3d image games at home

[NeoZeedeater]

3d glasses have never been very commercially successful for video games but who knows, maybe VR will still make it big in the future.

While Atari had previously considered an attempt at home 3d games with the unreleased holographic tabletop system Cosmos, GCE/Milton Bradley released the Vectrex 3D Imager for the Vectrex console in 1983. I'm not sure exactly how it works but it has something to do with rotating discs. I love the Vectrex but unfortunately haven't got to try the 3D Imager.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/NeoZeedeater/Vectrex3DImagerBox.jpg

3D Mine Storm, 3D Crazy Coaster, and 3D Narrow Escape were made for it. 3D Pole Position was planned but never released.

http://www.vgmuseum.com/images/vectrex/2.html
http://www.vgmuseum.com/images/vectrex/1.html
http://www.vgmuseum.com/images/vectrex/3.html

Similar technology came out a few years later from Nintendo and Sega. These glasses relied on the use of "flickering" for their effect. The glasses would rapidly darken one eye then the other, or at least I think that's how it works.

Nintendo's Famicom 3D System had almost no first-party support and was never released outside of Japan. The closest the domestic NES got to having 3d imaging was with red and blue cardboard glasses with games like Square's Rad Racer and 3D World Runner but those aren't a substitute for real 3d glasses.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/NeoZeedeater/Famicom3DSystem.jpg

Falsion(Konami, disk)
A nice looking rail shooter.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/NeoZeedeater/Falsion-FDS.gif

Famicom Grand Prix 2: 3D Hot Rally(Nintendo, disk)
I think this was the first Nintendo racer to have Mario in the driver's seat.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/NeoZeedeater/3DHotRally-FDS.png

Attack Animal Gakuen(Pony Canyon, cart)
Best described as "Schoolgirl Space Harrier".
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/NeoZeedeater/AttackAnimalGakuen-FC.gif

Cosmic Epsilon(Asmik, cart)
3d support aside, this game is just really impressive in terms of software scaling.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/NeoZeedeater/CosmicEpsilon-FC.png

Sega's Master System 3d glasses were released domestically and some systems were packaged with the impressive gun game Missile Defense 3-D.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/NeoZeedeater/Segascope.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/NeoZeedeater/MissileDefense3-D-SMS.gif

Maze Hunter 3-D
The effect of your character jumping upwards was really cool. I found the game itself kind of dull though.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/NeoZeedeater/MazeHunter3D-SMS.gif

Zaxxon 3-D
Neat effect although I prefer the older Zaxxons for gameplay.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/NeoZeedeater/Zaxxon3D-SMS.gif

Space Harrier 3-D
When I first saw the box for this, I assumed it was just regular Space Harrier with 3d added but it is an original game. The graphics blew me away at the time and it played great.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/NeoZeedeater/SpaceHarrier3D-SMS.gif

OutRun 3-D
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/NeoZeedeater/OutRun3D-SMS.gif

Other Segascope games are: Blade Eagle 3-D, Poseidon Wars 3-D and Line of Fire.

With the arrival of the 16-bit era it seemed like 3d image console games had been abandoned. Even the Master System II didn't support 3d glasses games as it was missing the necessary card slot.

Heading into the mid '90s the industry had an increasing buzz around Virtual Reality technologies.

Sega planned on releasing a VR headset for the Genesis but it never happened.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/NeoZeedeater/GenesisVR.jpg

Similarly, Atari/Virtuality had an unreleased Jaguar VR headset.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/NeoZeedeater/JaguarVR.jpg

Nintendo surprised a lot of people when they released the Virtual Boy system in 1995. While technically a portable, it wasn't something you would want to lug around everywhere. Personally, I really like the VB although it doesn't seem healthy to play it for long periods of time.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/NeoZeedeater/VirtualBoy.jpg

VB games:

Mario's Tennis(Nintendo)
I really love this game. It feels like its own self-contained Nintendo world you can escape into.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/NeoZeedeater/MariosTennis-VB.png

Space Invaders Virtual Collection(Taito)
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/NeoZeedeater/SpaceInvadersVirtualCollection-VB.png

Teleroboxer(Nintendo)
A futuristic take on Punch Out!!. I think most would agree that it wasn't up to the quality of its predecessors.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/NeoZeedeater/Teleroboxer-VB.gif

Insmouse no Yakata(I'Max)
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/NeoZeedeater/InsmouseNoYakata-VB.gif

Golf(T&E Soft./Nintendo)
I don't normally care for golf games but I guess the 3d effect mad this stand out for me.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/NeoZeedeater/TEVirtualGolf-VB.jpg

Galactic Pinball(Nintendo)
The gameplay was no Devil's Crush but I enjoyed it. It has a Metroid cameo too.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/NeoZeedeater/GalacticPinball-VB.jpg

Nester's Funky Bowling(Nintendo)
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/NeoZeedeater/NestersFunkyBowling-VB.png

Jack Bros.(Atlus)
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/NeoZeedeater/JackBros.jpg

Wario Land(Nintendo)
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/NeoZeedeater/WarioLand-VB.jpg

Mario Clash(Nintendo)
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/NeoZeedeater/MarioClash-VB.jpg

Red Alarm(T&E Soft./Nintendo)
Being a long time fan of vector graphics it was a treat to play a game like this.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/NeoZeedeater/RedAlarm-VB.gif

Panic Bomber(Hudson/Nintendo)
A port of the Neo Geo puzzle game.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/NeoZeedeater/PanicBomber-VB.jpg

Other VB games are: Virtual League Baseball, Waterworld, 3D Tetris, V Tetris, Vertical Force, SD Gundam Dimension War, Virtual Fishing, and Space Squash.

Overall, headaches aside I have enjoyed a lot of 3d games, some more for the effect some more for the gameplay.

What are your favourite 3d image games? I didn't include cheap-o cardboard 3d stuff or arcade games but if you want to discuss those too than that's cool.

[McBacon]

A great article. Those images of the VB alone make my eyes hurt :P

I didn't know about the master system one, but it looks pretty nice ;)

[NeoZeedeater]

A great article. Those images of the VB alone make my eyes hurt :P

I didn't know about the master system one, but it looks pretty nice ;)

Thanks. I just wish SMS glasses didn't break so easily.

I'm also curious as to how most people play their Virtual Boys. I usually lie down and have it sit on my face instead of placing it on a table.

[evil_genius]

Good read. I haven't played any of those things but maybe I will get the SMS goggles someday. Does anyone know if they work with the Genesis power base converter?

[Gamereviewgod]

Is anyone archiving these posts? If not, someone needs to, and they should be right here on DP. The work that goes into them is awesome. Keep it up.

[Slimedog]

Thanks. I just wish SMS glasses didn't break so easily.

I'm also curious as to how most people play their Virtual Boys. I usually lie down and have it sit on my face instead of placing it on a table.

I tried that once for a few minutes. All the weight rested on the bridge of my nose and it was ended up brused for days. Had to settle for the neck strain of setting it on my desk.

My favorite 3D is easily Sega. I spent hours playing each of the available 3D games and never got a headache. The best is probably Missle Defense followed by Space Harrier and Blade Eagle (excellent vertical shump). And yes my glasses are crazy glued back together. Its also worth noting that they were designed for kids and fit pretty tight on an adult head.

[§ Gideon §]

I'm also curious as to how most people play their Virtual Boys. I usually lie down and have it sit on my face instead of placing it on a table.
I never did that because my VB doesn't have the rubber eye piece. I usually played lying tummy-down on the floor, propped on my elbows.

Jeez, I miss my VB... I've got to find a new one.

[rbudrick]

I'm also curious as to how most people play their Virtual Boys. I usually lie down and have it sit on my face instead of placing it on a table.

Virtual Boy....sit....face.....nah, too easy to make that joke. LOL

-Rob

[DeputyMoniker]

I'm also curious as to how most people play their Virtual Boys. I usually lie down and have it sit on my face instead of placing it on a table.

Virtual Boy....sit....face.....nah, too easy to make that joke. LOL

-Rob

Too late, you just did. 8-)

Thanks for the walk down memory lane. I remember reading about a few of these gadgets in EGM...man, I had high hopes for virtual reality!!