MikaelForslind

@Nontendo_4DS No significance really, we just thought it would fit the theme of the game being a "void" and releasing it on a day that "doesn't exist"

Hello!

Developer here. Always fun to see our games being mentioned here on Nintendo Life. Let me know if you have any questions

Hello! Mikael here, from the publisher for this game

Thanks everyone for all the kind words! Let me just clarify the differences between the two games.

Kraino ReAnimated is a different game and the developer is working on it but it still has a lot of work left! I'm pretty sure that June release isn't happening.

Kraino Origins is already out on Steam as well as iOS and is now coming to Switch. It has more polish, a few new tweaks here and there and is by far the best version of the game.

@Bearzilla823 Alwa's Awakening 8-Bit Edition is being released by Retro-Bit and no one else. And Alwa's Collection is being released by Clear River Games and no one else. Limited Run and other vendors are just selling the games. I'm not sure exactly but I think each vendor can set their own prices.

It'll work on the Retron5 yes!

@Fath Hello! We created new and exclusive material for the NES version, which we call the 8-Bit Edition (2 new areas, 2 new tracks and a whole new dungeon). These areas were created just for the NES version and they were made with the tools from the past (Assembly code etc), they wouldn't work in the regular Switch version without a lot of work.

We realize people would ask about this but we talked about this and for us it wouldn't make sense to take a Switch game, spend 6 months porting it to NES and then go back again to take the NES game and port it back to the Switch

If many people request it we can always consider it of course.

@Steel76 Lots of people really enjoy the bonus content in Limited releases, that's why we put it in. Both games are already available as digital releases without anything added to them. But we are also releasing a standard edition on Switch but that comes with stickers but that's it. So if you want to get that you can always throw the stickers out

Edit: Changed the wording a bit.

@Arckadius No, the NES cartridge release is the game and manual in a box but it also comes with some nice prints. They were just a bonus and I don't think they really factored into the pricing. It would probably have been priced the same without the prints since they aren't that expensive to print. The box, cartridge and box was the most expensive parts I think.

@DoesWhatSegaint Hello! One the devs here. It's a bit more than just "the game on a stick". We took a Steam/Switch game that is almost 300 mb big and rewrote every single line of code, redrew the graphics, and remade all 450 rooms in the game as well as added 2 new areas, 1 large dungeon and two new tracks. And all of this we squeezed into 512 kb on a NES game. Then because we know everyone doesn't have an NES hooked up we also put the "game on a stick" so everyone could easily and affordably get the game and play without any of the hassle of trying to find an old NES

@PharoneTheGnome It should be live now

@Yorumi Wow, thank you! That's really nice to hear

Hello! Lead Designer of Alwa's Awakening here

It's an "Official" port in that sense that the original game was made by us and now we're porting it to NES "officially." We're developing the game but Retro-Bit is publishing the game. They've previously done Holy Diver, Metal Storm, and the Toaplan Shooter collection so I feel safe they know all about NES distribution

Super excited about this project! We're just getting started so right now we basically only have what's in the video in the original post (we can render backgrounds) but I've already remade all 423 rooms so they can fit the NES resolution. Very soon we'll be able to move around in them

@NintendoByNature if you collect 4 Rose Petals you can go to Jean-Baptiste in Castle Gardens and upgrade your health

Woohoo! One of the devs here! Thanks everyone for being so kind. And thank you Nintendo Life for this awesome review

@MeloMan Yes! One of the devs here. We're putting Alwa's Awakening om its first ever sale September 28th!

Hello! One the developers here. I just wanted to stop by and say thank you all for your kind words about our games!

@NullPointerExcep Hiya! That tweet was more for the fun of it than an actual request. I doubt anyone on Nintendo actually saw our tweet. If we were to make an offical request we'd try to schedule a meeting

Game Designer at Elden Pixels here and the one who sent out the original tweet asking about this

It wasn't like we were actually thinking Nintendo would reply, it was more a fun tweet seeing if anyone would be interested, and seeing the responses people seem to be!
As a super small indie dev based in Sweden getting an actual meeting about this with Nintendo would be practically impossible, but sending out a tweet takes 5 minutes : ) And even though the people running the social media aren't the ones signing deals, someone on Twitter were quick to add business people in the mentions so the chances that Nintendo has seen this is very high, higher then if we'd drop a random email.

Thanks everyone for your kind words!

And on a personal note I can't understand why anyone would criticize Zelda II, the only thing I'd change is removing the lives system and respawning at the start. Everything else in that game is brilliant

@SKTTR Developer here again Where did you find that list? Is that a list for The Americas or worldwide?

@Bondi_Surfer

Hello. Lead Designer of Alwa's Awakening here. There is something called Assist Mode in the game that you can call an 'Easy Mode'. You can turn on Instant Respawn that lets you respawn in the same room you died and turn on item locations that shows where to go next. It drastically changes the gameplay and if you're not into hard NES games this is a great mode that lets you experience the entire game without the penalty of having to re-do anything or get lost. It's very accessible and something we spent a lot time making sure it works great so everyone can enjoy the game.

@nintendobynature Alwa's Awakening is a challenging retro adventure game but we did change a few things into a more modern approach. For example, if you pick up an item, destroy a boss or activate a checkpoint that is always saved so that means when you die you never lose any progress. You can just always just pick up and continue playing. But the rooms in the game can be kinda challenging but as long as you make it to a checkpoint you never have to replay them.

Lastly, we also added something optional we call Assist Mode (very much inspired by Celeste) allowing you to modify the game in a few ways. E.g turning on item locations and enabling instant respawn meaning that if you die you just instantly respawn in the same room.
This mood is entirely optional though but perfect for someone who wants to experience the game but doesn't appreciate the difficulty level.

Lastly, I absolutely adore Zelda 2 but I never finished it as a kid. I think the first time I actually completed the game was when it released on the Virtual Console

@Cobalt We started development of Alwa's Awakening in 2014 so I can't really remember exactly how we decided on just that resolution. But what I do remember is that all levels consists of a 16x16 pixel grid and if we use 25x14 tiles we get 400x224 in resolution and then we have a HUD at the top that is 16 pixels high giving us 240 in height. And yes, you are correct that Alwa's Awakening is not in 16:9 but instead there are a few black pixels on each side of the screen so the pixels scale properly.

There are properly better ways to do this than we did back in 2014 but this was the first time we made a game so I guess you learn as you go along. The black borders are barely noticeable and the game plays great

One of the developers here

@nintendobynature Zelda 2 was a huge inspiration!

@JJ286 The NES soundtrack on cartridge is available on our website.

@Cobalt It's the NES resolution but we added so it plays in widescreen. I think Shovel Knight did the same thing.

@SKTTR Hey, one of the developers of Alwa's Awakening here. Here's what's on the soundtrack cartridge https://youtu.be/rzzdWlCmGUc

Hi!

Mikael here, one of the developers. Thanks for your comments. When we announced yesterday we had no idea Nintendolife was going to pick the story up. Really cool

Just wanted to clarify a few things - We're still in early development so I can't confirm any platforms but our target platform is Wii U. We would love to release on Wii U - If Nintendo will have us Hopefully we can release on other platforms as well.

@gurtifus
We're making the game quite challenging but not as confusing as Battle of Olympus can be. We're implementing a map system that'll help a lot. The game will still be NES challenging though. But more fun and rewarding challenging than frustrating challenging.

@SuperWiiU
The Solstice influence is quite big actually. In both Solstice and our game the main protagonist is a wizard and uses his/her magic skils instead of traditional weapons. In Alwa's Awakening you have a weapon but the focus is more on using your magical staffs to solve puzzles and overcome obstacles. Alwa's Awakening also borrows heavily from the mood and setting in Solstice. You're this wizard trapped in a foreign world surrounded by evil with only your magic to help you. Solstice also has the best NES intro of all times

Thanks everyone!