Nostalgia 1907
Nostalgia 1907[lower-alpha 1] is a 1991 adventure video game developed and published by Sur de Wave. Originally released for the Sharp X68000, it was later ported to the FM Towns Marty, PC-9801, and Sega Mega CD. The player assumes the role of a passenger aboard a cruise liner named the Nostalgia that has been taken captive by a criminal looking for an artifact.
| Nostalgia 1907 | |
|---|---|
 Sega CD cover art | |
| Developer(s) | Sur de Wave |
| Publisher(s) | Sur de Wave |
| Director(s) | Kouichi Yotsui |
| Producer(s) | Nobukazu Watanabe |
| Programmer(s) | Takashi Yoshikawa |
| Artist(s) | Utata Kiyoshi |
| Composer(s) | Yukie Marikawa |
| Platform(s) | Sharp X68000, Sega Mega CD, PC-9801, FM Towns Marty |
| Release | X68K
|
| Genre(s) | Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
After completing Cocoron for the Famicom, Sur de Wave set out to make their next game much more ambitious and story-centric. It was designed by Kouichi Yotsui, who previously created Strider for Capcom. He chose to make the game a text-based adventure as he was a fan of the genre and felt it made for a much more engaging experience compared to the arcade games he was accustom to. Inspiration for the game was taken from the 1974 film The Juggernaut, as well as real-world events such as the Industrial Revolution, and various American spy novels and comic books.
Though Nostalgia 1907 received praise for its ambition and unique cinematic atmosphere, critics disliked its dialogue for being awkward and its lack of player interactivity making it boring to play. It was a commercial failure, putting Sur de Wave in an unrecoverable financial crisis shortly after its release. The game has since received a cult following.
Gameplay
Nostalgia 1907 is a text-based adventure video game. Gameplay is accomplished through dialogue trees and interacting with those aboard the Nostalgia, such as conversing with them or playing card games.[1] Speaking with other characters can sometimes provide hints used to progress through the game or to solve puzzles, such as unlocking doors or getting access to a normally unreachable area.[1] Some characters will provide the player with several decisions, which can have drastic effects on later portions of the game.[1] Graphics are done entirely in sepia tones.[2]
The game's bomb defusal scenes are believed to have had an influence on Hideo Kojima's Policenauts, which features a similar destruction sequence.[3]
Plot
The story takes place in the year 1907, shortly after the Russo-Japanese war.[2] The story follows Kasuke Yamada, a Japanese man aboard a luxury cruise liner named the Nostalgia during its voyage in the northern Atlantic Ocean.[3] A bomb is detonated and cripples the vessel; the perpetrator reveals himself and requests that he is given an artifact called the Russian Mist, held somewhere within the ship, or a second bomb will be detonated that will sink the ship and kill everybody on board.[3] As the bomb fragments are revealed to be of Japanese origin Yamada is immediately suspected and Yamada must prevent the perpetrator from detonating the second bomb and rescue everybody aboard the ship.[3][1]
Development and release
After completing their first game Cocoron for the Famicom, Takeru set out to make their next game much more ambitious and story-centric. Directing the project was Kouichi Yotsui, who had previously created the arcade game Strider for Capcom.[4][5] Yotsui wanted the game to be a text-based adventure, as he was a fan of the genre and felt it made for a much longer, more engaging experience than the arcade games he was accustom to.[4] He chose the Sharp X68000 computer as the system the game would be developed for as the president of Takeru was a fan of it, which made it easier for him to get the project approved.[4] Yotsui does not remember the reason he specifically chose the "retro" 1907 setting, saying that it simply came to him while brainstorming ideas.[4]
The storyline was heavily influenced by American spy novels and comic books, as well as real-world events such as the Industrial Revolution.[4] The 1974 film The Juggernaut was the inspiration for the game's infamous bomb defusal scenes, as Yotsui thought it would make for an excellent game idea.[4] The Juggernaut also served as inspiration for some of the player character's dialogue, which Yotsui claims to be "inheriting culture".[4] Yukie Marikawa composed the soundtrack for the game, and Utata Kiyoshi designed the game's backgrounds, characters and artwork.[6] Marikawa wrote so much music for the game that her boss became disgruntled at Yotsui for making her work so much.[4]
Nostalgia 1907 was released in early 1991 for the Sharp X68000. Versions for both the Sega Mega CD and PC-8801 were released on December 20, 1991,[7] followed by a 1992 FM Towns Marty conversion. The Sega CD version contains full voice acting and higher-quality music. Nostalgia 1907 was a commercial failure for Takeru, placing them in a financial crisis shortly after its release.[5] Feeling partly responsible for the game's underwhelming performance, Kouichi Yotsui left Takeru to join Mitchell Corporation, where he helped design games such as Chatan Yara Kuushanku and Cannon Dancer.[4] Despite its failure, Nostalgia 1907 has garnered a small following its release and is considered a cult classic.[5]
Reception
Reception for Nostalgia 1907 was mostly mixed. Famitsu said that the game had very little interactivity aside from the bomb defusal sequence, which provided a somewhat boring and dull experience.[8] Beep! MegaDrive felt that while the game had clear ambition and a unique atmosphere was hampered by awkward dialogue and a large lack of player input, alongside strange puzzle solving and cutscenes that dragged on for too long at times.[9] They also said that the decision making was strange and poorly designed, claiming it felt unrealistic and lacked any sort of challenge.[9] Later in 1995, Sega Saturn Magazine listed it among the 230 best Sega console games of all time based on reader vote.[10]
In a more positive retrospective review, Play Magazine said that the unique atmosphere and mood made Nostalgia 1907 an interesting title in the text-based adventure game genre, saying it "lives and breathes on the seemingly effortless way it conjures a mood, a wistfulness for a time we weren't alive to experience."[3] They also liked the storyline, saying it was worth investing time into if the player had any knowledge of Japanese.[3]
References
- Nostalgia 1907 instruction manual (Sega Mega CD) (in Japanese). Takeru. 20 December 1991.
- "[ノスタルジア1907]、 幻のシナリオ A HAPPY NEW YEAR". Adventure Gameside (in Japanese). Vol. 0. Japan: Micro Magazine. March 2013. pp. 78–100.
- Kohama, Dai (March 2006). "Rewind: Nostalgia 1907". Play (US magazine). No. 51. United States of America: Fusion Publishing. p. 62. Archived from the original on 26 March 2006. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
- Kiyofume, Tane (February 2009). "The Father of Strider Who Made the Game World Explode: Kouichi Yotsui Discography". Gameside (in Japanese). Vol. 16. Japan: Gameside Books. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
- Massey, Tom (6 April 2014). "Strider Retrospective". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 17 August 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
- Cowan, Danny (21 June 2011). "Osman, Little Samson Feature in Utata Kiyoshi Artdot Works". GameSetWatch. Archived from the original on 21 November 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
- Inc., Aetas. "イシイジロウ氏ら第一線で活躍するクリエイターがアドベンチャーゲームを語り尽くす！――「弟切草」「かまいたちの夜」から始まった僕らのアドベンチャーゲーム開発史（前編）" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 17 August 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
- "ノスタルジア1907 [メガドライブ]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Kadokawa. Archived from the original on 17 August 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
- ""ノスタルジア1907". Beep! MegaDrive (in Japanese). Beep!. January 1992. p. 80.
- "MEGADRIVE READERS RACE". Sega Saturn Magazine (in Japanese). Japan. September 1995. pp. 82–85.