3DO- Best Model and must-have games?

[The 1 2 P]

Definitely go with an FZ 10 over an FZ 1. Top loaders are always more realiable. As for games, theres not much to the library but theres a few good ones in there. If you like wrestling games check out the Japanese import game Royal Pro Wrestling. To my knowledge it's the only wrestling game for the 3DO and because it's region free you'll have no problem playing it on a US system. I was going to recommend Star Wars: Rebel Assault but that game kind of sucks. However, it gives you a few more options than the Sega Cd version(such as choosing a male or female pilot).

[A Black Falcon]

Definitely go with an FZ 10 over an FZ 1. Top loaders are always more realiable. As for games, theres not much to the library but theres a few good ones in there. If you like wrestling games check out the Japanese import game Royal Pro Wrestling. To my knowledge it's the only wrestling game for the 3DO and because it's region free you'll have no problem playing it on a US system. I was going to recommend Star Wars: Rebel Assault but that game kind of sucks. However, it gives you a few more options than the Sega Cd version(such as choosing a male or female pilot).

Ah, Rebel Assault, I love Star Wars and the PC CD version was one of the first CD games I ever owned, so I've always liked it despite its flaws... it's certainly not the greatest game ever, but it's a fun little cinematic Star Wars adventure.

... Our previous computer hadn't even had a soundcard in it, much less a CD-ROM drive, so I went from PC Speaker sound to Rebel Assault. So yeah, it was pretty cool. :)

I haven't played the 3DO version of Rebel Assault, but I do have it for PC and Sega CD, the other two platforms. The 3DO version sounds pretty much the same as the PC version -- it's got the female PC option, like the PC, it has all 15 levels in it, and you get passwords every four levels, like on PC (though the passwords themselves are different from the PC version passwords). On Sega CD, the female PC is cut, one level is cut (one of the two on-foot stages with the hide-behind-the-stuff lightgun segments and the choose-which-way-to-go maze elements), one level is split in half so it now counts as two levels, and there are passwords for every level. The graphics are slightly better on PC, but mostly it's just less dithered video, etc... it's honestly not a huge difference, I'd have expected more from the PC version.

That last point is an important one, I liked Rebel Assault for the PC but found it really, really hard, and the last level before a password was always the hardest... it's much easier on Sega CD where you can just pick up from the level you left off at! That alone makes it worth playing, I think, even if otherwise it's definitely the worst version.

PC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=359qyiXskCE
Sega CD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6yOX2vmxgY
3DO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kTBDPckrqE or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYh17EZ0OBk (can't find any capture footage, just not-so-great off-tv stuff for this one...)

Overall, despite the fact that it's not much different, I'd definitely want it for 3DO anyway. :)

[TheCaptain]

So, did the original poster of this thread end up getting a 3DO and some games? Just wondering. I hope the info you have recieved from everyone in this thread has guided you to get the version of the system best fit for you and some fun games to play for it if you did end up getting one.

Happy gaming!

[The 1 2 P]

Ah, Rebel Assault, I love Star Wars and the PC CD version was one of the first CD games I ever owned, so I've always liked it despite its flaws... it's certainly not the greatest game ever, but it's a fun little cinematic Star Wars adventure.

I really wanted to like this game(I have three versions of it, two for 3DO and one for Sega Cd). But the problem was that I played this game after I played the second one on the PS1. I really enjoyed Rebel Assault 2 but going to Rebel Assault 1 afterwards made it almost unplayable. The cut scense are of much lower quality and some of the flying scenes are almost hard to discern between the ship and the astroids.

I'm sure I would have enjoyed this game much more if I would have played it before I played it's sequal with superior PS1 graphics. But it's the only 3DO Star Wars game and that alone makes it worth owning.

[A Black Falcon]

I really wanted to like this game(I have three versions of it, two for 3DO and one for Sega Cd). But the problem was that I played this game after I played the second one on the PS1. I really enjoyed Rebel Assault 2 but going to Rebel Assault 1 afterwards made it almost unplayable. The cut scense are of much lower quality and some of the flying scenes are almost hard to discern between the ship and the astroids.

I'm sure I would have enjoyed this game much more if I would have played it before I played it's sequal with superior PS1 graphics. But it's the only 3DO Star Wars game and that alone makes it worth owning.

I actually have three copies of Rebel Assault as well, I have two copies of the PC version...

I got Rebel Assault 2 for the PC several years after getting the first one. It was okay, but I got it in the Lucasarts Archives II: Star Wars Collection, which also included TIE Fighter CD-ROM Collection, which is one of the best games ever... Rebel Assault 2 was fun while it lasted, but quite obviously utterly paled in comparison to TIE Fighter. It was an okay game, but not amazing.

Also, the joystick I had wasn't very good for it, I remember getting stuck at one of the missions thanks to that junky joystick. Once I got a Microsoft Sidewinder 3D Pro (in mid 1997) I had a much easier time with Rebel Assault 2, and it made TIE Fighter and Rebel Assault 1 easier as well... though I don't know if I've ever actually legitimately beaten RA1 for the PC. (I remember back when I first got it in 1995 I was completely stuck on the third level, the training level on Kallidor... SO HARD! I only got past it by finding a copy of the strategy guide and writing down the password for level 4, the Star Destroyer. Then I got stuck at some point later in the game, and eventually gave up.) Some of those levels are just so hard, and as I said it's always the last level before the password that is the hardest... and replaying three levels over and over just to get to the hard one is not fun. I got the Sega CD version a year or two ago, and there that problem just didn't exist. Thanks to the passwords on every level and somewhat less touchy controls, I blew through the Sega CD version in days.

Anyway, I've often heard that the PSX version of RA2 wasn't a very good port, and I think it got some poor scores... though the PC version didn't get great reviews either, I think it did a bit better. I haven't actually played the PSX version though, so I can't say for myself. I do know though that RA2 was time they shot any new live-action Star Wars footage since RotJ... RA1 of course didn't have any new live-action video, only movie clips and drawn art. The game did do pretty well as a cinematic experience. I played through it once that year... haven't played it since, though. RA1 I have returned to a few times, it's got a much higher nostalgia value for me as I said. I could understand finding it lacking if you played the second game first though, it is pretty much the same thing but improved in a lot of ways.

[betamax001]

I had Rebel Assualt II for the PlayStation. It was bad. Not the worst but nothing special. That and my copy had a glitch when playing the Speeder Bike that the game would stop moving and crash : /

[The 1 2 P]

Anyway, I've often heard that the PSX version of RA2 wasn't a very good port, and I think it got some poor scores... though the PC version didn't get great reviews either, I think it did a bit better. I haven't actually played the PSX version though, so I can't say for myself. I do know though that RA2 was time they shot any new live-action Star Wars footage since RotJ... RA1 of course didn't have any new live-action video, only movie clips and drawn art. The game did do pretty well as a cinematic experience. I played through it once that year... haven't played it since, though. RA1 I have returned to a few times, it's got a much higher nostalgia value for me as I said. I could understand finding it lacking if you played the second game first though, it is pretty much the same thing but improved in a lot of ways.

Compared to games today RA2 may not hold up very well but I still enjoy it. That probably has more to do with my inner Star Wars geekiness. I don't blame you for liking RA1 more. As you said, you played that version first and thus have fond memories of it. For me, it's the other way around. I also like the fact that Rebel Assault 2 has different endings depending on which difficulty you beat. That gives you a bit more incentive to play thru the hard difficulty. But with the level passwords thats pretty simple too.

[A Black Falcon]

Compared to games today RA2 may not hold up very well but I still enjoy it. That probably has more to do with my inner Star Wars geekiness. I don't blame you for liking RA1 more. As you said, you played that version first and thus have fond memories of it. For me, it's the other way around. I also like the fact that Rebel Assault 2 has different endings depending on which difficulty you beat. That gives you a bit more incentive to play thru the hard difficulty. But with the level passwords thats pretty simple too.

The Rebel Assault games were originally made for the PC, and were designed to be played with a joystick, not a gamepad. They did a better job than I expected making the first game work on Sega CD, but still, they are games that are best with joystick... the PSX version of the second one has the same problem. Oh, and the PC version of RA2 doesn't make you use passwords like the first one did, it's got saving to the HDD as all PC games should have. So on PC you'd need to legitimately beat it (or find downloadable save files online) to get those multiple endings. I'd forgotten about that... probably never saw them, just the one for whatever difficulty I played.