Quarterback Attack with Mike Ditka (3DO review)

Developer: Digital Pictures
Publisher: Digital Pictures
Released: 1995

Quarterback Attack with Mike Ditka is a Full Motion Video (FMV) American Football game.

+ Huge amount of plays available and you can even call pre-set audibles depending on the defense's formation.

+ Selected play remains visible at the line of scrimmage, which is a handy reminder of where your receivers will be located.

+ During passing plays, you can switch between camera angles of each receiver (with no loading) to see if they're open.

- While the absence of defense is in-line with the game's title, you only see the final play of opponent's offensive drives.

- Likewise, Special Teams requires no input and you're completely at the mercy of a randomised FMV clip for field goals.

- Running plays are a complete crapshoot as to whether you gain yardage, and success is more luck over skill.

- FMV footage is rather limited, so you'll likely tire of seeing the same clips repeated in quick succession.

Foes of Ali (3DO review)

Developer: Gray Matter
Publisher: EA Sports
Released: 1995

Foes of Ali is a boxing game that's exclusive to the 3DO console.

+ Features an impressive amount of customisation options to tailor the rules to your preferred style.

+ Allows you to choose between 20 camera angles, with the first-person option blurring your vision as you take damage.

- However, some of the angles are unusable, particularly the bizarre option to move the camera to a ceiling view!

- Most fights end up in non-stop button mashing, as it's often hard to tell who (if anyone) is actually connecting with punches.

- Severe clipping issues, as hooks to the body often do no damage despite your fist travelling through your opponent's body!

- SFX when you land a punch are unsatisfying, and the atmosphere is lacking due to the absence of a commentary team.

- Little rhyme-or-reason as to when a foe gets knocked down, despite them getting punched repeatedly with no energy.

Crash 'N Burn (3DO review)

Developer: Crystal Dynamics
Publisher: Crystal Dynamics
Released: 1993

Crash 'N Burn is a vehicular combat / racing game that was a launch title for the 3DO console.

+ Decent course design and there's even a free-floating track that wouldn't look out of place in the F-Zero series.

+ Like Road Rash (1991, Sega Genesis), there's a huge amount of upgrades available to tailor your strategy for each race.

+ Ability to choose how long to stay in the pit-stop for repairs / reload is brilliant, as the race position map remains visible.

+ Some excellent graphical texture work / explosion effects, while the frame-rate and draw distance are respectable.

+ Tournament mode is lengthy and the game automatically saves your progress, weapons and earned cash.

- It would have been nice to see opponent's energy metres, as standard offensive weapons seem to do little damage.

- No multiplayer mode, and the screen flashing when enemies crash into your vehicle or use a Flash Laser is excessive.

Starblade (3DO review)

Developer: HighTech Lab. Japan
Publisher: Panasonic
Released: 1994

Starblade is a rail shooter that was originally released in the Arcade (1991) and later ported to the Sega CD (1994).

+ Scenically, the battle territories are breathtaking and the trench runs / meteor showers are clearly inspired by Star Wars.

+ Better quality FMV than the Sega CD and you respawn at the same point here instead of being taken back to a checkpoint.

+ Mixes wide-open spaces with claustrophobic areas, and the boss battles take the form of huge, intimidating structures.

+ Distance indicator on the right-hand-side is a great motivator to keep you playing until you finally reach the destination.

- At times, taking damage seems unavoidable due to the sheer amount of incoming projectiles being thrown towards you.

- Game is extremely short (with no replay value) and unlike the Sega CD version there's no difficulty options.

- Includes a mode that adds texture mapped polygons, but the result is a lower frame-rate and jerkier cursor movements.

AutoBahn Tokio (3DO review)

Developer: Sanai Enterprise, Sanyei Shobou
Publisher: Panasonic
Released: 1995

AutoBahn Tokio is a racing game that was released exclusively in Japan.

+ Interesting and scenically diverse course design, and your fastest times are automatically saved.

- Anaemic content, and the Championship mode only counts single races rather than performance across all three courses.

- Frame-rate is shockingly low and borders on unplayable, while the poor draw distance results in lots of pop-in.

- Almost impossible to drive with precision due to severe under/over-steer caused by the single-digit frame-rate.

- Drift mechanic is unreliable, so you'll find yourself bumping into walls and brute forcing your way to the finish line.

- Some cars are pointlessly slow, and opponents drive too fast (and flawlessly) for you to even stand a chance of winning.

- Despite featuring five music tracks, only one will play on repeat until you change it in the Options screen of the main menu.

Strahl (3DO review)

Developer: Media Entertainment
Publisher: Panasonic
Released: 1994

Strahl is a Full Motion Video (FMV) game that was first released on the Pioneer LaserActive in 1993.

+ Allows you to select the order in which you tackle the stages, which is excellent for learning the ropes.

+ Gorgeous anime visuals and animation with some terrific fight sequences, and there's a whopping 48 different endings.

- Gameplay is very easy (with no difficulty options) and you'll likely be watching the end credits within 30 minutes.

- There's no penalty for hitting the wrong input, which defeats the object of a quick-time, reaction-based game.

- On-screen button prompts don't usually match up with the FMV, and as a result you don't always feel part of the action.

- Video footage is overexposed, which washes out some detail and makes the button commands harder to see.

- Art design is inconsistent with its varying styles, and the static cut-scenes aren't an engaging method of storytelling.

Burning Soldier (3DO review)

Developer: Genki Co., Ltd.
Publisher: Panasonic
Released: 1994

Burning Soldier is a Full Motion Video (FMV) rail shooter that was also released on Windows (1998).

+ Locales are varied and see you battling closer to ground, in the sky, and even inside claustrophobic enemy quarters.

+ Similar to Panzer Dragoon (1995, Sega Saturn), your secondary attack can lock onto several enemies at once.

+ Includes a two-player co-op mode, along with a reasonable difficulty curve that provides you with infinite continues.

+ Presentation is outstanding and there's a large amount of cut-scenes, as well as up-tempo music to raise the intensity.

- D-pad isn't quite accurate enough to reward skilled play and cheap hits can occur due to jittery reticle movement. 

- Refraining from shooting to revive your shield adds risk-reward, but the charge rate is too slow to be effective.

- In-game voiceovers are very low in the mix, which makes it hard to follow orders and become invested in the overall plot.