Primal Rage 3DO Review

Release

Primal Rage was released in the arcade in 1994. It was subsequently ported to many consoles including the 3DO. The 3DO port was developed by Probe and published by LG Electronics in 1995.

A Roster of Ancient Dinosaur Deities

Primal Rage is a high-octane fighting game that pits ancient dinosaur deities against each other in a battle for supremacy. The game features a roster of seven unique prehistoric characters, each representing a different aspect of the new Urth:

1. Blizzard: The ape god of good, wielding the power of ice and snow.
2. Armadon: The thyreophoran God of life, harnessing the energy of nature.
3. Talon: The raptor god of survival, a master of stealth and agility.
4. Sauron: The tyrannosaur god of hunger, a ferocious force of destruction.
5. Chaos: The ape god of decay, a chaotic force of entropy.
6. Vertigo: The cobra goddess of insanity, a master of mind games.
7. Diablo: The tyrannosaur god of evil, a dark and sinister presence.

Gameplay and Mechanics

Each character boasts a unique set of three attack moves and special abilities summoned by pressing 2/3 or 4 buttons simultaneously with the correct joypad motions. This allows players to unleash devastating combos and strategic manoeuvres. The goal is to deplete the opponent’s health bar before your own reaches zero.

The battles unfold across seven distinct stages, each representing the domain of a specific character:

• The Cliff: Blizzard’s icy fortress
• The Hollows: Armando’s lush, verdant realm
• The Strip: Talon’s arid, unforgiving terrain
• The Cove: Sauron’s dark and mysterious depths
• The Ruins: Chaos’s crumbling, ancient city
• The Tomb: Vertigo’s eerie, subterranean labyrinth
• The Inferno: Diablo’s fiery, hellish domain

Visuals and Sound

The original arcade version was developed by Atari artists using traditional stop motion animation techniques (see the related video on this page) and boasted huge colourful sprites and detailed backgrounds whilst using a simple 4 button attack layout. Unlike most fighting games Primal Rage requires that you hold down a button combination and then execute the joypad moves. Atari did change this in later releases of the arcade version but for the consoles this strange, reversed button/joypad hybrid remains.

Primal Rage was ported to numerous platforms: 3DO, PlayStation, Sega 32X, Atari Jaguar CD, Sega Saturn, Amiga, Mega Drive/Genesis, Super Nintendo, Sega Game Gear, Game Boy and PC CD-ROM.

The best and most arcade true version of the game would appear  on the Midway Arcade Treasures 2 for PS2, Xbox, and Nintendo GameCube.

3DO Specifics

The dinosaurs on the 3DO version are unfortunately 15% smaller than the arcade but larger and more detailed than the 16 Bit console versions which are 20% smaller than the 3DO game. The largest dinosaurs appear in the Saturn version that was last to be ported to home consoles in 1996 but only ran at 30 FPS.

The 3DO uses the update 2.3 version of the arcade code as opposed to 1.7 used in other 16 Bit versions. The 3DO version also has an added FMV intro movie and character specific FMV clips. These movies are very poorly done and look very lazily executed. It’s better to switch off these animations in the options and see the original cartoon like arcade intro that appears after the intro screen.

Primal Rage plays better if you use the 6 button Capcom stick and after a while its possible to get the hang of pressing button combos followed by joypad moves. The game does offer combos and  fatalities like the famous Chaos urinating fatality (removed in the SNES) and various other gory endings. The 3DO version is certainly fun to play, has good animation and retains most of the arcade features. To beat the game, you need to play it on 10 difficulty setting, eat worshippers on a special level to extend your basic health bar and then challenge all the other opponents one after the other.

While the visuals may not be arcade perfect, the 3DO version showcases impressive character designs and animations for its time. The sound effects, though limited, effectively complement the game’s brutal nature.

Summary

Despite its flaws, Primal Rage on the 3DO is a hidden gem for fighting game enthusiasts. It offers a unique and gory experience that’s worth checking out, especially for those who are prepared to learn the slightly goofy buttons followed by joypad combos.

Primal Rage Marketing

There were many lucrative Primal Rage action figures launched by Playmates at the time,  along with a series of comic books and comic novels (see slideshow) . These proved lucrative for Atari and probably netted them more money than the actual coin-op.

Legacy and Primal Rage 2 Sequel

Atari followed up Primal Rage with a Primal Rage 2 arcade game in 1996 which used human style gods as Avatars of their dinosaur counterparts (see video). This enabled the gods to transform into their dinosaur alter-ego to unleash special attacks. This version never got properly released in arcades and was unplayable until recently on home PCs. There is now a version of MAME that has been forked to allow the game to play- you can download that version from my site here.

The list of characters in Primal Rage 2 were:

• Kaze: Avatar of Blizzard
• Tor: Avatar of Armadon
• Keena: Avatar of Talon
• Arik: Avatar of Sauron
• Shank: Avatar of Chaos
• Malyssa: Avatar of Vertigo
• Sinjin: Avatar of Diablo
• Xiao Ming: Avatar of Slashfang
• Necrosan: The final boss of the game