My Recommended 3D MAME Games

[Hierophant]

0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


Disclaimer: Awesome 3D MAME games that might not run at full speed on your system but you should try anyways!

DO include a mention in your recommendation of your system's average performance while running each 3D game (press F11 in-game to view the performance counter).

DON'T post any comments here! This thread is strictly for MAME game recommendations only and comments will be deleted without notice. Repeated failure to abide by this condition will result in a warning or, eventually, a ban. Ignorance is no excuse. I leave this thread open in good faith for the convenience of the authors involved. Please post comments in the Recommended Games Discussion thread instead.

By request, I'm adding this as a separate section of "My Recommended MAME Games" (AKA Rec Games) for anyone who wants to write recommendations for 3D MAME arcade games. The operative word here is "3D", as in 3D polygon graphics rendered in real-time. See this post regarding the game "Viewpoint". Since it's graphics are pre-rendered, not real-time, Viewpoint would still belong over in normal Rec Games, not here in 3D Rec Games. 3D MAME games bring up all sorts of problems regarding recommendation, which is why I originally excluded them from the main thread. See below:

DON'T recommend games that are not fully playable in MAME for the majority of people. Fully playable means a game is generally capable of 100% FPS during gameplay with no use of frame skipping on an average PC. This means that practically any game with 3D polygon graphics rendered in real-time is not acceptable for recommendation as, performance wise, MAME is generally not very friendly with 3D game emulation. So while Carnevil, Gauntlet Legends, etc. might be very good games, they are not suitable for recommendation here.

Apart from the obvious exception of the above, the high standards set by Rec Games apply just as equally here in 3D Rec Games. Refer to the Rec Games rules and guidelines for further info before posting recommendations here or you could waste time.

Good luck & have fun!
Hiero

[Nostalgia]

Tekken 2

Namco, 1995, Fighter / Versus





On my six year old PC, Tekken 2 runs between 80%-100% but I can't see any problems whatsoever. It may as well be a constant 100%.





I can't think of another game that chewed through more my coins than Tekken 2 at the arcades. It was arguably the best-looking and most advanced fighting game at the time, and the graphics alone definitely made a lot of people interested in it.

Tekken 2 was a hell of a lot more advanced than the original Tekken game and overall it's just more fun to play.





This is the perfect game for casuals, all the way up to professionals. Noobies, using the right characters, can often button-mash their way to some big victories.

But the real fun comes from taking the time to learn the more complicated and devastating special moves in the game. For example, there are chain grab/throw moves in this game that can take up to 100% off your health if the chain isn't broken.

I've always considered Paul to be the most effective and best overall character to use in Tekken 2, and I recommend him if you're new to the game.

Another great thing about Tekken 2 is it has a few really devastating female characters to choose from. Tekken 2 is the perfect fighter for girls who are tired of having to choose a male character to inflict serious pain.

Overall this game has been emulated pretty well (works great online, by the way), apart from some minor sound bugs every now and then which are a little bit annoying but it's not too bad.

Be sure to check out this classic!








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[eliaskeme]

Tekken Tag Tournament

Namco, 1999, Fighter / Versus





For the first time ever, Namco releases a 2-on-2 verion of Tekken.

Info: In this Tekken you get 2 characters and you start a battle against another pair of characters:



Before the battle begins there is a brief moment showing the members of each teams getting ready for action:



Although all the characters prepare for battle like they did in Tekken 3, there are certain couples that have a unique way of preparation:


"And that's how you do a perfect headlock..."

Whenever one of your characters has lost life you can replace him/her one with the other one you chose:



There is one couple in this game however which is kind of different and that is Kazuya and his evil form, Devil:



As you see before the battle you only see Kazuya and there's no sign of Devil. Another interesting thing is the way that these two characters change, they transform !!!



You win every match after you defeat one of the enemy characters and you get a perfect victory if none of your characters loses life:



Advantages: The new and awesome way of playing as well as the number of the characters, there are hundreds of combinations !!!

Disadvantages: As it says before the beginning of the game, sound emulation is not 100% accurate. You won't understand any difference in the sound until you beat the crap out of Yoshimitsu. And that's because once he receives many hits he sounds just like Law !!!

Additional Info: In my two year old PC I get an average 96% performance which is very sufficient for me and it also runs at full speed, there is no lag at all !! Another thing you should know is that you don't begin with the number of characters you saw before, the top and bottom row is empty !!! To learn how to get all these characters check Hiero's post Tekken Tag Tournament: Make Time-Released Options Permanent.

Snapshots: Here are some snapshots of me playing:




I call the team in the last snapshot "The Team of Bruce Lee"

Videos: This is my Tekken Tag Tournament video. I get Jin Kazama & Heihachi Mishima and defeat Jack-2 & Hwoarang:




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[eliaskeme]

Soul Calibur

Namco, 1998, Fighter / Versus





This is without any doubt one of the greatest games of Namco.

Info: Soul Calibur is the first Fighter/Versus game along with Tekken 3 that I had the chance to play when I was young (I also used to play Tekken and Tekken 2 but I don't actually remember many details). And I wasn't the only family member that did that. In fact my two sisters used to play that game a lot. Anyway in this game (like every Fighter/Versus) you have to proceed by defeating your enemies. But in this game you don't just strike them with massive force or with clever combos but you can also send them out of the ring with a powerful strike:



Well of course there is a variety of characters to select:



I don't know if you noticed it, but the second character from the left on the top row is Yoshimitsu from the Tekken series. This is actually my older sister's favourite character. From the first Tekken she kept using him (and still does). She is very good with Yoshimitsu, she performs his super move every time without failure:



OK, enough said about my older sister. My younger sister (she is older than me but younger than the other one) was pretty good with this game as well. She used to get Voldo and challenge me. Me ?? My favourite one was Maxi:



So here we are, my 2 sisters and I engaging in a family feud. My older one was always victorious since she was experienced playing with Yoshimitsu (although she still confuses his name with Mitsubishi), but when it was a match between Voldo and Maxi I was always victorious. I have to borrow Hiero's phrase and say it here too: "Fun for the whole family", and that's true especially if the siblings' ages are close to each others. However when I got Soul Calibur for MAME after so many years I decided to start using Voldo. He is so cool with his eyes wide shut and these blades around his hands !!! I love the sound his quick slashes produce !!! Of course all the rest of the characters are cool as well, there are so many to choose and each one is unique.

Advantages: The unique type of gameplay, the characters,the stages as well as the stage themes. Here, for example, is the stage theme of the mighty Astaroth:



Disadvantages: In Astaroth's stage and also in Arthur's there's a thick line over the character's heads that stays the same. Another problem is the sound, which is a bit buggy when it's time to select your character and before the battle begins. But when it's time for action these problems vanish

Additional info: On my 2-year old PC I get an average 87% performance which is pretty good and there's no lag at all. This game is definitely worth playing.

Videos: This is my Soul Calibur gameplay video:




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[Hierophant]

Virtua Racing

Sega, 1992, Driving / Race (chase view)





With many arcade hits already to their name, Sega really hit the jackpot again in a big way in 1992 with the highly influential Virtua Racing (VR); and that's despite the fact that the game was not meant for public release! That's right, VR was originally designed as an in-house experimental project for testing the future viability of advanced 3D graphics. Thanks to the game being such a hot ticket amongst Sega staff though, it was decided that the game should be released after all.




Flat-shaded polygons for the win!




Four viewing modes: Red – Cockpit, Blue – Follow, Yellow – Float, Green – Fly.




Three finely crafted raceways to test your skill on.


As the first game on Sega Model 1 hardware, VR represented a huge technological leap forward over previous 3D driving games. With a new level of visual intricacy and tight, simulation style controls, Sega could really lay claim to having the world's most “virtual” racing game, as implied by the game's title.




Gentlemen, start your engines!


VR arcade cabinets came in many different configurations, such as the Twin Type.




VR Twin Type.


Some setups even had additional screens for a live cast by host, Virt McPolygon!




8 player configuration with live cast screens.


The best of these was “Virtua Formula” (VF, 1993). Along with the force-feedback steering and seat effects of other versions, this super deluxe configuration also had hydraulic F1 cockpit models to sit in and large 50” main screens. There used to be an arcade near my place with link system VF cabs. I can tell you that the feeling of immersion was intense, especially when racing against other people.




VF 4 player configuration. Oh man, these totally rocked!


For better or worse, the enormous success of VR did more than any other game to pave the way for the broad acceptance of 3D graphics that exists today. The younger readers out there should definitely put aside their CoD, WoW, etc. for a while and check out where the roots of today's 3D predominance in gaming sprang from. In defiance of the advancements that have been made in the intervening years, VR still feels surprisingly fresh and vibrant, and is always great fun to play. Fire it up for yourself and see.




It feels good to get out on the open road, or in this case, a closed race track.


Waiting your entry!




Performance: On my i7, performance for VR is perfect. Even on my old P4, VR ran at or close to 100% most of the time, so the majority of people should easily be able to enjoy this awesome game on MAME.


My Virtua Racing gameplay vid.




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[eliaskeme]

Mace: The Dark Age

Atari, 1997, Fighter / Versus





Ah yes, probably my favorite Fighter / Versus game of the ones we had with its own actual arcade cabinet!

Info: The year is 1300 A.D. It's a time of darkness. Europe, Arabia and Asia have endured centuries of despair at the hands of...you know what? The game is kind enough to provide us with the story just as it starts!



As every other game of this genre, your goal is to select the character you want and beat every opponent until you face the final boss (who should have the same luck as the previous characters you encounter). Let's have a taste of the characters, shall we?



Once again, the game is kind enough to give us the information of the characters!



Ah yes, Lord Deimos, my favorite character from this game! He is just HUGE and so awesome! So, as you saw earlier before facing each character there is a pre-fight screen with the 2 characters. If you manage to beat them then there's the score screen which is...well...wicked!


"Nice try, Taria!"

I mean, severed heads? Hell yeah! Kinda makes this game Mortal Kombat-ish. It would be better if only there was some kind of fatality as well...oh wait, there is!




"There's no one better at executions than the Executioner himself!"

So yeah, so far we have an amazing 3D game with great characters and gameplay! And because of that 3D environment, most of the stages are pretty dangerous if you are not very careful! I mean there are the ones that are surrounded by lava and there are some with some "hidden" dangers!


"That was SO close !!!"

Advantages: Perfect graphics, amazing gameplay, and a big variety of characters. This is definitely an epic 3D fighting game for your collection!

Disadvantages: The game needs a very good pc in order to run smoothly. My 8-year old pc has an average 85% performance but the gameplay is kinda slow and the sound stutters sometimes especially when I tried recording my gameplay (of course as you can see below there's no problem with the actual outcome). And seriously, Executioner's stage is so freaking annoying! Spikes coming out of nowhere randomly and that big swinging axe hitting you from time to time but NEVER hurting the Executioner ?! DAMMIT!

Videos: This is my Mace: The Dark Age gameplay video.




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