3D Tanx

The Good
In the early Eighties, a small British company called dk’Tronics made a name for themselves in the hardware scene, releasing peripherals mainly for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC. They also released a few games later, and one of them was 3D Tanx, a game that I classify as being right up there with classic arcade games with a simple objective and no plot. I actually expected this to be a clone of Battlezone, but that isn’t the case here.

You control a gun turret whose object is to nuke as many tanks as you can before you get hit yourself. To destroy a tank, you have to hit it with a cannon twice: once to destroy the hull - immobilizing it - then another to take out the body. If you get hit, the game is over. The game is presented in a third-person perspective and you can see a tank as soon as you start the game. So, as you can see, this is a fry cry from Atari’s game. Even dk’Tronics themselves have simply called it “Tanx” to illustrate the point.

I was impressed with the way you can aim your turret at one of the five lanes a tank can travel on, simply by pushing the joystick up and down. I was also impressed by its animation; you can actually see it jerk back and shoot. The bridge is well designed with nine support beams holding it up, and the tanks that travel along it are drawn nicely. It is rather neat that the tanks face you when they are about to fire back, and you can see your turret being wrecked when you get hit. The scribbles at the bottom of it correspond to the five lanes on the bridge, and you should use it as a guide.

I like the customization options this game offers. You can set the difficulty level, practice a game (no tanks fire back at you), and decide how much ammo you want to start with. You can even display a scoring table and some instructions on how to operate the tank. Players who are new to the game might want to practice and choose to have a large stock of ammo, just to get used to the game before restricting themselves. An asterisk appears besides the option indicating that it is selected, and a nice “ting” sound is heard. The tanks move much faster at the most difficult setting.

The Bad
When I manage to immobilize a few tanks, I found that I could not destroy them, even though they are on the same lane.

The Bottom Line
3D Tanx is a good game by a company that used to produce their own hardware. It boasts impressive animations and a high level of customization. If you are into classic arcade games like Depthcharge, where the object is to kill as many of your enemies before time runs out, then this game is right up your alley.