteid=0&campid=5338976226&customid=&toolid=10001&mkevt=1). Set in feudal Japan, you take on controlling Hayate a young ninja who is trying to save a beautiful princess from the evil ninja clan.

Both are visually impressive but Ninja Hayate always edged out Time Gal here for me. It just looked so much cooler to me. Both are cheaper to buy on Steam than they are on Sega CD (and the Steam versions look SO MUCH better).

If you are a fan of classic animation, you may recognize the art style as similar to 70s/80s sci-fi anime like Robotech and Voltron to Space Battleship Yamato and others. 


On Steam, [Time Gal]( https://store.steampowered.com/app/3050490/TIMEGAL_HDRemaster/) and [Ninja Hayate]( https://store.steampowered.com/app/3052550/NINJA_HAYATE_HDRemaster/) are available at a discounted price for their launch. If you act quickly, you can get the bundle for about $32, otherwise they are about $25 each.

Source – [Retronauts.com]( https://retronauts.com/article/2376/retro-re-release-roundup-week-of-april-10-2025)