Hideki Kamiya and Platinum Games Share The Dock-And-Split Inspiration Behind Sol Cresta

Hideki Kamiya from Platinum Games shared some history behind the new Sol Cresta game and also reiterated that it wasn't an April Fools joke in a new trailer. Moon Cresta and Terra Cresta were released in the 1980s by a company called Nihon Bussan, or Nichibutsu. The 1980s were a time when single-player shoot-'em-up games were all the rage, and the more aggressively you played, the more powerful your ship got. Kamiya himself experienced that growing up.

Kamiya originally came up with the Cresta-inspired "dock-and-split" system while planning for new games, but studio head Atsushi Inaba eventually suggested that a new Cresta entry should be created instead. The dock-and-split system consists of three ships that make up the Yamato fighter jet. Players can split and re-order the three individual parts to change Yamato's weaponry to fit the current situation.

The rights to the series were owned by Hamster Corporation, which Platinum Games had no connection to. However, Inaba and Kamiya got in touch with Satoshi Hamada, the company's president. Kamiya was nervous as he showed Hamada the drafts for the game. To his excitement, Hamada approved the project on the spot. He was also a fan of classic games.

Now, Kamiya feels a responsibility to not betray Hamada's trust and legacy that comes with Cresta. "And as someone who loved both games myself, I felt deep in my heart that I absolutely could not disappoint players who have faith in the Cresta name," Kamiya said.

Sol Cresta launches on PC, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch sometime in 2021.