Blue Stinger
Developer - Climax Graphics (later known as Crazy Games)
Publisher - SEGA (Japan); Activision (outside of Japan)
Director - Ayumu Kojima
Producer - Shinya Nishigaki
Programmer - Kazuaki Yokozawa
Artist - Ryosuke Murakami, Masaki Segawa
Composers - Toshihiko Sahashi
Genre - Action Adventure, Survival Horror
Dreamcast Release Dates - March 25, 1999 (Japan); September 9, 1999 (North America - Dreamcast Launch Day)
Current Average Price - $49
Blue Stinger was the first game that I ever played on the SEGA Dreamcast. It released alongside the Dreamcast on 9/9/99, and of all the games that were born on that wonderful day it was the only one that allowed the player to wear a Santa outfit and fire a Gatling gun at a monstrous hermit crab wearing an SUV for a shell.
What is Blue Stinger
Blue Stinger was conceived and produced by Shinya Nishigaki, who also created the Dreamcast classic Illbleed. It is an action survival horror game developed by Climax Graphics and published by SEGA in Japan, and Activision in other territories.
The game follows three survivors of an unexplained localized disaster on an island in the Gulf of Mexico where Kimra-Tech, a large biotech company, has established a research center. On Christmas eve, while the residents, families, and admin staff of Kimra are celebrating, a meteorite crashes onto the island causing general devastation. Mysterious and aggressive creatures appear, and many of the scientists and civilian contractors mutate into hideous monsters. The game’s main character, Elliot Ballade, is on a fishing trip close to the island when the meteorite strikes. Monsters attack his boat and force him to swim for the island, where he takes it upon himself to discover the secret of the island, the source of the meteorite, and the origin of the catastrophe.
A fairly stunning achievement for a game released in 1999, Blue Stinger has two playable characters switchable in real-time, entirely 3D environments, an ambitious story, fast combat, excellent graphics, full voice-acting (fun fact: Elliot is voiced by Ryan Drummond, and Janine is voiced by Lani Minella - these two voiced Sonic the Hedgehog and Rouge the Bat in the Sonic Adventure series) and an orchestral soundtrack composed by Toshihiko Sahashi. It’s a blockbuster-movie-styled survival horror game focused on combat and exploration, with plenty of absurd humor sprinkled throughout.
Often described as “Resident Evil at Christmas time” Blue Stinger is very much its own entity. It doesn’t try to be a tense, scary experience. It’s more fun than that.
On Shinya Nishigaki
Shinya Nishigaki was Climax Graphics’ former CEO and the creator of Blue Stinger and Illbleed (2001). Following these games’ release, Nishigaki’s studio (which by this time had rebranded from Climax Graphics to “Crazy Games”) worked on a rail shooter for SEGA, but soon after closed its doors for good with nearly the entire staff of Crazy Games moving to another game-developer, Cavia. There he was working on a Japanese game, while also beginning work on another “big project” which he excitingly described as “… a Nishigaki-genre type of game, it’s a Crazy Game.”
The really sad thing about this story is that Nishigaki, who is unanimously remembered and respected as a visionary and enthusiastic creator of video games, died in 2004 at the age of 42.
The best article that I’ve read on Shinya Nishigaki, can be found here. In the article, videogame historian and writer John Andersen recalls and relates a meeting with Nishigaki in which Nishigaki candidly discusses his time at Climax Graphics creating Blue Stinger and Illbleed, how the production and distribution of these games occurred and influenced his life, and his hopes and dreams for the future. The ultimate sucker punch coming (as we know now) that Nishigaki would tragically pass away just weeks after this very interview.
Blue Stinger’s Legacy
These days, Blue Stinger enjoys a cult following despite its era-typical foibles. (The biggest gripe that people have with the game is the camera. The Japanese release used a fixed camera system where environments are shown from relatively static positions. This worked to increase tension and direct the player’s attention where the game’s creators intended. However, Activision demanded that the camera be changed to a third-person follow system for the western releases. This new system works well enough, but in tight spaces and interior settings it can become disorienting and confused.) Despite the camera and fairly laughable voice-acting, Blue Stinger is an impressive game for being created in 1999, and it still offers plenty of laughs, tight action, and uncomfortable (if not scary) moments.
When it was released, Blue Stinger sold 500,000 copies (most of which sold outside of Japan), and SEGA immediately wanted Nishigaki to create a sequel. He had already begun work on Illbleed, however, and moved forward on his new game instead. Illbleed took many of the lessons learned in Blue Stinger and applied them effectively, resulting in a technically excellent and stylistically Nishigaki-esque game. Of the two Climax Graphics/Crazy Games Dreamcast games, Illbleed is the better of the two.
While Blue Stinger was at one time going to be ported to Xbox, this never materialized and a sequel, remaster, or re-release has never occurred. Which is a shame, really, since Nishigaki’s work is really quite excellent and deserves to be remembered. Perhaps the future will bring a remastered release of Blue Stinger and Illbleed. Until then, the only place to play these gems is on a SEGA Dreamcast.