The other day I read a very delusional story. I'm still debating if it was an April Fools prank despite being published in June. It was about a game developer discussing their plans to revive the 3DO as either (or both) a micro-console with built-in games or a new platform for indie developers. These are both comically bad ideas. If one managed to acquire all the 3DO rights and intellectual property, they could release a micro-console, with an extremely small game collection. The majority of 3DO games, and the vast majority of good ones, were developed by not-3DO. As for the second half, I think there are already enough platforms for indie developers. Someone with a vague idea and the 3DO name is not going to compete against Valve, Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Apple, and Google. This was tried with the Intellivision brand as I recall, and turned out about as expected.
This story inspired me to fire up the ol' 3DO though. Inside a game case I found this little flyer:
I didn't see other scans of this, but I didn't look very hard or at all.
I only have anecdotal evidence that John Madden Football was the highest selling game for the console. I recall it being one of the few games that convinced shoppers to drop up to $700 on the system. Never underestimate the popularity of the series. It was logical to feature in this brochure, but it's also likely everyone reading it already owned the game.
It looks like the quarterback is facing the wrong direction. This was released in May 1994 and the Bills had just been in the Super Bowl. I'm overthinking this screenshot.
Wing Commander was a popular PC game. I never played the 3DO version but it was reviewed well.
Shock Wave would later be a pack-in title for the cheaper Goldstar variant of the 3DO.
Ah, vaporware. Worldbuilders sounds like an interesting concept though.
This is the game I found the flyer in. I recall it wasn't reviewed well because it was compared to Doom on the PC. As console first-person shooters in this generation go, it was above average.
The 3DO, like the CD-i, tried to include educational games and assorted multimedia experiences. In the past I maybe would have poked fun at this idea, a console trying to have any educational value. Now, it's all fine. They tried to expand their base and it didn't work. Whatever.
The first time I saw You Don't Know Jack I commented that it was similar to Twisted on 3DO and no one had any idea what I was talking about.
I don't know if this is technically vaporware. The 3DO had PGA Tour '96 which was a 1995 release. I think those screenshots might be from the PC version of PGA Golf 486. Whatever the case, the 3DO had a PGA Golf game that may or may not be the one here.
Road Rash had a different cover when it was released.
This is also vaporware, the 3DO version I mean. There was a PC version of this.
It took until the back cover to realize these were all EA-published titles. Even with the front cover clearly indicating this was an EA ad. Well, there you go. A micro-console would be a terrible flop without EA's involvement (or even with).
I'm now going to suggest 10 other great reasons why you need another 3DO game. These are not my top 10 3DO games. It's not far off from it though. I'll follow the format of this brochure and suggest 10 games of different genres.
- Super Street Fighter II Turbo: I rank this number one overall in the entire 3DO library. It's my favorite console version of Street Fighter II in this generation. You'll need to buy a six button controller or, even better, a Super Nintendo controller adapter with it. I don't love recommending a game that requires additional accessories, especially ones with limited use. The 3DO isn't brimming with games that need six buttons. One game that comes to mind is Samurai Shodown, also an excellent port that would appear on this list if I wasn't trying to avoid multiple games of the genre.
- Star Control II: I'll get it out of the way, I never played this. Star Control II isn't a genre I enjoy. Speaking completely anecdotally, this game was a system seller. It wasn't a Madden Football level system seller, but I recall several fans shelling out a lot to get this version of the game. I understand. I got the PlayStation Vita for an Ys IV remake and the Wii U for a Wind Waker remake. Buying a 3DO for a Star Control II upgrade makes total sense.
- Dragon's Lair: There are three console CD ports of Dragon's Lair in this era - Sega CD, CD-i, and 3DO. Of these, the 3DO version looks the best. The Sega CD version is easiest because it is generous with input timing. I'm not great at explaining stuff like this, but on the Sega CD you get a few frames to enter an action. On the 3DO it feels like you need frame perfect timing. So it's difficult but looks great. That's an acceptable tradeoff for the time. Later ports of Dragon's Lair would look better and feature much lower difficulty.
- Theme Park: This is about the only sim game I played for more than an hour. The Saturn version is my favorite but the 3DO isn't too far behind it.
- Night Trap: If there is a retro gaming hill I will die on, it is this - Night Trap is a great game. I enjoy campy horror movies and campy horror FMV games. It's for the best that Night Trap existed before GameFAQs because the fun part is figuring out all the timings including the optional events. This is the kind of game you should play with a notepad instead of an internet connection.
- Demolition Man: I'm not going to argue this a great game or even an above average one. Demolition Man is a combo FPS and 1:1 fighting game. It doesn't do either very well. I know I'm not selling anyone on this game. It's one of the "product of its time" games that we won't see again. I'm recommending it because it captures the 3DO experience well.
- Pebble Beach Golf Links: This is usually reviewed as being mechanically inferior to PGA Golf. I won't argue with that. It has nice scenery though. That's really all I get out of most golf games, relaxing scenery. This is also a relatively cheap game to collect.
- Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon / Putt-Putt Joins the Parade: These are kids' games but not marketed as educational. These are essentially LucasArts/Sierra adventure games for kids. So they teach problem solving and reading. Kids like them better than games trying to be educational, from anecdotal experience.
- Wolfenstein 3D - The 3DO is more (in)famously known for its Doom port. That could have been better but isn't that much worse than contemporary ports. The Wolfenstein 3D port turned out fine. It's a technically simpler game that runs fine on the 3DO. It is horrifically expensive today, making it impractical to collect. This list is not considering price. The "10 great 3DO games you can afford" list is for another day.
- Need for Speed: This is the OG of the series. Sometimes iconic franchises start on odd systems. Rayman started on the Atari Jaguar and Need for Speed started on the 3DO. You should play it if only to say you experienced the very first Need for Speed game.
The biggest difference between this list and the EA list is the almost total lack of sports games. EA was already a dominant force in the sports genre when the 3DO was new. Sega was their only serious competitor, and of course they weren't supporting the 3DO.
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