Much like the NES, the SMS had a number of accessories produced for it, and Sega attempted to make these accessories popular (and move more product in the process) by releasing several different bundles that put the console together with different accessories and different games. The bundle that I owned was the Segascope 3-D bundle, which took the usual setup–a console with a lightgun much like the NES Zapper–and added a pair of special 3D glasses. Unlike the lame red/blue cardboard glasses you’d see with some NES games, these glasses were electronic. When connected to the console while playing a compatible game, shutters inside of the glasses would open and close thirty times a second, alternating between each eye. At the same time, the game would switch between two parallactic images at the same rate. The combination of the two would trick the brain into seeing a 3D image, one much more colorful and realistic than the old cheapo shades could offer.
The SMS had the cute gimmick of having a game built into the onboard ROM that would be playable if one turned it on without a cartridge or card inside. Since the built-in game in this case needed to demonstrate both the 3D glasses and the lightgun, Sega chose Missile Defense 3-D to be included with the bundle. Considering the few other games that supported the glasses, this was a wise choice. Unfortunately, my SMS and I parted ways long ago, so I had to use emulation to play the game once again for the first time in over 15 years. Since getting a pair of 3D glasses that would work both with the emulator and with my PC would be a silly endeavor, I have to combine what I see now with my fuzzy memory and try to come up with a fair critique of the graphics. But more on that later.
Missile Defense 3-D is a classic example of Cold War fears that were only just beginning to dissolve by the time the game was released. Two superpowers, one from the East and one from the West, have decided for some foolish reason to launch their entire complements of nuclear weapons at their respective biggest cities, East City and West City. (I’ll only give you one guess as to which real-life nations and cities this might be referring to.) You have apparently been designated by a neutral third party as the only hope the world has to escape disaster, and have been given control of a few orbiting laser satellites (controlled by your lightgun) to end the threat.
There are five rounds to play through in Missile Defense 3-D before the aggressors run out of missiles, each consisting of two waves of nuclear attack, one each from the two superpowers. Each wave involves three phases: the missile launch at the allied base, an intermediate stage where the missiles travel, and the enemy city which is the missiles’ destination. Since the Western nation uses cruise missiles while the Eastern nation uses ICBMs, the stages differ between the two sides and each wave requires a different strategy to defeat. The difficulty increases as the rounds progress and the leaders of the nations get fed up with your interference, first increasing the number of missiles you have to destroy and then making the missiles faster and more evasive. Some of the missiles will also target you, and you only have so many lasers before you’re helpless against the onslaught. Even worse, a laser’s destruction keeps you from shooting for a time, and if even one missile hits a city, the game is over.
As with any good shooting game, Missile Defense 3-D allows you to work towards a high score in addition to completing the game. Though you have to destroy every missile, you get more points for blowing them up early and a bonus if you destroy them all before you even get to the city phase of the stage. If you somehow manage to make it to the end of the game, you get a big bonus for winning as well as bonus points for each laser you have left. Missile Defense 3-D is one of a few games that actually has a maximum score, which makes it more interesting to compete against yourself even after you’ve finished the game, not to mention competing with others.
So far, Missile Defense 3-D is a fairly normal shooting game despite the somewhat unusual premise. What makes it stand out, of course, is the 3D element. As I said earlier, I have to rely in part on my memory for this, but I do remember being impressed and astonished by the game’s graphics (especially when the missiles pop through the screen to attack you), and the rest of my family and friends also reacted positively. Even looking at the game on an emulator with only half of the video outputted, I can see the fluid animation of the missiles as well as the odd angles that they’re viewed from as they fly about. I’m quite certain that these effects would be magnified with the addition of the 3D view.
The most amazing thing, really, in this age of Cell processors and waving around controllers like idiots is that we haven’t seen anything quite like this since. Sure, there was that X3D thing for the PC a few years ago, but nothing was made to take advantage of it to my knowledge. And the less said about the Virtual Boy the better. Anyone who says that much the same effect has already been accomplished with polygonal graphics obviously hasn’t been exposed to this kind of technology. It was truly way ahead of its time and I have to wonder if any major game company will ever go back to it. Until that happens, though, if you have the chance to play a real SMS with a 3D game, especially if it’s Missile Defense 3-D, you should take it.
