Wing Commander III (3DO)

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comchia
Posts: 50
Joined: January 4th, 2020, 9:20 pm

Wing Commander III (3DO)

Postby comchia » September 17th, 2021, 2:41 am

I'm currently playing the 3DO port of one of my all-time favourite games, Wing Commander III. Compared to the MS-DOS classic, it's rather arcadey, and missing stuff like energy distribution and turret control, as well as the ground missions, but nonetheless, I enjoy it a ton, especially for how unique an experience it is, even as a fan of the original game. It adapts to the 3DO well, with attractive starships, and near-perfect multimedia mix of space combat and well-acted FMV. This is one of those that I've beaten several times over, and I'm still not bored. Any other Wing Commander fans here?

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Crummylion
Posts: 300
Joined: February 10th, 2017, 11:20 pm

Re: Wing Commander III (3DO)

Postby Crummylion » September 17th, 2021, 2:14 pm

Not a fan, but I'm genuinely intrigued by the series and its creator. To me, Chris Roberts is the American Hideo Kojima, well before Kojima was truly recognized worldwide. I mean, the man even directed his own video game adapted film, aparrently to less than satisfying results... which intrigues me even more! I already own 3 and 4 on GOG, so I need to play it when I get the chance.

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Matchstick
Posts: 977
Joined: October 26th, 2017, 6:45 am

Re: Wing Commander III (3DO)

Postby Matchstick » September 21st, 2021, 2:42 pm

Thank you so much for posting this, comchia. Wing Commander is my all-time favorite game series, and I have played every mainline entry (1-4 and Prophecy) as well as Privateer. I've been a member of the Wing Commander CIC fansite for around 15 or 20 years (though I rarely post) and have even seen every episode of the animated series when it first aired on the USA Network back in the 90s.

Yes, needless to say, there are a few other Wing Commander fans on these boards 8-)

I never got to play WC3 for the 3DO, though I did play it back in the day on my family's G3 Macintosh. Same goes for WC4 and Super Wing Commander. Of them all, I like WC4 the best, but there's no denying the breakthrough title that WC3 was.

(Spoilers for a 25-year-old-plus video game to follow...)

I can't tell you how many times I replayed that one mission where Hobbes is revealed to be a traitor and escapes the ship, giving you the option to take off after him. It's supposed to be a no-win situation, but I did manage to catch up to him, take him out, and return to the ship before it jumped to hyperspace - only for it not to give me clearance to land, and jump without me, anyway! Oh, well. Some things just have to play out for the sake of story, I guess...

As far as home console ports, I think I've played most of them. I've tried WC1 (and the Secret Missions expansion) for the SNES and WC1 for the Sega CD, as well as WC3 and WC4 for the PlayStation and Prophecy for the GBA.

I... do not recommend the GBA game, and I wasn't too impressed by WC3 for the PS1, either. But the PS1 version of WC4 is an outstanding title, and I recommended it to all of my friends years ago. None of them bought it, but I had a blast with that game, and still replay it regularly. It holds up well with great control and high-quality cutscenes, and it's fun to play a WC title from the comfort of the living room couch.

I've been meaning to give both WC3 and WC4 another go in recent times, and with my game room finally coming together, I think I'll settle down and play both titles again this winter. I have a G4 Power Macintosh tower that I've restored, and I keep OS 9 installed on it just for classic games and apps. Any CD-ROM game works like a champ, as do many old floppy titles. It's my personal favorite classic gaming machine, and what better way to put it through its paces than to buzz around the galaxy with Luke Skywalker and Biff Tannen??


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