Crash 'N Burn | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Crystal Dynamics |
Publisher(s) | Crystal Dynamics |
Director(s) | David Burke |
Producer(s) | Mark Wallace |
Designer(s) | Mark Cerny |
Programmer(s) | Bill Mitchell Bill Willis |
Artist(s) | Cyrus Lum Steve Kongsle |
Writer(s) | E. Daniel Arey |
Composer(s) | Burke Trieschmann |
Platform(s) | 3DO Interactive Multiplayer |
Release | |
Genre(s) | Racing, vehicular combat |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Crash 'N Burn is a futuristic racing/shooter video game developed by Crystal Dynamics and released for the 3DO in 1993. [2] The game was the launch title for the system and was included as a pack-in game with Panasonic's original 3DO console. [3]
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In Crash 'N Burn, players assume the role of any one of six cyberpunks, each equipped with a unique car and a deadly supply of weapons. Full-motion videos of the racers are accessible in between races, in which each character flaunt their skills and insult their opponents with death threats. The game has rally and tournament modes with a total of 30 tracks designed for one player. [4]
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The game is set in the year 2044 AD. [4]
Crystal Dynamics was formed on July 8, 1992, by Sega veterans Judy Lange, Madeline Canepa, and Dave Morse. Crystal was the first licensed developer for 3DO, a gaming hardware platform simultaneously funded by Kleiner Perkins. Mark Cerny joined the company, but he left to work for Universal Interactive Studios. In 1993, Strauss Zelnick, president of 20th Century Fox's film studio, was hired to run Crystal Dynamics. This made national news and helped to touch off the frenzy of multimedia investments of the mid-1990s. [5] A 1993 editorial in Electronic Gaming Monthly declared that "the hottest new video game company on the upscale scene is definitely Crystal Dynamics." [6]
Crash 'N Burn was conceived and produced by Mark Wallace and developed by Crystal Dynamics, with Bill Mitchell and Bill Willis as lead programmers and Mark Cerny as designer. [4] [7] [8] Its development team required a small number of artists, including Steve Kongsle. [9] The project was directed by David Burke and E. Daniel Arey was responsible for writing the script used for the product. Burke Trieschmann acted as a composer for the game's score. [4] [7]
The launch of the 3DO in October 1993 received a great deal of attention in the press as part of the "multimedia wave" in the computer world at the time. Return Fire , Road Rash , FIFA International Soccer and Jurassic Park Interactive had been slated for launch releases but were pushed to mid-1994 due to the developers' struggles with the sophisticated hardware. [10] The 3DO Company also made continued updates to the console hardware almost up to the system's release, which resulted in a number of third-party titles missing the launch date and in some cases by less than a month, because the developers were not left enough time to fully test them on the finalized hardware. [11] Its only software available at launch was Crash 'N Burn. [10] [12] Panasonic also failed to manufacture an ample supply of the console in time for launch day, and as a result most retail stores only received one or two units. [13] By mid-November, it had sold 30,000 units. [14]
In an interview shortly after The 3DO Company dropped support for the system, Trip Hawkins pointed out that it was essentially a lack of coordination between the company, Panasonic and the console's software developers which had led to it launching with only one game ready. [15]
Publication | Score |
---|---|
AllGame | [16] |
Consoles + | 95% [17] |
Edge | 8 / 10 [18] |
Electronic Gaming Monthly | 7 / 10 [19] |
Famitsu | 19 / 40 [1] |
GamePro | 16.5 / 20 [20] |
Génération 4 | 96% [21] |
Hyper | 82% [22] |
Video Games (DE) | 75% [23] |
Entertainment Weekly | B+ [3] |
Game Zero Magazine | 79.0 / 100 [24] |
Publication | Award |
---|---|
GameFan (1993) | Best Driving Game (3DO) [25] |
Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game a 7 out of 10. They described it as "a complex and exciting game once you get into [it]", but felt that it was not a strong enough game to sell a system as expensive as the 3DO. [19]
GamePro praised the game as having the best racing game graphics ever seen in a home system, and also complimented the striking cast of characters, the variety of tracks, and the shopping feature. However, they criticized the lack of multiplayer and the relative shallowness of the racing gameplay (in particular that cars cannot get into crashes), and concluded it to be "a good, not a great, ride." [20]
Crash 'N Burn received the Best Driving Game award from GameFan's 1993 Megawards. [25]
Due chiefly to the unexpectedly slow growth of the next generation gaming market, Crystal Dynamics's massive expansion in its early years failed to pay off. [26] [27] In 1996 new CEO Ted Ardel announced the company was cutting one third of its workforce and stepping aside as a publisher to focus strictly on games development. [26] For several months the company functioned without a president, with Ardel managing the day-to-day operations until Rob Dyer was promoted to president on April 4, 1997. [28]
After Crash 'N Burn, Crystal Dynamics would later become known for developing the Legacy of Kain and Gex series of video games, as well as later entries in the Tomb Raider franchise, starting with the 2006 title Tomb Raider: Legend . [29] [30]
The Atari Jaguar is a home video game console developed by Atari Corporation and released in North America in November 1993. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it competed with the 16-bit Sega Genesis, the Super NES and the 32-bit 3DO Interactive Multiplayer that launched the same year. Powered by two custom 32-bit processors – Tom and Jerry – in addition to a Motorola 68000, Atari marketed it as the world's first 64-bit game system, emphasizing its 64-bit bus used by the blitter. The Jaguar launched with Cybermorph as the pack-in game, which received divisive reviews. The system's library ultimately comprised only 50 licensed games.
The PC-FX is a 32-bit home video game console developed by NEC and Hudson Soft. It was released in 1994 and discontinued in February 1998, as NEC's final home video game console. Based on the NEC V810 CPU and CD-ROM, it was intended as the successor to the PC Engine. Unlike its predecessor, the PC-FX was only released in Japan.
The 3DO Company, also known as 3DO, was an American video game company. It was founded in 1991 by Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins, in a partnership with seven other companies. After 3DO's flagship video game console, the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, failed in the marketplace, the company exited the hardware business and became a third-party video game developer and published well-known games series like Army Men, Battletanx, High Heat Major League Baseball and Might and Magic but It went bankrupt in 2003 due to poor sales of its games. Its headquarters were in Redwood City, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, also referred to as simply 3DO, is a home video game console developed by The 3DO Company. Conceived by entrepreneur and Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins, the 3DO was not a console manufactured by the company itself, but a set of specifications, originally designed by Dave Needle and RJ Mical of New Technologies Group, that could be licensed by third parties. Panasonic produced the first models in 1993, and further renditions of the hardware were released afterwards by GoldStar, Sanyo, Creative Labs, and Samsung Electronics in 1997.
The fifth generation era refers to computer and video games, video game consoles, and handheld gaming consoles dating from approximately October 4, 1993, to March 23, 2006. The best-selling home console was the Sony PlayStation, followed by the Nintendo 64 and Sega Saturn. The PlayStation also had a redesigned version, the PSone, which was launched on July 7, 2000.
The Panasonic M2 is a video game console platform developed by 3DO and then sold to Matsushita, a company known outside Japan by the brand Panasonic. Initially announced as a peripheral chip for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, it was later unveiled as a standalone console. The console was cancelled in 1997, but the M2 technology was incorporated into other devices.
Mark Evan Cerny is an American video game designer, programmer, producer and media proprietor.
1993 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden, Mortal Kombat II, Secret of Mana, and Super Street Fighter II, alongside new titles such as Star Fox, FIFA International Soccer, Doom, Gunstar Heroes, Myst, Samurai Shodown, Ridge Racer, NBA Jam, Disney's Aladdin, and Virtua Fighter.
Crystal Dynamics, Inc. is an American video game developer based in San Mateo, California. The studio is best known for its games in the Tomb Raider, Legacy of Kain, and Gex series.
Slam City with Scottie Pippen is the first FMV basketball video game. It was developed by Digital Pictures for the PC and CD-ROM-based video game consoles such as the Sega CD. Scottie Pippen stars in the game, and performed the theme song. Ron Stein, who had previously directed the video footage for Prize Fighter, directed the video footage for the game. A 3DO Interactive Multiplayer version was announced but never released.
The Need for Speed is a 1994 racing game developed by EA Canada, originally known as Pioneer Productions, and published by Electronic Arts for 3DO in 1994. It allows driving eight licensed sports cars in three point-to-point tracks either with or without a computer opponent. Checkpoints, traffic vehicles, and police pursuits appear in the races.
Gex is a platformer game developed by Crystal Dynamics. It was originally released for the 3DO in 1995; ports of the game for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn were later developed by Beam Software, and a Windows version was released by Microsoft. It was a pack-in game for Panasonic models of the 3DO later in the console's life. It is the first in the Gex series of video games, and introduces players to the title character, a wisecracking, television-obsessed gecko voiced by comedian Dana Gould, who must venture through the "Media Dimension" and defeat Rez, the overlord of the dimension who wants to make Gex into his new network mascot.
Guardian War is a console RPG or tactical role-playing game released for the 3DO console. It is notable for its use of 3-D animation which was uncommon for console RPGs at the time. It is also known as Powers Kingdom in Japan and Europe, and is one of the few 3DO games which is region-protected. This only applies to the PAL game and console. Both NTSC versions can play on both US and JP consoles.
Total Eclipse is a space flight simulation video game developed and published by Crystal Dynamics for 3DO. It was later ported to the PlayStation under the title Total Eclipse Turbo. The game was copyrighted in 1993 and released 1994. Total Eclipse Turbo was a launch title for the PlayStation in the U.S., with the game's released date predating the North American console launch by 11 days. A sequel, Solar Eclipse, was released for Sega Saturn and PlayStation.
Burning Soldier is a 1994 rail shooter video game developed by Genki and originally published by Panasonic and Pack-In-Video in North America, Japan and Europe exclusively for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer. The first title created by Genki for the 3DO platform, the game is set in a futuristic Solar System in 2095 where a war against humanity erupts with the arrival of the Kaisertian alien race, as players assume the role of an Earth Defense Force fighter pilot taking control of the mecha-style Strike space fighter craft in an effort to overthrow the invaders and end the conflict. Its gameplay mainly consists of shooting mixed alongside full motion video with sprite-based enemies imposed on them using a main two-button configuration.
Samurai Shodown, known in Japan as Samurai Spirits, is a fighting game developed and published by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home platform. Released in 1993, it is the first installment in the Samurai Shodown series. In contrast to other fighting games at the time, which were set in modern times and focused primarily on hand-to-hand combat, Samurai Shodown is set in feudal-era Japan and was SNK's first arcade fighting game to focus primarily on weapon-based combat.
IMSA World Championship Racing is an unreleased sports prototype racing video game that was in development and planned to be published by Studio 3DO on a scheduled fall 1997 release date exclusively for the Panasonic M2. Had it been released before the launch of the console was cancelled, it would have become the first officially licensed title by the International Motor Sports Association and one of the first titles to be launched before the system it was designed for.
Road Rash is a 1994 racing and vehicular combat video game originally published by Electronic Arts (EA) for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer. A version for the Sega CD was developed simultaneously and released in 1995 to act as a "bridge" between the 3DO version and the Sega Genesis title Road Rash 3, and the game was subsequently ported to the PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and Microsoft Windows in 1996. The game is the third installment in the Road Rash series, and is centered around a series of motorcycle races throughout California that the player must win to advance to higher-difficulty races, while engaging in unarmed and armed combat to hinder the other racers.