THANK YOU now it becomes a far better prospect and I'll definitely buy.
The SNES game is pretty cool but there was a huge amount of confusion / incredulity as to how this could even be anounced without the MD titles. I saw so many people in the comments and on YouTube videos etc just default assuming they'd be there - people saying "day one, can't wait to play the Genesis game again!!!" on stream and then having to be corrected by the viewers and feeling gyped. Could have avoided some bad press by waiting just a little longer while they did the deal - surely they must have been aware that people would want them too...
Though I'd still love the Master System title added too - arguably my favourite of all the original JP games.
@Nin35 Thanks so much! Yes Sonic Mania (and the Whitehead & Headcanon ports of course) are the inspiration / bar of quality for all my "modern-retro-style" games that I make 😀
@World Oh, cool, I consider myself somewhat of an honarary Canadian myself! My work in the film industry sees me often spending time in Vancouver and Toronto, and my business partner is from Alberta and currently studying in Toronto. She and her family have taught me lots about the country and so many amazing places to visit. I have many Canadian friends and I love it over there. I'm becoming pretty good at French so once I am almost fluent I'll have even further that I can explore! 😀
In most of Western Europe you are allowed to drive vehicles like campervans around and park them almost anywhere as long as its just for one night - I'm not sure if its the same with touring caravans. I've had many wonderful times driving round France (I have an apartment just outside of Paris next to Disneyland) and discovering "real" non-tourist areas. Locals are very welcoming and happy to speak with you and water, waste and sewage disposal areas are very common everywhere remote.
Once our big movie project is finished myself and my partner plan on getting one of the new elcetric VW campers and touring round Europe for 6 months discovering cool new places, trying new foods, meeting new people. Its quite a common (though aspirational) holiday for Europeans. Unfortunately Brexit has made it harder than it used to be (I'm British by birth and can't apply for a EU passport for another couple of years) but we'll work it out.
When I was little my dad didn't want to leave the UK but we would take any opportunity possible (even a long weekend or bank holiday) to attach our tiny little caravan to our car and go exploring for an empty field, nice bit of coast, or big forrest to explore to get away from city life 😀
@JohnnyMind Ah I thought you were probably the right age to have been aware of Signor Rossi! I know it was predominantly 60s and 70s cartoons but in the UK at least they were repeated a lot on TV in the 80s and early 90s during school holidays. My good friend Ellie who is the only Italian I really know IRL is in her late 20s and had never heard of it.
I'm a big fan of Bozzetto in general - it wasn't until seeing a showreel / tribute video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFoFn7rJClk ) nearly 10 years ago that I realised just how many amazing shorts and commercials that I really clearly remembered from my childhood had been directed by him - I'd have never made the connection as he works in so many styles. That lead me to really read up on him and look into all his work over the years.
@DreamlandGem Hi Gem thank you for the kind words! I have spoken to several Nintendolife/Hookshot staff over the years at length about my projects and also my film career and extensive work on various retrogames projects like books, documentaries and tv shows many of which have been featured on the site over the last decade.
Sadly I can't register as verifed with that form yet, as a requirement is to have at least one game published on the Nintendo EShop, and my first one doesn't go live for about 6 months. I've had interest to preview and eventually review my titles when the time is right, so I'm sure you'll be hearing about them, I'd love to get your feedback too, I'm a big Kirby collector myself as well and there's definitely elements of Adventure/Dreamland series in Hazel's world.
I wasn't trying to hijack this thread, it certainly seemed very relevant because of the reactions of people when they buy a physical game, only for a new edition to release shortly after, and the fact that its a 90s inpired retro title with a short run company - again exactly the same as my projects, so I couldn't resist asking people's opinions as to where the moral/ethical line is on this stuff. I wasn't planning on plugging or going into details about my own games, until I was pushed on it - sorry if this was overstepping a line, wasn't my intention.
@World Yes that's a great one too, and a similar vibe/meaning of course. I love how the factory and city are drawn in that film, super stylized and imposing angles. Its such a cool art style. Also it always made me laugh because my family had a far too small tiny touring caravan that my parents would drive anywhere they could find with a field that would let you park for cheap/free. That film was pretty accurate to my experience! lol
@World I absolutely got Bozzetto vibes! I love Mr Rossi, especially "Mr. Rossi Looks for Happiness" / "Il Signor Rossi Cerca la Felicità" which I watched millions of times as a kid, its art, use of colour and geometry inspired my work a lot over the years.
There's 2 English language dubs and whenever I see the "wrong" one it throws me for a loop. 😂 I have the limited edition soundtrack album and its fantastic too.
[edit] And even as a little kid, I understood that the opening with him pretending to be happy in his awful job, being grateful and repectful to a boss he hated, and trying to be proud to be a small cog in a corporate machine while it slowly ate his soul was some deep stuff. I think it affected my world outlook in a fairly profound way, which now I think about it, I've 100% carried over elements and humour from that planted seed into one of my games, about a guy working in a fast food restaurant that satarises late-stage capitalism... genuinely hadn't made that connection til now. Wow.
@Ristar24 Thank you! lol spooky coincidence but I just tagged you in another post replying to an old comment you made to me that I didn't previously see! We must have been typing at the same time! I didn't twig that I'd already tagged you here, sorry about that. We were discussing Outrun and sprite scaling racers 😀
@fpcreator2000 @smoreon @Bunkerneath Sorry I didn't respond earlier, I've been taking a mental health break from social media, but wanted to let you guys know progress on the 8bit Sonic remakes!
The entire collection (along with other titles like Chaotix and the 16bit spinoffs) should be complete by SAGE '24. You can follow progress on the channel. Hope this is taken in the spirit intended and not seen as spam. If so, sorry 😇
I'm somewhat of a minor animation snob having trained with Don Bluth & done some time with Richard Williams and on Disney projects, but its absolutely stellar here. No complaints, nothing but admiration. Some of the best I've seen in a game, and deliciously abstract and fluid whilst feeling solid, which is hard to pull off.
I will very much enjoy playing this, seems like the kind of thing I was imagining and hoping would be available back when I got my first CD-Rom based PC in 1995. From a quick google looks like by far the best experience is on Steam though.
@HammerGalladeBro I don't know where it originates from, but its quite commonly used because it was part of a "sample CD" that was sold and distributed and used by djs, musicians, in video production etc. I don't remember the name of the CD sadly (we had it at a recording studio I worked for years ago) but the same CD also had the "Owww! .... yeah!" sample that's used in countless beats for pop music and hip-hop from the late 80s to today, and the "Would you stop playing with that radio of yours? I'm trying to get to sleep" sample used in quite a few videogame tracks and also famously George Michael's "Too Funky".
What's interesting to me is that those are taken from a Run DMC live Funhouse performance, and a Tony Hancock episode respectively, so technically both are copyrighted material that was just chopped out and put on a sample collection as if it was royalty free... but I doubt they asked permission. The individual pieces of music or video that use them certainly don't because they assume that because they bought the Sample CD, everything is cleared and Royalty free, even though technically I don't think they are.
So its likely that that Spanish sample appears all over the place, but also originates from some relatively obscure but mainstream piece of media and the people who put it on the original CD thought no-one would notice. Its probably like the Roblox "Oof" that was used literally millions of times and thought to be free, before the "owner" realised. I put owner in inverted commas, because everything should be when it comes to Tallarico. 😂
@Yosti Thank you! 😀 The first game will easily be completed 100% for SAGE '24, I already have all the badniks and gimmicks done, just need to create the tilesets and map everything out.
It will be fully customisable to switch between options of features and layouts from the Game Gear or Master System versions or mix and match in whatever ways people prefer - and of course all the extra stuff you can see from the videos as to improvements, characters, new moves etc, again all toggleable.
Its a real fun passion project for me, Sonic 1 on Master System was teh first game I ever owned, and Sonic Chaos was the first I ever bought with my own money 🥰
@room_909 Of course I know Cave Story, its a great game! Thats amazing that your friend and classmate made it! I wasn't aware that there was a large indie game scene in Japan, I guess I think of Japanese games as being more the famous games from big companies that we hear of over here, and many of the smaller ones don't get translated or promoted.
I love Japanese games, movies, manga and anime, food... I sometimes do business in Tokyo and I love to visit for travels but its difficult to get Japanese media companies to trust or want to work with foreigners. I don't know if you're aware but in France where I live, manga is so popular that even the supermarkets and grocery stores have whole aisles dedicated to it!
I have a history with American animation including Disney and Don Bluth, and I've tried to get several Japanese+France, and Japanese+USA co-production anime series or OVA made, as well as have my games be translated and distributed in Japan, but its difficult to be taken seriously. Money is not the problem, its more like you have to win the trust or respect of the companies somehow, if that makes sense?
I think Westerners can accidentally seem rude or pushy because of cultural differences. I'm working hard to learn more about the culture, and I want to learn to speak the language. I often do promotional events at Disneyland Paris and the American Disney parks, I'd love to get good enough with basic Japanese to also do so in Tokyo. I've started to learn hiragana but I'm aware that's the easy part! I also watch lots of YouTubers who explain the differences between the cultures so Westerners don't seem so abrasive.
My business partner is learning Japanese and doing far better than me so far. She is one of the lead presenters of a long running English language Anime podcast which I help produce. She is also a voice actor and sometimes does English dubs for Japanese material like games, commercials and hopefully soon some anime.
Anyway its lovely to speak to you and see how much we have in common despite our great distance! I am sure you will be very sucessful with your game and any more projects that you put your mind to. 😻
@Dr_Corndog Thank you! Frankly its something I wish Sega would have done themselves by now and I saw so many people during the release of Origins moan about the lack of Master system titles, plus Chaotix, that I thought why not just go ahead and remake them properly like whitehead/Headcannon et al did for the 16bit titles? 😀
Sorry to plug but as it seems this thread has been resurected recently, I think some or all of you guys that I'm tagging, plus others reading this may be interested in my Origins / retro-engine style remakes of the 8bit Sonic titles? 🥰 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUTkCp485BA
Many people on this site will have noticed I'm somewhat Sonic obsessive and especially love the Master System games. Its early days, but I'm aiming to finish all the games (plus Chaotix, MD spinoffs and more) in time for SAGE '24. You can follow progress on the channel. Hope this is taken in the spirit intended and not seen as spam. If so, sorry 😇 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvTiAmOH8MM
@BulbasaurusRex Yes once the Apogee/3DRealms/ID guys managed to get things like Commander Keen, Duke Nukem, Jill of the Jungle etc running, suddenly the IBM PC games started to be able to at least compete with the growing console market - arguably by 93-94 it was actually the best gaming platform being effortlessly able to play 16bit platformers associated with the consoles like Aladdin, Lion King, Zool 2 etc, alongside multimedia CD-Rom games with superior video to the ealry CD consoles, and "next gen" 3d experiences like Doom, Terminal Velocity etc, shortly after ports of Playstation & Saturn games. I think VGA cards were the biggest early boon, obviously eventually followed by 3d accelerators.
The C64 was surprisingly successful in America for a while, actually had nearly 40% of the market for a couple of years, and I think it remains to this day the highest selling single model of any computer ever made. But of course the Apple II and Atari 8bit computers were massive in America and I can understand Commodore feeling like an afterthought if you weren't around during those 2-3 years when it was successful. I know the Amiga scene never really took off as it deserved to over there. A shame, but I find the almost completely different early gaming history of UK vs USA infinitely interesting to explore, like a different parallel reality 😅
@room_909 That's amazing that we share such a similar story! And we have even more in common than you realise. I too programmed and made games for fun throughout the 80s and 90s as a child & teen but by the time I started to become semi-professional at it, everyone wanted 3D games, and as a solo developer the rate that technology was progressing made it very hard to compete and catch up with each new advancement in tech and customer expectations - and I really prefered to make pixel art based 2d games anyway. So I quit and moved into the music, animation and film industry. Nowadays I'm a movie producer.
During the lockdowns in 2020, while I couldn't work on my movies, I decided to start making games again, thinking that nowadays there is a market for pixel-art retro style experiences again, inspired by successful retro-inspired projects like Sonic Mania, Shovel Knight, Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, Stardew Valley... I'm having so much fun and finding a great community of people who enjoy similar titles to me.
My own games are more inspired by 16bit titles, but all of them include mini-games or bonus rounds based on early 80s Namco-style games, and once you've unlocked them, you can come back and replay many times to try and beat your high score.
I bought your game and played it for a little while to try it and I've got to say its excellent! I got to level 26 after a few tries but I can definitely see it becoming a game I regularly come back to for a few minutes regularly to try and beat my scores! I'm very glad that you included the ability to remove the border, thank you! Even Nintendo doesn't alway do this with their retro titles, and its very annoying when they don't, like with Nintendo Switch Online Famicom / SFC titles.
I'm afraid I don't speak much Japanese but the translation you're using seems excellent! あなたのビデオゲームが本当に大好きです、おめでとうございます! Nyaa! 😻
@room_909 No problem! Yes it was mostly Namco games that I would discover and enjoy the most - things from before my time that I'd never heard of that would end up being some of my favourite games ever, despite (or because of?) their simplicity. I can definitely feel the Namco influence from your game - its very believable as one from that period, completely nails the aesthetic and vibe - its impressive that you've done that, but with unique gameplay rather than as a clone.
I didn't have a console either - but I'm very lucky in that when I was little my dad wouldn't buy me videogames but instead he taught me how to program our Commodore and said if I wanted games I'd have to make my own! So when I found a simple Nacmo arcade game and got addicted to it on holiday, I'd make lots of notes on paper and try and memories everything, the sprites, music, levels... so that when I got home I could make my own version!
I FINALLY got my first console when I was 12, but by then I was fluent into how to make my own games and kept doing it as a hobby too.
Its so wonderful that this game is one that you imagined as a child and are now creating in real life and sharing with other people! I find that very moving and it must be a wonderful feeling. I will gladly buy and support your game, it looks like one I'll have a lot of fun coming back to to try and beat my high score!
I'm actually doing a similar thing in encorporating sevearl of my childhood games as mini-games in one of my bigger projects. But I don't want to make this about me, just to say that I feel we have a similar passion and ideas and I LOVE what you have done. Excellent trailer too, by the way. It really sold me on the game once I saw all the emelemts coming together.
[edit] Kudos for also including a TATE mode, that's fantastic. I may actually install this in my arcade cabinet dedicated to TATE games! For TV & console play, is there an option to turn off the border images in horizontal mode? If not please consider adding - they look very nice but many find black borders make concentration easier.
@JohnnyMind I will definitely check it out when I have time to properly wade through and absorb it, I'm very interested in this stuff and how much of the changes are because of cultural differences. And... bunny-girl Boos... for research purposes.
I talked about this in the other thread but the NA/Euro artwork is really good and reminds me a lot of the DK '94 artwork, which is possibly my favourite Mario cover ever, alonside Super Mario Land.
I have both enlarged and framed on my wall, along with a handful of other very similar box art from other series (Land of Illusion, some Dizzy games inc Fantastic Dizzy, MS Sonic Chaos) and this is the exact style that I am trying to recreate for my own games. To me, its important game box art for platformers or mascot based games is dynamic, shows the personality and motivation of the characters, and gives hints as to what the gameplay will be like and what the levels and areas will include. You have one chance to make and impression and "sell" the idea of your game, its characters and worlds to someone when they see your box on the shelf, or art pop up in an online shop recomendation.
By comparisson, the cover for the remake looks awful, basic and plain - to my eyes at least. I wish they'd go back to hand drawn Mario art for covers rather than renders using the same old models and basic lighting. Even then, it still sells the game far better than this Japanese cover. I don't understand what they were going for with it.
This is a good review but I honestly think the trailer video should have been included - static screenshots barely do this justice and makes it look far simpler than it is, and the ones here don't really show lots of the nice touches and visual flare from the game.
After watching this I'm very interested - it absolutely nails the aesthetic of a very early 80s arcade game that I would have randomly found in the arcade of one of the run down caravan sites my parents would take me to in the 90s... and then I'd get completely addicted to for the entire trip, trying to beat my high score, and then go home and eagerly try to recreate the experience by programing my own version for my ancient Commodore. And the little touches of bonus kitty animations are adorable 😻
@room_909 Congratulations! As a dev myself I know how amazing it feels when people start to play and enjoy your work. I'm very excited for you and you deserve success, this is a great project!
@Daniel36 Yes I remember us talking about import RPGs and how many people in different European countries speak English.
The email address is right there on my channel on the "about" section. As we've spoken quite a lot and I'm expecting a message I'll definitely reply, don't worry about that. Its just that I might not log in for quite a long time. I need to hire someone to manage my emails and social media really. But then I'd have to talk to them all the time! 😂
Sometimes, I go dark, especially when I'm under pressure in my job to be around many people at conventions, filmsets etc - I'm quite heavily autistic but I can "mask" very well so people don't realise... but there's only so much of my social energy to go around, and lately I'm in demand more than usual, and I'm still adjusting 😅
@Fizza Yeah that's the element that impressed me the most and I noticed right away during the direct and realised this was no mere upscaling. It looks fantastic, I love how each layer has a physical thickness to the "paper" (rather than being a single 2-poly plain) and casts a very slight shadow.
@JohnnyMind I'd never heard about the Vivian thing - just looked it up. Its very interesting that only the English and German versions remove her being trans, while the Italian version specifically emphasises it and she says that she is happy/proud to be so, rather than being mocked for it. Here is not the place to debate but I'm glad to hear that even back then, Italian people were culturally deemed more tolerant to such things. There's a rabbit hole almost as deep as birdo on that one...
And speaking of rabbits I'm outraged I didn't get to see sexy bunny-girl boos! 😂 Realistically I don't think this was exactly "censorship", as they replaced them with "cat-girl" costumes which is just as sexualised if not more so in gaming and anime culture... more likely that they found out that in America you can't have waiting/service staff wear bunny-ears without paying a license to Playboy.
@SuperBiny64 I LOVE SSX Tricky. Originally was one of 3 games that made me want to finally buy a PS2. I later got it for Xbox and played it on GC. Probably my favourite snowboardign game ever, and that's saying somethgin as I really love quite a few of them. There's just something about that game in particular where everything just feels and looks "right" - even more so than its sequels, for me at least. I wish EA had continued their "BIG" line, I far prefered them to more po-faced vanilla sports titles.
@Daniel36 As for the "digital only until the game's dlc/seasons cycle is complete" thing, thats one option I'm considering but I'm not sure that its preferable in my case. My games will very much appeal to the retro collector market, and I hate "digital only" games as a practice in general... and there would be the same issue of expecting customers to "double dip" if I released as Digital only, only to then release a physical a year or two later. I've seen many people complain about Sonic Origins and Mania doing exactly that as they felt they were forced to buy it twice, thinking that there would never be a physical version.
I think the best option is probably to release with digital and physical day and date (or as close as possible) but be very upfront that there will be several free expansions and DLC coming, and once they are all released, there may be a "ultimate/complete" physical version again a couple of years down the line, if there is enough interest/demand. I think transparency and honesty is key, that way consumers can choose what to buy and when.
I'm not sure how long it will be before I'm back to feeling able to check my inboxes and mainstream social media etc again regularly. I'm mostly in "sit alone in a darkened room and work on my games and scripts and vfx in a robotic fashion and hide from the outside world" mode right now 😂 Once I'm back online fully you can find me on Twitter at the same tag as my username but because of the exposure thats the hardest for me to check.
@SalvorHardin Yes I do share that concern, however the difference is Frontiers is the highest selling 3D Sonic game since Sonic Heroes, and also the best reviewed. They'd be crazy to jump in a different direction at this point, rather than build on the same engine and codebase. They've already said there will be more remakes and spinoffs, so that's where they can try crazy new ideas if Iizuka wants.
@Waluigi451 The reason it hasn't occured to me is because it seems so pointless to do it that way. But then I'm a "physical purist", hense my above dilemas. And all my own DLC will be free so people with the launch day physical version would be able to download DLC for free regardless, the second physical release would only be for those that want all the DLC on a cart once I'm 100% sure no more free expansions will be released. Making multiple retail versions with minor variance in packaging to milk collectors angers me as a consumer and I won't do it with my own titles regardless of how much money I'm offered to do so.
@Waluigi451 Oh man I didn't know that about the Nick game. It hadn't even occured to me that this might be an indentical cart but with DLC code included. If it is, there's no reason to get it. Also the more I look at it, I much prefer the box art of the version I already own.
If its 100% on the cart though, that does appeal to me. Hmm.
"We are looking forward to the revival of this IP." sounds like he knows something we don't... but that could be inference from an innacurate google translation. "Awaiting" (like in the title) is more like wishignful thinking/hoping. But Nintendo always says to "look forward" to things they have anounced... 🤔
That Gamemaker response is hilarous. I'm very glad that my 2d titles are in GML and 3d in Unreal. I can't fathom this Unity anouncement at ALL and I'd never consider it as a dev moving forward.
@gcunit Thank you for the detailed and thoughtful response, I really appreciate it. Also the kind words of encouragement! I'm very happy with the games we are making they are genuinely things I'd be 100% hyped for as a consumer. I'm making stuff I love, which is gratifying.
Obviously I won't talk specific companies but one of the companies that courted my titles wanted to do very high priced releases and multiple versions with varying levels of overpriced tat and I actually turned them down because I don't think the prices are fair to consumers. I always try and think "would I, as a game fan, want to pay that amount for this game, if I had no emotional attachment to it?".
To be clear, this wasn't LRG, I've not spoken to them. I get the feeling they are more interested in making copies of existing digital titles rather than going day and date with a new IP. Perhaps I'm wrong. I respect a lot of what they've done for indie and digital games, and what they are doing with resurfacing certain retro titles. I share some frustrations about devlivery times and some prices though.
I'm paying alot of attention to the reputation of companies, and the general feel/vibe I get when speaking to them. I'd prefer a less corporate and more "true indie fans who want to build a relationship with passionate small devs" company who offer a realistic plan, price, print run and schedule.
Probably not a wise business move to post online but when developing them, they both felt to me like the Digital versions on Steam etc would be fair at maybe $14.99 or so $20 max - some people would rave about how much value was there as far as longevity, play time etc, especailly as they expand, but they are still pixel art retro inspired titles, I feel less people are comfortable paying $30-50 for those regardless of how much content there is, and I'm more in this for having lots of people play and enjoy the titles rather than to make money.
With that said, given the price of making carts, builk ordering etc, I think a standard edition would be ok at around the $20-25 mark.
As for special editions that have a load of extra stuff, we've actually considered making more expensive limited edition version of one of the games, because its about a cute little witch (Hazel, in my avatar) and her bat friend, and we think they would make super cute plushies, and it would be great to have physical map, spellbook and maybe a wand, all in a "big box" like old DOS and Amiga games... but again this is mostly because we love the characters and world and think its would be a really cool thing to have. In order to make the price reasonable we'd make virtually no more profit per unit than the standard editions.
Separately we're considering just kickstarting that ourselves for those that want it - rather than being beholden to a company, and also being able to control the ethical production of the goods. My gut feeling is that if someone paid a large-ish amount of money for a special edition like that, and then we released a new physcial edition with all the DLC, I'd want to send it to them for free / shipping cost rather than ask for even more money 😅 Thats easy for CD/DVD, less so for Switch carts with are expensive, especially in small quantities.
@JohnnyMind Oh, that's cool to know, thanks! I love it when games do that kind of thing - its something I'm implementing in my Hazel game to give extra replay value. 😀
PS nice to see you again mate! I've been away from social media for a few months for a mental health break.
For those that haven't bought already, a bargain price for a great game.
For those of us that bought the original version just a year ago because we hate digital only things... this is conflicting. On the one hand, its wonderful to have a physical version of the DLC. On the other hand it means our original purchase is now pointless/worthless (can't imagine it will be worth much second hand or trade-in in the short term).
I don't want to massively hijack this thread but its very on topic and something I've been thinking / worrying about. I have 2 commercial Switch games coming out in the next year and have offers from various "short print run" style companies for physical copies. Thats very exciting to me. However, I also envisioned both of them being somewhat like Shovel Knight and having several very large, very expansive free DLC updates released - I want to add value to people that buy the game and keep giving them a reason to come back. I know that as a consumer and fan of indie titles myself, I always really appreciate this.
Eventually of course I'll stop and move on to sequels or new games. But at that point I'll 100% want to release another physical version with all of the final DLC and updates added. Will this be a poor PR move and upset all the people that had enough faith in me to buy the launch versions? I'm very conflicted on it. Again to be clear, the DLC will be very expansive (far more content than just this one singular bit of paid DLC), but also completely free. Like adding "season updates" to the game for a couple of years, along with bug fixes etc for anything people run accross.
I'm genuinely interested to see people's reactions to this Turtles thing, and also how their feelings would apply to my similar situation. Its really been on my mind as a genuine ethical/moral concern for me and I don't know where I fall on it. I'm not a developer that needs the money, I'm a genuine indie games fan who loves physical editions of games I like.
@Anti-Matter This is a cartridge, the download code only games for Switch clearly state so on the box art.
Also, that Wii U game was always download only except Japan, and then released as a "code in a box" to desperately try and scrape up a little money while the Wii U was (sadly) floundering. This game bares almost no resemblance to the Wii U title, the series changed dramatically over time to become a completely different style of game. This game was always intended as a full price release for GBA rather than a small budget download only title.
I'm really looking forward to playing this as I love DK '94 an indescribable amount and never really gave this semi-sequel a chance as I wasn't keen on the pre-rendered look on the low resolution (and horizontally cropped considering how zoomed in they were) screen.
For others who don't mind the look of the original, or even who enjoy it or are nostalgic for it, I'm not convinced this is a $50 game, especially as @Browny mentions its underwhelming in size/content compared to the GameBoy title?
Also, yeah I agree the cover art is really weak. The hand drawn GBA cover was much nicer and the DK '94 art is possibly my favourite Mario cover art ever... up there with Super Mario Land.
Sonic music always slaps. Even the "bad" games have good music, and Frontiers is in no way bad, and getting better all the time. For me, all 3 tracks here sound amazing, as expected! ブラボー！ アンコール 大谷さん
Amy's is my favourite, I love the whistful tone... but I'm biased as she's my favourite character. The chopped up samples on Knuckles beat are pretty sick and I love the up tempo vides of Tails'... oh I just like them all.
I shouldn't have listened to them - as soon as the beat dropped on Amy's beat I started freestyling and I know I'm gonna end up procrastinating and recording another track for my SAGE game instead of working 😂 I've seen so many streamers and youtubers vibing to my last one 😀 But still. Discipline. Bug fixing is more important!
Also, I LOVE the 2d art for the recent Frontiers promo animations. Well done to Jasmine and team. Buen trabajo, lo has hecho muy bien! Me ha encantado la presentación! 😀
This new update is huuuuuge and going to completely transform the game. Especially looking forward to playing as Amy 🥰 I'm so admiring of how Kishimoto has handled development of Frontiers, especially post release. I've a very high level of certainty that the next mainline 3d Sonic will build on everything learned.
Good times for Sonic fans, both 2d and 3d... not to mention IDW who are KILLING it right now, and Knuckles show and the 3rd movie are shaping up just great.
@Antraxx777 Thank you! Yes I'm very lucky to have gotten success in the entertainment industry when I was a teenager, so I could afford my own small place in a very beautiful area at a young age. It was on a cliff edge looking over the sea, but with a winding path walkable down to the beach - there was a waterfall going over that cliff to the beach below and while I didn't own it, that section of coast was pretty much unreachable by the public for months at a time and I rarely saw anyone there. As someone in the public eye it was an amazing escape from the big cities I worked in. The first movie I ever directed was shot on that beach and its stunning scenery.
Not too long after I became a father, and once my eldest needed to go to school it wasn't practical to live there any more, as it was pretty far away from any proper town/city, but I have many happy memories of my time there, it felt like our own little secret hideaway from the world for myself, my partner and my kids.
@Woderwick Yes I think that's a good assessment. I love learning about all of this and really "British" culture is one big melting pot... and all the better for it! And I'm also enjoying learning more about the connectiosn between France and the UK, again something I must admit I was embarassingly mostly unaware of other than the very surface level stuff we did at GCSE level... but when I decide to do something, I dive in whole hog, and when I moved to France I felt I should become not only fluent in French but knowledgable of as much of their historical literary canon as possible, as well as things like folk lore etc and its pleasant to discover all the ways we all cross each others path. 😀
I think as mostly Welsh by birth, and passionate about preserving the language, it just overly annoys me when much of the world thinks "England", "Britain" and "The UK" are all the exact same thing, and basically everything is London. 😂 Its understandable though, we're very small. And even though I work there a lot, to me, the USA is mostly California, New York and a very small area of Florida - I have embarassingly little knowledge of everything inbetween. I'm trying to work on improve that.
@-wc- Yes that's me! Its linked on my profile here, I hardly keep it a secret 😅 Nice to see you again btw mate! I've been offline for a little while for a mental health socail media break.
That page only tells a small part of my story, over the years I've also run / co-owned several production and VFX companies that aren't under my personal name for security reasons, and do a lot of ghost/uncredited work "punching up" Hollywood stuff for the major studios. It recently became public knowledge I'd written a famous line in a Star Wars movie and I accidentally went massively viral (3.2 million views & thousands of messages overnight, lots of media coverage) which as someone who suffers from anxiety scared the heck outta me! lol I got to appear at Celebration, and got a book deal out of it though, so its not all bad!
Before I was in film I used to ghost write and produce music for various big name American hip-hop artists too... and I trained in animation with Don Bluth for 2 years, as well as others. I've been blessed to have a very wide ranging career! lol
@Woderwick Yes I've recently been educating myself on Cornish language and history, its something I was previously relatively ignorant of but of course shares many links to the Celtic things I've previously obsessed on, it was just a weird blind spot I had accidentally created for myself. My studies into witchcraft, folklore, traditional herbology and similar topics for development of Hazel Witch (the little girl in my avatar, Switch game coming soonish!) lead me to come accross a lot of old Cornish folklore and traditions.
BTW I've nothing against the English side of things at all, its just that to the rest of the world (mostly my American colleagues) the Arthurian legends being seen as quintessentially "English" and Wales itself being mostly unheard of rankles a little when of course the Welsh language stuff existed so long before the English language adaptations. That said, nowadays I mostly live in France and love French culture, language and literature, again, something I'm tryign to immerse myself in and understand more deeply, so I've nothing against Britains Norman influence having mixed with the Celtic!
I have worked on and off with Disney for decades now and I regularly try and persuade them to let me have the rights to the Chronicles of Prydain as they are just sittign on them and not using them. At least they finally made an HD scan of Black Cauldron for Disney Plus.
@Woderwick Haha I love Life of Brian, the fact you use it in RPGs is brilliant! 😂 I'm somewhat of a nerd about the Welsh language origins of the Arthurian tales, Maginogion etc, and Excalibur is a really great film. So many amazing actors got their first big break in it too!
@Woderwick Firstly, its iconic. Secondly, you probably didn't know (some people on this site do, as I'm occasionally asked about it) but I'm a movie producer, director and actor. Of course I know Kubrick 😅
BTW I also like your Excalibur pfp, and I wondered if your username was a reference to Life of Brian? lol
@F_Destroyer Holy crud you're right! I completely forgot about that. Why did I not see anyone mention this when everyone was so sure it was coming? (granted I've barely been online recently) Maybe a gyro solution or 2nd analogue stick option could work...
The lack of analogue triggers in both the Switch and Wii U is a major bugbare for me and beggars belief really. If they had them, I think Nintendo's Pro controllers would have been the best standard controller of each generation. Its an insane ommision considering they had them back on the 'Cube.
I voted "pretty good overall" although I am extremely happy and surprised TTYD is finally getting recognition from Nintendo. I also really loved the Peach game, though we already knew it existed so it wasn't exactly a surprise.
"Mario vs. Donkey Kong is not a new DK game!"
I know its silly but I somewhat object to the premise of this answer! DK '94 and its style of gameplay need far more love and much as I adore the DKC games (first one is one of my fondest gaming memories and Tropical Freeze is one of the best platform games ever imo), I was more excited to see this than a straight forward platformer. I really hope it does well and means more games in this style are coming.
Comments 1,500
Re: Jurassic Park: Classic Games Collection Adds Two Sega Genesis Titles
THANK YOU now it becomes a far better prospect and I'll definitely buy.
The SNES game is pretty cool but there was a huge amount of confusion / incredulity as to how this could even be anounced without the MD titles. I saw so many people in the comments and on YouTube videos etc just default assuming they'd be there - people saying "day one, can't wait to play the Genesis game again!!!" on stream and then having to be corrected by the viewers and feeling gyped. Could have avoided some bad press by waiting just a little longer while they did the deal - surely they must have been aware that people would want them too...
Though I'd still love the Master System title added too - arguably my favourite of all the original JP games.
Re: Best Game Gear Sonic Games, Ranked By You
@Nin35 Thanks so much! Yes Sonic Mania (and the Whitehead & Headcanon ports of course) are the inspiration / bar of quality for all my "modern-retro-style" games that I make 😀
Re: Mini Review: The Many Pieces Of Mr. Coo - Short, Obtuse, But Spectacularly Presented
@World Oh, cool, I consider myself somewhat of an honarary Canadian myself! My work in the film industry sees me often spending time in Vancouver and Toronto, and my business partner is from Alberta and currently studying in Toronto. She and her family have taught me lots about the country and so many amazing places to visit. I have many Canadian friends and I love it over there. I'm becoming pretty good at French so once I am almost fluent I'll have even further that I can explore! 😀
In most of Western Europe you are allowed to drive vehicles like campervans around and park them almost anywhere as long as its just for one night - I'm not sure if its the same with touring caravans. I've had many wonderful times driving round France (I have an apartment just outside of Paris next to Disneyland) and discovering "real" non-tourist areas. Locals are very welcoming and happy to speak with you and water, waste and sewage disposal areas are very common everywhere remote.
Once our big movie project is finished myself and my partner plan on getting one of the new elcetric VW campers and touring round Europe for 6 months discovering cool new places, trying new foods, meeting new people. Its quite a common (though aspirational) holiday for Europeans. Unfortunately Brexit has made it harder than it used to be (I'm British by birth and can't apply for a EU passport for another couple of years) but we'll work it out.
When I was little my dad didn't want to leave the UK but we would take any opportunity possible (even a long weekend or bank holiday) to attach our tiny little caravan to our car and go exploring for an empty field, nice bit of coast, or big forrest to explore to get away from city life 😀
@JohnnyMind Ah I thought you were probably the right age to have been aware of Signor Rossi! I know it was predominantly 60s and 70s cartoons but in the UK at least they were repeated a lot on TV in the 80s and early 90s during school holidays. My good friend Ellie who is the only Italian I really know IRL is in her late 20s and had never heard of it.
I'm a big fan of Bozzetto in general - it wasn't until seeing a showreel / tribute video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFoFn7rJClk ) nearly 10 years ago that I realised just how many amazing shorts and commercials that I really clearly remembered from my childhood had been directed by him - I'd have never made the connection as he works in so many styles. That lead me to really read up on him and look into all his work over the years.
Re: TMNT: Shredder's Revenge Lands A New Physical Edition With DLC Included This November
@DreamlandGem Hi Gem thank you for the kind words! I have spoken to several Nintendolife/Hookshot staff over the years at length about my projects and also my film career and extensive work on various retrogames projects like books, documentaries and tv shows many of which have been featured on the site over the last decade.
Sadly I can't register as verifed with that form yet, as a requirement is to have at least one game published on the Nintendo EShop, and my first one doesn't go live for about 6 months. I've had interest to preview and eventually review my titles when the time is right, so I'm sure you'll be hearing about them, I'd love to get your feedback too, I'm a big Kirby collector myself as well and there's definitely elements of Adventure/Dreamland series in Hazel's world.
I wasn't trying to hijack this thread, it certainly seemed very relevant because of the reactions of people when they buy a physical game, only for a new edition to release shortly after, and the fact that its a 90s inpired retro title with a short run company - again exactly the same as my projects, so I couldn't resist asking people's opinions as to where the moral/ethical line is on this stuff. I wasn't planning on plugging or going into details about my own games, until I was pushed on it - sorry if this was overstepping a line, wasn't my intention.
Re: Mini Review: The Many Pieces Of Mr. Coo - Short, Obtuse, But Spectacularly Presented
@World Yes that's a great one too, and a similar vibe/meaning of course. I love how the factory and city are drawn in that film, super stylized and imposing angles. Its such a cool art style. Also it always made me laugh because my family had a far too small tiny touring caravan that my parents would drive anywhere they could find with a field that would let you park for cheap/free. That film was pretty accurate to my experience! lol
Re: Mini Review: The Many Pieces Of Mr. Coo - Short, Obtuse, But Spectacularly Presented
@World I absolutely got Bozzetto vibes! I love Mr Rossi, especially "Mr. Rossi Looks for Happiness" / "Il Signor Rossi Cerca la Felicità" which I watched millions of times as a kid, its art, use of colour and geometry inspired my work a lot over the years.
In the UK the movie was split into a cartoon series so that's how most British people my age first saw it, so that theme tune is forever stuck in our heads. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw26fLW_gg4&ab_channel=MITOGEN
There's 2 English language dubs and whenever I see the "wrong" one it throws me for a loop. 😂 I have the limited edition soundtrack album and its fantastic too.
[edit] And even as a little kid, I understood that the opening with him pretending to be happy in his awful job, being grateful and repectful to a boss he hated, and trying to be proud to be a small cog in a corporate machine while it slowly ate his soul was some deep stuff. I think it affected my world outlook in a fairly profound way, which now I think about it, I've 100% carried over elements and humour from that planted seed into one of my games, about a guy working in a fast food restaurant that satarises late-stage capitalism... genuinely hadn't made that connection til now. Wow.
Re: Best Game Gear Sonic Games, Ranked By You
@Ristar24 Thank you! lol spooky coincidence but I just tagged you in another post replying to an old comment you made to me that I didn't previously see! We must have been typing at the same time! I didn't twig that I'd already tagged you here, sorry about that. We were discussing Outrun and sprite scaling racers 😀
Re: Sega President Teases Possible Sonic "Reboots And Remakes"
@fpcreator2000 @smoreon @Bunkerneath Sorry I didn't respond earlier, I've been taking a mental health break from social media, but wanted to let you guys know progress on the 8bit Sonic remakes!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUTkCp485BA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvTiAmOH8MM
The entire collection (along with other titles like Chaotix and the 16bit spinoffs) should be complete by SAGE '24. You can follow progress on the channel. Hope this is taken in the spirit intended and not seen as spam. If so, sorry 😇
Re: Mini Review: The Many Pieces Of Mr. Coo - Short, Obtuse, But Spectacularly Presented
I'm somewhat of a minor animation snob having trained with Don Bluth & done some time with Richard Williams and on Disney projects, but its absolutely stellar here. No complaints, nothing but admiration. Some of the best I've seen in a game, and deliciously abstract and fluid whilst feeling solid, which is hard to pull off.
Its obviously European in style and I got curious so I did some digging. The ever excellent Cartoon Brew did a profile of the artist: https://www.cartoonbrew.com/inside-the-artists-studio/inside-the-artists-studio-nacho-rodriguez-165486.html Nacho Rodriguez based in Madrid. I have a new name to watch out for. 😀
I will very much enjoy playing this, seems like the kind of thing I was imagining and hoping would be available back when I got my first CD-Rom based PC in 1995. From a quick google looks like by far the best experience is on Steam though.
Re: Poll: Box Art Brawl - Duel: Mario Vs. Donkey Kong
@HammerGalladeBro I don't know where it originates from, but its quite commonly used because it was part of a "sample CD" that was sold and distributed and used by djs, musicians, in video production etc. I don't remember the name of the CD sadly (we had it at a recording studio I worked for years ago) but the same CD also had the "Owww! .... yeah!" sample that's used in countless beats for pop music and hip-hop from the late 80s to today, and the "Would you stop playing with that radio of yours? I'm trying to get to sleep" sample used in quite a few videogame tracks and also famously George Michael's "Too Funky".
What's interesting to me is that those are taken from a Run DMC live Funhouse performance, and a Tony Hancock episode respectively, so technically both are copyrighted material that was just chopped out and put on a sample collection as if it was royalty free... but I doubt they asked permission. The individual pieces of music or video that use them certainly don't because they assume that because they bought the Sample CD, everything is cleared and Royalty free, even though technically I don't think they are.
So its likely that that Spanish sample appears all over the place, but also originates from some relatively obscure but mainstream piece of media and the people who put it on the original CD thought no-one would notice. Its probably like the Roblox "Oof" that was used literally millions of times and thought to be free, before the "owner" realised. I put owner in inverted commas, because everything should be when it comes to Tallarico. 😂
Re: Best Game Gear Sonic Games, Ranked By You
@Yosti Thank you! 😀 The first game will easily be completed 100% for SAGE '24, I already have all the badniks and gimmicks done, just need to create the tilesets and map everything out.
It will be fully customisable to switch between options of features and layouts from the Game Gear or Master System versions or mix and match in whatever ways people prefer - and of course all the extra stuff you can see from the videos as to improvements, characters, new moves etc, again all toggleable.
Its a real fun passion project for me, Sonic 1 on Master System was teh first game I ever owned, and Sonic Chaos was the first I ever bought with my own money 🥰
Re: Mini Review: Raindrop Sprinters - A Compellingly Pure (And Brutal) Arcade Throwback
@room_909 Of course I know Cave Story, its a great game! Thats amazing that your friend and classmate made it! I wasn't aware that there was a large indie game scene in Japan, I guess I think of Japanese games as being more the famous games from big companies that we hear of over here, and many of the smaller ones don't get translated or promoted.
I love Japanese games, movies, manga and anime, food... I sometimes do business in Tokyo and I love to visit for travels but its difficult to get Japanese media companies to trust or want to work with foreigners. I don't know if you're aware but in France where I live, manga is so popular that even the supermarkets and grocery stores have whole aisles dedicated to it!
I have a history with American animation including Disney and Don Bluth, and I've tried to get several Japanese+France, and Japanese+USA co-production anime series or OVA made, as well as have my games be translated and distributed in Japan, but its difficult to be taken seriously. Money is not the problem, its more like you have to win the trust or respect of the companies somehow, if that makes sense?
I think Westerners can accidentally seem rude or pushy because of cultural differences. I'm working hard to learn more about the culture, and I want to learn to speak the language. I often do promotional events at Disneyland Paris and the American Disney parks, I'd love to get good enough with basic Japanese to also do so in Tokyo. I've started to learn hiragana but I'm aware that's the easy part! I also watch lots of YouTubers who explain the differences between the cultures so Westerners don't seem so abrasive.
My business partner is learning Japanese and doing far better than me so far. She is one of the lead presenters of a long running English language Anime podcast which I help produce. She is also a voice actor and sometimes does English dubs for Japanese material like games, commercials and hopefully soon some anime.
Anyway its lovely to speak to you and see how much we have in common despite our great distance! I am sure you will be very sucessful with your game and any more projects that you put your mind to. 😻
Re: Best Game Gear Sonic Games, Ranked By You
@Dr_Corndog Thank you! Frankly its something I wish Sega would have done themselves by now and I saw so many people during the release of Origins moan about the lack of Master system titles, plus Chaotix, that I thought why not just go ahead and remake them properly like whitehead/Headcannon et al did for the 16bit titles? 😀
Re: Best Game Gear Sonic Games, Ranked By You
Sorry to plug but as it seems this thread has been resurected recently, I think some or all of you guys that I'm tagging, plus others reading this may be interested in my Origins / retro-engine style remakes of the 8bit Sonic titles? 🥰
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUTkCp485BA
@Nin35 @Yosti @Dr_Corndog @Darknyht @DanijoEX-the-Pierrot @RadioShadow @Gamecuber @Ristar24 @EarthboundBenjy @WingZeroSys
Many people on this site will have noticed I'm somewhat Sonic obsessive and especially love the Master System games. Its early days, but I'm aiming to finish all the games (plus Chaotix, MD spinoffs and more) in time for SAGE '24. You can follow progress on the channel. Hope this is taken in the spirit intended and not seen as spam. If so, sorry 😇
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvTiAmOH8MM
Re: Best Game Gear Sonic Games, Ranked By You
@BulbasaurusRex Yes once the Apogee/3DRealms/ID guys managed to get things like Commander Keen, Duke Nukem, Jill of the Jungle etc running, suddenly the IBM PC games started to be able to at least compete with the growing console market - arguably by 93-94 it was actually the best gaming platform being effortlessly able to play 16bit platformers associated with the consoles like Aladdin, Lion King, Zool 2 etc, alongside multimedia CD-Rom games with superior video to the ealry CD consoles, and "next gen" 3d experiences like Doom, Terminal Velocity etc, shortly after ports of Playstation & Saturn games. I think VGA cards were the biggest early boon, obviously eventually followed by 3d accelerators.
The C64 was surprisingly successful in America for a while, actually had nearly 40% of the market for a couple of years, and I think it remains to this day the highest selling single model of any computer ever made. But of course the Apple II and Atari 8bit computers were massive in America and I can understand Commodore feeling like an afterthought if you weren't around during those 2-3 years when it was successful. I know the Amiga scene never really took off as it deserved to over there. A shame, but I find the almost completely different early gaming history of UK vs USA infinitely interesting to explore, like a different parallel reality 😅
Re: Mini Review: Raindrop Sprinters - A Compellingly Pure (And Brutal) Arcade Throwback
@room_909 That's amazing that we share such a similar story! And we have even more in common than you realise. I too programmed and made games for fun throughout the 80s and 90s as a child & teen but by the time I started to become semi-professional at it, everyone wanted 3D games, and as a solo developer the rate that technology was progressing made it very hard to compete and catch up with each new advancement in tech and customer expectations - and I really prefered to make pixel art based 2d games anyway. So I quit and moved into the music, animation and film industry. Nowadays I'm a movie producer.
During the lockdowns in 2020, while I couldn't work on my movies, I decided to start making games again, thinking that nowadays there is a market for pixel-art retro style experiences again, inspired by successful retro-inspired projects like Sonic Mania, Shovel Knight, Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, Stardew Valley... I'm having so much fun and finding a great community of people who enjoy similar titles to me.
My own games are more inspired by 16bit titles, but all of them include mini-games or bonus rounds based on early 80s Namco-style games, and once you've unlocked them, you can come back and replay many times to try and beat your high score.
I bought your game and played it for a little while to try it and I've got to say its excellent! I got to level 26 after a few tries but I can definitely see it becoming a game I regularly come back to for a few minutes regularly to try and beat my scores! I'm very glad that you included the ability to remove the border, thank you! Even Nintendo doesn't alway do this with their retro titles, and its very annoying when they don't, like with Nintendo Switch Online Famicom / SFC titles.
I'm afraid I don't speak much Japanese but the translation you're using seems excellent! あなたのビデオゲームが本当に大好きです、おめでとうございます! Nyaa! 😻
Re: Mini Review: Raindrop Sprinters - A Compellingly Pure (And Brutal) Arcade Throwback
@room_909 No problem! Yes it was mostly Namco games that I would discover and enjoy the most - things from before my time that I'd never heard of that would end up being some of my favourite games ever, despite (or because of?) their simplicity. I can definitely feel the Namco influence from your game - its very believable as one from that period, completely nails the aesthetic and vibe - its impressive that you've done that, but with unique gameplay rather than as a clone.
I didn't have a console either - but I'm very lucky in that when I was little my dad wouldn't buy me videogames but instead he taught me how to program our Commodore and said if I wanted games I'd have to make my own! So when I found a simple Nacmo arcade game and got addicted to it on holiday, I'd make lots of notes on paper and try and memories everything, the sprites, music, levels... so that when I got home I could make my own version!
I FINALLY got my first console when I was 12, but by then I was fluent into how to make my own games and kept doing it as a hobby too.
Its so wonderful that this game is one that you imagined as a child and are now creating in real life and sharing with other people! I find that very moving and it must be a wonderful feeling. I will gladly buy and support your game, it looks like one I'll have a lot of fun coming back to to try and beat my high score!
I'm actually doing a similar thing in encorporating sevearl of my childhood games as mini-games in one of my bigger projects. But I don't want to make this about me, just to say that I feel we have a similar passion and ideas and I LOVE what you have done. Excellent trailer too, by the way. It really sold me on the game once I saw all the emelemts coming together.
[edit] Kudos for also including a TATE mode, that's fantastic. I may actually install this in my arcade cabinet dedicated to TATE games! For TV & console play, is there an option to turn off the border images in horizontal mode? If not please consider adding - they look very nice but many find black borders make concentration easier.
Re: Video: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Side-By-Side Comparison (Switch & GameCube)
@JohnnyMind I will definitely check it out when I have time to properly wade through and absorb it, I'm very interested in this stuff and how much of the changes are because of cultural differences. And... bunny-girl Boos... for research purposes.
Re: Poll: Box Art Brawl - Duel: Mario Vs. Donkey Kong
I talked about this in the other thread but the NA/Euro artwork is really good and reminds me a lot of the DK '94 artwork, which is possibly my favourite Mario cover ever, alonside Super Mario Land.
I have both enlarged and framed on my wall, along with a handful of other very similar box art from other series (Land of Illusion, some Dizzy games inc Fantastic Dizzy, MS Sonic Chaos) and this is the exact style that I am trying to recreate for my own games. To me, its important game box art for platformers or mascot based games is dynamic, shows the personality and motivation of the characters, and gives hints as to what the gameplay will be like and what the levels and areas will include. You have one chance to make and impression and "sell" the idea of your game, its characters and worlds to someone when they see your box on the shelf, or art pop up in an online shop recomendation.
By comparisson, the cover for the remake looks awful, basic and plain - to my eyes at least. I wish they'd go back to hand drawn Mario art for covers rather than renders using the same old models and basic lighting. Even then, it still sells the game far better than this Japanese cover. I don't understand what they were going for with it.
Re: Mini Review: Raindrop Sprinters - A Compellingly Pure (And Brutal) Arcade Throwback
This is a good review but I honestly think the trailer video should have been included - static screenshots barely do this justice and makes it look far simpler than it is, and the ones here don't really show lots of the nice touches and visual flare from the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzeIJ31YJb0&ab_channel=Play%2CDoujin%21
After watching this I'm very interested - it absolutely nails the aesthetic of a very early 80s arcade game that I would have randomly found in the arcade of one of the run down caravan sites my parents would take me to in the 90s... and then I'd get completely addicted to for the entire trip, trying to beat my high score, and then go home and eagerly try to recreate the experience by programing my own version for my ancient Commodore. And the little touches of bonus kitty animations are adorable 😻
@room_909 Congratulations! As a dev myself I know how amazing it feels when people start to play and enjoy your work. I'm very excited for you and you deserve success, this is a great project!
Re: TMNT: Shredder's Revenge Lands A New Physical Edition With DLC Included This November
@Daniel36 Yes I remember us talking about import RPGs and how many people in different European countries speak English.
The email address is right there on my channel on the "about" section. As we've spoken quite a lot and I'm expecting a message I'll definitely reply, don't worry about that. Its just that I might not log in for quite a long time. I need to hire someone to manage my emails and social media really. But then I'd have to talk to them all the time! 😂
Sometimes, I go dark, especially when I'm under pressure in my job to be around many people at conventions, filmsets etc - I'm quite heavily autistic but I can "mask" very well so people don't realise... but there's only so much of my social energy to go around, and lately I'm in demand more than usual, and I'm still adjusting 😅
Re: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Wave 6 Brings Back Four Returning Characters This Winter
@TheBlayman lol if that happens, that will be amazing!
Re: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Wave 6 Brings Back Four Returning Characters This Winter
@TheBlayman Yes someone else pointed that out, its a real shame. Apparently there will be a proper physical release in Japan.
Re: Video: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Side-By-Side Comparison (Switch & GameCube)
@Fizza Yeah that's the element that impressed me the most and I noticed right away during the direct and realised this was no mere upscaling. It looks fantastic, I love how each layer has a physical thickness to the "paper" (rather than being a single 2-poly plain) and casts a very slight shadow.
@JohnnyMind I'd never heard about the Vivian thing - just looked it up. Its very interesting that only the English and German versions remove her being trans, while the Italian version specifically emphasises it and she says that she is happy/proud to be so, rather than being mocked for it. Here is not the place to debate but I'm glad to hear that even back then, Italian people were culturally deemed more tolerant to such things. There's a rabbit hole almost as deep as birdo on that one...
And speaking of rabbits I'm outraged I didn't get to see sexy bunny-girl boos! 😂 Realistically I don't think this was exactly "censorship", as they replaced them with "cat-girl" costumes which is just as sexualised if not more so in gaming and anime culture... more likely that they found out that in America you can't have waiting/service staff wear bunny-ears without paying a license to Playboy.
Re: Feature: Digital Doppelgangers - Home Vs. Handheld Adaptations In The 2000s
@SuperBiny64 I LOVE SSX Tricky. Originally was one of 3 games that made me want to finally buy a PS2. I later got it for Xbox and played it on GC. Probably my favourite snowboardign game ever, and that's saying somethgin as I really love quite a few of them. There's just something about that game in particular where everything just feels and looks "right" - even more so than its sequels, for me at least. I wish EA had continued their "BIG" line, I far prefered them to more po-faced vanilla sports titles.
Re: TMNT: Shredder's Revenge Lands A New Physical Edition With DLC Included This November
@Daniel36 As for the "digital only until the game's dlc/seasons cycle is complete" thing, thats one option I'm considering but I'm not sure that its preferable in my case. My games will very much appeal to the retro collector market, and I hate "digital only" games as a practice in general... and there would be the same issue of expecting customers to "double dip" if I released as Digital only, only to then release a physical a year or two later. I've seen many people complain about Sonic Origins and Mania doing exactly that as they felt they were forced to buy it twice, thinking that there would never be a physical version.
I think the best option is probably to release with digital and physical day and date (or as close as possible) but be very upfront that there will be several free expansions and DLC coming, and once they are all released, there may be a "ultimate/complete" physical version again a couple of years down the line, if there is enough interest/demand. I think transparency and honesty is key, that way consumers can choose what to buy and when.
Re: TMNT: Shredder's Revenge Lands A New Physical Edition With DLC Included This November
@Daniel36 Thank you for subscribing! There's an email address linked on that YouTube page, you can contact me there. However, no promises as to how often I'll check that inbox or respond in the short term... right now I'm only tentatively online after taking a long mental health break. Details of why and how are in my recent Nintendolife comment here: https://www.nintendolife.com/guides/nintendo-direct-september-2023-every-announcement-game-reveal-trailer#comment7793793
I'm not sure how long it will be before I'm back to feeling able to check my inboxes and mainstream social media etc again regularly. I'm mostly in "sit alone in a darkened room and work on my games and scripts and vfx in a robotic fashion and hide from the outside world" mode right now 😂 Once I'm back online fully you can find me on Twitter at the same tag as my username but because of the exposure thats the hardest for me to check.
Re: These Character Themes For Sonic Frontiers' Final Horizon DLC Are Banging
@SalvorHardin Yes I do share that concern, however the difference is Frontiers is the highest selling 3D Sonic game since Sonic Heroes, and also the best reviewed. They'd be crazy to jump in a different direction at this point, rather than build on the same engine and codebase. They've already said there will be more remakes and spinoffs, so that's where they can try crazy new ideas if Iizuka wants.
Re: TMNT: Shredder's Revenge Lands A New Physical Edition With DLC Included This November
@Greatluigi Thank you! 😀
Re: Takaya Imamura Expresses His Love For F-Zero 99, Awaits 'Revival Of The IP'
@EmpathTheOracle Yeah that's what I figured. We can hope!
Re: TMNT: Shredder's Revenge Lands A New Physical Edition With DLC Included This November
@Waluigi451 The reason it hasn't occured to me is because it seems so pointless to do it that way. But then I'm a "physical purist", hense my above dilemas. And all my own DLC will be free so people with the launch day physical version would be able to download DLC for free regardless, the second physical release would only be for those that want all the DLC on a cart once I'm 100% sure no more free expansions will be released. Making multiple retail versions with minor variance in packaging to milk collectors angers me as a consumer and I won't do it with my own titles regardless of how much money I'm offered to do so.
Re: TMNT: Shredder's Revenge Lands A New Physical Edition With DLC Included This November
@Waluigi451 Oh man I didn't know that about the Nick game. It hadn't even occured to me that this might be an indentical cart but with DLC code included. If it is, there's no reason to get it. Also the more I look at it, I much prefer the box art of the version I already own.
If its 100% on the cart though, that does appeal to me. Hmm.
Re: Takaya Imamura Expresses His Love For F-Zero 99, Awaits 'Revival Of The IP'
"We are looking forward to the revival of this IP." sounds like he knows something we don't... but that could be inference from an innacurate google translation. "Awaiting" (like in the title) is more like wishignful thinking/hoping. But Nintendo always says to "look forward" to things they have anounced... 🤔
Re: Round Up: Developers React To Unity's New 'Runtime Fee' Policy
That Gamemaker response is hilarous. I'm very glad that my 2d titles are in GML and 3d in Unreal. I can't fathom this Unity anouncement at ALL and I'd never consider it as a dev moving forward.
Re: Where To Pre-Order Mario vs. Donkey Kong On Switch
@JohnnyMind Thank you 😀
Re: TMNT: Shredder's Revenge Lands A New Physical Edition With DLC Included This November
@gcunit Thank you for the detailed and thoughtful response, I really appreciate it. Also the kind words of encouragement! I'm very happy with the games we are making they are genuinely things I'd be 100% hyped for as a consumer. I'm making stuff I love, which is gratifying.
Obviously I won't talk specific companies but one of the companies that courted my titles wanted to do very high priced releases and multiple versions with varying levels of overpriced tat and I actually turned them down because I don't think the prices are fair to consumers. I always try and think "would I, as a game fan, want to pay that amount for this game, if I had no emotional attachment to it?".
To be clear, this wasn't LRG, I've not spoken to them. I get the feeling they are more interested in making copies of existing digital titles rather than going day and date with a new IP. Perhaps I'm wrong. I respect a lot of what they've done for indie and digital games, and what they are doing with resurfacing certain retro titles. I share some frustrations about devlivery times and some prices though.
I'm paying alot of attention to the reputation of companies, and the general feel/vibe I get when speaking to them. I'd prefer a less corporate and more "true indie fans who want to build a relationship with passionate small devs" company who offer a realistic plan, price, print run and schedule.
Probably not a wise business move to post online but when developing them, they both felt to me like the Digital versions on Steam etc would be fair at maybe $14.99 or so $20 max - some people would rave about how much value was there as far as longevity, play time etc, especailly as they expand, but they are still pixel art retro inspired titles, I feel less people are comfortable paying $30-50 for those regardless of how much content there is, and I'm more in this for having lots of people play and enjoy the titles rather than to make money.
With that said, given the price of making carts, builk ordering etc, I think a standard edition would be ok at around the $20-25 mark.
As for special editions that have a load of extra stuff, we've actually considered making more expensive limited edition version of one of the games, because its about a cute little witch (Hazel, in my avatar) and her bat friend, and we think they would make super cute plushies, and it would be great to have physical map, spellbook and maybe a wand, all in a "big box" like old DOS and Amiga games... but again this is mostly because we love the characters and world and think its would be a really cool thing to have. In order to make the price reasonable we'd make virtually no more profit per unit than the standard editions.
Separately we're considering just kickstarting that ourselves for those that want it - rather than being beholden to a company, and also being able to control the ethical production of the goods. My gut feeling is that if someone paid a large-ish amount of money for a special edition like that, and then we released a new physcial edition with all the DLC, I'd want to send it to them for free / shipping cost rather than ask for even more money 😅 Thats easy for CD/DVD, less so for Switch carts with are expensive, especially in small quantities.
Re: Where To Pre-Order Mario vs. Donkey Kong On Switch
@JohnnyMind Oh, that's cool to know, thanks! I love it when games do that kind of thing - its something I'm implementing in my Hazel game to give extra replay value. 😀
PS nice to see you again mate! I've been away from social media for a few months for a mental health break.
Re: TMNT: Shredder's Revenge Lands A New Physical Edition With DLC Included This November
For those that haven't bought already, a bargain price for a great game.
For those of us that bought the original version just a year ago because we hate digital only things... this is conflicting. On the one hand, its wonderful to have a physical version of the DLC. On the other hand it means our original purchase is now pointless/worthless (can't imagine it will be worth much second hand or trade-in in the short term).
I don't want to massively hijack this thread but its very on topic and something I've been thinking / worrying about. I have 2 commercial Switch games coming out in the next year and have offers from various "short print run" style companies for physical copies. Thats very exciting to me. However, I also envisioned both of them being somewhat like Shovel Knight and having several very large, very expansive free DLC updates released - I want to add value to people that buy the game and keep giving them a reason to come back. I know that as a consumer and fan of indie titles myself, I always really appreciate this.
Eventually of course I'll stop and move on to sequels or new games. But at that point I'll 100% want to release another physical version with all of the final DLC and updates added. Will this be a poor PR move and upset all the people that had enough faith in me to buy the launch versions? I'm very conflicted on it. Again to be clear, the DLC will be very expansive (far more content than just this one singular bit of paid DLC), but also completely free. Like adding "season updates" to the game for a couple of years, along with bug fixes etc for anything people run accross.
I'm genuinely interested to see people's reactions to this Turtles thing, and also how their feelings would apply to my similar situation. Its really been on my mind as a genuine ethical/moral concern for me and I don't know where I fall on it. I'm not a developer that needs the money, I'm a genuine indie games fan who loves physical editions of games I like.
Re: Where To Pre-Order Mario vs. Donkey Kong On Switch
@Anti-Matter This is a cartridge, the download code only games for Switch clearly state so on the box art.
Also, that Wii U game was always download only except Japan, and then released as a "code in a box" to desperately try and scrape up a little money while the Wii U was (sadly) floundering. This game bares almost no resemblance to the Wii U title, the series changed dramatically over time to become a completely different style of game. This game was always intended as a full price release for GBA rather than a small budget download only title.
Re: Where To Pre-Order Mario vs. Donkey Kong On Switch
I'm really looking forward to playing this as I love DK '94 an indescribable amount and never really gave this semi-sequel a chance as I wasn't keen on the pre-rendered look on the low resolution (and horizontally cropped considering how zoomed in they were) screen.
For others who don't mind the look of the original, or even who enjoy it or are nostalgic for it, I'm not convinced this is a $50 game, especially as @Browny mentions its underwhelming in size/content compared to the GameBoy title?
Also, yeah I agree the cover art is really weak. The hand drawn GBA cover was much nicer and the DK '94 art is possibly my favourite Mario cover art ever... up there with Super Mario Land.
Re: These Character Themes For Sonic Frontiers' Final Horizon DLC Are Banging
Sonic music always slaps. Even the "bad" games have good music, and Frontiers is in no way bad, and getting better all the time. For me, all 3 tracks here sound amazing, as expected! ブラボー！ アンコール 大谷さん
Amy's is my favourite, I love the whistful tone... but I'm biased as she's my favourite character. The chopped up samples on Knuckles beat are pretty sick and I love the up tempo vides of Tails'... oh I just like them all.
I shouldn't have listened to them - as soon as the beat dropped on Amy's beat I started freestyling and I know I'm gonna end up procrastinating and recording another track for my SAGE game instead of working 😂 I've seen so many streamers and youtubers vibing to my last one 😀 But still. Discipline. Bug fixing is more important!
Also, I LOVE the 2d art for the recent Frontiers promo animations. Well done to Jasmine and team. Buen trabajo, lo has hecho muy bien! Me ha encantado la presentación! 😀
This new update is huuuuuge and going to completely transform the game. Especially looking forward to playing as Amy 🥰 I'm so admiring of how Kishimoto has handled development of Frontiers, especially post release. I've a very high level of certainty that the next mainline 3d Sonic will build on everything learned.
Good times for Sonic fans, both 2d and 3d... not to mention IDW who are KILLING it right now, and Knuckles show and the 3rd movie are shaping up just great.
Re: The Original Tomb Raider Trilogy Is Getting Remastered For Switch
@Antraxx777 Thank you! Yes I'm very lucky to have gotten success in the entertainment industry when I was a teenager, so I could afford my own small place in a very beautiful area at a young age. It was on a cliff edge looking over the sea, but with a winding path walkable down to the beach - there was a waterfall going over that cliff to the beach below and while I didn't own it, that section of coast was pretty much unreachable by the public for months at a time and I rarely saw anyone there. As someone in the public eye it was an amazing escape from the big cities I worked in. The first movie I ever directed was shot on that beach and its stunning scenery.
Not too long after I became a father, and once my eldest needed to go to school it wasn't practical to live there any more, as it was pretty far away from any proper town/city, but I have many happy memories of my time there, it felt like our own little secret hideaway from the world for myself, my partner and my kids.
Re: The Original Tomb Raider Trilogy Is Getting Remastered For Switch
@Woderwick Yes I think that's a good assessment. I love learning about all of this and really "British" culture is one big melting pot... and all the better for it! And I'm also enjoying learning more about the connectiosn between France and the UK, again something I must admit I was embarassingly mostly unaware of other than the very surface level stuff we did at GCSE level... but when I decide to do something, I dive in whole hog, and when I moved to France I felt I should become not only fluent in French but knowledgable of as much of their historical literary canon as possible, as well as things like folk lore etc and its pleasant to discover all the ways we all cross each others path. 😀
I think as mostly Welsh by birth, and passionate about preserving the language, it just overly annoys me when much of the world thinks "England", "Britain" and "The UK" are all the exact same thing, and basically everything is London. 😂 Its understandable though, we're very small. And even though I work there a lot, to me, the USA is mostly California, New York and a very small area of Florida - I have embarassingly little knowledge of everything inbetween. I'm trying to work on improve that.
Re: The Original Tomb Raider Trilogy Is Getting Remastered For Switch
@-wc- Yes that's me! Its linked on my profile here, I hardly keep it a secret 😅 Nice to see you again btw mate! I've been offline for a little while for a mental health socail media break.
That page only tells a small part of my story, over the years I've also run / co-owned several production and VFX companies that aren't under my personal name for security reasons, and do a lot of ghost/uncredited work "punching up" Hollywood stuff for the major studios. It recently became public knowledge I'd written a famous line in a Star Wars movie and I accidentally went massively viral (3.2 million views & thousands of messages overnight, lots of media coverage) which as someone who suffers from anxiety scared the heck outta me! lol I got to appear at Celebration, and got a book deal out of it though, so its not all bad!
Before I was in film I used to ghost write and produce music for various big name American hip-hop artists too... and I trained in animation with Don Bluth for 2 years, as well as others. I've been blessed to have a very wide ranging career! lol
Re: The Original Tomb Raider Trilogy Is Getting Remastered For Switch
@Woderwick Yes I've recently been educating myself on Cornish language and history, its something I was previously relatively ignorant of but of course shares many links to the Celtic things I've previously obsessed on, it was just a weird blind spot I had accidentally created for myself. My studies into witchcraft, folklore, traditional herbology and similar topics for development of Hazel Witch (the little girl in my avatar, Switch game coming soonish!) lead me to come accross a lot of old Cornish folklore and traditions.
BTW I've nothing against the English side of things at all, its just that to the rest of the world (mostly my American colleagues) the Arthurian legends being seen as quintessentially "English" and Wales itself being mostly unheard of rankles a little when of course the Welsh language stuff existed so long before the English language adaptations. That said, nowadays I mostly live in France and love French culture, language and literature, again, something I'm tryign to immerse myself in and understand more deeply, so I've nothing against Britains Norman influence having mixed with the Celtic!
I have worked on and off with Disney for decades now and I regularly try and persuade them to let me have the rights to the Chronicles of Prydain as they are just sittign on them and not using them. At least they finally made an HD scan of Black Cauldron for Disney Plus.
Re: The Original Tomb Raider Trilogy Is Getting Remastered For Switch
@Woderwick Haha I love Life of Brian, the fact you use it in RPGs is brilliant! 😂 I'm somewhat of a nerd about the Welsh language origins of the Arthurian tales, Maginogion etc, and Excalibur is a really great film. So many amazing actors got their first big break in it too!
Re: The Original Tomb Raider Trilogy Is Getting Remastered For Switch
@Woderwick Firstly, its iconic. Secondly, you probably didn't know (some people on this site do, as I'm occasionally asked about it) but I'm a movie producer, director and actor. Of course I know Kubrick 😅
BTW I also like your Excalibur pfp, and I wondered if your username was a reference to Life of Brian? lol
Re: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Wave 6 Brings Back Four Returning Characters This Winter
@Yosti Yes agreed, maybe I should wait. Good idea!
Re: F-ZERO 99 Turns The Classic Racer Into A 99-Player Battle Royale, On NSO Today
@F_Destroyer Holy crud you're right! I completely forgot about that. Why did I not see anyone mention this when everyone was so sure it was coming? (granted I've barely been online recently) Maybe a gyro solution or 2nd analogue stick option could work...
The lack of analogue triggers in both the Switch and Wii U is a major bugbare for me and beggars belief really. If they had them, I think Nintendo's Pro controllers would have been the best standard controller of each generation. Its an insane ommision considering they had them back on the 'Cube.
Re: Poll: What Did You Think Of The Nintendo Direct, Then?
I voted "pretty good overall" although I am extremely happy and surprised TTYD is finally getting recognition from Nintendo. I also really loved the Peach game, though we already knew it existed so it wasn't exactly a surprise.
"Mario vs. Donkey Kong is not a new DK game!"
I know its silly but I somewhat object to the premise of this answer! DK '94 and its style of gameplay need far more love and much as I adore the DKC games (first one is one of my fondest gaming memories and Tropical Freeze is one of the best platform games ever imo), I was more excited to see this than a straight forward platformer. I really hope it does well and means more games in this style are coming.