Ranking Of All 3DO Games
As I play every North American released 3DO game for my blog series, All 3DO Games In Order, I will be ranking them here. Trying to determine the quality of any given 3DO game is a heavily fraught task, but here we are.
List items
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Developer: Monkey Do Productions
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Date: 7/1/1994
Time to Seeing A Doctor About This Rash: 45 Minutes
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Entry in the combat racing game series made specifically for the 3DO. It's basically fine.
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Featured in Part 06
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Developer: Success
Publisher: Activision
Release Date: 12/13/1994
Time to Getting My Tiles Matched: 18 Minutes
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Port from PC of an entry in the long-running Mahjong Solitaire series. It's basically fine.
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Featured in Part 08
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Developer: Studio 3DO
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Year: 1993
Time to A Dull Jump Scare: 45 Minutes
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Horror FPS designed in the vein of Wolfenstein 3D. Gameplay and level design are simple and basic, with a silly haunted house aesthetic.
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Featured in Part 01
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Developer: Synergy, Inc.
Publisher: Synergy Interactive
Release Date: 4/9/1994
Time to Turning To Steel In The Great Magnetic Field: 45 Minutes*
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First Person Shooter featuring dark hallways and not much in the way of game features. The weird and memorable cutscenes and basic playability make up for the poor technical performance.
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Featured in Part 04
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Developer: HighTech Lab
Publisher: Panasonic
Release Date: 12/16/1994
Time to Killing The Framerate: 12 Minutes
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Port from Arcade of the 1990 arcade game. Very straightforward Rail Shooter used as a showcase for early 3D hardware. Still a good game in '94 but a bit basic.
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Featured in Part 08
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Developer: Crystal Dynamics
Publisher: Crystal Dynamics
Release Date: 1/8/1994
Time to Needing A Hero: 51 Minutes*
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Rail Shooter that started the short-lived Eclipse series. While not a good game, it is basically playable.
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Featured in Part 04
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Developer: High Score Productions
Publisher: EA Sports
Release Date: 5/6/1994
Time to Being Weird About Busts: 18 Minutes*
**This is somehow the best game on the list**
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Early entry in the Madden franchise created specifically for the 3DO. It's basically fine.
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Featured in Part 05
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Developer: Media Entertainment
Publisher: Panasonic
Release Date: 12/2/1994
Time to Completion(?): 41 Minutes
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Weird Interactive Movie ported from the Pioneer LaserActive. Originally meant as an 80's arcade game, it's very short and simple but fine enough for it's genre.
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Featured in Part 08
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Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Panasonic
Release Date: 11/6/1994
Time to Getting Hadoukened At High Speed: 20 Minutes
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Port from arcade of the final revision of Street Fighter II. This is somehow a completely fine port, and also the only contemporary home release of the game.
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Featured in Part 09
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Developer: Krisalis Software
Publisher: Interplay Productions
Release Year: 1993
Time to Eaten By A Rook: 15 Minutes
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Port from PC of the heavily animated Chess game. Has limited features and maintains a slow pace.
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Featured in Part 01
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Developer: Humongous Entertainment
Publisher: Humongous Entertainment
Release Year: 1993
Time to Joining The Black Parade: 29 Minutes
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Port from PC of the first children's Point-and-Click Adventure game from Humongous. Competent for what it is.
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Featured in Part 02
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Developer: Humongous Entertainment
Publisher: Humongous Entertainment
Release Year: 1993
Time to Baking a Cake: 65 Minutes*
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Port from PC of Humongous' second game. Limited gameplay with a couple of odd production quirks.
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Featured in Part 02
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Developer: Studio 3DO
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Year: 1993
Time to A Soft-Locked Twink: 37 Minutes*
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FMV Trivia-Board-Party game featuring C-tier early-90's humor. Might be more significant in the development the Party Game genre than it seems.
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Featured in Part 03
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Developer: Genki
Publisher: Panasonic
Release Date: 10/1/1994
Time to Shot Down: 28 Minutes
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Rail Shooter that was Genki's first foray into the Shooting meta-genre. Mediocre in every way imaginable, which was as good as Rail Shooters got at the time.
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Featured in Part 09
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Developer: Toys for Bob
Publisher: Crystal Dynamics
Release Date: 4/1/1994
Time to Avorde the Horde: 18 Minutes
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Hybrid Action/Town Builder game notable for its relatively competent FMV. Doesn't really pull off its ambitious concept, and my experience was hampered by poor emulation.
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Featured in Part 04
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Developer: Krisalis Software
Publisher: Interplay Productions
Release Date: 8/3/1994
Time to Grabbed By The Ghoulies: 21 Minutes
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Port from PC of the seminal 1992 Survival Horror game. The already clunky control interface did not transition well to the 3DO'd gamepad.
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Featured in Part 06
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Developer: Crystal Dynamics
Publisher: Crystal Dynamics
Release Date: 10/4/1993
Time to Giving Up On Emulator Settings: 25 Minutes
Time to Crashed and Burnt: 45 Minutes
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Highly mediocre Combat Racing game that trades showing off its 3D graphics for anything resembling engaging gameplay.
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Featured in part 00
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Developer: Humongous Entertainment
Publisher: Humongous Entertainment
Release Year: 1993
Time to Developing Basic Problem Solving Skills: 35 Minutes
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Port from PC of a basically functional minigame collection aimed at young children.
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Featured in Part 02
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Developer: Sanctuary Woods
Publisher: Sanctuary Woods
Release Year: 1993
Time to GO BIRDS: 45 Minutes*
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Bizarre multimedia children's storybook focused around Shelley Duvall's various pets and random bird facts.
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Featured in Part 02
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Developer: Krisalis Software
Publisher: The 3DO Company
Release Date: 5/2/1994
Time to Losing 2-1 Against Italy: 27 Minutes*
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Port from Amiga of the soccer-themed action platformer. Terrible in just about every way, but still recognizable as a video game.
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Featured in Part 05
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Developer: Electronic Arts Canada
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Date: 8/31/1994
Time to Having An Unfulfilled Need: 26 Minutes
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Racing game developed for the 3DO. Provides an incredibly barebones experience but is largely functional as a driving sim.
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Featured in Part 06
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Developer: Lion Entertainment
Publisher: Strategic Simulations, Inc.
Release Date: 12/31/1994
Time to Going Wacko On My THAC0: 40 Minutes
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First Person Dungeon Crawler using the D&D license. Functions as a basic Rogue-Like knock-off of Ultima Underworld with little to no redeeming value.
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Featured in Part 08
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Developer: GTE Interactive
Publisher: GTE Entertainment
Release Date: 11/1/1994
Time to Getting Dunked On: 15 Minutes
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Port from previous gen consoles of an almost-nothing 1v1 Basketball game. A truly neutral experience.
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Featured in Part 09
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Developer: Dynamix
Publisher: Dynamix
Release Year: 1993
Time to Punished For My Foolish Resistance: 24 Minutes
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Hover Tank Shooter that is apparently the fourth entry in the Stellar 7 series. Feels half-finished, and is entirely unremarkable.
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Featured in Part 03
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Developer: Microcabin
Publisher: Panasonic
Release Year: 1993
Time to Failing My Interior Design Class: 35 Minutes*
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Bizarre little piece of 3D home design software. Runs horribly and features a painful UI.
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Featured in Part 03
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Developer: Eurocom
Publisher: GameTek
Release Date: 5/6/1994
Time to Good Answer: 36 Minutes*
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Game Show game released at an awkward moment in the history of its brand. Shoddy use of FMV is the only thing to recommend it.
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Featured in Part 05
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Developer: ReadySoft
Publisher: ReadySoft
Release Year: 1993
Time to First Game Over: 2 Minutes
Time to Second Game Over: 8 Minutes
Time to Giving Up: 20 Minutes
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Port from Arcade of the seminal Interactive Movie. Faithful recreation of original experience, which was never particularly good in the first place.
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Featured in Part 01
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Developer: Crystal Dynamics
Publisher: Crystal Dynamics
Release Date: 11/22/1994
Time to Getting Cash Copped: 24 Minutes
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Car based Rail Shooter with heavily compromised FMV and sloppy gameplay. A generally miserable experience.
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Featured in Part 08
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Developer: Naughty Dog
Publisher: Universal Interactive Studios
Release Date: 8/6/1994
Time to Being Legally Distinct From Mortal Kombat: 10 Minutes
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Fighting game that is a blatant Mortal Kombat knock-off. The only good part of the game is the soundtrack.
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Featured in Part 06
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Developer: Alexandria, Inc
Publisher: Virgin Interactive
Release Date: 10/1/1994
Time to Sending A Maniac To Catch One: 32 Minutes
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Uniquely developed movie tie-in game that makes extensive use of FMV and swaps between multiple genres. While a neat idea, nothing about it works and it's miserable to play.
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Featured in Part 09
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Developer: DMA Design
Publisher: Psygnosis
Release Year: 1993
Time to Looking Up The Manual: 5 Minutes
Time to Annoyed: 31 Minutes
**This is the first game on the list that I actively hate**
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Port from PC of the seminal Amiga Puzzle game. An already unfun game made worse with d-pad controls.
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Featured in part 02
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Developer: Digital Pictures
Publisher: Acclaim
Release Date: 11/1/1994
Time to Fighting Like A Drunken Rice Peddler: 33 Minutes
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The biggest and most bombastic Tom Zito game. This is an interactive Movie that tries to be a first person martial arts Fighting game, but falls into miserable unplayability in its execution.
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Featured in Part 09
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Developer: The Advanced Technology Group
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Date: 6/27/1994
Time to Shot Down Over Cairo: 30 Minutes*
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Flight Combat/Rail Shooter game released as a 3DO original. Everything about the gameplay and experience is bad, though the writing and FMV are bad enough to be almost endearing.
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Featured in Part 05
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Developer: Cryo Interactive
Publisher: Mindscape
Release Date: 5/1/1994
Time to Lancing My Boyle Or Whatever: 13 Minutes*
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Combat Racing game with questionable FMV. Plays badly and has no redeeming value.
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Featured in Part 04
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Developer: Studio 3DO
Publisher: Universal Interactive Studios
Release Date: 5/10/1994
Time to Eaten By Raptors: 46 Minutes*
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Glorified Minigame Collection based on the hit movie. Does nothing right, and is only relevant as a bizarre curiosity,
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Featured in Part 05
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Developer: LucasArt
Publisher: LucasArt
Release Year: 1993
Time to Dying of Frustration: 84 Minutes*
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Port from PC of the licensed FMV Rail Shooter. Everything about this game is terrible in every way. It was a commercially successful turd.
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Featured in Part 03
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Developer: American Laser Games
Publisher: American Laser Games
Release Year: 1993
Time to Thrown Off The Force: 12 Minutes
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Port form Arcade of the FMV Light Gun game. Truly abysmal console conversion of the already subpar and problematic original. An absolutely wretched piece of garbage.
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Featured in Part 01
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Developer: Psygnosis
Publisher: Psygnosis
Release Date: 3/14/1994
Time to Eww: 18 Minutes*
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Port from computers of the overwrought sci-fi Rail Shooter. Misguided visual design, incredible pretense, and truly abysmal gameplay make this an actively terrible experience.
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Featured in Part 04
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Developer: United Pixtures
Publisher: Kirin Entertainment
Release Date: 9/30/1994
Time to Having More Questions Than Answers: 42 Minutes
**This is the worst game on the list**
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This is supposed to be an "Interactive Movie" but fails in every way imaginable. Rightly considered to one of the worst games ever made, if it even is a game.
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Featured in Part 06
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