![]() We first made a list of track elements that would be most exciting to players. So, how do you come up with track design for a futuristic racer? What kind of reference do you use and how do you decide when a track is "done" and shouldn’t be tweaked any further? For instance, if you drive through a tunnel and the tunnel ceiling has a positive phase you just switch your phase to positive and get lifted to the ceiling to drive upside down. There are many features on track that depend on the phase. It doesn’t feel like anything else I have played before.ĭo the positive and negative phases affect your racer in any other way, aside from speed boosts acquired while driving over their respective strips on the track? The system is very well balanced and makes the whole game very special. Using these, you can play a perfect strategy to get ahead of the other drivers. Beside the phase shifts, there is also a boost system. If you hit it while also being in positive phase, you get a speedup - otherwise you slow down.Īnother example would be the jump features or the overhead features on the track. So for instance, there is a positive speedup region on the track. Features on the track also have those phases. The vehicles can shift between a negative (dark) and positive (bright) phase. How does this work? What are the phases vehicles have, and how do they correspond to the track? You’ve talked about "shifting your phase" a lot. We are very happy for that feature as it feels really unique and fun. This gives a whole new dimension to the racing genre. You can "switch the phase" of your ship and so you can take advantage on the track’s phase features. Its not like any racer you’ve played before. ![]() Most important to FAST is that it plays absolutely fresh. When people still draw comparisons, its because when you see a futuristic vehicle without tires, you will be automatically reminded of F-Zero or wipEout, just because you know those games so well. However, design-wise we moved in a different direction. And especially F-Zero is a game we really admire. Of course, we know all the other futuristic racers. It showed that, with our tech, we were able to deliver something never seen before on the Wii in the racing genre. ![]() ![]() As we’d never done a real racing game before, we did some R&D first. Quickly, we all came to the conclusion that futuristic racing was something that was totally left out on the Wii. Last year, we brainstormed what was missing on Wii in general. Did you look to those games for inspiration? How did you come up with the idea for FAST? You’ve said before that you weren’t surprised by the comparisons to wipEout and F-Zero. So we will know in a year or so how the games really did. For instance, our first WiiWare title Fun Fun Minigolf still sells nicely. Regarding sales, you have to consider that games on WiiWare have a longer tail than at retail. Art of Balance got exceptional reviews and Jett Rocket has also caught the heart of many gamers. Shin’en co-founder, Manfred Linzner: First we are very happy with the response from gamers. How have those performed relative to your expectations? Since the last time we spoke, you’ve published Art of Balance and Jett Rocket for WiiWare. 1001 Blockbusters (Selectsoft, 1 player, $1.99/200 DSi Points): No, this isn't another multi-minigame collection - it's a Breakout-type game with 1001 levels.Recently, Siliconera caught up with Shin’en founder, Manfred Linzner, to discuss the company’s upcoming futuristic WiiWare racer, FAST – Racing League.Furry Legends (Gamelion, 1 player, $4.99/500 DSi Points): A side-scrolling puzzle platformer based on the WiiWare Furry Legends game.Catrap (Game Boy) (Nintendo, 1 player, $2.99): Clear obstacles from a series of mazes, with a "rewind" function if you trap yourself.Infer what you will about the quality of each mini-minigame.ĭemo: FAST Racing League (Shin'en, 1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points): Get a quick look at this futuristic racer. 101-in-1 Explosive Megamix (Nordcurrent, 1 player, 700 Wii Points): 101 minigames in a single WiiWare download, based on a DS game of the same name.Aliens on the Nintendo Video service.%Gallery-136465% If you're looking for something more passive to do with your 3DS, there's a new "Night of the Living Carrots" short starring characters from Monsters vs. On 3DS, there's an obscure, but interesting Game Boy puzzle called Catrap, which is actually about puzzles that you can accidentally trap yourself in - and not rapping cats. 101-in-1 Explosive Megamix collects entirely too many games in a single pack on WiiWare, and 1001 Blockbusters provides a similarly excessive number of block-breaking levels on DSiWare. Deceptively big numbers abound (as big numbers tend to do) on Nintendo's download services this week.
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