Yesterday saw the release of Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD on the Nintendo Switch. The game is a remake of the 2006 Wii launch exclusive and comes with enhanced graphics and two brand-new modes.
In charge of this remake was the director and producer Masao Shirosaki. He's been doing the press rounds recently to help promote the high-definition release, and during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter (thanks, GoNintendo) he revealed how his former schoolmate's latest work had inspired him to continue improving:
Another game would be Astral Chain. I played it because the director, Takahisa Taura, happens to be a former schoolmate of mine, but it was a well-made, fun, solid action game. His work inspires me to continue to improve my own.
Astral Chain is easily one of the best games released on Nintendo's hybrid device so far this year, so it's always great to hear when it gets recognised within the industry – even if all of the praise is coming from the Monkey Ball director.
Funnily enough, Takahisa Taura was heavily influenced by a number of games himself when working on Astral Chain.
In a video dating back to August, he mentioned how Legion fighting alongside the player was possibly an idea borrowed from the Pokémon series. And on a separate occasion, he compared the task of cleaning up red matter to collecting coins in Mario.
What are your thoughts about industry figures drawing inspiration from other games? Leave a comment below.
[source hollywoodreporter.com]
Comments 15
I still have it in my backlog ... I so want to play this game... except I have to play in my tv because of the damn joy con drift
I dropped this after a couple hours in after Divinity OS 2 dropped, but after 60 hours of that I'm ready to pick it up again. Don't wanna end up doing the same again though when Pokemon drops in a couple weeks though so might just finish off some indies I'm halfway through (Goose, Cadence OH)
Just give us Monkey Ball 1+2
I dropped Astral Chain after a few hours. It seems Platinum Games are not for me. Since the same happened with Bayonetta. A shame I like basically everything they do with their games, but the whole package does not work for me
I would do a backflip if they brought Super Monkey Ball 1 and 2 to Switch. Banana Blitz HD scratches the itch, but we all know the only way is up from there!
@BarefootBowser haven’t heard that method before... but by swapping them... wouldn’t it mean that I would have the drift in the other one?
What causes it? Because I’m tempted to do your advise.
I once did it with a DS4 (it only had 6 months of use, with joystick drift, F Sony) and fixed it but the left trigger stopped working.
So I’m cautious about what could be the problem with the joycon drift. Any tips? Thanks btw
@tech7 what was it that you didn't like?
@Shiro28 I can not really say. I have no real complaints, but the experience was not fun for me. One thing is probably the battle system. It has definitely a lot to offer. While I really enjoy playing games with complex mechanisms, for my action games I prefer simpler mechanisms. E. G. Bayonetta, this game has a LOT of different combos, but due too the large amount, they all felt the same for me. I really wanted to like that game, but I dropped it basically immediately after I received AI somnium files and I can not bring myself to return to it.
Really liked Astral Chain even with its quirks. (Wonky battle camera that allows walls to get in the way; way too many commands/controls that don't seem to trigger like you want them to. Almost unfair fights in File 12.) I had my 70 hours of fun and got the Lazy Cat Cap anyway.
Hopefully, Platinum will improve upon it in a sequel. Now give us Bayonetta 3, pretty please. My favorite badass witch wants to dance, boys!
Good Game!... Liked it more and more towards the 2nd half and ending where it was mostly combat!
Crazy thing, we still have Babylon's Fall and Boyo 3 on deck. Good times 👍
@tech7 could you pls elaborate? I may be on the same situation, but want to give a try to AC
@JAPBOO nevermind @tech7, just read your additional comment!
@tech7 how far did you get into it? I found the controls awkward at first but after 10-15min I realized how much it made sense. There was also an post of in NL of how easy it was for players to pick up the controls of the game. There isn't many combos as you think there is. All of them are the same for each Legion and is basically the same. Plus it has the extra easy mode to help you, it's too bad you didn't like. But I hope you give it a chance again and stick with it for a while instead of dropping it immediately.
@Shiro28 I think I played until you got the bow legion. I'm not sure that this will help me. Especially not the easy mode, since I like it challenging. However, if the control start to annoy me, I find it hard to continue a game. Well maybe I will try it next year again. After all, I will agree that it is a good game. (but probably not for me)
@BarefootBowser thanks for the tip man. I’ve been looking at some options at amazon but some say they work and others that they don’t. So I’m on the fence.
Do you have, in your experience, any specific brand or item you would recommend?
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