WELCO METOT HENEX TLEVEL - Marky Mark and The Funky Bunch: Make My Video

Publisher: Sega Developer: Digital Pictures Release: 1992

Here we go again. This time it's Marky Mark's turn on the mic in the third, but not final, Make My Video game for the Sega CD. The (flimsy) story this time around is that a brother and sister apparently just can't get along due to their creative differences regarding the next Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch video. Who among us hasn't been there at one time or another?

So on a quest they go to get input from a bunch of music video experts: a boxer and his trainer, the hip girls at school, a local garage band, and, of course, mom and dad (who “watch lots of VH-1”). Each group has very particular elements they want to see in each video, and it's your job to edit them to spec in real-time using the same, terrible video editor found in every Make My Video game.

You basically have three video feeds running – the official song video and two medleys of stock footage. The position of each stream will sporadically change throughout the song, and you switch each to the master feed using the controller's face buttons.

At the same time you have access to a series of special effects using the d-pad. You can do stuff like flipping the video, add color filters, pixelation (well...MORE pixelation) and so on. At the end of each video you're judged by the folks who requested the video.

And on it goes.

Anyone old enough to remember Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch undoubtedly knows that their one and only #1 hit was “Good Vibrations”, which, of course, is the primary song in this game. The other two songs are “I Need Money” and “You Gotta Believe”, two later songs by the group that barely cracked the top 60 on the US Billboard Charts. I assume, based on the release of this game and the release of those two songs that their inclusion was meant to build momentum for their single releases. Otherwise, I would have expected that the Funky Bunch's only other Gold single, “Wildside”, would have been on the disc.

So basically this is another lacklustre MMV release. Only one to go after this!

Before I wrap up, though, I do want to mention some of the future “somebodies” starring in this game. Mark Wahlberg being, of course, the obvious one. He and his brother Donnie (New Kids On The Block) both moved on from their '90s music careers to become successful actors.

One of the main characters, the brother, is played by a young Michael Bacall. Bacall has worked steadily as an actor since before this game, but as of late he seems to be one of Quentin Tarntino's favorite players, having appeared in Death Proof, Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained. He was also the screenwriter on Scott Pilgrim vs The World.

This game features an early appearance by Tami-Adrian George, who plays the “it” girl in the center of the ladies' room scene. She's been in things like Beverly Hills 90210, Desperate Housewives, and Heroes. The reason I recognized her is because she was in Starship Troopers. In particular, she's the recruit who accidently shoots and kills another recruit during a live-fire exercise. Fun fact: the actor she “killed” in that scene is her husband, Eric Bruskotter.

The biggest surprise for me, though, was when I watched the bits featuring the teenage garage band. That quiet dude with the red hair looks so familiar...

Wait a sec! That's Seth Green!

I love the Sega CD.