Riqa - Unreleased Nintendo 64 Game (Prototype)

[MaximumRD]

"Developed by Bits Studios, Riqa was first unveiled in playable form at E3 1999. Described by Nintendo as the "N64 Tomb Raider," Riqa promised a blend of Third-Person Shooter action and exploration, with players controlling Riqa, a female character facing off against both humans and monsters. Featuring impressive graphics for its time, an immersive storyline, and complex levels brimming with action, including shootouts and puzzles, Riqa was poised to become a standout title for the N64.

Regrettably, the game never saw the light of day on the 64-bit console due to persistent delays in its release schedule, ultimately leading to the cancellation of the project. Many speculate that elements of Riqa's concept were later refined and incorporated into Rogue Ops, another game developed by Bits Studios and released in 2003, published by Kemco.

One of the developers of the unreleased N64 game Riqa has recently published a bunch of prototype builds online in the closed Facebook group N64 Supergroup (as spotted by the preservationist LuigiBlood)."
LuigiBlood has now uploaded those ROMs to Archive.org.

https://archive.org/details/riqa-build-of-2000

 

 

[Jinroh]

I listened to the video about this too. 😄

Amazing how many lost N64 games we have gotten lately.

This game, looks like it would have been fun. Very fitting for the time. They seem to be leaning into the Anime popularity explosion in the late 90s. The engine looks competent. The multiple characters look like they would have varied things a good bit. 🙂

[TrekMD]

Always cool to see these finds!