#Also ALSO - this is kind of a remake of the last time I drew Tricky realistically-ish
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The Suicide Squad: How Idris Elba Brings Bloodsport to Life
https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Idris Elba has a certain unmistakeable, charismatic vibe about him. The resulting magnetism extends to the wide range of characters he has brought to life over the years – from playing the second-in-command to a drug kingpin in The Wire to playing a guy who has to deal with the likes like Michael Scott in The Office, to playing a dedicated horseman committed to fighting off gentrifying developers in his neighborhood in the recently released Concrete Cowboy. Whether it’s as a leading man or part of a larger ensemble, Elba’s performances always stand out because of what he brings to each role.
Later this summer, Elba will make his DC Extended Universe debut in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad – a comic book adaption full of talent who could carry their own features if given the opportunity. We recently spoke with him about his role as the lesser-known comic character Bloodsport and what it was like to be part of such a chaotic batch of DC villains and antiheroes.
How were you first approached for the role for Bloodsport, and what made you say yes?
James Gunn reached out to me and said he had this project that he wanted to work on and didn’t tell me what it was. We had a meeting pretty late at night [and] what was appealing to me was that it wasn’t a continuation of the last film, and this is a new character. I just wanted to see where James wanted to go with this new film and this new character. So that was really what drew me in.
Bloodsport isn’t a very famous character. So what did you learn about him and what freedom were you given to bring him to life?
Like you say, he’s not very well known so I sort of traced his history back in the DC world. He’s popped up in some places. He’s more of the vigilante soldier type. He’s not going to have special powers, he’s just a really good assassin, basically. That was pretty consistent throughout his history. There was a little bit of leniency between myself and James collaboratively just working it out … what we want to bring to life. I felt very involved in that process, so essentially I got to bring him to life the way we wanted to.
You’re no stranger to superhero movies. You’re an MCU alum and I consider Hobbs & Shaw a superhero movie because you played Brixton Lore, the fantastic “Black Superman” in it. Did you bring any of those experiences to Bloodsport?
Playing any action character requires a level of real dedication just to the amount of work you have to do. So although I’ve been in the Marvel universe, Heimdall isn’t so much of an action character, despite moments where he’s had action. But Brixton in Hobbs & Shaw was 100% full on. Going from that into The Suicide Squad was a great transition because I basically brought some of the things I learned from the experiences I had on Hobbs & Shaw. It’s not the same character, but the level of effort is the same.
This ensemble cast is one of the wildest we’ve seen in a superhero movie. What was it like to work with everyone?
That was a lot of fun. It’s challenging keeping your character in one lane while you’ve got these really larger-than-life characters around you, especially Peacemaker who is a natural rival [to Bloodsport]. It’s kind of hard to sort of stay in your character with John Cena, who is incredible with improvisations. And then everyone else has this quick-fire banter, but Bloodsport, he doesn’t even like to talk. It’s like, you don’t want to be too friendly with these people. But I think that’s what’s beautiful about his arc. When you see the movie, he goes on a journey.
The dynamic with the actors is incredible. Really good, nice, hard-working people. James was so specific around timing and comedy and how you say lines and stuff. It was great to be a part of that. It’s almost like he’s a comic strip artist and he had these characters to play with and built these amazing frames. I love working with directors that have a complete vision, but allow you a little bit of latitude to bring it to life.
What was it like wearing that intricate Bloodsport costume?
The suit was very tricky to wear. Each component of his costume does something else, so it’s quite a tricky costume to design. I remember speaking to James about the many machinations of designs that he had gone through with this costume. When I came on board, it had to fit to who I am and how Bloodsport moves. It’s intricate but it looks incredible and badass when you see it in the film, but it was a real journey getting there.
What are his weapons like?
Just imagine a weapon that can transform from one thing into another and keep going. He’s got a pretty cool array of weapons.
In the trailer we see Bloodsport in vacation wear, a nice pair of grilling sandals and linen pants. Do you believe that Bloodsport is good on the grill and who would he play Spades or Dominos with and why?
With a name like Bloodsport he’s definitely going to grill. I don’t think he’s the guy that’s seasoning, but I think he’s behind the barbecue with the fire, making sure that meat and blood are cooking. As far as playing games with anyone, he doesn’t do that, he’s solitary, he doesn’t like company, and likes to be alone. He’s very guarded. He just wouldn’t find it interesting to play cards against anyone. He might play chess, maybe, but I don’t think he’s playing Spades at the barbecue.
Earlier this year, there was an announcement about you and your wife, Sabrina, teaming up with your respective production companies to develop an Afro-futuristic animated series. Can you speak to some of the motivation for wanting to put a story like Dantai out into the world?
I can tell you that it’s mainly the brainchild of Sabrina. Her deep passion and history with anime introduced me to it. From my perspective, I just love telling stories, but also this is a medium that’s kind of new and interesting to me, and it feels underserved in many, many ways. Sabrina is a super, super geek when it comes to anime [laughs], so, you know, I’m there. But I’m so engaged from what I’ve learned so far, Crunchyroll is incredible. We want to make something really exciting, hopefully that will maybe even bring more people to the genre.
You don’t know how happy it just made me to hear that your wife is a huge anime fan. I’m a huge anime fan, so finding other Black women who love that art form always makes me happy. So thank you for sharing that.
Yeah. You guys could definitely travel down some wormholes and discuss because she can go deep.
Would you all ever consider developing a superhero story or comic book adaptation?
We haven’t considered it. It would certainly be sort of a natural course of action in terms of how this came about. We would certainly consider that, but right now it’s one step at a time to try and get [Dantai] right and see how we go. But for me, if you know anything about me or my ambitions are out there, so (laughing) I’ll end up doing something in that space for sure.
Retcons and remakes and comics all go hand in hand. Are there any other comic characters you’d love a chance to bring to life, even though you’ve already been in the DC and the Marvel universe?
Well, we all need to see Black Superman but someone else is putting that in the works. But you know, that’s practically my nickname right now. (laughing) I’m being honest. I’m not the best dictionary of comic books [so] I honestly couldn’t speak with authority.
There is a character named Icon from Milestone comics, and although folks don’t like when you refer to him as the Black Superman, he is kind of like that analog. So I mean, there is still a chance for that to happen.
Oh, really?
Yes.
Wow. Okay. Thank you for that tidbit. What did you say was the name of the company it comes from?
He comes from Milestone Comics. They were a Black imprint. Dwayne McDuffie was part of this startup, but they were an imprint of DC Comics. Static Shock, Icon, Rocket and some other really prominent Black superheroes came from them. I’m sorry. I’m a comic nerd.
No, I did not know that. Who has it now?
DC does. Unfortunately, Dwayne McDuffie passed away. But DC is bringing it back. There are some actual comics that are in the works right now. Static Shock is one of them. I know that. I believe Michael B. Jordan is producing the movie. So they’re around. Yeah. So I’m just putting that bug in your ear.
cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });
Thank you very much. That’s great. I’m looking it up as we speak.
The Suicide Squad opens on Aug. 6 in theaters and HBO Max.
Check out more on The Suicide Squad in the latest issue of Den of Geek!
The post The Suicide Squad: How Idris Elba Brings Bloodsport to Life appeared first on Den of Geek.
from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3vpOily
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Once you've read this article, be sure to check out Gamasutra's video interview with the creator's of the remake of Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap.
Ben Fiquet spent a great deal of time playing the 1989 Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap as a child, wandering around its wondrous worlds. The game made a strong impression on him. These feelings would well up again, years later, when Fiquet found himself working on the recently-released remake, Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap. Here, he’d be able to leave his own stamp on a game he loved long ago.
“I think I wanted to make the game as I saw it as a kid on my screen," he says. "It is, at the core, a vibrant and beautiful world that I could lose myself in.“
How would he capture that same sense of wonder he’d felt as a child, though? And how would he recreate a game he so loved while still preserving what he loved about it? The balancing act involved in making something his own, while still paying homage to the original, was a challenging. But it was an enjoyable task for Fiquet, who worked hard to stay within classic limitations, and create a visual love letter to the game’s original programmers and artists.
“When we started, it was like a fan project," says Fiquet. "We didn't know if it could become a reality. So, I didn't really think about it -- I just started to draw what I thought would fit the game most. But, I knew I wanted to bring something new, something unique.”
What he sought to capture with his work on the game was that sense of child-like joy at exploring fantastic worlds. “I sure wanted new players to have the same impression I had as a kid.” says Fiquet.
Fiquet's art was informed by anime and French comics
As such, part of him naturally meandered back to the other fantasy worlds he had explored during his childhood – comics and cartoons.
“I've been raised with French comics and manga/anime, and I think it pours in when it comes to design," he says. “Like many other French kids, I spent my childhood in front of anime coming directly from Japan without filters. I think I kind of understand the mindset of visual designs from that era in Japan. So, naturally, I tried to get that feeling of eighties anime, but also a bit of my own style as well. It wouldn't make sense to try to only replicate these particular styles.”
He also drew from the rich history and variety of bandes dessinées, or French comics, which had also been important to him as a child. “For a vast majority of the world, it is foreign” says Fiquet. “Which in my opinion is a good thing. There's a subtlety in all the various styles you can find in French comics. Nothing is the same; every comic is different, in style and story. I guess it's the arrogance of French people who want to impose their own signature But it gives a real diversity. I think it adds a bit of difference.” says Fiquet.
That sense of child-like wonder was connected to these art styles, and they naturally followed when Fiquet wanted to leave his own stamp on the game.
Fiquet may have known what stirred up certain feelings within him, but that didn’t mean he was just going to apply those art styles without a consideration to the original game. For him it was very important to preserve as much of the original Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap with his new work. “I wanted to keep the sense of a colorful, inviting, and charming world.”
Part of that preservation, other than having a style that invoked a sense of wonder, involved using the same tile-based art style. “Since the game is directly based on the original, we used that canvas to the fullest. That also means that we kept the tiling system in place.”
Compare the original to the updated version
The tiling system had helped its original developers save valuable space in making the original Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap, but in keeping it now, it would involve some artistic risk. Having tiles with specific art on them placed throughout each screen ran the danger of the artwork repeating itself, and in making that repetition obvious, boring the player with an art style Fiquet had put so much work into.
“So, structurally, I had to work with these tiles, but at the same time, try to go beyond. I tried to manipulate what you see on screen to make you believe that there is no repetition.”
Fiquet developed a few tricks to hide the fact that they were including this homage to how the art had worked in the original game. “The easiest one was to have large textures up to 1920 pixels. That way, you don't see a repetition until you've travel across the entire screen - until then you've forgotten what the beginning of the texture looks like. I don't have to tell you this is the one programmers don't like at all.”
Making the programmers upset wasn’t Fiquet’s goal, so he developed a few more tricks with his tile artwork. “Making visible parallax was another. When the repetitions occurs, you can have different elements (in front or behind) that don't repeat the same way as the main texture does. Fog, some clouds, or some objects placed differently gives you the impression every step is different.”
In adding a few scrolling elements or other objects, Fiquet could mislead the player, taking their attention off of the original tiles and onto another object. And there were even further tricks. “Using fake lights and shadows. I've added layers that act like Photoshop layers with multiplication (for shadows) and addition (for lights). By placing them strategically, you once again give the impression that it is different, even though it's the same textures,” says Fiquet.
Tiling wasn’t the only limitation Fiquet applied to his work, though. “I had to stay in the boundaries of the animation of the original game. Even if I added 10 times more frames, the length of an animation could only be coherent with the original ones.”
Fiquet’s animations were to be in keeping with those of the original game, only updating how they looked. If a character walked in a certain way, they would carry themselves in the same manner now. Still, that didn’t mean he couldn’t smooth out those animations, giving them a look like a cartoon in motion.
“One thing that adds a lot is having a lot of transition animations. With the same inputs, you can have a totally different feeling just by having anticipations or overlaps. It gave the game a much-needed smooth feel.” says Fiquet.
Making these animations look more fluid was a joy for Fiquet, who has a long-standing love for making game characters look good in motion. “I wanted to make frame by frame animation, as I see a real beauty in it. I'm a huge fan of Dave Perry's work during the Genesis era. Games like Aladdin, Cool Spot, and Earthworm Jim were beautifully animated. This skill has been lost over the years, but as an animation geek, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to implement traditional animation.”
Fiquet drew from his own childhood wonder, and what had made him feel so much for these digital worlds, to create a whole new experience. Even so, he managed to do so with some self-imposed limitations to keep him in the spirit of the original developers.
“It has been sometimes a bit tricky in certain areas because there was not much to rely on. The original game, due to technical limitations, was sometimes a bit empty. I could do whatever I wanted but I had to keep in mind what the original creators wanted to see at that time.”
As empty as those places technically were, in his childhood memories, they stood for so much more. “It's hard to pinpoint exactly what made me click. For this game, I guess it's a mix between a good old nostalgia and just the charm of it all. You see a little village, pyramids, lava, jungle, etc ... You have a sense that you're on an adventure exploring a vas t and rich world.”
The original art for the boss Captain Dragon and the updated version
Fiquet got to fill in those worlds with his own imagination, using the limitations of the original artists to join in the feeling they would have felt when initially creating the landscapes that would fuel his imagination. He got to step into the shoes of the artists who had inspired him as a child, and give them back a gift using his own sense of wonder and creativity.
“I feel like I've added something to the Wonder Boy history. We met with the original creator, Nishizawa-san, in Kyoto last July. He told how much he loved what I had done with the game, I got really emotional. It's not every day that you can give back to a dear childhood memory and be rewarded for it. I don't think he thought he would had so much impact on two little boys at the other side of the globe.”
0 notes
Link
Once you've read this article, be sure to check out Gamasutra's video interview with the creator's of the remake of Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap.
Ben Fiquet spent a great deal of time playing the 1989 Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap as a child, wandering around its wondrous worlds. The game made a strong impression on him. These feelings would well up again, years later, when Fiquet found himself working on a remake of it. Here, he’d be able to leave his own stamp on a game he loved long ago.
“I think I wanted to make the game as I saw it as a kid on my screen," he says. "It is, at the core, a vibrant and beautiful world that I could lose myself in.“
How would he capture that same sense of wonder he’d felt as a child, though? And how would he recreate a game he so loved while still preserving what he loved about it? The balancing act involved in making something his own, while still paying homage to the original, was a challenging. But it was an enjoyable task for Fiquet, who worked hard to stay within classic limitations, and create a visual love letter to the game’s original programmers and artists.
“When we started, it was like a fan project," says Fiquet. "We didn't know if it could become a reality. So, I didn't really think about it -- I just started to draw what I thought would fit the game most. But, I knew I wanted to bring something new, something unique.”
What he sought to capture with his work on the game was that sense of child-like joy at exploring fantastic worlds. “I sure wanted new players to have the same impression I had as a kid.” says Fiquet.
Fiquet's art was informed by anime and French comics
As such, part of him naturally meandered back to the other fantasy worlds he had explored during his childhood – comics and cartoons.
“I've been raised with French comics and manga/anime, and I think it pours in when it comes to design," he says. “Like many other French kids, I spent my childhood in front of anime coming directly from Japan without filters. I think I kind of understand the mindset of visual designs from that era in Japan. So, naturally, I tried to get that feeling of eighties anime, but also a bit of my own style as well. It wouldn't make sense to try to only replicate these particular styles.”
He also drew from the rich history and variety of bandes dessinées, or French comics, which had also been important to him as a child. “For a vast majority of the world, it is foreign” says Fiquet. “Which in my opinion is a good thing. There's a subtlety in all the various styles you can find in French comics. Nothing is the same; every comic is different, in style and story. I guess it's the arrogance of French people who want to impose their own signature But it gives a real diversity. I think it adds a bit of difference.” says Fiquet.
That sense of child-like wonder was connected to these art styles, and they naturally followed when Fiquet wanted to leave his own stamp on the game.
Fiquet may have known what stirred up certain feelings within him, but that didn’t mean he was just going to apply those art styles without a consideration to the original game. For him it was very important to preserve as much of the original Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap with his new work. “I wanted to keep the sense of a colorful, inviting, and charming world.”
Part of that preservation, other than having a style that invoked a sense of wonder, involved using the same tile-based art style. “Since the game is directly based on the original, we used that canvas to the fullest. That also means that we kept the tiling system in place.”
Compare the original to the updated version
The tiling system had helped its original developers save valuable space in making the original Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap, but in keeping it now, it would involve some artistic risk. Having tiles with specific art on them placed throughout each screen ran the danger of the artwork repeating itself, and in making that repetition obvious, boring the player with an art style Fiquet had put so much work into.
“So, structurally, I had to work with these tiles, but at the same time, try to go beyond. I tried to manipulate what you see on screen to make you believe that there is no repetition.”
Fiquet developed a few tricks to hide the fact that they were including this homage to how the art had worked in the original game. “The easiest one was to have large textures up to 1920 pixels. That way, you don't see a repetition until you've travel across the entire screen - until then you've forgotten what the beginning of the texture looks like. I don't have to tell you this is the one programmers don't like at all.”
Making the programmers upset wasn’t Fiquet’s goal, so he developed a few more tricks with his tile artwork. “Making visible parallax was another. When the repetitions occurs, you can have different elements (in front or behind) that don't repeat the same way as the main texture does. Fog, some clouds, or some objects placed differently gives you the impression every step is different.”
In adding a few scrolling elements or other objects, Fiquet could mislead the player, taking their attention off of the original tiles and onto another object. And there were even further tricks. “Using fake lights and shadows. I've added layers that act like Photoshop layers with multiplication (for shadows) and addition (for lights). By placing them strategically, you once again give the impression that it is different, even though it's the same textures,” says Fiquet.
Tiling wasn’t the only limitation Fiquet applied to his work, though. “I had to stay in the boundaries of the animation of the original game. Even if I added 10 times more frames, the length of an animation could only be coherent with the original ones.”
Fiquet’s animations were to be in keeping with those of the original game, only updating how they looked. If a character walked in a certain way, they would carry themselves in the same manner now. Still, that didn’t mean he couldn’t smooth out those animations, giving them a look like a cartoon in motion.
“One thing that adds a lot is having a lot of transition animations. With the same inputs, you can have a totally different feeling just by having anticipations or overlaps. It gave the game a much-needed smooth feel.” says Fiquet.
Making these animations look more fluid was a joy for Fiquet, who has a long-standing love for making game characters look good in motion. “I wanted to make frame by frame animation, as I see a real beauty in it. I'm a huge fan of Dave Perry's work during the Genesis era. Games like Aladdin, Cool Spot, and Earthworm Jim were beautifully animated. This skill has been lost over the years, but as an animation geek, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to implement traditional animation.”
Fiquet drew from his own childhood wonder, and what had made him feel so much for these digital worlds, to create a whole new experience. Even so, he managed to do so with some self-imposed limitations to keep him in the spirit of the original developers.
“It has been sometimes a bit tricky in certain areas because there was not much to rely on. The original game, due to technical limitations, was sometimes a bit empty. I could do whatever I wanted but I had to keep in mind what the original creators wanted to see at that time.”
As empty as those places technically were, in his childhood memories, they stood for so much more. “It's hard to pinpoint exactly what made me click. For this game, I guess it's a mix between a good old nostalgia and just the charm of it all. You see a little village, pyramids, lava, jungle, etc ... You have a sense that you're on an adventure exploring a vas t and rich world.”
The original art for the boss Captain Dragon and the updated version
Fiquet got to fill in those worlds with his own imagination, using the limitations of the original artists to join in the feeling they would have felt when initially creating the landscapes that would fuel his imagination. He got to step into the shoes of the artists who had inspired him as a child, and give them back a gift using his own sense of wonder and creativity.
“I feel like I've added something to the Wonder Boy history. We met with the original creator, Nishizawa-san, in Kyoto last July. He told how much he loved what I had done with the game, I got really emotional. It's not every day that you can give back to a dear childhood memory and be rewarded for it. I don't think he thought he would had so much impact on two little boys at the other side of the globe.”
0 notes
Link
Once you've read this article, be sure to check out Gamasutra's video interview with the creator's of the remake of Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap.
Ben Fiquet spent a great deal of time playing the 1989 Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap as a child, wandering around its wondrous worlds. The game made a strong impression on him. These feelings would well up again, years later, when Fiquet found himself working on a remake of it. Here, he’d be able to leave his own stamp on a game he loved long ago.
“I think I wanted to make the game as I saw it as a kid on my screen," he says. "It is, at the core, a vibrant and beautiful world that I could lose myself in.“
How would he capture that same sense of wonder he’d felt as a child, though? And how would he recreate a game he so loved while still preserving what he loved about it? The balancing act involved in making something his own, while still paying homage to the original, was a challenging. But it was an enjoyable task for Fiquet, who worked hard to stay within classic limitations, and create a visual love letter to the game’s original programmers and artists.
“When we started, it was like a fan project," says Fiquet. "We didn't know if it could become a reality. So, I didn't really think about it -- I just started to draw what I thought would fit the game most. But, I knew I wanted to bring something new, something unique.”
What he sought to capture with his work on the game was that sense of child-like joy at exploring fantastic worlds. “I sure wanted new players to have the same impression I had as a kid.” says Fiquet.
Fiquet's art was informed by anime and French comics
As such, part of him naturally meandered back to the other fantasy worlds he had explored during his childhood – comics and cartoons.
“I've been raised with French comics and manga/anime, and I think it pours in when it comes to design," he says. “Like many other French kids, I spent my childhood in front of anime coming directly from Japan without filters. I think I kind of understand the mindset of visual designs from that era in Japan. So, naturally, I tried to get that feeling of eighties anime, but also a bit of my own style as well. It wouldn't make sense to try to only replicate these particular styles.”
He also drew from the rich history and variety of bandes dessinées, or French comics, which had also been important to him as a child. “For a vast majority of the world, it is foreign” says Fiquet. “Which in my opinion is a good thing. There's a subtlety in all the various styles you can find in French comics. Nothing is the same; every comic is different, in style and story. I guess it's the arrogance of French people who want to impose their own signature But it gives a real diversity. I think it adds a bit of difference.” says Fiquet.
That sense of child-like wonder was connected to these art styles, and they naturally followed when Fiquet wanted to leave his own stamp on the game.
Fiquet may have known what stirred up certain feelings within him, but that didn’t mean he was just going to apply those art styles without a consideration to the original game. For him it was very important to preserve as much of the original Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap with his new work. “I wanted to keep the sense of a colorful, inviting, and charming world.”
Part of that preservation, other than having a style that invoked a sense of wonder, involved using the same tile-based art style. “Since the game is directly based on the original, we used that canvas to the fullest. That also means that we kept the tiling system in place.”
Compare the original to the updated version
The tiling system had helped its original developers save valuable space in making the original Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap, but in keeping it now, it would involve some artistic risk. Having tiles with specific art on them placed throughout each screen ran the danger of the artwork repeating itself, and in making that repetition obvious, boring the player with an art style Fiquet had put so much work into.
“So, structurally, I had to work with these tiles, but at the same time, try to go beyond. I tried to manipulate what you see on screen to make you believe that there is no repetition.”
Fiquet developed a few tricks to hide the fact that they were including this homage to how the art had worked in the original game. “The easiest one was to have large textures up to 1920 pixels. That way, you don't see a repetition until you've travel across the entire screen - until then you've forgotten what the beginning of the texture looks like. I don't have to tell you this is the one programmers don't like at all.”
Making the programmers upset wasn’t Fiquet’s goal, so he developed a few more tricks with his tile artwork. “Making visible parallax was another. When the repetitions occurs, you can have different elements (in front or behind) that don't repeat the same way as the main texture does. Fog, some clouds, or some objects placed differently gives you the impression every step is different.”
In adding a few scrolling elements or other objects, Fiquet could mislead the player, taking their attention off of the original tiles and onto another object. And there were even further tricks. “Using fake lights and shadows. I've added layers that act like Photoshop layers with multiplication (for shadows) and addition (for lights). By placing them strategically, you once again give the impression that it is different, even though it's the same textures,” says Fiquet.
Tiling wasn’t the only limitation Fiquet applied to his work, though. “I had to stay in the boundaries of the animation of the original game. Even if I added 10 times more frames, the length of an animation could only be coherent with the original ones.”
Fiquet’s animations were to be in keeping with those of the original game, only updating how they looked. If a character walked in a certain way, they would carry themselves in the same manner now. Still, that didn’t mean he couldn’t smooth out those animations, giving them a look like a cartoon in motion.
“One thing that adds a lot is having a lot of transition animations. With the same inputs, you can have a totally different feeling just by having anticipations or overlaps. It gave the game a much-needed smooth feel.” says Fiquet.
Making these animations look more fluid was a joy for Fiquet, who has a long-standing love for making game characters look good in motion. “I wanted to make frame by frame animation, as I see a real beauty in it. I'm a huge fan of Dave Perry's work during the Genesis era. Games like Aladdin, Cool Spot, and Earthworm Jim were beautifully animated. This skill has been lost over the years, but as an animation geek, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to implement traditional animation.”
Fiquet drew from his own childhood wonder, and what had made him feel so much for these digital worlds, to create a whole new experience. Even so, he managed to do so with some self-imposed limitations to keep him in the spirit of the original developers.
“It has been sometimes a bit tricky in certain areas because there was not much to rely on. The original game, due to technical limitations, was sometimes a bit empty. I could do whatever I wanted but I had to keep in mind what the original creators wanted to see at that time.”
As empty as those places technically were, in his childhood memories, they stood for so much more. “It's hard to pinpoint exactly what made me click. For this game, I guess it's a mix between a good old nostalgia and just the charm of it all. You see a little village, pyramids, lava, jungle, etc ... You have a sense that you're on an adventure exploring a vas t and rich world.”
The original art for the boss Captain Dragon and the updated version
Fiquet got to fill in those worlds with his own imagination, using the limitations of the original artists to join in the feeling they would have felt when initially creating the landscapes that would fuel his imagination. He got to step into the shoes of the artists who had inspired him as a child, and give them back a gift using his own sense of wonder and creativity.
“I feel like I've added something to the Wonder Boy history. We met with the original creator, Nishizawa-san, in Kyoto last July. He told how much he loved what I had done with the game, I got really emotional. It's not every day that you can give back to a dear childhood memory and be rewarded for it. I don't think he thought he would had so much impact on two little boys at the other side of the globe.”
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