Missle Command 3D

Atari Jaguar

by The Big Bad Wolf

There are 3 modes for this game, Classic, 3D and Virtual. Classic mode wasn't anything special, even though I was aching for the original ball controller for the arcade (the old arcade reflexes kicked in while playing this game). 3D was a HUGE jump in technology from Classic Mode -- there were no holds barred in this one: Textured Mapped polygon backgrounds, 3 - 4 layer parallax scrolling, texture-mapped 3D polygon missiles, enemy craft that moved in real 3D and had lots and lots of polygons t-mapped to them, explosions with sound that made a nice satisfying *CRUNCH*, power-ups in missile effectiveness (turbo and fireball missiles), MIRV enemies (Multiple ICBM Re-entry Vehicles), my god, it totally blew my mind! The music wasn't bad either. Virtual Mode was even better. It had _everything_ in 3D mode and more! This time the big jump was a change in perspective. You couldn't fire from the 3 missile turrets at the same time, you had to pick one and everytime you did, your perspective and viewpoint changed. Rather confusing at first and could get you killed if you changed at the wrong time. The turrets had lasers, missiles and smart bombs. You could get powerups for both missiles and lasers. For each stage there were 3 mini-bosses and 1 big stage boss. All missiles were t-mapped polys as was the background. Awesome! The first stage you were protecting an underwater city. The 2nd stage you were protecting a floating city that had awesome looking dragons attacking it as either normal enemies or mini-bosses. If you've been looking for a Next Generation Quality title for the Atari Jag, stop looking, this is IT!

(No overall scores provided....)

-Keith C. Estanol, "Big Bad Wolf"