3D Deathchase

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3D Deathchase

Developer(s)	Mervyn Estcourt
Publisher(s)	Micromega (UK), Ventamatic (Spain)
Release date(s)	1983
Genre(s)	Racing, shoot-em-up
Mode(s)	Single player
Platform(s)	ZX Spectrum
Media	Cassette tape
System requirements	16K
Input	Joystick, keyboard

3D Deathchase is a 1983 computer game written for the ZX Spectrum by Mervyn Estcourt and published by Micromega in the UK and Ventamatic in Spain. It is one of the earliest examples of a first-person shooter.

The player controls a motorcycle as it pursues two other motorcycles through a forest. The player's motorcycle is equipped with forward-firing guns with which to shoot its quarry. The projectiles can be controlled mid-flight simply by steering the bike. If both enemy motorcycles are destroyed, the player moves to a nighttime version of the same level. If both enemy motorcycles on that level are destroyed he moves up to a daytime level of the next stage (with more trees to avoid). There are also tanks and helicopters which appear on the horizon and can be shot for bonus points.

[edit] Critical response

It received a positive reaction from the gaming press, garnering praise for what was then an advanced form of 3D gameplay. A contemporary review in the ZX Spectrum gaming magazine CRASH described 3D Deathchase as "an extremely simple idea for a game, and utterly compelling to play" and awarded the game 92%[1]. In 1992, it was nominated as the best Spectrum game ever by journalist Stuart Campbell in Your Sinclair magazine[2].