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Post by Michael Jones on Mar 10, 2012 23:30:39 GMT -5
I was reading through some of my Nintendo Power magazines today and I came across a Play Back article in volume 227 (August 2008) that showcased StarTropics 2 and had some interesting information about it that I can't remember if we ever discussed or not. Here's a small excerpt:
"When it became apparent that the original title was not going to be a big hit, the sequel was completed but its release was delayed. The subtitle Zoda's Revenge, was promoted to the main title because it was not clear that StarTropics II would be much of a draw."
I never knew that the release date was intentionally made so late in the NES's life, nor did I know that ZR was originally planned to be just a subtitle. Overall those lines made me feel sick to my stomach, and made me wonder how different things may have been for the series if ST1 had been a "big hit".
This also made me wonder why StarTropics didn't do as well as Nintendo had hoped, it's not like it didn't have enough advertising as the game pretty much dominated two issues of Nintendo Power. And I doubt that the difficulty had anything to do with it as there were much harder games out back then. I'm also surprised that StarTropics' similarities to Zelda didn't catch more people's attention and make them interested in trying out the game.
Anyways I figured that I would share what I had read for those who may not know, and I'm also wondering why others think that StarTropics never really took off.
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Post by xexyz5011 on Mar 10, 2012 23:52:00 GMT -5
Hmmm.... The biggest reason I can think of why the first game wasn't a "big hit" is that it was released in 1990, with the Super NES just around the corner. That's not much of a reason, though, because it's not like the SNES actually WAS out at the time. Why NoA delayed the release of the second all the way back to 1994, who knows. Sure, perhaps ST wasn't the big hit they were hoping for, but why that far back? With the reasoning you posted, I'd figure that they'd release the second in 1991, 1992 at the absolute latest. But 1994? That just doesn't make sense. I can't help but wonder what would have happened had the series taken off, like you said. Maybe it would actually have reached Japan, and therefore received more love in Super Smash Bros. Maybe we would have an official StarTropics 3, or a remake, or SOMETHING. All the same, though, it's a crying shame that the series didn't reach the heights it so well deserves. I guess we'll just have to continue hoping that one day Nintendo throws us StarTropics fans a bone.
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