Alien 3

For the unreleased Mega-CD version, see Alien 3 (Mega-CD). For the Sega System 32 arcade game, see Alien 3: The Gun.

n/a

Mega Drive Master System Game Gear
Alien 3
System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear
Publisher: Arena Entertainment Acclaim Japan (JP)
Developer: Probe Software
Supporting companies: Eden Entertainment Software (programming, some graphics?)
Distributor: Ecofilmes (PT) Hent Gruppen (SE rental) Tec Toy (BR)
Licensor: Twentieth Century Fox
Sound driver: Krisalis sound driver
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1, 1-2
Release Date RRP Code US 1992-10 $49.9549.95 T-81096 EU 1992-11 T-81096-50 DE 1992 DM 119.95119.95 T-81096-50 ES 199x PT 199x MDJ81096 UK 1992-11 £39.9939.99 T-81096-50 SE (Rental) 199x T-81096-50 AU 199x BR 199x EU 1992-10-21 MK-27043-50 DE 1992-10 DM 89.9589.95 MK-27043-50 PT 199x UK 1992-10-21 £34.9934.99 MK-27043-50 GR 199x AU 199x BR 199x JP 1994-05-27 ¥4,5004,500 T-81047 US 1992-11 $39.9539.95 T-81048 EU 1993-01-05 T-81048-50 DE 1993-01-05 DM 89.9589.95 T-81048-50 UK 1993-01-05 £27.9927.99 T-81048-50
Non-Sega versions No results

Alien³ (エイリアン3) is a side-scrolling video game based on the movie of the same name. It was developed by Probe Software and published by Arena Entertainment for the Sega Mega Drive, Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear, Amiga, and Commodore 64 in 1992.

Certain liberties were taken from the original movie due to gameplay reasons. Movie had little to none gunfights and had only one alien. It has been suggested that the game was completed before the movie was released, as it has a completely different ending than the movie.

Both a Sega Mega-CD version and a Japanese Mega Drive version were planned, but not released.

Story

Following the events of Aliens, an egg hatches aboard the United States Colonial Marine spaceship Sulaco, releasing a facehugger alien. A fire starts and the ship's computer launches an escape pod containing Ellen Ripley, Newt, and Hicks, all in cryonic stasis, along with the damaged android Bishop. The pod crash-lands on Fiorina "Fury" 161, a mining planet and penal colony inhabited by male inmates with a genetic predisposition for antisocial behavior. Ripley and an alien organism are the sole survivors of the vessel. The aliens are now multiplying in number, and Ripley must destroy the aliens and rescue their captives.

Gameplay

Mega Drive version

The game is a side-scrolling action game played as Ellen Ripley, who is armed with multiple weapons. Ripley's task in each stage is to find and rescue all of the hostages and reach the exit within a time limit, while contending with the xenomorph invaders. There are five worlds with four stages each. The last stage of each world is a boss encounter. Stages are large and maze-like, with hostages sometimes very well hidden. Ripley has a radar (in the top-right of the screen) that shows the location of nearby aliens and hostages, but the radar is battery-powered and deactivates if Ripley does not replenish it with battery pick-ups. The time limit and number of remaining hostages is shown in the top-center of the screen.

Ripley moves with and and crouches with . She jumps with . She starts every stage with an assortment of four weapons. Weapons are selected with and fired with . The machine gun and flamethrower weapons have rapid-fire. Ripley can shoot while crouched but not while jumping. All weapons have limited ammunition, but ammo pick-ups are available in the stages. Hostages are rescued and items are picked up by touching them. Ripley climbs ladders or uses elevators with and . While on a ladder, she fires her weapon directly upward but can also fire it downward with +. She activates switches with (for opening doors).

Ripley has an energy meter, which depletes as she takes damage from aliens, hazards, or long falls. She is also momentarily stunned after taking damage, costing time. Facehuggers jump on Ripley, sap her energy, and stun her until the player breaks out of it by moving the D-Pad around rapidly. Ripley loses a try if she runs out of energy or runs out of time, restarting the stage if the player has lives remaining. Ripley starts each stage with full energy, full time, and a standard amount of ammunition. After losing a life, she starts the stage over from the beginning, with full time and energy but with the same amount of ammunition as before (except for weapons with no ammo, which are reloaded with the standard amount) and without any of the hostages she had previously rescued.

There are three difficulty levels (Easy, Normal, and Hard), which affect the starting amount of ammunition and time for each stage. The player can also set the initial number of tries available. The game has no continues and no password system.

Weapons

	M41 Pulse Rifle
	The United States Colonial Marines standard-issue rifle, which fires 10×24mm caseless cartridges. Low damage but can be used to keep most aliens at bay due to its rapid-fire capability. It is the most versatile weapon as it can be fired while moving. It can also be aimed in diagonal directions using the D-Pad while firing.
	M240 Incinerator Unit
	A flamethrower. Very short range but fires rapidly.
	U1 Grenade Launcher
	Underbarrel 30×71mm grenade launcher for the M41. Fires slowly but has devastating firepower.
	M40 HEDP Grenade
	Palm-sized hand grenade. Ripley throws them in a parabolic arc or in a straight line when crawling (when clearing aliens in tunnels). When used on a ladder, they are dropped directly downward.

Items

	Medpack
	Restores part of Ripley's energy.
	Pulse Rifle Ammo
	Increases Ripley's supply of Pulse Rifle ammunition by 50 units.
	Incinerator Fuel
	Increases Ripley's supply of Incinerator ammunition by 30 units.
	Grenade Rounds
	Increases Ripley's supply of Grenade Launcher ammunition by 10 units.
	Hand Grenades
	Increases Ripley's supply of Hand Grenade ammunition by 20 units.
	Battery Pack
	Extends the runtime of the radar.

Worlds

	World 1
	World 2
	The second stage of this world does not have any hostages to rescue, so Ripley must only reach the exit.
	World 3
	The second stage of this world has no enemies to fight.
	World 4
	World 5
	The first stage of this world only has one enemy to fight.

Versions

The Sega Mega Drive version appears to be the "definitive" version as it contains parallax scrolling backgrounds and additional stage details not found in any other version (for example, animated lights and flowing liquids in world 4). Sound quality is only marginally inferior to the Amiga release. The game is not region protected and runs on any region hardware.

The Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear versions are basically identical in terms of content to the Mega Drive. Master System version has a "two-player mode". However, it is not simultaneous two-player play, it is turn based: player two starts after player one dies (similar to the Master System version of Alien Syndrome).

Different games based on the movie were released on the Super NES (which has Metroid-style gameplay) and the Game Boy (which is a top-down shooter with limited adventure mechanics).

History

The Game Gear version was once scheduled to be published in Japan by Sega themselves. Ultimately, the game would end up being published by Acclaim Japan.

Production credits

Mega Drive version

• Design and Production by: Probe Software
• Programmer: Tim Round of Eden Software
• Producer: Joe Bonar
• Graphics: Lee Ames, Lloyd Baker, Richard Beston, Jason Green, Joe Bonar, Tim Round, Hugh Riley
• Mapping: Richard Beston, Lloyd Baker, Joe Bonar
• Music and Sound Effects: Matt Furniss
• Sound Driver: Shaun Hollingworth
• Design Support: Fergus McGovern, Tony Beckwith, Neil Young, Keith Burkhill, Tim Round, Mike Archer
• Quality Assurance in the UK: Adrian Curry, Ian Wickenden
• And in the US: Tom Gibson, Joe Libertella, Dan Feinstein, Don Nauert, Lucy Fenn, Jane Biddle, Seth Rubine
• Technical Support: Carl Muller, Stuart Middleton

Source:

In-game credits

Master System and Game Gear versions

Alien 3™

©™1992 Twentieth Century Fox

©1992 Acclaim Entertainment Inc

• Design and Production by: Probe Software
• Producer: Joe Bonar
• Design Support: Fergus McGovern, Tony Beckwith, Neil Young, Keith Burkhill, Tim Round, Mike Archer
• Programmer: Keith Burkhill
• Graphics: Hugh Riley, Lisa Wand, Mark Jones
• Mapping: Hugh Riley, Lisa Wand, Keith Burkhill
• Music and Sound Effects: Matt Furniss
• Technical Support: Carl Muller, Stuart Middleton
• Quality Assurance in the UK: Adrian Curry
• And in the US: Tom Gibson, Dan Feinstein, Don Nauert, Seth Rubine and many others

Source:

In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: Alien 3/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Main article: Alien 3/Promotional material.

Physical scans

Mega Drive version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source (FR) 89 №13, p66-68

	89
Based on 1 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score (RU) 50 (BR) 100 (SA) 88 (SA) 85 (DE) 68 (IT) 86 (RU) 60 (UK) 90 (RU) 50 (RU) 50 (UK) 89 (UK) 90 (US) 92 (IT) 90 (US) NTSC-U 88 (DE) 67 (UK) PAL 89 (ES) 91 (RU) 70 (FR) PAL 94 (FR) PAL 91 (UK) PAL 62 (UK) PAL 62 (UK) PAL 79 (UK) 89 (DE) PAL 75 (UK) PAL 94 (ES) 78 (UK) 89 (UK) 89 (ES) 92 (FR) 77 (DE) 82 (UK) 90 (DE) 66 (DE) 69 (UK) PAL 82 (UK) PAL 87 (UK) PAL 77 (SE) 83 (UK) PAL 92 (BR) NTSC-U 87 (FR) 88 (RU) 63 (GR) PAL 82 (US) NTSC-U 80 (DE) 68

	80
Based on 47 reviews

Alien 3

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual PCB

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart Manual Manual (back) PCB PCB (back)

Mega Drive, ES (US import, Extra Spanish Manual)
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, PT (White Box Printed)
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, SE Rental (HENT black)
Cover
Manual Manual (back) PCB PCB (back)

Mega Drive, SE Rental (HENT orange)
Cover

Mega Drive, AU
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, BR
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score (DE) 58 (FR) 53 (UK) PAL 80 (ES) 90 (FR) 84 (FR) PAL 80 (DE) 70 (FR) 65 (DE) PAL 73 (UK) PAL 72 (UK) PAL 90 (UK) PAL 90 (SE) 95 (UK) PAL 77 (BR) 86 (DE) 63

	77
Based on 16 reviews

Alien 3

Master System, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, PT
Cover

Master System, GR (Zegetron)
Cart Manual

Master System, AU
Cover
Cart

Master System, BR
Cover
Cart Manual

Game Gear version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score (JP) NTSC-J 53 (FR) 55 (UK) 92 (US) NTSC-U 73 (UK) 91 (JP) NTSC-J 53 (US) NTSC-U 75 (UK) PAL 80 (FR) 87 (FR) PAL 83 (ES) 78 (UK) 90 (FR) 69 (DE) 72 (UK) PAL 88 (UK) PAL 88 (UK) PAL 90 (UK) PAL 84 (DE) 63

	77
Based on 19 reviews

Alien 3

Game Gear, JP
Cover
Cart

Game Gear, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Game Gear, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Technical information

Main article: Alien 3/Technical information.

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
✔	CRC32 a3b00d6e MD5 f9e32be60028206b3716f64f2ba0ab00 SHA-1 1f4b969592f98d2692cb06eca550da9c03062593	512kB	1980-01	Cartridge (US/EU)
✔	CRC32 b327fd1b MD5 793b92cd4a66921db6ca4f582a690db5 SHA-1 26959752d0683298146c2a89599fa598d009651b	512kB	1992-10	Cartridge (US/EU)	Rev. 01
✔	CRC32 b618b144 MD5 7d6b3351e820b6afa7cf80713dc139e3 SHA-1 be40ffc72ee19620a8bac89d5d96bbafcefc74e7	256kB		Cartridge (EU)
✔	CRC32 11a68c08 MD5 653310b476cab68eeb8d3520c26b9755 SHA-1 f3b976fefc331f37c3e4d883791eba68890279a5	256kB		Cartridge (US/EU)
✔	CRC32 06f6eebb MD5 25decd5633847246b38fb9188496d2c8 SHA-1 f09885d76ea7af75fb605261a08143d3ccdc4ca8	256kB		Cartridge (JP)

References

Alien and Predator games for Sega systems/published by Sega
	Alien 3 (1992) | Predator 2 (1992) | Aliens (unreleased) | Aliens vs. Predator (unreleased) | Operation: Aliens (unreleased)
	Alien 3 (1992) | Predator 2 (1992)
	Alien 3 (1992) | Predator 2 (1992)
	Alien 3: The Gun (1993)
	Alien Trilogy (1996) | Aliens vs. Predator (unreleased) | Alien: Resurrection (unreleased)
	Aliens: Crucible (unreleased) | Aliens vs. Predator (2010) | Aliens: Colonial Marines (2013) | Alien: Isolation (2014)
	Aliens: Infestation (2011)
	Aliens: Colonial Marines (unreleased)
	Alien: Isolation (2014)
	Alien: Isolation (2019)
	Alien: Isolation (2021)
Sampler Discs
Alien Trilogy Taikenban (199x) | Preview Sega Saturn Vol. 1 (199x)
Alien and Predator related media
	Alien: Isolation Original Video Game Soundtrack (2024)
	(2013)
	(2010) | (2012) | (2013) | (2014)