Alien 3 Review

While the first two Alien films have received universal acclaim, the third installment is often considered to be the black sheep of the franchise. Alien 3 had a troubled production history and was the first of many disappointing sequels. However, since the movie was released in the early 1990s, the series was long overdue for a video game adaptation. We’re going to take a look at the Super Nintendo version and see how it compares to its flawed source material.

You play as Ellen Ripley, the sole survivor from the previous movies. After crash-landing on the prison planet of Fiorina 161, it’s up to her to protect the inhabitants from an Alien outbreak. The main problem with this setup is that it's somewhat inaccurate. In the film version of Alien 3, there was only one Alien and the characters didn’t have access to any weapons. To be fair, though, you’d be hard-pressed to find a licensed SNES game that’s 100% accurate to the original movie.

Right off the bat, the graphics are pretty well done. The dark and dreary stages are a great representation of the environment from the original film. Some areas are dimly lit or shrouded in mist, which gives the game a creepy atmosphere. In terms of gameplay, the controls are well executed for the most part. Each of the face buttons provide you with a different attack. Y lets you use a flamethrower, X launches a grenade, and A fires the pulse rifle. This method of switching between attacks is convenient and makes effective use of the SNES controller’s buttons.

In most 2D side-scrollers, the objective is usually to get from point A to point B before time runs out. This game, however, takes a non-linear approach. You’re sent on missions that can be played in the order of your choosing. Most of them involve rescuing prisoners, destroying Alien eggs before they hatch, or fixing machinery. This involves some backtracking throughout the stages, which some might find tedious after a while. I, however, find it to be a welcome change of pace. This 2D open-world style of gameplay is slightly reminiscent of the Super Metroid series.

A commercial that's short and to the point. Who needs gameplay footage when you can just show the box art?

You have to conserve your ammunition, which is difficult given the number of enemies you face. Most run & gun games at the time would provide the player with a bottomless clip, but the scarcity of ammunition makes you think more carefully about how to approach the situation. Also, if you die early on in the game, you have to start from the beginning, so the high stakes add to the tension. I like to think of this game as a strange precursor to the survival horror genre.

The game over screen features a very detailed rendition of the Alien with saliva dripping from its teeth. In a comedic moment, you hear the iconic “Game over, man!” line from Aliens, which makes me wonder whether this game was meant to be based on the second movie. If you manage to beat the game, they surprisingly included the bleak ending of Alien 3. (SPOILER ALERT) In the movie, Ripley had a Queen embryo gestating inside of her, so she chose to take her own life in order to prevent the Aliens from being weaponized. The NES and Sega Genesis versions erroneously ended with Ripley surviving the events of the movie, so it’s interesting that the SNES version got it right.

Despite the many issues with the film, the video game tie-in is underrated, though a bit of a missed opportunity. The game really should have been based on the second film instead of the third. That way, the use of guns and multiple Aliens would have made for a better representation of the source material. It’s entirely possible that this game would have had a better reputation had it not been associated with the third film in the franchise.

I’ll leave you with the most 90s Alien commercial I’ve ever seen.

Seriously. It’s a work of art.