About this game
3-D WorldRunner is a 1987 pseudo-3D action game developed by Square and originally released in Japan on the Famicom Disk System as Tobidase Daisakusen. Players run forward through a scrolling alien landscape, leaping over obstacles and battling serpent bosses across eight worlds. The game supports anaglyph 3D viewing with red-blue glasses, making it one of the earliest home console games to offer a stereoscopic display mode. Its development team — Hironobu Sakaguchi, Nasir Gebelli, and Nobuo Uematsu — would reunite the same year to create the original Final Fantasy.
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The Story Behind
In early 1987, Square was a small company experimenting with different genres. Tobidase Daisakusen was one of several games developed by the trio of Sakaguchi, Gebelli, and Uematsu in the period leading up to Final Fantasy — a trial run for a creative partnership that would define the company. Nasir Gebelli, a programmer who had come to Square from the Apple II scene in the United States, was particularly responsible for the pseudo-3D perspective technique that made the game's forward-scrolling view possible on Famicom hardware. The game demonstrates how Square's technical ambitions in 1987 were focused on pushing the visual limits of the platform before Final Fantasy redirected that energy into storytelling.
Tricks & Tales
The development team behind 3-D WorldRunner — Hironobu Sakaguchi (design), Nasir Gebelli (programming), and Nobuo Uematsu (music) — is the same trio that created the original Final Fantasy just months later in December 1987. The game supports anaglyph 3D: pressing the Select button switches the display to a red-blue format compatible with standard paper 3D glasses, an option that was genuinely novel on home hardware. The game was published in Japan under the 'DOG' label — an abbreviation of Disk Original Group, Square's brand for FDS releases — rather than directly under the Square name.
Collector's Guide
Region & Compatibility
Released in Japan on Famicom Disk System (March 1987) as Tobidase Daisakusen. Released in North America on NES cartridge (September 1987) as 3-D WorldRunner by Acclaim. The Japanese FDS version is less commonly found than the NA NES cartridge, which had broader distribution.
Available in our shop
Hand-cleaned and tested units shipped worldwide from Toyohashi, Japan. HP direct purchase exclusive: we include a printed shop owner's note card with every order.
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