As a teenager, I was ready to get back into video games after having been a big Nintendo fan as a kid. I had the choice between getting a Super Nintendo or a Sega Genesis. My friend Ian had convinced me that the Sega Genesis was cooler, better. Sonic the Hedgehog had some levels that were in 3D. Three D!! And then there were all these intriguing add-ons like the 32X and Sega CD drive. It could play actual CDs! I had never even used a CD before. But the clincher for me was Alien 3.
Alien 3 was a game that was very loosely adapted from the movie of the same name. It was more like the video game version of Aliens that we never got on the home consoles with lots of guns and violence and little of the existentialism of the David Fincher movie. According to my video game magazines at the time, it was going to be bad ass. And it was coming out for both systems. But it was coming out on the Genesis first. Sold!
So, I got my Genesis, I got my copy of Alien 3 and it was…okay. It was a little repetitive but the worst part was that there was no Queen at the end. Surely this had to have been some mistake. There was even a reference to the queen in the instruction manual. What the hell!
Later, I rented a Super Nintendo and a copy of Alien 3 for that system and I realized the great cost of my impatience. While the game play is very similar, comparing the two games, it is almost hard to believe that they are in the same software generation. The SNES version has vivid, eye-popping graphics and gorgeous stereo sound. How could I have been so stupid?
Years later, I bought a copy of some SNES games on eBay to use with my roommate’s old Super Nintendo. I bought Alien 3 and, surprisingly, it had not aged badly at all. I had some fun with it for a few hours, but not long enough to forget my ill-advised fling with the Sega Genesis.My copy of Alien 3 for the Super Nintendo is sitting in a drawer right now with a copy of Super Mario All Stars and an old Xbox controller.
For the Genesis:
For the SNES:
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