Retro|Spective 110: 3DO and Those We Left Behind

[Neon Ignition]

History in Games:
1993 - Crash 'n Burn
1993 - Escape from Monster Manor
1994 - Hell: A Cyberpunk Thriller
1995 - Killing Time
1993 - Twisted: The Game Show

Overview:
Most, including several of the above titles, made it to other platforms following the poor performance of the 3DO hardware even if it was only to PC but short of having the appropriate hardware to run them the 90's console remains the main way to access this line up of games. Crash 'n Burn wearing that 90's aesthetic pretty hard in a fairly well received launch racer, Monster Manor meanwhile, delivered an early FPS experience to the machine. The most successful on the list was Hell, the adventure game that used FMV (as was popular at the time) and starred Dennis Hopper. Killing Time was another FPS effort whilst Twisted was a simple game show experience but it reeked in the 90's poor budget, garish imagery of the time.












Share your thoughts and memories of these games that mark the 3DO's legacy

[vanpeebles]

lol

[Hirst]

The 3DO is generally regarded as having the best version of The Need For Speed. I love that game (and don't really like any of the more daft sequels).

[Team Andromeda]

The 3DO is generally regarded as having the best version of The Need For Speed. I love that game (and don't really like any of the more daft sequels).

I can tell you that myth isn't true, the game is much better on the Saturn and PS. Anyway I loved and still love my 3DO seeing Crash N Burn running for the 1st time was amazing as was hearing the 1st proper use of Dolby Surround in Road Rash.


Its runs like crap, but my fav game is Killing Time and I also love Way of the Warrior LOL the sound track that that game is awesome too!

[Brad]

Starblade
Super Street Fighter II
Pebble Beach Gold
Slayer
Space Hulk
Need For Speed
The first 3D Fifa

and...

Return Fire. The best 2 player couch game ever made

[wakka]

I've never played on a 3DO. What are Twisted: The Game Show and Hell: A Cyberpunk Thriller actually like to play? Does anyone have any impressions?

[jamesy]

I had always heard the 3do version of Road Rash was the best. It's a good game but the frame rate is pretty poor compared to the ps1/saturn versions as with most games on the 3do tbf. The Need for Speed is quite different to the saturn and playstation versions so it's interesting at the very least.
Wish there was a reasonably priced drive replacement for the 3do.

[Asura]

I've never played Return Fire, but everyone goes on about what a good multiplayer game it is. What's it like?

[Dogg Thang]

It really was DOA as far as I was concerned. The only thing that somewhat had me interested was that, at the time, it was the only system with SSF2 Turbo if I remember correctly. That aside, it was never ever on my radar and that never changed.

[Baseley09]

I've never played Return Fire, but everyone goes on about what a good multiplayer game it is. What's it like?

It's one of the best 2 player games eveerrrrrr!! Classic game honestly, mainly played the Playstation version so it's readily available.

[Asura]

It's one of the best 2 player games eveerrrrrr!! Classic game honestly, mainly played the Playstation version so it's readily available.

Hang on, Return Fire is on the PS1? I must have my wires crossed. I thought there was just a follow-up called Mass Destruction.

[Baseley09]

Hang on, Return Fire is on the PS1? I must have my wires crossed. I thought there was just a follow-up called Mass Destruction.

Try it out man its gnarly.

[CMcK]

Return Fire and the expansion disc Maps O Death are great. Fantastic with 2 players and still a lot of fun solo.
There are plenty of good games on the 3DO. EA were probably the top publisher on the system with Need for Speed, Madden, Road Rash and FIFA all being a big leap from the 16 bit systems. It set the bar for presentation and gave developers a grounding for the later 32 but 3D systems. Space Hulk, Battle Sport, Killing Time, Star Fighter 3000 and Icebreaker are all great as well.
With Panasonic backing the system there was oddles of support from Japanese developers too. Stuff like Starblade and SSF2T are outstanding games. Just a shame the multimedia frenzy of the era meant more traditional genres especially shmups were overlooked.
The forward thinking idea of using an OS and dedicated APIs was a blessing and a curse. It meant future models would be backwards compatible but arguably hampered the performance of the system. Later titles like Bladeforce showed large improvements in performance and it’s a shame that developers weren’t allowed to bang the metal.

[Hirst]

Hang on, Return Fire is on the PS1? I must have my wires crossed. I thought there was just a follow-up called Mass Destruction.

Mass Destruction is unrelated, but it's great fun - you just go round in a tank blowing up the entire map.

[Leon Retro]

Crash 'n Burn is the reason I wanted a 3DO. I saw it on a huge TV at a computer show in late '93 and it blew me away.
I managed to save some money and wait until my birthday in the Spring of '94 -- then I was able to get an import US FZ-1. The price of the machine had come down to around £400 with a Scart box and game, so I thought it was worth owning.



I absolutely loved how the Panasonic FZ-1 looked -- really stylish and excellent build quality. The joypads were OK, but should have had more buttons. I had a lot of fun with Crash 'n Burn, which turned out to have addictive gameplay to go alongside the impressive visuals. I also liked the tacky sense of humour and overall vibe of the game. Sure, it could have been more polished, but it was still a really good game that made me feel happy to own the machine.



After that -- I got my hands on Total Eclipse, which was also an impressive, fun game. Once you learn how to control the ship properly, you can breeze through the game quite easily. I had a lot of fun with it.

Other notable early games were 'Escape from Monster Manor', 'Starblade', Out of this World(a nicely enhanced version of the classic Amiga title), and Way of the Warrior. John Madden Football was also a game worth owning if you appreciate the sport.



The next game I really enjoyed was Road Rash. It absolutely blew me away back in Autumn '94. It was a really fun game that kept me playing and playing for months and months. Easily my favourite 3DO game -- and it stands the test of time reasonably well.

After that, I had fun with Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo, which was a very good port with excellent pumping music. Slayer was an eerie dungeon crawler with quite basic but fun gameplay. Off-World Interceptor took the Total Eclipse engine to another level with very impressive visuals and effects. Star Fighter was an impressive 3D shooter with a solid engine and addictive gameplay. FIFA Soccer delivered a 3D football experience that was not only visually impressive, but also offered reasonably fun gameplay.



Need for Speed was truly something special at the time. It combined stunning graphics with advanced physics to deliver a racer that felt quite realistic. There was weight to the cars, so you felt like you really had to focus on driving properly.
The inevitable crashes could be so over the top that I enjoyed watching the replays. As much as the game could have done with, ironically, more speed, it was a very enjoyable racer that felt cutting edge.

Other notable games: The Horde; Return Fire; BattleSport; Return Fire; Gex; Samurai Showdown; Star Control 2.

It's such a shame that the 3DO version of Doom was terrible. The developer[Rebecca Heineman] only had 3 months to port the game to the 3DO, so she didn't have time to craft the game in a way that worked well with the 3DO hardware. She says the port could have been one of the best if she had been given a lot more time to craft and polish it.