The latest Iwata Asks focuses on Japanese studio PlatinumGames, which is currently hard at work creating Bayonetta 2 for the Wii U.
In the interview, Iwata chats with PlatinumGames President and CEO Tatsuya Minami about his development past, and uncovers an interesting piece of history regarding Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts on the SNES.
According to Minami - who was employed as a "Plan Man" at Capcom at the time - he was stuck in a rut before being assigned Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts, a game which was also struggling.
Minami: So I took off two weeks and came back to work and he said, "We're making Super Ghouls'n Ghosts, but you know it isn't making any progress, right?"...the first stage looked done, but as a game, it simply hadn't taken form. He told me to do it. Then, for about two years, I worked on it without hardly even going home...and even as the deadline closed in, we kept remaking the master ROM...we caused Nintendo some trouble, but in the end, we took it directly to the factory and somehow got it out into the world. Super Ghouls'n Ghosts really gave us a hard time, but after release, it received great reviews.
Iwata: Your hard work paid off.
Minami: Yes. I was thrilled. When I first took it on partway through development, I thought they'd really foisted a chore on me, but after release and the positive reviews, I was extremely thankful to my boss for giving it to me. That's how happy I was.
Iwata: When a project ran into trouble and your boss asked you to do something about it, it was because he trusted and relied upon you. After development was over, you realized for the first time that he had entrusted you with a difficult job.
Minami: That's right. The experience of having players evaluate my work was a big turning point for me. Ever since, I've thought, "I'm going to keep doing this work the rest of my life!"
Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts is one of our favourite SNES action platformers here at Nintendo Life, and it's cool to hear that Minami was able to turn the project around - and restore some of his own faith in his abilities in the process.
[source iwataasks.nintendo.com]
Comments 15
Recently acquired the megadrive version which i've been playing in my jamma cab, one of a rare number of games thats aged incredibly well and still plays great. rock hard though.
It truly is a phenomenal game. http://youtu.be/B_EyR0J3oOI
Personally, my own experience with Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts rarely gives me that kind of self-confidence, to say the least.
For me this version and the PSP version are the best by far, sluggish slowdown though on PAL machines playing this but all fine and smooth on NTSC.
Super G&G is one of my favorite games of all time (though I think Prinny on the PSP surpassed it). It's interesting to find out that people from Platinum Games worked on it.
It is honestly in my top 10 of all time and I play a lot of games.
So awesome!!!
I bought the Megadrive version back in the days. So atmospheric.
i wanna play this right now. nostalgia ODing.
lol the irony:
"he was stuck in a rut before being assigned Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts"
oh, how i was stuck in a rut after being assigned to play it, years later, game defeated, and its still a super classic
Great game. standout graphics at the time.
Great game.
The only thing I didn't like, but it's just part of the legacy, was having to go back to the beginning and through the whole game again if you wanted to complete it fully. That felt like a bit of a cheap shot and a huge dump in the face after all the trials and tribulations of getting to the end of the game even one time. Other than that I really enjoyed the game, even with the totally frustrating difficulty at time.
I never did play through it that second time however.
Super Ghouls 'N' Ghost was an awesome piece of gaming I love and cherish, still got both the Super NES and GBA versions with me right now.
I have it in my Wii and i love this game, i hope soon play it in Wii U this spring.
I have been playing this the past few months and love it. Insanely hard yet still manages to be enough fun to prevent rage-quitting.
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