
	Platform Genesis Genre Side-scrolling action Developer Probe Software Publisher Acclaim Year Released 1990
Newsletter
Be notified of site updates. Sign-up for the Newsletter sent out twice weekly. Enter E-Mail Address Below: Subscribe \| Unsubscribe

Alien3

alien 3,snes

Alien 3 (A3) is based on the movie of the same name. To be more accurate, I should say it uses the same title but is radically different than the movie. The movie starts with Ripley (the hero of the first two films) crashing into a small penal colony populated some really scummy guys. The central question of the film is whether Ripley is implanted with a Queen alien embryo, but the action revolves around the group of convicts attempting to elude and kill an alien that spawned from the prison dog. It has more in common with the first film than the second that relied heavily on action without too much build-up of suspense. But it has nothing in common with the A3 game.

A3 takes place on the prison planet, with a very clean-shaven Ripley taking on wave after wave of alien baddies. Ripley has access to the guns found in Aliens (the second film) including the flamethrower and grenade launcher. (Switching gun modes is a simple button press.) While not true to the movie – as I recall they only had a few knives – it certainly makes it fun. The basic objective for each level is to rescue the prisoners (Ripley having forgotten they tried to rape her) and make sure

Advertisement

those aliens are sent all the way to Hell. Doing so shouldn’t pose too much of a problem for those comfortable with this kind of action game. (It also helps that there’s ammo strewn all over the place.) And because anything Alien wouldn’t be complete without the ubiquitous motion tracker, it’s also included.

The layout of the levels is unsurprising – lots of ladders, elevators in the middle of nowhere, dripping acid on a few

Advertisement

levels, and some hard to reach areas. Besides laying waste to everything with her gun, Ripley can jump, crouch, and climb ladders. Although, people with experience won’t have problems, new gamers are in for a challenge. Sometimes the jumping is inexact and you’ll find yourself falling great distances. This can take off quite a bit off Ripley’s energy bar, which is actually quite generous.

Graphically, A3 was pretty good looking for its time. Some of the little touches and environments are very well done: the flashes of your pulse rifle or the slaughterhouse kitchen are definite highlights. Audio is comparatively scratchy.

There are two kinds of action games that will never get old: splatting aliens and eviscerating Nazis. Both strike a common nerve in just about everyone that plays them. While A3 may not be a timeless game, it does stand as a proud example of the alien splatting genre on the Genesis. Worth a second look.

- Omni