Nuclear Rush

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Nuclear Rush title.png

Nuclear Rush
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Developer: FutureScape Productions
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Status of prototype(s): Source code compiled
Peripheral(s): Sega VR

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Nuclear Rush is an unreleased Sega Mega Drive tank combat game for use with the Sega VR headset, developed by FutureScape Productions and slated to be published by Sega. Intended to be the hardware’s pack-in game, it features gameplay similar to Battlezone and Stellar-Fire.

It is the only Sega VR game to be accurately preserved, and a playable version was publicly released in November 2020.[1]

Plot

As “nuclear pirates”, players navigate an attack hovercraft across a post-apocalyptic United States, defeating the legions of armed robots that guard former nuclear reactors to scavenge any remaining radioactive waste.[2]

Development

FutureScape Productions artist Rick Lucey states that work on Nuclear Rush was completed; however, numerous lingering hardware glitches would eventually see the game's release permanently shelved.[3]

Preservation

On November 20, 2020, the Video Game History Foundation and Gaming Alexandria announced the release of a late prototype of Nuclear Rush. FutureScape Productions co-founder Kenneth Hurley had retained his copy of the game’s source code, and was able to successfully compile a working ROM image.[1]

Quotes

... Kevin spent much of the Nuclear Rush development cycle working without access to Sega VR hardware. Prior to receiving the Sega VR prototype headset, Kevin even tried to rig up his own solution to simulate a stereo flicker effect by rapidly flipping a composite signal between monitors.

Difficulty obtaining prototype hardware may have been a common theme among developers, given Kevin’s experience in conjunction with another account from Alex Smith, lead programmer on the Sega VR title Outlaw Racing. In response to one of Dylan’s questions about the headset, Alex shared that he never saw the prototype hardware. This would seem to further narrow the list of games which actually implemented Sega VR support, even among the games developed with Sega VR in mind. We’re all the more fortunate to have come upon one of the games which did manage to fully implement support for the headset!

The Video Game History Foundation Head of Digital Conservation Rich Whitehouse[1]


Production credits

  • Developed By: FutureScape Productions
  • Programmed By: Kevin Mcgrath, Matthew Hubbard
  • Graphics By: Tom Collie, Rick Lucey
  • Music By: Davorin Kuchan
  • Design By: Kevin Mcgrath
  • Produced By: Carl Mey
Source:
In-game credits


Promotional material

1993 Sega Catalog.pdf

PDF
1993 Sega of America trade catalogue. The game’s screenshot is erroneously swapped with Outlaw Racing.
1993 Sega Catalog.pdf

Images

References

External links


Sega VR
Topics Technical specifications | Magazine articles | Promotional material | Ono-Sendai Corporation
Games Iron Hammer | Matrix Runner | Nuclear Rush | Outlaw Racing