A portion of a NindiesSpotlight interview with Michael Heald, creator of Fully Illustrated...
NS: In the videos I've been impressed by what looks like a fair diversity in moves you can pull off, with some of them reminding me a bit of Aliens Versus Predator. As a huge fan of classic beat-em-ups what specific genre games would you say inspired you for Wulverblade when it comes to "feel", moveset, etc?
MH: Side-scrolling beat-em-ups are without doubt my all-time favourite genre and since the dawn of 3D graphics when the PS1 and Saturn came around, that beloved genre just vanished, almost entirely. Ever since I’ve yearned to see this genre get revitalised but it never did, not in a big way at least. So instead of moaning, I got to creating!
I’m a BIG arcade and retro collector and have just about every old side scroller there is. When my arcade cabs are on there is always at least one side scroller running. Games like Golden Axe, Knights of the Round, Sengoku and AVP were the biggest inspirations for this as they’re all mainly weapon based. But hand-to-hand beat-em-ups like Final Fight and Streets of Rage have been massive influences too. I actually spent months stripping the classic games down to analyse the frame timing of each character's moves so that I could better understand what made them work so well. I also did the same with games that did it badly too, to see where they went wrong. With all that in hand I then basically started to cherry pick the elements that worked from all the big hitters and made a list of what Wulverblade needed for its core foundations. As the game developed we expanded on that massively and created a moveset that feels classic at its core, but also has a tonne of modern flourishes.
NS: How did the process of becoming a featured game in the latest Nindie Showcase and launching first on the Switch work out? You were in with some pretty impressive company, it must be gratifying to be recognized and to get that sort of added exposure!
MH: It was AMAZING. We felt very honoured indeed. Nintendo have made us feel like part of the Nintendo family in a big way. All the platform holders have been great to date but Nintendo are on a different level. They’ve really made us feel like they care about Wulverblade and that means the world to us.
Initially we’d tried every avenue to get in touch with Nintendo and to give them a really strong pitch to sell Wulverblade to them. We have a lean towards local multiplayer (as all the old side scrolling beat-em-ups play best with a buddy by your side) and Nintendo could see that and how well it fit in with the core values of the Switch. Then to our HUGE surprise we were showing the game at PAX East in the Megabooth this year only to discover that the two chaps we were talking to were actually from Nintendo! They were out scouting for games whilst undercover. They could see first-hand how much people loved the game and it was from there that I ‘think’ we’d proven our worth.
from GoNintendo
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