25 Years Later: The FPS Game Inspired by Miyamoto That Players Regret

Shigeru Miyamoto, who brought iconic Nintendo games such as Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda into existence, casts a wide shadow over the gaming world. It’s not unusual to see modern platformers echoing elements from Super Mario Bros., while even more unconventional creations like Pikmin have sparked their fair share of imitators. However, Miyamoto’s influence can sometimes manifest in surprising places, and one such example is the infamous game that borrowed his legacy, Daikatana.

In 1997, there was great anticipation for the new first-person shooter (FPS) game, Daikatana. As John Romero, the lead designer of DOOM and Quake, was launching his new studio, Ion Storm, this game seemed destined for success. However, when it finally hit store shelves on May 23, 2000, it fell short of expectations. While Daikatana isn’t considered one of the worst games ever made, its troubled release tarnished its reputation, making its tribute to Miyamoto seem more like a letdown than an homage.

Daikatana’s Protagonist Is Named After Miyamoto

A Swordsman Of A Surprising Lineage

Daikatana leaps between scenarios and concepts, but its title hints at a distinctly Japanese element absent in Romero’s previous successes. In the days to come, Hiro Miyamoto, often called a “Renaissance man,” is drawn into a mission to retrieve the fabled daikatana sword and save its destined user. The surname Miyamoto, with its association with the influential samurai Musashi Miyamoto in Japanese swordsmanship, seems fitting for a swordsman. In the game’s instructions, Hiro is described as “a physical embodiment of all the qualities that made the Miyamoto name illustrious.

In his book “Doom Guy: Life in First Person,” Romero reveals an alternate source of inspiration for Hiro Miyamoto’s name. He refers to Hiro as a tribute to Shigeru Miyamoto, the designer of iconic games like Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, and many other groundbreaking titles. Although Miyamoto’s style may not immediately seem like an apparent choice for Romero to pay tribute to, given the heavy metal aesthetics of his most notable works, it indeed holds a meaningful connection.

During their early stages, Romero and the id Software team were consistently dedicated to advancing both technology and game design simultaneously. Miyamoto’s work in the 1980s served as a significant milestone for this approach. The creators of DOOM, John Carmack, Tom Hall, and Romero himself, began their journey with an episodic series called Commander Keen, which was initially developed from a demo they created for Super Mario Bros. 3 on the PC.

In his creative process, Romero acknowledged upgrades to swords in the Zelda games as one of the influences behind Daikatana’s development. During the creation of that game, he even managed to get one of his sons hooked on Super Mario RPG.

John Romero’s Daikatana Was Too Little, Too Late

A Promising FPS That Lost Its Luster

Over the course of many years, much discussion has taken place about the infamous game, Daikatana. As it celebrates its 25th anniversary, this moment seems fitting for a retrospective analysis. The primary challenge that plagued its success lay in its release schedule. At id Software, John Carmack’s brilliant technical prowess and enthusiasm fueled rapid advancements in engines. However, once John Romero established Ion Storm, Daikatana began falling behind significantly.

The decision to license the Quake 2 engine for Daikatana necessitated a development restart, which by the time the game was released, had already lost some of its novelty.

Despite experiencing lengthy delays, many Ion Storm games managed to weather the storm with relatively minor setbacks. For instance, while Anachronox wasn’t commercially successful, it has since earned a reputation as a beloved cult classic. Similarly, Deus Ex was an undeniable success. As for Daikatana, being a first-person shooter, the technological lag had a more significant impact. However, it’s worth noting that the game failed to maintain the tight design that was characteristic of Romero’s previous FPS hits. The game was notoriously plagued with bugs and frustrations, issues that were eventually addressed by fan-created patches.

The majority of reviews for the game Daikatana centered more on its ordinary quality rather than catastrophic failure. However, the game had already created a challenging image before it even hit the shelves. A controversial ad titled “John Romero’s About To Make You His Bh” didn’t help matters, and some reviews were bluntly critical. In its assessment, Computer Gaming World (archived online) stated that “most of the time it just hurts to play“. The magazine went as far as to label Daikatana an “execrable piece of trash” in its issue 201’s damning year-end roundup.

Miyamoto Inspired Plenty Of Better Games

Daikatana Is Barely A Footnote

Shigeru Miyamoto’s game “Daikatana” hasn’t harmed his reputation at all, while Romero’s character is much more overlooked than the Nintendo icon. It’s common for games with rough releases to look up to Miyamoto as an inspiration, but there are many fantastic games that carry his influence. In fact, the fast-paced action of Super Mario Bros. can be seen in DOOM just as clearly, if not more so, compared to “Daikatana”. The “Commander Keen” series is another example of Miyamoto’s impact on gaming.

It’s tough to conceive what rivalry within the gaming industry would be like if Shigeru Miyamoto hadn’t initially revolutionized it. When Sega Genesis emerged as Nintendo’s main competitor, the iconic character Sonic the Hedgehog was largely characterized by his competition with Mario. Even those games that didn’t achieve as much success under Miyamoto often left a lasting impact. For instance, while Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link isn’t the most renowned game in the Zelda series, the team behind Hollow Knight acknowledged it as the game that sparked their collaboration.

The controversy surrounding Zelda 2 pales in comparison to the apathy surrounding the release of Daikatana, but there’s always a possibility that Daikatana could match its notoriety. With retro-style boom shooters gaining popularity as a contemporary subgenre, it isn’t difficult to envision one carrying the influence of Daikatana. For now, however, Daikatana serves as an unfortunate blemish on John Romero’s illustrious career and a minor, peripheral reference to the impact that Shigeru Miyamoto had on the gaming industry.

2025-05-26 18:28