The secret behind Duke Nukem 3D for Sega Genesis
In 1998, everyone was looking at SEGA’s next console, the Dreamcast. In Brazil, however, SEGA Genesis was still strong and supported by TecToy (Representative of SEGA in Brazil). In 1997, TecToy had done an incredible job porting Street Fighter II for Master System and then decided to go further.
At that time Duke Nukem was very popular; Released for Nintendo 64, SEGA Saturn, and PlayStation, TecToy had the idea to port this game for SEGA Genesis. To do this, TecToy decided to get the license from GT Interactive, which was a distributor of 3D Realms around the world.
However, when they were almost closing the deal, they thought they couldn’t do it because of the the SEGA Genesis’ limitations. A programmer from TecToy who had helped translate Phantasy Star (Master System Version) to Portuguese remembered an algorithm that simulated 3D labyrinths in that game.
With this solution, they were able to port a FPS game for SEGA Genesis without any extra chips. SEGA Nerds translated a part of an interview made by a Brazilian Channel, where Stefano Arnhold (President of TecToy) talks about it.
Duke Nukem 3D for SEGA Genesis is a simplified version of the game, covering the second episode of Lunar Apocalypse; The game uses flat layout and 90-degree angles. Before only available in Brazil, the game was re-released across the whole world in 2015 by Piko Interactive.
