So, how do you improve an already excellent game? You make it in 3D, of course! 3D Mine Storm is essentially the same game as 2D Mine Storm but with a very effective 3D aspect added to it. 3D Mine Storm was the pack-in game that came with the Vectrex 3D Imager and it was never released alone.
To play the game, you must connect the 3D Imager to joystick port 2 and set up the special colour wheel specific for this game. When the game starts, the disc spins and it gives the playing field both depth (a rather effective 3D effect, I must say) and colour. As in 2D Mine Storm, your goal is to destroy all the mines in the field without being destroyed. The difference here, though, is that now the mines are at different “levels” of depth making it impossible to hit them until they are in the same 3D plane as your ship. This, off course, adds to the strategy at playing the game but, otherwise, the strategy is very similar to that of 2D Mine Storm. The control scheme is also the same, so shifting from the 2D version to the 3D version doesn’t require learning a new way to control the ship. If you are able to get a 3D Imager, you owe it to yourself to get this game if it does not come with the unit. GCE managed to make what was already a fun game even better with this release.
