Neon Genesis Evangelion (video game)

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Neon Genesis Evangelion
Single-player

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Angels
before they eradicate the rest of the human race. The game is known for its alterations to the source material in order to make its dystopian and unsettling atmosphere suitable for an action game, and features unique endings and plotlines not present in other Evangelion media.

Evangelion 64 was developed by BEC, a company formed as a joint venture between Bandai and Human Entertainment, and supervised by Gainax. The game received mixed reviews, though it was a moderate commercial success. Reviewers were primarily critical of its lack of player involvement and reliance on button-tapping sequences. Several have identified its graphics and cutscenes as being of higher quality than other games on the Nintendo 64, with some saying it was one of the system's best from a technical standpoint. A PlayStation 2 sequel, Neon Genesis Evangelion 2, was released three years later.

Gameplay

The player using the Evangelion to fight the Angel, Sachiel, in the first stage[3]

Neon Genesis Evangelion is based on the anime of the same name, taking place in 2015, where 50% of Earth's population has been wiped out by a catastrophe known as the Second Impact. The organization Nerv assigns three teenage pilots—

Angels before they eradicate the rest of the human race.[4][5]

The player controls one of these pilots through a series of levels, each being based on a specific episode of the anime.[5][3] The pilots' faces can be seen during battle and change their facial expression in reaction to events just like in the original anime.[6] The Evangelion must defeat an enemy Angel through melee attacks, while preventing the Angel from inflicting damage on the Evangelion.[5][7] The Evangelion begins with standard kicking and punching attacks; later levels allow it to use weapons such as the progressive knife.[5][3]

The player has to be aware of several other factors in battle. If the Evangelion is at low

battery power to operate.[2][3] Additionally, a temporary shield called an "AT Field" can be generated to defend against attacks, an ability shared with the Angels. Through a quick time event, the player can neutralize the opposing Angel's AT Field with their own, making the latter unable to use AT Field for the rest of the battle.[5][3]

In addition to the health bar, a "synchronization rate" that shows the bond between the pilot and mech is indicated by a graph on the screen. It increases with successful attacks, giving the player more powerful attacks, including the ability to deploy AT Field.

3D models of all characters in the game.[9]

Development and release

The Neon Genesis Evangelion anime was a hugely popular series after its release in Japan making video game adaptions inevitable.[2][6] Neon Genesis Evangelion 64 was developed for the Nintendo 64 by BEC, a video game development subsidiary of Japanese toymaker Bandai.[10] BEC was founded in 1990 as a joint venture between Bandai and Human Entertainment, with most of its staff being employed from Human's game design school.[11] Evangelion 64 is a loose adaptation of the Gainax-produced anime series and its 1997 film adaptation The End of Evangelion.[3][12]

Most video game adaptions of

robot anime series tend to be action-focused, but Evangelion 64 instead opted to reproduce scenes from the anime, which, depending on the player's choices, could produce a different outcome.[13] The game is known for its heavy alterations to the source material to make the anime's dystopian and unsettling atmosphere suitable for an action game;[7] as such, it includes plotlines and endings that are not present in other Evangelion media.[14] Gainax supervised its development, with company co-founder Shin Unozawa being assigned to project director.[15] Bandai worked to implement most of the characters from the series into the game, though several were relegated to small background cameos.[7][8] The game's audio was created by Jun Enoki,[16] who replicated a number of musical themes from the anime in MIDI.[17] However, the game lacks the song "Fly Me to the Moon" from the show's closing sequence.[18] The audio incorporates archive footage of the characters' voices from the anime,[3][9] which was limited in use by the low storage size of N64 cartridges.[13]

Evangelion 64 was announced in October 1998 and demonstrated at the

amusement arcades.[5] A strategy guide published by Kadokawa Shoten was also released for the game that included an overview of each mech in the game, as well as gameplay tips.[13] Bandai's North American division considered releasing Evangelion 64 in the United States if it deemed its gameplay suitable for Western audiences.[22] Ultimately, the game was not released outside of Japan.[23][24]

Reception

N64 Magazine writer Jes Bickham had the same opinion and showed disappointment in its quality.[4] Nick O'Shea, a reviewer for Hyper, described the game as "interactive anime" with limited moves in combat and battles that often were reduced to "button mashing".[17] Reviewers for GameFan echoed these same complaints, and suggested it would have been much better as a standard fighting game.[25]

Multiple reviewers have found Evangelion 64 impressive from a technical perspective.[4][9][26] Gamers' Republic, which listed it as being among the best import games in its 1999 Video Game Buyers Guide and Y2K Preview,[29] commended Bandai for successfully translating the anime's atmosphere and drama into a video game.[18] Nutt showed admiration towards the voice acting and graphics for being "surprisingly well represented" by the Nintendo 64's limited capabilities.[26] Several believed only fans of the series would enjoy it.[12][17][25][26][27] Lionel Coen, writing in X64, remarked that those with no knowledge of the series would have very limited interest in the game while those who are fans would delight in seeing scenes from the series translated into a video game.[27] Bruno Sol of Superjuegos also commended the title for faithfully reproducing most of the events from the anime series and the film Death & Rebirth.[12]

Retrospective commentary has been equally mixed. Some reviewers regretted that the game was not released outside of Japan.

USgamer, which called the game mediocre and suggested Evangelion fans should play Super Robot Wars V instead.[30] Kotaku's Richard Eisenbeis was critical of its button-tapping sequences and the slow movement speed of the Evangelion.[31] Writing for Hardcore Gaming 101, Brian Crimmins found its cutscenes and graphics impressive for the console, and saw it as a game that could have potentially given the Nintendo 64 an edge over its competitors. Despite this, Crimmins was critical of the game's handling of its source material, particularly removing the anime's unsettling and psychologically dampening tone in favor of one that was more lighthearted. He described it as being "best remembered as a technical curiosity, and perhaps as a lesson in how to adapt existing franchises to video game form".[7]

Notes

  1. ^ Japanese: 新世紀エヴァンゲリオン, Hepburn: Shinseiki Evangerion, "New Century Gospel"

References

  1. ^ Dorce, Jordi (September 2003). "Videojuegos Manganime: Otros Destacados". GamesTech (Extra) (in Spanish). No. 1. Ares Informática. p. 27.
  2. ^ a b c "Frontlines News - Evangelion Goes Polygonal On N64!". Gamers' Republic. Vol. 1, no. 7. Millennium Publishing. December 1998. p. 8.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Neon Genesis Evangelion for Nintendo-64". Gainax. 1999. Archived from the original on 2000-01-23. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
  4. ^
    Future Publishing
    . p. 68.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "Neon Genesis Evangelion (Nintendo 64) instruction manual" (in Japanese). Bandai. June 25, 1999.
  6. ^ a b "Preview N64: Evangelion". Mega Console (in Italian). No. 54. Gruppo Editoriale Futura. December 1998. pp. 42–43.
  7. ^ a b c d Crimmins, Brian (February 15, 2015). "Neon Genesis Evangelion". Hardcore Gaming 101. Archived from the original on February 8, 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  8. ^ a b IGN Staff (June 25, 1999). "Neon Genesis Evangelion". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on August 27, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  9. ^ a b c d e Häntsch, Marco (September 1999). "Test N64: Neon Genesis Evangelion". Total! (in German). X-plain Verlag. p. 71.
  10. ^ "Corporate History". www.bec.co.jp (in Japanese). BEC. 2006. Archived from the original on March 22, 2006. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  11. ISBN 978-1518655319
    .
  12. ^ a b c Sol, Bruno (January 2000). "Manga Zone: Nintendo 64 - Neon Genesis Evangelion". Superjuegos (in Spanish). No. 93. Grupo Zeta. pp. 150–151.
  13. ^ a b c "「オレが考えたN64復刻版」を元ゲーム少年が語る―『新世紀エヴァンゲリオン』はキャラゲー最高傑作だから！【特集】". Game*Spark (in Japanese). IID. August 26, 2018. Archived from the original on June 30, 2019. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  14. ^ Gramuglia, Anthony (July 3, 2019). "Neon Genesis Evangelion Has Some Truly Bizarre Spinoffs". Comic Book Resources. Valnet. Archived from the original on March 19, 2020. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  15. ^ BEC (June 25, 1999). 新世紀エヴァンゲリオン [Neon Genesis Evangelion] (Nintendo 64) (in Japanese). Bandai. Scene: Credits.
  16. ^ Neon Genesis Evangelion (Nintendo 64) end credits
  17. ^ a b c d O'Shea, Nick (October 1999). "Import - Neon Genesis Evangelion". Hyper. No. 72. nextmedia. p. 85.
  18. ^ a b c Halverson, Dave (September 1999). "World Republic Review - Evangelion". No. 16. Millenium Publications. Gamers' Republic. p. 89.
  19. ^ IGN Staff (October 1, 1998). "Introducing Evangelion". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  20. ^ IGN Staff (October 12, 1998). "TGS: Bandai Wins Prize For Longest Line Ever". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  21. KADOKAWA Game Linkage. Archived
    from the original on December 6, 2018. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  22. ^ IGN Staff (October 22, 1998). "Evangelion US-Bound?". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  23. ^
    Play
    . No. 44. United States of America: Fusion Publishing. August 2005. pp. 70–77.
  24. ^ a b c Quesada, Daniel (February 8, 2020). "Así era Evangelion para Nintendo 64, la rareza que nunca salió de Japón". HobbyConsolas (in Spanish). Axel Springer SE. Archived from the original on 2021-03-09. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
  25. ^ a b c Mylonas, Eric; Ngo, George; Chau, Anthony (September 1999). "Viewpoint". GameFan. Vol. 7, no. 9. Shinno Media. p. 18.
  26. ^
    CBS Interactive. Archived from the original
    on May 12, 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  27. ^ a b c Lionel, Coen (September 1999). "Tests: Neon Genesis Evangelion". X64 (in French). No. 21. Edicorp Publications. pp. 80–81. Archived from the original on 2021-03-09. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
  28. ^ "Game Search (based on Famitsu data)". Game Data Library. 1 March 2020. Archived from the original on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  29. ^ "Best of Imports '99". Millennium Presents: 1999 Video Game Buyers Guide and Y2K Preview. Millennium Publications. 1999. p. 116.
  30. USgamer. Gamer Network. Archived
    from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
  31. ^ Eisenbeis, Richard (November 16, 2012). "Evangelion 64: An Ancient Tale of Importing During the Dawn of the Internet". Kotaku. G/O Media. Archived from the original on 2020-11-13. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
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