Double Switch

n/a

Mega-CD Saturn
Double Switch
System(s): Sega Mega-CD, Sega Saturn
Publisher: Sega Enterprises, Ltd. (JP) Sega of America (US) Sega Europe (EU) Digital Pictures
Developer: Digital Pictures
Supporting companies: Sega Test (testing)
Distributor: Ecofilmes (PT) Tec Toy (BR) Acclaim Distribution
Genre: Virtual Cinema (バーチャルシネマ), Adventure
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1995-03-24 ¥6800 G-6040 US 1993-12 $59.99 4419 EU 1994-02 4419 PT 1994 UK 1994-07-15 £44.99 4419 AU 199x FDOU06SMR BR 199x 063260 US 1995-11-22 T-16207H
Non-Sega versions

Double Switch (ダブルスイッチ) is a full-motion video game developed by Digital Pictures. It was brought to the Sega Mega-CD, then later to the Sega Saturn.

Story

The Edward Arms was built by Lionel Atwater Edward III, a famous industrialist, at the turn of the 20th century as a stately mansion. He constructed it after an archaeological expedition to the Valley of the Kings, so the building has an ancient Egyptian theme. It is rumored that the building contains vast treasures, including a statue of the Egyptian goddess Isix that went missing after Edward's trip. After the death of Edward, the family fortunes declined, and the building was converted into an apartment complex.

The current owner of the Edward Arms is a young man named Eddie who has equipped the building with cameras and traps to protect the tenants from burglars. One of the tenants has locked him in the basement, and he must find the security codes to get back out.

Characters

Eddie

Portrayed by:

Corey Haim

The owner of the Edward Arms, who designed the security system. At the start of the game, he is locked in the basement and needs help getting out.

Lyle

Portrayed by:

R. Lee Ermey

The building's handyman. Eddie hates him and wants the player to trap him in the first act, but he reveals new traps in the second act that are needed to complete the game.

Elizabeth

Portrayed by:

Deborah Harry

The sultry manager of the Edward Arms, who is trying to rekindle her relationship with Lyle. She is the daughter of Lionel Atwater Edward III.

Alex

Portrayed by:

Camille Cooper

An eager young journalist who lives in the left apartment on the first floor. She is working on a big story about the Edward Arms.

Laura

Portrayed by:

Kim Oja

An aspiring architect who lives with Phoebe in the right apartment on the first floor. She is dating Jeff.

Phoebe

Portrayed by:

Wendy Gazelle

An archaeology student who lives with Laura in the right apartment on the first floor. She has found a statue of Isix that a secret society is after.

Jeff

Portrayed by:

David Packer

A singer in a band called Scream who lives in the left apartment on the second floor. He is hoping to get a record deal for his band.

Brutus

Portrayed by:

Irwin Keyes

An aging former mobster who lives in the right apartment on the second floor. His father worked on the construction of the building and revealed to him that there is treasure hidden in it, which he needs to pay off a debt to a dangerous mob boss.

Gameplay

Code panel

Double Switch follows a similar structure to Digital Pictures' previous work, Night Trap. Eddie, the owner of the Edward Arms apartment complex, is trapped in the basement and needs the player's help to get out. The player needs to monitor cameras positioned in the rooms of the apartment building and trap the intruders. The game is divided into three acts with different objectives. In the first act, the player must discover a four-digit access code to get Eddie out of the basement while trapping intruders (mobsters and secret society members) and the handyman Lyle. A code number is found in a panel in each apartment, so they are revealed to the player by observing intruders at the right times when they enter the room and open the panel. In the second act, Eddie says there is a killer on the loose in the building and leaves to find him. While he is gone, the player must protect the tenants from members of a secret society called the Society of the Scroll and Key and from a mummy who can activate the building's traps. Lyle reveals secret traps that are needed to trap the mummy, so the player must watch his scenes at the right times to gain access to the traps. In the third act, the identity of the mummy is revealed, and the player must again use the building's traps to protect the tenants from him. The game contains about 60 minutes of full-motion video, though gameplay lasts roughly 30 minutes. The Mega-CD version uses a single disc, but the Saturn version has higher video quality and uses two discs; the first and third acts are on the first disc, and the second act is on the second disc.

The game is controlled through two panes, one on the left side of the screen that shows a map of the Edward Arms and one on the bottom of the screen that shows all the traps in the current room.

The Edward Arms contains seven areas. Every area contains a camera, but only one camera can be viewed at a time. In the Mega-CD version, the player can toggle the cursor between the building map and the room traps by pressing . When the cursor is on the building map, the player can pick a room using the D-Pad when the cursor, then press to change to the selected room. Green circles appear on the map to show tenants, yellow squares show thugs (or Lyle), and red octagons show secret society members. In the Saturn version, the player can pick a room by pressing , then using the D-Pad to select it, then pressing again to move to it. Green bars on the map show tenants, red bars show thugs (or Lyle), and orange bars show secret society members; the bars are longer when there are more people from that group in the room. In both versions, a flashing indicator appears on the building map where someone is entering a room through a window or a door so the player can prepare the right trap in advance.

Each room contains up to three traps. In the Mega-CD version, when the cursor is on the room traps, the player can choose a trap using and and arm it by pressing or disarm it by pressing . In the Saturn version, the traps are armed from left to right with , , or and disarmed with , , or . Arming a trap winds its spring, and the trap is ready to use after it has been wound three times. Then the trap can be activated by pressing the button a fourth time when the intruder is positioned near it. Traps are often marked by colored tiles on the floor or conspicuous tiles on the wall. The trap can only be activated right when the intruder touches it. The camera typically zooms in when the intruder has stepped on or touched the trap, and there is an auditory cue. The player can pause the game with  START  to show a map of the current room with the traps marked. Multiple traps can be armed at once, though arming traps too frequently or arming too many traps at once causes a power overload that trips the power meter (shown beside the traps) and temporarily disables any traps. A counter in the corner shows how many intruders have been successfully trapped and how many escaped. Intruders are partly randomized, and it is not necessary or possible to capture all of them.

The game ends if the player fails to get the codes in the first act, lets too many intruders escape, traps too many tenants by mistake, lets a tenant get captured or killed by someone, or lets someone switch off the power box in the storage room or disconnect the phone lines. In between acts, the player can save the game to the console's internal memory. A saved game can be resumed from the options menu. In the Mega-CD version, a save file contains ten save slots. In the Saturn version, each save uses a separate file.

Areas

There are seven areas, and the player can switch between them at any time.

	Band
	The apartment of Jeff.
	Brutus
	The apartment of Brutus.
	Alex
	The apartment of Alex.
	Grads
	The apartment of Laura and Phoebe.
	Lobby
	The entrance to the building, where Elizabeth can often be found.
	Basement
	The basement where the computers that operate the security system are located. Eddie is in the basement in the first act, so there are no intruders here until the second act. In the second and third acts, intruders try to disconnect the player from this room, which ends the game.
	Storage
	A storage room underneath the building. If an intruder shuts off the power in this room, it disconnects the player and ends the game.

History

Legacy

In 2018, Screaming Villains digitally re-released the game with higher quality video as Double Switch: 25th Anniversary Edition for Steam and the PlayStation 4. Limited Run Games produced physical copies of the PlayStation 4 version, including a "Collector's Edition". In 2019, a version was released for the Nintendo Switch (again with a physical release by Limited Run Games).

Production credits

Main article: Double Switch/Production credits.

Magazine articles

Main article: Double Switch/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

PDF

Mega-CD print advert in SuperGamePower (BR) #7: "Outubro 1994" (1994-xx-xx)

Physical scans

Mega-CD version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

{{{{{icon}}}|L}}
Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 60 Weekly Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 65 Game Players (US) NTSC-U 71 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 90 GamePro (DE) PAL 47 GamesMaster (UK) NTSC-U 62 Games World: The Magazine (UK) PAL 36 Hyper (AU) 78 Joypad (FR) NTSC-J 87 Joypad (HU) 91 MAN!AC (DE) PAL 53 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) NTSC-U 58 Mega (UK) NTSC-U 81 Mega Action (UK) NTSC-U 70 Mega Fun (DE) NTSC-U 65 Mega Power (UK) PAL 71 MegaTech (UK) NTSC-U 74 Mean Machines Sega (UK) NTSC-U 89 Megazone (AU) 90 Play Time (DE) PAL 71 Power Up! (UK) 72 Power Unlimited (NL) 78 Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J 65 Sega Magazin (DE) PAL 72 Sega Magazine (UK) PAL 86 Sega Magazine (UK) PAL 80 Sega Power (UK) NTSC-U 79 Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-U 74 Sega Zone (UK) NTSC-U 68 Sega Force (SE) 78 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 63 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 50 Video Games (DE) NTSC-U 72

	71
Based on 33 reviews

Double Switch

Mega-CD, JP
Box
Spinecard Disc Manual Mega-Soft Information Mega-CD Vol. 5

Mega-CD, US
Box
Disc Manual Reg card

Mega-CD, EU
Box
Disc Manual

Mega-CD, UK
Box
Disc Manual

Mega-CD, PT
Box
Disc Manual EU Manual

Mega-CD, AU
Box
Disc

Mega-CD, BR
Box
Disc

Saturn version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

{{{{{icon}}}|L}}
Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score MAN!AC (DE) NTSC-U 46

	46
Based on 1 review

Double Switch

Saturn, US
Box
Disc 1 Manual

Technical information

Main article: Double Switch/Technical information.