In 7th grade, I won a radio contest that netted me $200, a radar detector, and tickets for the local amusement park. We had a Sega Genesis for a number of years, but it just seemed to be lacking. Selling off the radar detector to a pawn shop, I went into the Electronics Boutique and scoped out the prices of the systems. At this time (1997, I think), the only two 32-bit options were the Playstation and the 3do. The Playstation had just came out in the last few months, and it was still selling for $400, while the 3do was already marked down to $300. I blew the whole wad of my cash on the 3do, and started out with the 3-d shooter Total Eclipse. And, I�m hear to say, the 3do is STILL the best goddamn system out there. When it came to the broad spectrum of games, the simplistic controller, or even just the memories I had with it, the 3do is the shit.

The whole family would grow to love the 3do, and we bought games for it fairly regularly. My dad got The Daedalus Encounter, a stupid-as-ass FMV puzzle game that starred Tia Carrere, and my sister played the fps shooter Escape From Monster Money. I ran through the two AD&D games, Slayer and Deathkeep, as well as blew a big chunk of my money on the Japanese import RPG Guardian War. Other games that we bought included the bizarre-as-hell game show games Zhadnost, and the Rob Zombie-soundtracked Way of the Warrior. Way of the Warrior got extra coolness points due to the absurd attacks and names of the character � Crimson Glory was the biker chick of the group, and the character model for Gulab was just so far over the top to make absurdity seem reasonable.

However, the best game that we had during our time with the 3do would have to be Hell. Considered by many to be one of the worst games ever released, I honestly think that is why I liked it so damn much. Hell had incredible amounts of problems with objects not being triggered, but the story behind it is just so compelling � you have to figure out why the Hand, the ruling government in 2095, has put designs on your life. I never got finished with the game, but it really pandered a lot to my cyberpunk-dork leanings. I sold my 3do for money quite a few years ago, to get my bass, but my sister actually bought another 3do a few months ago, and even picked up Guardian War. I still need to dig up another copy of Hell, and perhaps I can finish it this time! If you missed the 3do the first time, either buy a used system (very cheaply, of course), or get a emulator/rom set for the 3do. You wont be disappointed.