3DO Games - ranked by preference

Release Date: November 13, 1994 (JP)
Publisher: Panasonic
Developer: Capcom
Genre: Fighting

If you loved Street Fighter II, this game alone was worth buying the 3DO for. This was the definitive Street Fighter II game, with Akuma as an unlockable boss fight and tweaks and refinements to the combat to improve on a formula that had previously seemed perfect. Most of my childhood belongs to Street Fighter II games, but even after all these years, it's still a joy to throw fireballs in the face of anyone, man or computer, that dares challenge me.

Release Date: 1994 (NA)
Publisher: SSI
Developer: Lion Entertainment, Inc.
Genre: Adventure - First-Person

I remember putting this game in for the first time and expecting the worst. Then a neat little introduction occurred, which brought my interest up. Then I started to play and explore around...And before I knew it, I had lost a couple of hours of my life to this game. The beauty of this game is that the game randomizes the dungeons every time you play. That means, every time you start up the game, you're getting a new experience...And with the game boasting that the in-game dungeon generation can create over 4 billion dungeon possibilities, there's a whole heckuva lot to keep folks coming back to discover more.

Release Date: February 23, 1996 (JP)
Publisher: Natsume
Developer: Natsume
Genre: Fighting - Wrestling

Well, this was quite a pleasant surprise. I honestly did not expect much from Royal Pro Wrestling. It looked so basic and boring...It's anything but that once the action starts. The game has little details that made me fall in love with it. The generic version of the Undertaker in the game (The Underdise Morgan) actually has a Paul Bearer-like manager lurking around at ringside during his matches...And you can attack said manager if you wish. The gameplay is fairly basic, but still enjoyable and it has some very, very minor play-by-play which was a nice novelty for its time. There's also enough content here to keep most wrestling fans busy for quite a while. If you're a wrestling fan and you own a 3DO, you can't go wrong by importing this gem from Japan.

Release Date: December 16, 1994 (JP)
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Electronic Arts Victor
Genre: Puzzle

I've always been a fan of the Shanghai games. I just find them to be simple fun. For those who want to get an idea of how this game is played, check Google. I know there are plenty of free-to-play versions in Flash on the internet. That being said, this unique puzzle game of matching up tiles can be very addicting...Addicting enough where I placed it this high on the 3DO list.

Release Date: November 16, 1994 (NA)
Publisher: BMG Interactive Entertainment
Developer: Crystal Dynamics
Genre: Platformer

I don't mind some 3D platformers, but when I want to play a platformer, I'd rather it be 2D. That being said, Gex is a 2D platformer that often gets overlooked. Later games in the series never quite catch the magic of this one, which I happen to believe is the best platformer (that I've played anyway) on the 3DO system.

Release Date: July 14, 1995 (JP)
Publisher: Prolific
Developer: Silent Software
Genre: Action

Return Fire is basically a strategic game of capture the flag from a top-down, third-person perspective, with tanks, helicopters, jeeps, and demolition trucks at your disposal in order to get the job done. Whether playing against the computer or a friend, this game always delivers an extremely fun experience. To add to the enjoyment, at least for me, upon capturing the enemy flag, George Frideric Handel's "Hallalujah" plays and when the enemy catches your flag, music from the Lone Ranger plays as you give chase...These little corny soundbites made me fall in love with this wonderful little game of war. If you get an opportunity to spend some time with it, I'm sure you'll fall in love with it, too.

Release Date: January 1, 1994 (NA)
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Monkey Do Productions
Genre: Racing - Arcade-Style

I don't remember the exact quote, but I remember reading that the guy in charge of marketing for the 3DO stated that had Road Rash been a launch title, he believed that the 3DO would have been much, much more successful than it was. I don't know if I'd go that far, but Road Rash was pretty amazing for its time...A 3D racing game where players can use bats, nightsticks, and fists to knock other racers out of the picture. It was a blast to play, and it may have been at its best on the 3DO console.

Release Date: 1995 (NA)
Publisher: Panasonic
Developer: 3DO
Genre: Shooter - First-Person

When I played Killing Time prior to writing this in order to nab some screenshots, it was one of those rare games that was better than I remembered. Graphically, it looks much more beautiful than I remember with environments that looked absolutely amazing for its time and some neat video clips of people cut in as ghosts. Gameplay-wise, it's not too shabby either. I don't like too many first-person shooters from this era, but Killing Time is one of those rare exceptions due in part to the interesting story the game tells. Killing Time is a great game for killing time....See what I did there? I'm a clever fellow.

Release Date: November 22, 1995 (JP)
Publisher: Panasonic
Developer: Taito
Genre: Puzzle

I'll just get it out there - I suck at Bust-A-Move. I love the game, but my aim is absolutely terrible. If I get a good shot in, it's due to luck, not skill. But anyway, for those not in the know, Bust-A-Move is like an inverted take on the classic match-three puzzle game formula. Since you're shooting the bubbles up at the ceiling, if you can match three of the same bubble on the roof, it'll bring everything else down with it, adding a little more strategy to the game aside from simply matching colors. The game has spawned a ton of sequels and very few of them offer a whole lot that's new...That's 'cause the original was so solid that there's not a whole lot that can be done to improve it.

Release Date: 1994 (NA)
Publisher: GameTek
Developer: Eurocom Entertainment Software
Genre: Trivia - Game Show

I always loved the Family Feud show. So, by default, I tend to enjoy the games based on the show as well. The 3DO version of the Family Feud tossed in some nice graphics, including animations based on actual photographs that looks weird at first, but it grew on me before my first game was done. One of the big issues that this game has had on other systems is still here, though - typing in answers with a controller is a slow process, and they don't give you a ton of time to input it in. I once got my answer typed in 2 seconds before the timer ran out...That's a little too close when all you're doing is typing in "Barbara Walters." You also have to be a little too specific for some answers, which can be frustrating when you see the same answer, but different wording pop up on the board after you've gotten your three strikes. But, overall, it's a decent port of the game show to a console. Probably my favorite version that I've played thus far. It's good stuff.

Release Date: 1994 (NA)
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Pioneer Productions
Genre: Racing

The original Need for Speed was a pretty solid street racing title for its time. While it's not as polished as later games in the franchise, it's easy to see why Need for Speed became such a popular game series from playing this. If street racing isn't your racing game genre of preference, the Need for Speed isn't going to convert you into being a fan or anything, but if street racing sounds fun, or if you just want to see how the franchise got its start, the original Need for Speed is well worth playing.

Release Date: November 10, 1995 (JP)
Publisher: Panasonic
Developer: Palmsoft
Genre: Adventure - Interactive Movie

The Daedalus Encounter is an interactive movie starring Tia Carrere from Wayne's World, Wayne's World II, and assorted things that I've never seen. She does a decent enough of a job acting, but everything else around her is so cheesy, that the game comes across as a bit of a joke anyway. So, the concept here is that you need to watch the video that plays and then do what they tell you to do, basically. It sounds boring, but it's not bad. The videos you watch are entertaining enough to put up with between the gameplay bits...There just aren't enough gameplay bits for my personal liking. It's still a decent experience and all, but watching a movie and occasionally performing a task probably isn't something for everybody.

Release Date: March 26, 1994 (JP)
Publisher: ReadySoft
Developer: ReadySoft
Genre: Adventure - Interactive Movie

I like Dragon's Lair. When the arcade version first came out, it was absolutely incredible. Several years later, the exact same game that amazed folks in arcades was now available on home console...And while it's still passable, it really showed that much of the hype of Dragon's Lair was the graphics and not so much the gameplay. By the time that the console version came out, the novelty of playing a cartoon had worn itself out for most folks and the simple gameplay mechanics left much to be desired...But it's still passable and still worth checking out if you've never played the arcade version before.

Release Date: 1995 (NA)
Publisher: LG
Developer: LG
Genre: Fighting

Primal Rage is kind of like the old Mortal Kombat games, except with dinosaurs and giant apes instead of martial arts folk. Each character is essentially a god with people that worship them and your goal is to take over the world, one territory at a time. You get said territories by fighting to the death. Seems logical, right? But anyway, Primal Rage is a decent fighting game, but there's nothing overly good about it...And like the Mortal Kombat games it emulated, it hasn't aged too well. But, for its time it was a unique, decent fighter...Just not much beyond that.

Release Date: 1995 (NA)
Publisher: Panasonic
Developer: 3DO
Genre: Shooter - Third-Person

Captain Quazar is an okay shooter with a unique, isometric view that acts both as a nice, unique experience and a frustrating-to-line-up-a-shot shooting fest. For its time it was about on par on what a good game like this should be. It didn't do anything amazing (aside from some pretty nifty cutscenes) but it just did what it needed to do in order to be average. There's nothing wrong with that, either. If you'd like to play a quirky little shooter with an isometric view, Captain Quazar isn't too shabby.

Release Date: 1994 (NA)
Publisher: GameTek
Developer: Imagexel
Genre: Action

I was a tad harsh on Quarantine when I first played it a few years ago...partially because I don't think I knew what I was doing. After playing it again, I still don't think it's great, but I now think it's barely passable instead of being a bit of a failure. The concept is cool - drive around in a taxi loaded with weapons, pick up fares, and kill ghosts, destroy vehicles, etc. It's like a slower-paced, more violent version of Crazy Taxi...except not nearly as good. This game will never make anyone say, "This is the greatest game that I've ever played!" But it's still a decent game that's worth playing if only for the novelty of shooting bullets out of your headlights while you drive a patron to their destination.

Release Date: March 10, 1995 (JP)
Publisher: Bandai
Developer: TOSE
Genre: Puzzle

I'm not a huge fan of this game, which is a confusingly-made Puyo Puyo clone. I say it's confusingly made because I had a hard time figuring out if the power-ups I received were due to luck or if I got specific power-ups for doing specific matches. It's also EXTREMELY slow-paced. I nearly gave up during the first puzzle match - not because I was losing (I stuck with it and won) but because I was just plain getting bored. If you're amused at all by the gameplay found here, then turn this game off, find a copy of Puyo Puyo on your console of choice and get ready to enjoy how this style of puzzle game should be done.

Release Date: 1996 (NA)
Publisher: Interplay
Developer: Logicware
Genre: Action

Casper is a friendlly ghost, right? If he's so friendly, then why do I feel so sad and disappointed after playing his game. Surely if Casper were to star in a game this bad aimed towards children, then he's more of a hateful ghost than anything, right? Friendly my hiney. Anyway, Casper is a sub-par game that looks like it could have and should have been better than what it is...But it's not. It's ironic that Casper's a ghost, 'cause after playing this game, he's dead to me. Yeah, I'll end it on that.

Release Date: May 26, 1995 (JP)
Publisher: Universal
Developer: Naughty Dog
Genre: Fighting

These days, when you hear that Naughty Dog developed a game, you're thinking quality like the early Crash Bandicoot titles, the Uncharted games, and the Last of Us...Way of the Warrior is about as far away from quality as you can get without wanting to stab yourself in the eyes to ensure that you can never play the game again. This is basically just a Mortal Kombat clone...Minus any sort of quality. The fighting was sub-par for its time and it has aged horribly since. The end result is a trainwreck of a fighting game and a good reminder to gamers everywhere that new developers may have a few low points, but it doesn't mean that they won't eventually deliver a fantastic game, or in Naughty Dog's case, several fantastic games...This wasn't even close to being one of the aforementioned games.

Release Date: 1994 (NA)
Publisher: Vivid Interactive
Developer: Vivid Interactive
Genre: Puzzle - Adult

Hey, a 3DO adult game that is actually a game!...And it's still terrible. Mind Teazzer is a unique blend of adult content and gameplay that you'd find in a Sesame Street video game made for toddlers. Want to see a scene of fornication? Not 'til you solve that match game, mister...or ma'am...whichever gender applies, I suppose. Since it actually makes an attempt to be a game, I'll give it some credit, but once you beat the ridiculously easy three game types, there's not much else to do here unless you're a perverted teenager that just reached puberty.

Release Date: December 23, 1994 (JP)
Publisher: Apollo
Developer: Apollo
Genre: Action - Adult

I've seen a ton of American 3DO "adult" games, but this particular was is exclusive to Japan...It has a concept of watching videos of three different lady folk getting topless and such, and you're supposed to snap pictures of them as they do so - basically, you're in the roll of a photographer. You've got eight pictures that you can save total, and after that, you've gotta delete images if you want more. If there was some sort of goal to strive for or anything, really, this game would be a little more interesting. But as it is, it seems to basically serve the purpose of taking snapshots of topless lady folk to gawk at later...Which might be a great time for perverts or pre-pubescent boys, but I found it to be dull and unrewarding.

Release Date: 1994 (NA)
Publisher: Intelliplay
Developer: Intelliplay
Genre: Fitness

ESPN Step Aerobics isn't so much a game as it is a very limited workout plan for doing aerobics. You've got several videos of aerobics including the warm up and cool down, and you basically just set up what order you'd like to play them in and then play the videos and prance around while doing your self-made workout routine. If there was more to it, I'd give it a better score, but when you could go out and purchase a VHS aerobics routine and pretty much get the same thing, I question why not add more to the game than the ability to play the videos in the order that you want to.

Release Date: May 19, 1995 (JP)
Publisher: Fuji Television
Developer: Fuji Television
Genre: Other

Nice Body isn't quite what you think it is. It's not an adult title from what I've seen (though, I'll admit that I didn't look at every model in the game) since there's no nudity to be found - just plenty of swimwear and close-ups of the faces of pretty Japanese girls. In fact, this seems like it's less of a game and more of a catalog for a modeling agency or something, with an option to check out the stats, interests, etc. of each model in the game. It seems to serve some sort of purpose, so I didn't drop the score all the way to 1, but at the same time, there's nothing here to make me feel justified in giving it a higher score than 2. So in short, Nice Body - nice catalog, bad game.

Release Date: 1994 (NA)
Publisher: Vivid Interactive
Developer: Vivid Interactive
Genre: Action - Adult

Vivid Interactive sure likes to use the term "interactive" loosely. Immortal Desire, like another poor Vivid game called "Sex," is simply a selection of five videos and you've got the ability to pause, play, skip ahead a few seconds, and skip backwards a few seconds...That's it. Unlike in Sex, Immortal Desire's videos all combine together to create one film...A very cheesy film about an immortal love that lasts generations and involves a few topless lady folk for no reason except that they wanted to include topless lady folk. Anyway, amusingly cheesy film or not, a VCR remote has more depth than this game. I recommend using that to watch a movie instead of wasting your time with this trash.

Release Date: 1995 (NA)
Publisher: Vivid Interactive
Developer: Vivid Interactive
Genre: Action - Adult

I've said it before and I'll say it again - adult content CAN have a place in video games, but make sure that you focus more on developing the game than you do on adding boobs and such or you're gonna make a turd salad that nobody's gonna want. Sex is a turd salad. Feel free to take that quote out of context if you'd like. Anyway, Sex is a "game" where you watch five poor videos and have the ability to pause and skip ahead or forward while you watch chopped-up videos with the audio replaced by cheesy saxophone music. Basically, the way you interact with your television remote or a VCR remote (that's what we used back then, kids) is a deeper, more rewarding experience than this (I'm gonna say it again) turd salad.