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April 11th, 2014 
Carl Williams 
The 3DO did not have a lot of “classics” per se but there were a few really really good titles. It is true some of the best 3DO titles are made by either Electronic Arts or Crystal Dynamics. There were other great games released as well though. Prolific Publishing, known for one game, hit a home run with their only release.. Time Warner Interactive brought the Silent Software Inc. title, Return Fire, over to the original PlayStation in 1996. This was about a year after it hit the 3DO (where it got an expansion pack).
Amazing and free soundtrack
What most gamers will remember about Return Fire is the soundtrack- all public domain goodness (seriously, there are some good PD songs). Jump in the helicopter and Richard Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries plays, drive the jeep and be greeted with Flight of the Bumblebee. There is even the William Tell Overture that plays when you are in possession of the flag among a couple of other songs that play in key moments in Return Fire.
Impressive effects
One cool thing about Return Fire is the intro to the level. Somewhat like Mode 7 on the Super Nintendo, though MUCH better, scaling and rotation are incorporated quite well. The camera doesn’t stay stationary at a birds eye view of the proceedings (similar to Jungle/Desert/Urban/Nuclear/Soviet Strike games)- nope, in the camera zooms in and out, bobs and weaves to get the best view of the action.
Return Fire is better in two player mode
Besides the music, Return Fire is known for its extremely tense two player mode- long before Internet gaming, we had to sit in the same room with our opponents. This led to lots of trash talk and possibly a few friendships lost over really tense/cheap battles.
Return Fire is available on Windows, 3DO and PSOne. There are currently no digital re-releases available that we know of. If you want a copy of this great game check eBay. For more 3DO games check out our coverage here.
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Similar to Wargames Defcon 1. Sometimes little bit frenetic and with confusing camera angles but still very playable game and one of the best in its genre.
I will have to check out Wargames Defcon 1, never heard of that one before. Thanks for the tip.