The Third World War, released in Japan as , is a 1993 turn-based strategy game for the Mega-CD developed by Micronet. A Sega Genesis/Mega Drive version was planned, but never released. The objective of the game is to defeat an opponent computer player in order to prevent starting a Third World War. Gameplay Players are tasked with competing against a computer player as a nation of their choosing in the past (i.e. during the Cold War), present-day, or future. Each nation has its own strengths and weaknesses, and the player is given a limited number of terms to develop their nation's society, technology, and military power. Players are able to choose from one of 16 nations to lead: The United States of America, Russia, Japan, Germany, China, France, the United Kingdom, India, Brazil, Canada, Australia, Iraq, Israel, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, or Libya. Several other areas in the map are gray in most game options and are not selectable to control, but are conquerable (examples would include Cuba, Vietnam, Mexico, and Ethiopia). Victory is achieved in one of two ways: a military victory or an economic victory. To achieve military victory, players must conquer 51 different nations. Once the 51st location is conquered, a small speech by the chosen country's leader will commence. Reception Entertainment Weekly gave the game a C and wrote that "Assuming the leadership of any one of 16 countries, players negotiate treaties, deploy armed forces, and shore up their economies in this complex, menu-driven brain strainer. But while it's hard to dislike any game that includes options like 'aid terrorism' and 'manipulate media,' Third World War is a bit dull-by the time the shooting starts, you'll probably have tuned in CNN to catch the real thing." See also Risk; its versions for Commodore 64 and Macintosh computers share several similarities to this game. References External links Third World War at GameFAQs 1993 video games Alternate history video games Cancelled Sega Genesis games Cold War video games Micronet co., Ltd. games Sega CD games Sega CD-only games Single-player video games Video games developed in Japan Video games set in Africa Video games set in China Video games set in Cuba Video games set in England Video games set in Iraq Video games set in Saudi Arabia Video games set in the United States World War III video games