View source for The 3-D Battles of WorldRunner

{{Short description|1987 video game}}
{{Infobox video game
| title = The 3-D Battles of WorldRunner
| image = NES3dworldrunnerbox mod.png
| caption = North American cover art
| developer = [[Square (video game company)|Square]]
| publisher = {{vgrelease|JP|[[Square (video game company)|Disc Original Group (Square)]]<ref name=ignacy/>|NA|[[Acclaim Entertainment]]<ref name=ignacy>{{cite web|url= https://www.ign.com/articles/2010/07/15/legacy-games-for-nintendo-3ds|publisher=IGN|access-date=May 26, 2020|title=Legacy Games for Nintendo 3DS|date=July 15, 2010|author=Harris, Craig}}</ref>}}
| platforms = [[Family Computer Disk System]], [[Nintendo Entertainment System]]
| released = '''Famicom Disk System'''{{vgrelease|JP|March 12, 1987}}'''NES'''{{vgrelease|NA|September 1987}}
| genre = [[Rail shooter]], [[Platform game|platform]]
| modes = [[Single-player video game|Single-player]]
| director = [[Hironobu Sakaguchi]]
| artist = [[Kazuko Shibuya]]
| programmer = [[Nasir Gebelli]]
| composer = [[Nobuo Uematsu]]<ref name=music>{{cite web|url= https://kotaku.com/457657306|publisher=Kotaku|access-date=May 26, 2020|title=Want to Meet Final Fantasy's Composer?|author=Good, Owen|date=June 27, 2009}}</ref>
}}

'''''The 3-D Battles of WorldRunner''''' (shortened to '''''3-D WorldRunner''''' on the North American box art),<ref>Packaging shortens the title to ''3-D WorldRunner'', which is not in the game.</ref> originally released in Japan as {{nihongo foot|'''''Tobidase Daisakusen'''''|とびだせ大作戦||lit. 'Operation: Jump Out'|group=lower-alpha|lead=yes}}, is a 1987 [[Third-person shooter|third-person]] [[Shoot 'em up|rail shooter]] [[Platform game|platform]] [[video game]] developed and published by [[Square (video game company)|Square]] for the [[Nintendo Entertainment System|Family Computer Disk System]]. It was later ported to cartridge format and published by [[Acclaim Entertainment|Acclaim]] for the [[Nintendo Entertainment System]].<ref name="WorldRunner"/>

For its time, the game was technically advanced; the game's [[3D computer graphics|three-dimensional]] scrolling effect is very similar to the linescroll effects used by ''[[Pole Position]]'' and many [[Racing video game|racing game]]s of the day as well as the forward-scrolling effect of [[Sega]]'s 1985 third-person rail shooter ''[[Space Harrier]]''.<ref name="nextgen">(February 1999). "Hironobu Sakaguchi: The Man Behind the Fantasies". ''[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation Magazine]]'', vol 50.</ref> ''3-D WorldRunner'' was an early forward-scrolling [[2.5D|pseudo-3D]] third-person platform-action game where players were free to move in any forward-scrolling direction and had to leap over obstacles and chasms. It was also one of the first [[Stereoscopic video game|stereoscopic 3-D games]].<ref name=WorldRunner>{{cite web|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100214125803/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=1136|publisher=All Game|access-date=May 26, 2020|archive-date=February 14, 2010|title=Synopsis|url= http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=1136}}</ref> ''WorldRunner'' was designed by [[Hironobu Sakaguchi]] and [[Nasir Gebelli]], with music composed by [[Nobuo Uematsu]]. All were later core members of the team behind the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' [[role-playing video game]] series.

==Gameplay==
[[File:3d worldrunner screen11.png|thumb|256px|left|WorldRunner battles Menacing Meanies in the first world.]]
''WorldRunner'' features many sprite-based elements that are typical of a forward-scrolling [[rail shooter]] game, where the player focuses on destroying or dodging onscreen enemies against a scrolling background.<ref name=ignacy/> ''3-D WorldRunner'' incorporates a distinct third-person view, where the camera angle is positioned behind the main character.<ref name=WorldRunner/>

As Jack, players make their way through eight worlds, battling hostile [[Extraterrestrials in fiction|alien]] creatures such as blob monsters and leaping over bottomless [[canyon]]s.<ref name=ripoff/><ref name=WorldRunner/> Each world is divided into different quadrants, and the player must pass through each quadrant before the time counter on the bottom of the game screen reaches zero. In each quadrant, the player can find pillar-like columns that house [[power-up]]s, objects that are beneficial or add extra abilities to the game character such as temporary invincibility or laser missiles.<ref name=WorldRunner/> At the end of each world's last quadrant is a serpentine creature which must be defeated to advance.<ref name=WorldRunner/> A status bar at the bottom of the screen displays the player's score, the time counter, the world number, the world quadrant, the number of bonus stars (items that increase the player's score count) collected by the player, and the number of lives remaining.

Because the game is set against a constantly scrolling screen, Jack's movement cannot be stopped, but the player can speed up or slow down Jack's pace. The player is also allowed a degree of limited horizontal movement. When fighting Serpentbeasts at the end of each world, the player is capable of moving Jack freely in all directions. Jack's basic actions consist of jumping, used to dodge canyons and enemies, and firing collectible missiles of various types to destroy enemies.<ref name=WorldRunner/>
[[File:3dworldrunner 3deffect.png|thumb|256px|right|In this screenshot, the "3D mode" has been activated. <br/> {{3d glasses}}]]
Part of the appeal and selling point of ''WorldRunner'' was its "3D mode".<ref name="gamebox"/> It was the first of three games by Square to feature such an option. To enter or exit 3D mode, players would press the select button.<ref name=ignacy/> When the 3D mode is enabled, the game uses computer image processing techniques to combine images from two slightly different viewpoints into a single image in a process known as [[anaglyph 3D]].<ref name=WorldRunner/><ref name=glasses>{{cite web|url= https://www.abc.net.au/tv/goodgame/stories/s3181649.htm|publisher=ABC Australia|access-date=May 26, 2020|date=April 5, 2011|title= Backwards Compatible: 3D Gaming}}</ref><ref name=glassy>{{cite web|url= https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2010/07/01/a-look-back-at-3d-console-gaming.aspx|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100705140705/http://gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2010/07/01/a-look-back-at-3d-console-gaming.aspx|url-status= live|archive-date= July 5, 2010|publisher=Game Informer|access-date=May 26, 2020|title=A Look Back At 3D Console Gaming|author=Marchiafava, Jeff|date=July 1, 2010}}</ref> While North American copies of the game included a pair of 3D glasses for players to view the effect,<ref name=WorldRunner/><ref name=glassy/>  such glasses were sold separately from Japanese copies.<ref>{{cite book |title=Tobidase Daisakusen (Instruction Manual) |date=1987 |publisher=Square |language=ja}}</ref>

==Plot==
Players assume the role of Jack the WorldRunner, a wild "space cowboy" on a mission to save various planets overrun by serpentine beasts.<ref name="gamebox">{{cite book|title=3-D WorldRunner (Game Box)|publisher=Acclaim Entertainment, Inc|year=1987}}</ref> The game takes place in Solar System #517, which is being overrun by a race of aliens known as Serpentbeasts, who are led by the evil Grax.<ref name="gamecase">{{cite book|title=3-D WorldRunner (Game Pak Instructions)|publisher=Acclaim Entertainment, Inc.|year=1987}}</ref> As WorldRunner, the player must battle through eight planets to find and destroy Grax with fireballs.<ref name=ripoff/>

==Development==
In a 1999 interview with ''NextGeneration'' magazine, Sakaguchi admitted that he "liked ''Space Harrier''", but said that his main reason for the development of the game was that Square owner [[Masafumi Miyamoto]] wanted to demonstrate [[Nasir Gebelli]]'s 3D programming techniques for which he had been hired.<ref>(February 1999). "The Man Behind the Fantasies". ''Next Generation'', issue 50, p. 89.</ref><ref name=hard>{{cite web|url= http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/rad-racer/|publisher=Hardcore Gaming 101|access-date=May 26, 2020|date=November 19, 2017|author=Foster, Neil|title=Rad Racer}}</ref>

==Reception==
At the time of release, ''Cashbox'' magazine praised the games visual effects and  the variety of enemies and obstacles.<ref name=cash>{{cite magazine|page=32|magazine=Cash Box|title=On the Homefront -Part III: Acclaim Entertainment Winning Praise for Software Efforts|date=March 5, 1988|author=Sharpe, Roger|volume=2|number=35}}</ref>

In retrospective reviews, the game had a mixed reception. ''[[Game Informer]]'' praises the surrealistic landscape and behind the character running capability, but noted that they were not capable of seeing the 3D effect even with the 3D glasses on.<ref name=glassy/> ''Retro Gamer'' criticized for being a seeming ripoff of [[Sega]]'s ''[[Space Harrier]]'', noting that even the bosses of both games look similar.<ref name=ripoff>{{cite web|url=https://www.retrogamer.net/retro_games80/the-3-d-battles-of-world-runner/|access-date=May 26, 2020|title=The 3-D Battles of World Runner|date=February 8, 2011|publisher=Retro Gamer|author= Retro Gamer Team|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903164801/https://www.retrogamer.net/retro_games80/the-3-d-battles-of-world-runner/|archive-date=September 3, 2014|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> They did applaud the soundtrack and the bright visuals, comparing the color palette to ''[[Fantasy Zone]]''.<ref name=ripoff/> Vito Gesualdi of ''[[Destructoid]]'' named it among the "five most notorious videogame ripoffs of all time" in 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.destructoid.com/five-most-notorious-videogame-ripoffs-of-all-time-245807.phtml|title=Five most notorious videogame ripoffs of all time|first=Vito|last=Gesualdi|work=[[Destructoid]]|date=February 22, 2013|access-date=September 24, 2016}}</ref>

Commercially, the game was met with modest success, selling roughly 500,000 copies worldwide.<ref name="nextgen"/> The sales of this game title and other titles from Square at this time were not enough for Square to stay in business, and the companies fortunes only turned around with the release of the first ''Final Fantasy''.<ref name=finalrunner>{{cite web|url= https://www.ign.com/articles/2009/06/18/ign-presents-the-history-of-final-fantasy|publisher=IGN|access-date=May 26, 2020|date=June 18, 2009|title=IGN Presents the History of Final Fantasy|author=Mix, Marc}}</ref>

==Legacy==
{{nihongo|''JJ: Tobidase Daisakusen Part II''|ジェイ ジェイ|Jei Jei}} is a Japan-only follow-up to the game released on December 7, 1987,<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=November 27, 1987 |title=発売日スケジュール表 |trans-title=Release Date Schedule |magazine=[[Famitsu]] |page=124 |issue=37 |publisher=[[ASCII Corporation]] |language=ja}}</ref> developed by the same team who did the original, but as a regular cart instead of for the Disk System. ''JJ'' was one of the few games to utilize the [[Famicom 3D System]],<ref>{{cite web |title=ジェイ ジェイ |trans-title=JJ |url=https://www.jp.square-enix.com/game/detail/jj/ |publisher=Square Enix |access-date=December 24, 2024 |language=ja}}</ref> and was Square's last work before the inception of the popular ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' franchise.

''JJ'' moves at a much faster pace with increased difficulty, plus a more "sinister" art style and use of color. The soundtrack was again composed by [[Nobuo Uematsu]], and each track was made to match the respective track from the first game.

== See also ==
* ''[[Space Harrier 3-D]]''

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|35em}}

==External links==
* {{in lang|ja}} [http://www.jp.square-enix.com/archive/tobidase/ とびだせ大作戦 | SQUARE ENIX]
* {{in lang|ja}} [http://www.jp.square-enix.com/archive/jj/ ジェイ ジェイ | SQUARE ENIX]
* {{moby game|id=/3-d-worldrunner|name=''3-D WorldRunner''}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:3-D Battles of WorldRunner, the}}
[[Category:1987 video games]]
[[Category:Acclaim Entertainment games]]
[[Category:Famicom Disk System games]]
[[Category:Nintendo Entertainment System games]]
[[Category:Platformers]]
[[Category:Science fiction video games]]
[[Category:Scrolling shooters]]
[[Category:Single-player video games]]
[[Category:Square (video game company) games]]
[[Category:Video games developed in Japan]]
[[Category:Video games scored by Nobuo Uematsu]]
[[Category:Video games with stereoscopic 3D graphics]]