Dylan Cuthbert’s lost 3D Game Boy demo ‘Eclipse’ recovered and shared

Dylan Cuthbert is widely known as the developer behind the original Star Fox on the SNES. That game was extremely innovative in its use of 3D technology, but fewer people remember Cuthbert’s Game Boy demo that was arguably even more influential. Now, the Video Game History Foundation has managed to dig the demo up and is sharing its story.

At the age of 17, Dylan Cuthbert worked as a programmer for Argonaut Software. One of his first projects was a brief demo for the Game Boy called Eclipse. Eclipse utilized 3D graphics, something that wasn’t typically considered feasible on the system. The demo was a simple one in which players drove a tank through tunnels and collected crystals. However, Nintendo was impressed with the technology on display in Eclipse. They took it and had it turned into a full fledged Game Boy game called X.

X was never released outside of Japan, but it led to the production of Star Fox, and many other games Nintendo eventually made with 3D graphics. Fortunately, the Video Game History Foundation managed to discover a copy of the original Eclipse demo, and has since shared the ROM online for Internet historians to enjoy. They also put together a 25 minute documentary exploring the demo’s history and its influence.

Check out the documentary above, or click here for a write-up on this seemingly lost piece of Nintendo’s history.