The vision for Shantae 64 was to bring the character to life with a level of fidelity previously impossible. WayForward, a studio known for its animation prowess, saw the Nintendo 64’s hardware as a canvas. They wanted to create a world that popped, utilizing the system’s unique capabilities to render Scuttle Town, Sequin Land, and the various dungeons in three dimensions.
Nintendo’s strategy for the N64’s late life was the ill-fated 64DD (Disk Drive). Several major titles, including Mother 3 and Ura Zelda , were shifted to this add-on. Shantae 64 was, for a brief period, slated as a 64DD title. The logic was that Shantae’s large world and animated cutscenes required the rewriteable storage of a disk rather than a cartridge.
Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution Announced for Consoles and PC
The honest answer is: almost certainly not as originally intended.