Atari Jaguar Vs. Panasonic 3DO: A Failed Console Comparison

Software:

Despite both the Panasonic 3DO and Atari Jaguar being obviously failed consoles they still managed to amass fairly large libraries of software. Rather than just straight up comparing the games for both platforms I’m breaking it down by genre. People like different types of games and this will make it easier to figure out which of the two systems is best for you.

Platformers:

Both consoles are pretty weak on the software front. Platformers were the biggest genre in the era in which both of these systems were released. Nintendo had Mario, and Sega had Sonic. Meanwhile Atari had Bubsy and Zool. They’re hardly a worthwhile stand in. Rayman came out late in the platform’s life so it can barely be counted. Plus so few copies were printed almost no one played it here. Lesser titles like Pitfall and Flashback reared their heads here, but they’re hardly worth noting. Developers were so focused on the 3D capabilities of the system that they ignored the platformer genre almost entirely. Everything here was a pretty weak effort to be honest, except Rayman that is.

The 3DO at least had Gex. That beats just about everything the Jaguar could compete with as far as this genre goes. In addition it also had Soccer Kid (which again, is better than everything Atari’s console had in this regard except Rayman). The question here is do we value quantity over quality? That’s a tough one. Well, not really. I’ll give this one to the Panasonic 3DO just for Gex and Soccer Kid alone.

Winner: Panasonic 3DO

Puzzle:

Again, both of these platforms had small and deliberate libraries so even something like puzzle games were hard to find. The Atari Jaguar was very lacking here, but there are some original games at least. Evolution Dino Dudes is mediocre but can’t be found anywhere else. The same goes for Flipout. On the absolutely weird side we have Attack of the Mutant Penguins but this is one of those video games that makes absolutely no sense. Honestly it just isn’t fun to play. Breakout 2000 is the best puzzle game for the platform and it’s decent enough. There’s no Tetris, Columns, or anything mainstream in regard to puzzle games for the Jaguar.

Meanwhile the Panasonic 3DO had Bust-a-Move at least. This is better than anything in the Jaguar’s library when it comes to puzzle games. In addition there’s a pretty good port of Myst as well. It’s not my cup of tea, but it’s a big name and has its fair share of fans. Trip’d is the closest to a proper Tetris clone you’ll find here, but it’s weirdly complicated and not all that fun. Bust-a-Move carries the 3DO when it comes to puzzle games and gives it the obvious edge over the Atari Jaguar in this regard.

Winner: Panasonic 3DO

Fighting:

Now we’re talking. The fighting game genre was so popular that even failed consoles had their fair share of brawlers. On the Atari Jaguar front we had a lot of original games. In this case they’re almost entirely Mortal Kombat clones. Titles like Kasumi Ninja and Ultra Vortek are exclusive to the platform. The former is terrible, but the latter is kind of decent to be honest. It even got a port of Primal Rage, and it’s my favorite version of the game. Atari tried their hands at a Virtua Fighter clone with Fight for Life but it falls flat on its face. Still, a 3D fighter was pretty ambitious for the hardware. There are even a few ports here like Bruce Lee and Double Dragon V but these are mediocre.

The original fighting games for the 3DO are pretty terrible. Shadow: Wars of Succession and Way of the Warrior are awful. Where the Panasonic 3DO excels is in its ports. You have a decent version of Primal Rage (I still prefer the Jaguar one but no complaints about this edition). There’s also an amazing almost arcade perfect port of Samurai Shodown on the platform. Furthermore, you’ve also got Super Street Fighter II which wasn’t available on any other home console. Capcom even released a special controller with which to play it. I have to give this category yet again to the 3DO.

Winner: Panasonic 3DO

Role Playing Games:

Anyone familiar with either console knows this is going to be a short list for both of them. The Atari Jaguar has just one RPG (this will shock many people). Towers II: Plight of the Stargazer is the lone role playing title for the system. It’s based off of classic dungeons and dragons rules, but combat is in real-time. I haven’t been able to make it very far in this one yet because Western RPGs aren’t my cup of tea if I’m being honest. It’s decent though.

The 3DO has two different traditional Japanese role playing titles. The Guardian War is sort of a strategy hybrid and it’s decent. Lucienne’s Quest is borderline good however, with grid based movement and turn based combat. The storyline isn’t anything to write home about, and it’s ugly as all sin, but it’s better than Towers II.

Winner: Panasonic 3DO

Racing:

This category is a bit closer than most. The Atari Jaguar features an updated version of Checkered Flag and it’s okay. Nothing to write home about. There’s even a Mario Kart clone with Atari Karts but this is dreadful. Club Drive is a 3D driving game but it’s scandalously bad. The platform however excels in 2D racing games. Power Drive Rally is a fantastic isometric racer. The real highlight however is Super Burnout, and I don’t think the 3DO has a proper answer to this one. It’s exhilarating with a great sense of speed, focus on memorization, and twitch gameplay.

The 3DO is no slouch either though. It has the original version of the first Need For Speed. It’s pretty dated, but still pretty decent to be honest and one of the best looking games between both platforms. BC Racers is a Mario Kart clone of sorts and this is better than the 16-bit iterations. It’s not great, but decent. Crash ‘N Burn is like racing meets Twisted Metal. It’s decent in short bursts but suffers from the cheesy 90s motif. Road Rash is the highlight here, but in my opinion, doesn’t hold up against Super Burnout as far as racing mechanics go.

Winner: Atari Jaguar

Shooters:

For both platforms the main problem here is that this genre was on its way out by the time these were released. The Jaguar had a few of these, but no big names. Cybermorph was originally packed in with the console. It’s a free roaming 3D shooter that uses polygons. Unfortunately it didn’t really look better than the likes of Star Fox, and it was more than a little frustrating to play. Battlemorph was more enjoyable but came out for the CD add-on. Also, there was Blue Lightning which was an updated version of the Atari classic but I like it. There’s also the Iron Soldier games which are amazing.

Unfortunately the 3DO relies mostly on rail shooters for this genre, and I’m stretching by even including them. Titles like Microcosm scratch the itch for a traditional entry but they just aren’t that good. The same can be said for Blade Force. There just isn’t a lot on the Panasonic 3DO that can compete.

Winner: Atari Jaguar

First Person Shooter:

Both platforms were released in the golden age of Doom and its various clones. They were also the most capable hardware at the time so they both saw ports of the popular ones as well as original entiries. The Atari Jaguar has my favorite home console version of Wolfenstein 3D. It also has a decent port of Doom as well. Outside of this there’s Alien Vs. Predator. This just so happens to be one of the very best first person shooters of all time. It’s scary as all heck too when you’re suddenly accosted by an alien while wandering the environments.

The 3DO has both Doom and Wolfenstein. It also has a few originals. These include PO’d (a very dated FPS but one that’s still mildly entertaining), Killing Time (again, decent but hard to play now), and Space Hulk (the best original first person shooter for the platform). These were all ported to other platforms eventually. Still nothing can compete with Alien Vs. Predator so I have to give the advantage here to the Atari Jaguar.

Winner: Atari Jaguar

Sports:

This is another category that both consoles largely fail in. There are no good football games for the Atari Jaguar. The best it has is Mutant League Football. It’s mildly fun, yes, but not a proper version of the sport. Then there are a few decent soccer games but nothing amazing by any means. International Soccer is probably the best between the two systems. Now we get to NBA Jam Tournament Edition. That’s why the Atari Jaguar wins. This arcade game of hoops is incredibly enjoyable on the 64-bit failed console. Let’s just try and forget that White Men Can’t Jump was never made into an actual video game.

The 3DO had the backing of EA but they didn’t do particularly well on the console. You have a poor version of John Madden’s Football that you were stuck with if this was your only option. In addition there were a few import Soccer games but none of them were as good as what was available on the Jaguar. The FMV games don’t count, and so we have to give the edge to the Atari Jaguar.

Winner: Atari Jaguar