Subroc-3D Details - LaunchBox Games Database

Overview

SubRoc-3D (サブロック3D) is an arcade game jointly developed by Sega and Matsushita in 1982 for VCO Object hardware. It was a revolutionary title for its day, being the first video game ever to provide the end user with a 3D image. This is achieved by sending a different image to each eye via a special eyepiece mounted on the arcade cabinet. In the game, the player controls what appears to be a submarine's periscope, which can fire at various enemies and obstacles to rank up a high score. It is powered by the same hardware that was used in Turbo, and therefore makes heavy use of sprite scaling. Also, like Turbo, all scores are recorded on external LED displays, meaning extra precautions must be taken when attempting to emulate it. SubRoc-3D only saw a home port to the ColecoVision, where the novelty 3D element was removed due to hardware restrictions. For this reason, this version of the game is simply titled SubRoc. The ColecoVision version is also missing content, some of which would be restored in the Adam game, SubRoc Super Game. The 1989 Sega Master System 3-D Glasses game Poseidon Wars 3D is based on SubRoc-3D.