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Arguably the best Jaguar title since Tempest 2000, Missile Command 3D is not only the second classic to get a 64-bit face lift, but also the first game developed for use with the Jaguar VR Headset. MC3D, like T2K, includes various game modes. Original Missile Command is the classic game in all its glory. You 'command' 3 missile bases in an attempt to protect your 6 cities. When all the cities have been destroyed, the game ends. Though the sounds in this version aren't the exact sounds from the arcade, this is still an incredibly accurate translation and still a great game.
3D Missile Command, also referred to as Missile Command Plus, is an awesome update of the original. The gameplay centers around the same premise as the original. You command 3 missile bases, each represented by 1 button (A, B, or C) on your controller. Between the bases lie the six cities you're supposed to protect. The playfield, however, is enormous! The screen only covers about 1/8 the area you need to cover. As you move, your target always stays centered on a screen which moves around the playfield. Whatever is not in view of the screen can be tracked on your radar. This becomes a major issue as it becomes more of a strategic necessity to carefully choose the base you launch your missiles from. If there's a target on the right side of the playfield and you fire a missile from your left base, it may take 15 to 20 seconds to reach it (...not good.) The game also introduces rendered graphics, updating cities, weapon power-ups, and 'Asteroids!' (These HUGE gray boulders that plummet towards your cities and break into fragments as you destoy them.) I suggest everyone starts off by playing this version because you'll be amazed when you realize this isn't the 'signature' game on the 'cart. The real fun starts when you play Virtual Missile Command. This game is simply going to blow your mind away. It's unbelievable! In this version, instead of the bases being lined up along the ground, they're mounted on rocky mountains in a triangular configuration. The cities are below and between the bases, one in the center with the other 5 radiating out. Your viewpoint is from 'within' the bases. You can look up, down, and just about all around in this 3D 'Virtual' environment. (Use your keypad or the shoulder buttons on the Procontroller to switch bases.) You can fire, and choose when to detonate your missiles form any base, and you also now have lasers. The lasers are a little weak, but they're much more accurate and alot faster than the missiles. When the game starts, you'll notice a similarity to the original. Missiles start dropping in waves from above. Soon afterwards, ships start coming from the sides, from behind, from above, and from below. When you finally destroy one, you'll notice a canister floating out of the explosion. Shoot it. This is one of 6 power-ups. There are power-ups for laser ammo, missile ammo, laser upgrades, smart bombs, gun repairs, and city repairs. At the end of each stage, this game also introduces 'bosses.' The first three stages are underwater. The stage 1-1 boss is a spaceship-lookin' submarine. Stage 1-2 sports a giant texture mapped electric eel (NICE details!) The main boss, at the end of stage 1-3 is the mother ship from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. This sucker's huge! Once you destroy it, you move onto the next three stages, protecting cloud cities (flashbacks of The Empire Strikes Back.) The boss in 2-1 is a double-fuselage strike aircraft, kinda of like the Mig from hell. The boss in 2-2 (and this one is my personal favorite) is, I swear, Panzer Dragoon. You get pound on a Sega mascot. The end boss for stage 2-3 is this giant zeppelin thing. Finally...stage 3-1 through 3-3. Your bases are no longer on mountains. They float around a massive space station. There's alot more danger in this level because attacks can and do come from everywhere. I'm not going to spoil it by telling you about these 'bosses.' Let me just say that they are truly unlike any others you have ever encountered in any other game. The developement team responsible for MC3D definitely gets an A+ for originality. This version just leaves me with one really important question...when, oh when will we ever get to see our Jag VR Headsets? I can't imagine how intense this experience would be with stereo-scopic sights and sounds. Graphically, this game's right on. It's made up of a bunch of shaded and texture mapped polygons (not as many as in, say, Toshinden, but who cares?) The explosions are really sweet, but become pixelized (aka Doom) when they get too close. The bosses and ships, however, don't. You should see the detail when the double strike aircraft gets in your face...incredible! The sound effects are great and the music is made up of a decent industrial style mix, that unfortunately still sounds like it belongs in a video game. As far as gameplay, this title can't go wrong. It is intense! Overall, we've been waiting a long time for another title of this quality. I put it up there in the ranks of Tempest 2000 and Alien vs Predator. This is a landmark game, and if you own a Jag, you'd better quit reading this review, and go get your copy of Missile Command 3D! OVERALL *****
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