Ludography
60/100
Critics1 review
More scores
GameFAQsTough
2.9/5
Player reviews
87% positive8 reviews
Runs on
Windows, Linux
Price
US$6.99

Where to get it

Tunnel B1 cover

1996 · Action · First-person shooter

Tunnel B1

Prepare yourself for dangerous underground combat action in TUNNEL B1 for the PlayStation. Command your specialized B1 hovercraft in fierce battles, as you attempt to bring down an evil madman intent on detonating a thermonuclear explosion and destroying the world. Traverse dark and ominous caverns, dank sewers, and winding tunnels at super speeds while blasting enemies and collecting hidden power-ups.

Released
31 October 1996
Platforms
LinuxMS-DOSPlayStationSega SaturnWindows
Genres
ActionFirst-person shooterRacingScienceShooterSimulation
Developers
—
Publishers
Ocean Software
Modes
Single-player
Perspective
First person
Themes
ActionScience fiction
Country
Germany
Age ratings
ESRB E
Languages
English, French, German, Italian, Spanish (Spain)
Time to beat
13hmain story13hcompletionist
Composers
Chris Hülsbeck

About

Tunnel B1 is a first-person shooter developed by NEON Software and published by Ocean Software in 1996. The soundtrack is by Chris Huelsbeck who also scored Turrican. The PlayStation and Sega Saturn ports were released in Japan as 3D Mission Shooting: Finalist (3Dミッション・シューティング ファイナリスト).

Players say

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The player character travels through a set of precarious tunnels in a high-tech hovercraft. The tunnels are filled with enemy vehicles, choppers and sentry guns which the player has to take out or avoid. Many sections require the player to clear them in a given time limit. The player can upgrade their weaponry.

A complete map of each level can be accessed at any time.

Development

NEON Software began by working on a game which alternated between segments in a hovercraft and segments in a helicopter, both running on the same game engine. Publisher Ocean Software felt the two play styles did not work well together and suggested that they split them into two separate games. The helicopter segments became Viper, while the hovercraft segments became Tunnel B1.

A demonstration at the April 1996 European Computer Trade Show impressed crowds, and Sony Computer Entertainment subsequently purchased the rights to publish Tunnel B1 and Viper for the PlayStation in North America. Ocean later sold the North American publishing rights for all versions of the game to Acclaim Entertainment, stating that they wanted to focus more on development.

Reception

Most reviews for Tunnel B1 highly praised the game's visuals, especially the lighting effects. However, most also remarked that the gameplay, while fast-paced and competently designed, is too simplistic and lacking in variety to maintain the player's interest. Some also criticized the low-to-the-ground perspective. A reviewer for Next Generation felt the game could still be worthwhile so long as the buyer didn't expect much from the gameplay, while Scary Larry and Dr.

Zombie of GamePro both contended that "a weekend rental" would be sufficient to exhaust what enjoyment the game has to offer, and GameSpot's Jeff Kitts found it too relentlessly boring to merit attention. The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly instead contended that Tunnel B1 does manage to combine its impressive visuals with flawed but overall fun gameplay. Shawn Smith and Crispin Boyer elaborated that while it does seem repetitious in the early levels, those who persevere will find the game has a satisfying amount of variety. Rich Leadbetter of Sega Saturn Magazine was pleased that, apart from the replacement of the transparencies with meshes, the Saturn conversion is nearly identical to the PlayStation original, and includes some exclusive content to somewhat make up for the loss of transparencies.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
PlayStation4 October 1996Japan · Europe 19 October 1996 · North America 21 November 1996
MS-DOS31 December 1996Worldwide
Sega Saturn15 January 1997Europe · North America 15 January 1997 · Japan 29 August 1997
Linux13 April 2018Worldwide
Windows13 April 2018Worldwide

Editions and related releases

Included in
Ocean Classics Volume 1

Games like this

Collections2 collections

Platform libraries

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.