Despite the considerable technical capacities at the time, the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer was one of the video game flops of the first half of the 90s, which can be attributed to an exorbitant sales price when it was released and the hegemony of Nintendo and SEGA at the time. 25 years after his official death, enthusiasts are showing that the Trip Hawkins console hasn’t shown everything it’s capable of.
The legendary original Tomb Raider is currently being ported to 3DO. And at the time of writing, a playable version of the project is already available. As shown in the video accompanying this message, there is currently talk of a demo version “early alpha
This demo makes it possible at the moment to discover several Tomb Raider environments that have been ported to 3DO. But as the video shows, the game is currently suffering from a relatively low frame rate. Since the port is not yet at an advanced stage of development, there is still a need for optimization.
Tomb Raider on 3DO, but not only
For your information, this unexpected port of Tomb Raider was created as part of the OpenLara initiative. OpenLara is an open source, cross-platform engine that is associated with the original Tomb Raider games. And if this 3DO demo is playable on a vintage console, it will also work on 3DO emulators.
It should also be noted that the OpenLara project is not solely aimed at porting Falling Raider to 3DO. Versions for many other platforms are also at different stages of development. For example, the PS Vita, 3DS, Switch, Xbox and even the Game Boy Advance are affected.
3DO, a machine with untapped potential?
That being said, it’s interesting to see a Saturn and PlayStation landmark spinning on 3DO. If their fate had been less tragic, the console from The 3DO Company would actually have been in direct confrontation (in more detail) with the 32-bit consoles from SEGA and Sony.
In fact, production of the Trip Hawkins console ceased in late 1996. As gamers know, the war for 32-bit consoles was only just beginning.
In any case, the work of the makers of OpenLara begs the question of how far 3DO could have been taken. Although it was less powerful than the other 32-bit, its full potential was never realized. What hits released on Saturn and PlayStation could have worked well? Players will certainly never know.
What do you think of this Tomb Raider 3DO port project? Does he impress you? Would you like to play it? Have you ever played on a 3DO? If so, what did you think? Tell us all about it in the comments below.
