Overview

Full Name: Captain Quazar
Code:
Type: Run and gun
Developer: Cyclone Studios
Publisher: The 3DO Company
Language: English
Release Date: Feb 1996
Region: NA
Barcode: 7 90561 02379 1
Local Title:
Rarity: 1
Notes:

Overview

Captain Quazar is a science fiction third-person action game by developer Cyclone Studios, The game is a tongue-in-cheek science fiction adventure. The player controls the title character—a not-too-bright, futuristic, Rambo-style law enforcement officer—as he crosses the galaxy on missions for his irate police chief.

Game Play

The player controls Captain Quazar from a third-person, isometric view. The player is able to utilize a variety of futuristic and fantastical guns, missiles, and bombs. Different weapons can be picked up or bought at the beginning, and at certain places within each level. Enemies can also occasionally be interrogated for information, which can open up secret levels and items. The game only allows the player to save at the beginning of each level.

Development

Captain Quazar was Cyclone Studios' first project. For six months, founders Helmut Kobler and Ron Little worked on a basic prototype for the game, Kobler creating the game design in his apartment in Palo Alto, California while Little coded the game in his apartment in East Oakland. They then took the prototype, character designs, and scripts to 3DO, who decided to fund the game.

Reception

Upon release of the 3DO version, the four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly applauded the high level of action, cartoonish and humorous graphics, compelling cinemas, and the enormous levels. However, they complained of difficulty with the aiming. A reviewer for Next Generation agreed that the aiming does not work well due to a combination of tricky controls and the unusual perspective, and found that the humor falls flat. He additionally criticized that while the level design is often ingenious, the difficulty is much too high, and concluded the game is "not offensive, or even in the groan category, just dull, like some cousin at the family reunion who's the only one laughing at all his jokes." GamePro's review came several months late, with the explanation that the magazine had never received a review copy of the game, but was much more enthusiastic than EGM and Next Generation. Reviewer Scary Larry called it "one of the best action games on the 3DO", commenting positively on the humor, graphics effects, music, sound effects, large amount of content, and fun gameplay, though like the other critics he acknowledged that the aiming is tough to get a handle on.

Electronic Gaming Monthly editors named Captain Quazar their 3DO Game of the Year. While they noted that far fewer 3DO games had come out in 1996 than in previous years, they felt that with its fast-paced action and high replay value, Captain Quazar genuinely merited an award (whereas other systems which had been discontinued during the year, such as the Atari Jaguar, 32X, and CD-i, were not allotted their own category in EGM's "Best of '96" awards).

Magazine Reviews

Name	Date	Region	Rating	Notes
3DO Magazine	Oct 95		100%	An incredibly fun, cartoon-styled mega-blaster. One or two heroes must shoot their way through to capture three crimelords, each with their own personal planet consisting of huge, sprawling isometric levels. Absolutely everything can be blown to pieces with more mind-boggling explosions than a Warner Bros cartoon.
GamePro	Jun 96		100%	Captain Quazar plays like a Sunday-comics version of Loaded, but don't let that stop you from enjoying one of the best action games on the 3DO. The captain is in charge!
Video Games & Computer Entertainment	Dec 95		90%	So, only the question remains: is Captain Quazar the character destined to be the 3DO mascot? Not likely, although the possibilities of the noble Captain mixing it up with Sony's whip-cracking Sofia are intriguing, to say the least. For now, let's just appreciate Quazar for the brilliant shooter that it is.
Computer and Video Games (CVG)	Mar 96		87%	Running around, trashing everything is a rare thrill. In fact I can't remember a more action-packed, unabashed arcade-style blast ever appearing on 3DO. Even after all that, there are some strategic points to consider. For example Quazar can't get everywhere just by blowing stuff to pieces - he often requires a passcode or appropriate key to move on. With cool titles like this, the 3DO is sure to win over many new fans. It's got me hooked anyway.
GameFan Magazine	Dec 95		87%	Captain Quazar may seem a tad quirky at first, but once you learn to strafe and begin to pile up some missions, you begin to see the designers' vision. This is a huge isometric adventure meant to make you explore and explore and explore. The graphics are among the best I've seen on the system and quite frankly, it's nice to see something hand drawn and action-oriented on the 3DO. Maybe this is what they should have been doing all along.
Power Unlimited	May 96	Template:Flag-nl	85%	Melig platform/schietspel met top graphics, top geluid en een tweespeler optie. De levels zijn heel groot en de actie is vooral heel leuk met twee spelers. Bovendien zijn er acht save-game opties.
Video Games	Dec 95		82%	Alleine schon wegen der genialen Musik lohnt sich die Anschaffung von Captain Quasar. Gleich zu Beginn seht Ihr ein computergeneriertes Musikvideo, das auch bei MTV einen Ehrenplatz verdient hätte. Der fetzige Country-Dance-Mix aus dem ersten Level könnte von den Rednex stammen, und auch die weiteren Stücke würden in jeder Dorfdisco für Stimmung sorgen. Ansonsten ist bei Captain Quasar Action pur angesagt. Der Finger bleibt ständig auf dem Feuerknopf, von allen Seiten greifen ununterbrochen irgendwelche häßlichen Aliens an. Dank der comicartigen Grafik wirkt das eigentlich martialische Spielprinzip aber eher witzig als brutal. Obwohl es eigentlich in fast allen Spielabschnitten immer nur darum geht, möglichst alles in die Luft zu jagen und das eigentliche Ziel fast zur Nebensache wird, kommt nie Langeweile auf. Bei Captain Quasar wurde endlich mal mehr Wert auf Spielspaß als auf Grafik gelegt, das Resultat ist ein erstklassiges Action-Game.
Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM)	Jan 96		Rating	This is the type of title many players could get into. Even though it is a basic run-and-shoot game, it is still a load of fun to run wild, toting that gun (which is the size of a horse's leg) blasting through everything in front of you. Good graphics and plain mission objectives allow players to jump in and go wild. The intro is another original idea with a Quazar-rap and the cosmic-style characters. The only thing that brings this down is the repetitiveness.
Player One	Apr 96		75%	Bref, si Captain Quasar, relativement bien réalisé, est défoulant au début, il ne reste malgré tout qu'un petit jeu d'action sympa.
Mega Fun	Date		61%	Hände hoch, denn hier kommt Studio 3DOs Captain Quazar! Ein Spacecop mit überdimensiona1er Wumme, der auf Anhieb sympathisch wirkt. Seine ballerlastigen Abenteuer werden von einem realistischen FX-Sound, der der einfallslosen Hintergrundmusik leicht den Rang abläuft, angenehm untermalt. Allerdings ist die Steuerung unseres Helden (aufgrund der gewählten Perspektive) in punkto Präzision leicht problematisch. Das heißt, gezieltes Auslöschen der witzig aussehenden Gegner, wird vom Glück beeinflußt. Die Tatsache, daß der Schwierigkeitsgrad relativ kernig ausgefallen ist und das Spiel sehr umfangreich gestaltet wurde, trägt in großem Umfang dazu bei, daß man durch taktisches Hantieren mehr erreicht, als durch sinnloses Munitionsverschwenden. Das wird vor allem bei den geständigen Sträflingen klar, denn wenn Ihr hier einen nervösen Finger am Abzug habt, geht die wertvolle Information für immer flöten.
Game Players	Feb 96		54%	Marred with complications, Captain Quazar is a let-down on several levels and though there have certainly been worse action games, it's not difficult to find better.
Next Generation	Feb 96		40%

- Need review page

Other Versions

After the demise of the 3DO, the title was ported to the PC.

Credits

Lead Programmer Ron Little
Lead Artist Greg Savoia
Director Helmut Kobler
Designer Helmut Kobler
Producer Rich Shane
Background Music Burke Trieschmann
FX Burke Trieschmann
Character Animation Robert Terrell, Tim Elston
Additional Design Tim Ryan
Level Layout Tim Ryan
Additional Programming Randy Carr, Jeff Landauer, Hong Park, Jon Cortelyou, Subha Ghoshal, Al Chang
Additional Gameplay Art Maarten Kraaijvanger, Mark Holmes, Yujin Kiem
Assistant Producer Michael S. Jablonn