ONM Remembered – Never Reached The Shelves Week, day 3
“(no, really – apparently Hitler recognises the supernatural power of the perfect N64 cartridge)”
from N64 Magazine issue 14 (April 1998)
Raiders of the Lost Cart! What is this? A whole eight pages dedicated to talking about unreleased games?! Be still, my beating heart!
It’s kind of funny that even in 1998, a single year after the console’s European release, there were enough unreleased games to dedicate a whole feature to them. I’m not complaining, though, I lap this stuff up. I don’t know about the rest of you, but forget you, it’s my website, buddy.
Of the fifteen games showcased, only five of them saw eventual release on the N64. Some of these games seemed positively mythical back in the day, particularly Robotech: Crystal Dreams; my brother pored over those screenshots for a long, long time. The game has an interesting development history, a case of three enthusiastic dudes unprepared for the new hardware and undone by publishing and budget woes. Doug Lanford, one of the programmers, has an adorably passionate webpage on the game that’s been around since the time of dinosaurs, and is worth checking out.
Seeing the game itself in action, though… well, hm. It’s nowhere near as exciting as the screenshots in the magazine.
(which only now have I acknowledged are simply mock-ups)
(my brother’s 12 year old self would be so pissed if he knew that)
There’s also an interesting chat with the folks at DMA Design at the end, regarding developing for the N64 and how vitally important it is to know what a console is capable of.
