Blue Stinger

Blue Stinger is an action-adventure game in which players take control of Eliot Ballade or Dogs Bower on Dinosaur Island after it is overrun by monsters. Players explore the game's 3D environments to progress the story by unlocking new parts of the island complex. The Japanese version uses fixed third-person camera perspectives similar to the early Resident Evil series, while the Western version uses a third-person camera fixed behind the player character and includes an optional first-person mode. In addition to the main mission, there are optional side missions which grant new weapons or items. If the current character loses all health, the player reaches a game over and is sent back to the title screen to reload an earlier save.

Gameplay revolves around Eliot or Dogs−whom the player can switch between once they are together−exploring different areas of the Dinosaur Island complex and finding key items to progress, such as key cards for unlocking doors. The game is made up of eight large environments, which range from outdoor areas such as harbors, to indoor locations such as laboratories and a shopping mall. Some environments include passive hostile elements such as extreme temperatures, with their effects shown using a status bar. Enemies are encountered while exploring and can be fought using weapons, which are either found in the environment or bought from vending machines using money dropped from enemies.

Sixty-five million years ago, a meteorite crashes into Earth, wiping out the dinosaurs and paving the way for humans. In 2000, an earthquake sinks the Yucatán Peninsula aside from one island over the meteorite impact area. This island is dubbed "Dinosaur Island", and international biotech corporation Kimra establishes a research community on it. In 2018, Emergency Sea Evacuation and Rescue member Eliot Ballade is on vacation with his friend Tim off Dinosaur Island when a small meteorite crashes near it, generating a barrier that traps Tim in stasis.

A light source emerges from the meteorite and takes the shape and name of Tim's good luck boat charm Nephilim, connecting with Eliot before monsters appear and attack the boat, seemingly killing Tim. Eliot escapes with Nephilim to Dinosaur Island, which has become overwhelmed by monsters born from mutated animals and humans. While exploring the island, Eliot is guided by Nephilim, receives information via radio from security team survivor Janine King; and teams up with Dogs Bower, the original discoverer of the island and Janine's estranged father.

The concept for Blue Stinger was created by Shinya Nishigaki, a developer who had worked at Enix and later Climax Entertainment. When creating the concept, Nishigaki was inspired by the movies of Steven Spielberg, Akira Kurosawa, John Carpenter and Joe Dante. A specific inspiration was Carpenter's movie The Thing. He considered Blue Stinger a tribute to Western action movies.

To develop the game, Nishigaki and several staff from Climax Entertainment's CGI division who had worked on Dark Savior (1996) formed Climax Graphics as an independent "brother company". Pre-production of Blue Stinger began in September 1996 following completion of Dark Savior. Originally in development for the Sega Saturn, Blue Stinger was rebooted as a Dreamcast title at Sega's request. The reworked game's design and atmosphere drew additional inspiration from Resident Evil, Enemy Zero, and Alone in the Dark.

Blue Stinger sold over 61,000 copies during its opening week in Japan with a sell-through rate of just under 56%. It went on to sell over 111,000 copies in total and become the console's 34th best-selling title in the region. While the game sold relatively poorly in Japan, it was commercially successful in North America. During the Dreamcast's debut week in the UK, Blue Stinger was the eighth best-selling title out of the twelve launch titles. The game went on to sell 500,000 copies worldwide, which Sega counted as a success.

The game received "mixed or average reviews" according to the review aggregation website GameRankings, earning a score of 70% based on 22 reviews. In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 28 out of 40. When mentioned, the plot and characters were cited as either enjoyable, or underwhelming. While the gameplay was generally enjoyed, several outlets faulted the puzzle design as obtuse.