MysteryDisc: Many Roads to Murder (lost interactive murder mystery movie sequel; 1983)
A screenshot from the 22 second clip that has been found.
Status: Lost
Many Roads to Murder was the sequel to the interactive LaserDisc game Murder, Anyone?.[1] It was initially set to be released in the USA in 1983, but due how unsuccessful LaserDisc was as a medium, it only saw development and release for a Japanese market.
Plot
Self-narrating private detective Stew Cavanaugh (Paul Gleason) is back to solve another murder, this time at the elite Adventurers Club. Cavanaugh spent early life in odd jobs and the Army and then worked his way through Harvard, where he met some of the people involved. The suspects are:
- Marcus Sandor - A Harlem rooming house resident who works as a waiter at the club.
- Tracey Lowe - Granville's sister and ward who's under his control until her 21st birthday.
- Lenore Krieger - An independent woman who owns an import-export business.
- Bill Donovan - Also a Harvard graduate who now runs his own company.
- Juna Jamael - Exotic chanteuse at a Harlem nightclub called the Jazz Spot.
- Granville Lowe III - Cavanaugh's Harvard roommate who now manages his own investments.
- Percy Wilder - A member of the Adventurers Club with a penchant for drink.
- Sabrina Todd - A woman in her late twenties and an unknown commodity.
Stew's only allies in this murder investigation are Maxine Blair (Stew's ambitious assistant who wants to be the first woman with her own private detective's license) and the players themselves who get to choose between storyline paths to solve the case by discovering the murderer's identity, motive and the murder method. When you think you've had it all figured out, the endgame starts where you accuse a suspect and try to prove that he or she did it. There are 16 endings, just like in the first game.
Availability
22 seconds of the American version have been found, featured in a news story that was uploaded to Youtube in 2014.[2]
4 screenshots have also been found, along with photos of box art and the user manual, from the Japanese release. These were found on a site cataloging Japanese tech magazine MSX, where Many Roads to Murder is said to be mentioned in the July, August, September, October, and December issues of 1984, and the January and March issues of 1985.[3][4]
There are a couple copies of the game available on Ebay, though both are for the RCA SelectaVision, not LaserDisc.[5][6]
References
- ↑ https://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/39319/V-MD-83-002/MysteryDisc-2:-Many-Roads-to-Murder
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zf_vYCtZzaI
- ↑ https://www.generation-msx.nl/software/laserdisc-corporation/mysterydisc-many-roads-to-murder/release/337/
- ↑ http://msx.jpn.org/tagoo/s_check.cgi?LINE=336&REVIEW=5
- ↑ https://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-Many-Roads-To-Murder-CED-Video-Disc-RCA-SelectaVision-Factory-Sealed-NEW/274531673224?_trkparms=aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D225074%26meid%3D2825566c2636415b8f2039b5b2d2bdb3%26pid%3D100623%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D5%26sd%3D193743572582%26itm%3D274531673224%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DDefaultOrganic&_trksid=p2047675.c100623.m-1
- ↑ https://www.ebay.com/itm/CED-RCA-VIDEODISC-Many-Roads-To-Murder-Interactive-MYSTERY-DISC-VIDMAX-/193743572582