More talk about Robotech: Crystal Dreams

Robotech: Crystal Dreams, based off the hit anime, was a cancelled game for the N64. Its developers, GameTek filed a chapter 11 bankruptcy before the game could be finished, and all of the unfinished game was liquidated. The game was supposed to come out in May of 1995 as one of the Nintendo 64’s launch titles. It was first named Robotech: Academy but it was eventually cancelled after it was shown at E3. Crystal Dreams was primarily a space shooter but in between levels your character would be able return to the home base and interact with characters to further move the story forward.

The game was originally perceived as an ambitious title that involved rendering every model in 3D. The game was also going to include over 40 minutes of dialogue and opened ended game play, allowing the players to pick up and drop missions if they favored another space organization over another. Since the game was under development before the N64 went under production and the game’s publishers weren’t sure of the new consul’s limitations, so to ensure that it didn’t go over the limitations the whole game was rendered with ugly crystal models, including enemies and character sprites (hints the name crystal dreams). Ultimately the low-resolution models were unnecessary, but the design and story had already been finished.

The resources and money required to produce a quality 3D title during this transitional period from 2D to 3D were not understood and from this the project fell behind schedule. The game’s original publisher backed out of this project and GameTek was unable to find a replacement and did not have the money to fund this project alone. The developers concluded that their design was probably too ambitious, particularly from such a small company; GameTek had only three programmers. Despite this the developers hold the opinion that they only needed another six more months to bring the title to a beta stage.

To see the screens and videos from this cancelled game, check the Robotech 64 page in the Unseen Archive!

>> Discuss this article in the U64 Forum!

No related posts.