BLUE STINGER | March 25, 1999
Blue Stinger is an action-adventure game developed by Climax Graphics and released in 1999. The game was published in Japan by Sega and in Western regions by Activision as a console title. The story follows emergency rescuer Elliott Ballard, who becomes trapped on a monster-filled island called Dinosaur Island and must collaborate with fellow survivors and an alien entity named Nephilim to uncover the source of the monsters. Gameplay involves exploring the island as Elliott, using various weapons found or purchased during the game to fight monsters and find items to progress to new areas.
Producer and co-writer Shinya Nishigaki was inspired to create Blue Stinger as an homage to Western action films. Pre-production began in 1996 with a team of 18 people. Notable American staff included monster designer Robert Short and storyboard artist and camera consultant Pete Von Sholly. The music was composed by Toshihiko Sahashi. The game received mixed reviews from journalists, praised for its gameplay and presentation but criticized for its camera and voice acting in several outlets. While sales were low in Japan, it was successful in North America, selling 500,000 copies worldwide.
In Blue Stinger, players control either Elliott Ballard or Dogs Bower as they explore Dinosaur Island, which is overrun by monsters. Players navigate a 3D environment to progress the story and unlock new areas. The Japanese version uses a fixed third-person camera similar to the early Resident Evil series, while the Western version features a fixed third-person camera behind the character with an optional first-person mode. In addition to main missions, there are optional side missions where players can obtain new weapons or items. If a character loses all health, the game ends, returning to the title screen to load a previous save.
Gameplay emphasizes switching between Elliott and Dogs as they explore various areas of the island to find key items like access cards. The game includes eight large environments, ranging from outdoor areas like ports to indoor locations like laboratories and malls. Some environments contain passive hostile elements, such as extreme temperatures, indicated by a status bar. Players encounter enemies during exploration and can fight with weapons purchased from vending machines using money found in the environment or dropped by enemies. Larger enemies and bosses have dedicated health bars. Each character has different strengths and weaknesses: Elliott moves quickly and can use multiple weapons and swim for a limited time, while Dogs moves slowly, can use only one weapon at a time, but can defend himself and fight with his fists.
65 million years ago, an asteroid collided with Earth, leading to the extinction of dinosaurs and paving the way for humanity. In 2000, an earthquake caused the Yucatán Peninsula to sink, revealing an island left at the asteroid impact site, named "Dinosaur Island," where the international biotechnology company Kimra established a research community. In 2018, Elliott Ballard, a member of an emergency maritime rescue team, is on vacation near Dinosaur Island with his friends when a small asteroid lands nearby, creating a barrier and trapping the team. The asteroid emits light that takes the form and name of Nephilim, a lucky charm for the team, and connects to Elliott. Shortly after, monsters appear and attack their boat, leading to the team's presumed death. Elliott escapes to the monster-infested Dinosaur Island with Nephilim.
During his exploration of the island, Elliott discovers that the asteroid is the egg of a hostile alien life form called "Dino-Site." The DNA of Dino-Site can mutate other life forms. During an attack, Elliott accidentally ingests a mutant's vomit and begins to mutate, while Dogs prepares to kill him if the mutation becomes irreversible. The group finds a serum to reverse the mutation, saving Elliott just in time. Nephilim communicates with Elliott and Janine telepathically, revealing she is the spirit of a second asteroid and an alien entity fighting against Dino-Site. The three humans allow Nephilim to reunite with her original body, and she defeats the original Dino-Site. Meanwhile, Elliott and Dogs destroy clones created by Kimra during their experiments. Nephilim bids farewell to Elliott, revealing that the team is still alive. In a post-credits scene, Nephilim transforms into the Dino-Site asteroid and is launched from its shell, with more Nephilim asteroids tracking them.
The concept of Blue Stinger was conceived by Shinya Nishigaki, a developer who had previously worked at Enix and later Climax Entertainment. Nishigaki drew inspiration from the films of Steven Spielberg, Akira Kurosawa, John Carpenter, and Joe Dante, particularly citing Carpenter's film The Thing as a specific influence. He viewed Blue Stinger as a tribute to Western action movies. To develop the game, Nishigaki and the CGI department at Climax Entertainment formed an independent "sister company" called Climax Graphics. Pre-production began in September 1996, following the completion of Dark Savior.
Initially developed for the Sega Saturn, Blue Stinger was reworked into a Dreamcast title at Sega's request. The redesigned game drew additional inspiration from Resident Evil, Enemy Zero, and Alone in the Dark. Full production began in December 1997 after Sega approved the prototype, with debugging occurring from late January to early March 1999.
The staff comprised 18 members from Japan's Climax Graphics and 10 from North America, working on initial design and localization. Nishigaki produced the game and co-wrote the script, with notable team members including director Koji Aoyama, lead programmer Kazuaki Yokozawa, art director Ryosuke Murakami, and character designer and co-writer Masaki Segawa. The game designer was Atsushi Yamamoto. Nishigaki invited Robert Short to design creatures and create 3D models through his American connections during college, while Pete Von Sholly was hired as the camera director and also handled the game's storyboards.
Although classified as a cinematic action-adventure game, Nishigaki did not want it to fit into traditional game genres. He described the theme of the game as "witty" or "humorous," aiming to differentiate it from horror-centric titles in the Japanese 3D adventure market. The environments were designed to minimize repetitive elements, and care was taken to create a realistic atmosphere. Character movements were animated using motion capture, and the game engine could not display both characters simultaneously on-screen. Initial plans included having Dogs as an AI companion providing humor alongside Elliott, but due to time constraints, Janine could not be made a playable character.
Nishigaki described the plot as a collaboration with Segawa, noting he primarily wrote the dialogue between characters. Elliott was not portrayed as a typical hero but instead had a cheerful and humorous personality that contrasted with Dogs' traditional stoicism. Janine was depicted as the emotional core of the character drama. Segawa described Nephilim as a fantastic presence compared to the other characters. The game features fully 3D graphics and many CGI cutscenes, with Nishigaki speculating that Sega's project support stemmed from the 3D-centric nature of the game. Lighting was separated into three sources: Nephilim, weapon fire, and pre-set lightmaps. Although the Dreamcast was reported to refresh at 60 frames per second, Blue Stinger was limited to 30 frames due to the number of creatures displayed. The team was unaware of the Dreamcast's full specifications, and Nishigaki mentioned they utilized only half of the console's graphical capacity.
The music was composed by Toshihiko Sahashi, who aimed for a Hollywood-style score. The opening and ending themes were recorded with a 60-piece orchestra conducted by Koji Hayashima. Nishigaki wanted the score to mimic the music of John Williams. Blue Stinger marked Sahashi's first video game work, and he approached it like a film score, having sufficient time to produce it unlike in his previous film and TV projects. Only the opening and ending themes used CD-quality music, while the remaining game music employed the Dreamcast's sound chip. All voice acting was performed in English, with the Japanese version using subtitles to imitate Hollywood films. The two main characters were voiced by Ryan Drummond and Dimm Bristow, with voice direction by Lani Minella, who also voiced Janine. At the time, they were all involved in voicing characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Nishigaki praised Drummond's performance as Elliott.
