Ever heard of Laser Lords? No? That may or may not be a good thing! By video game standards, an “ancient” game. Originally released on the Philips CD-i in 1992, and developed by Spinnaker Software and published by Philips Media. This game is obscure, even by modern obscure standards. The average modern player will have never heard of this game, while a very small minority from maybe the late 80s to early 90s will have perhaps heard of Laser Lords. But, only if they were familiar with the CD-i beforehand and not just familiar with the Zelda games that were released on that console.

Why is this game so special? In the first scene, you are greeted by Zendo, the Starlord who gives you your quest. He seems to take the form of a lizard. And as some of you may or may not know, lizards don’t have binocular vision. Rather, they have monocular vision (with some binocular overlap). So, we have a problem: how do we have this character, who is facing directly at the player, actually seem like they are looking at the player? The solution was attaching mirrors to the side of Zendo’s head, so he can look directly at whoever he is speaking, too. That’s thoughtful. That’s passion. That’s quality.

And? It’s almost impossible to play now. Good luck finding a CD-i, although Ebay would be your best friend. The game itself is not that hard to find, but you would also have to keep in mind that in order to even play the game, you would need to put effort to get it playing. Once you do, the game is certainly an experience.

And? There is a way to play it now in modern days. Through the magic of technology and the human need to preserve, recent strides in emulation has made it possible to play Laser Lords. Using RetroArch and SameCDI, Laser Lords, at the very least, starts and is functional – at the very least, on the very first planet.

To celebrate the greatest progress in modern video game times that no one knows, I’m planning on making a repository of information on Laser Lords. In addition, I have made Steam Assets and plan on sharing how to play the game, so that you, too, can be one of the Lords of Laser.

Steam Assets:
https://www.steamgriddb.com/game/5351030