Review Fix Exclusive: Inside ‘Expedition’ on the NES

August 20, 2017 Patrick Hickey Jr. Music 0

Review Fix chats with Artur B. who discusses Mega Cat Games’ Expedition on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Inspired by classic RPGs, Artur lets us know how he took an iOS game on to one of the most influential consoles ever.

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Review Fix: How was this game born?

Artur B.: We thought the original expedition iOS app was a great idea and do something similar on the NES but with graphics using the original game items.  The Expedition guys are Pittsburgh locals, where the physical office is located.  With remote culture as evolved as it is in 2017, I reside in Sweden.

Review Fix: What was development like?

Artur: It was unusual since we didn’t know what challenges we might face. The original iteration of the app was very basic, and even with the NES having additional production value with art, music, and sound effects to create some ambiance, the first iteration fell short of expectations once we play tested it.  One of our friends, Justin, gave us some initial feedback that almost read like a bad review.  At that point we just decided to take complete autonomy over it and push as much of our own unique Expedition spin into it that we could.  Justin is the developer behind UXO, another NES homebrew available here: http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=22&threadid=159017

Review Fix: What makes this game special?

Artur: While it’s not the first RPG on the NES but surely one of the few available. It’s also one of the few which makes use of additional tools.

Review Fix: What games influenced this one the most?

Artur: It’s obviously the original Expedition game but classics like “Dungeon Master”, “Eye of the Beholder” were certainly among the inspirations.

Review Fix: Why do people still love retro RPGs?

Artur: Since they’re rare and doesn’t take much effort to play it’s nice to see a brand new game for one of the most popular consoles ever.

Review Fix: Any fun stories or wild moments during development?

Artur: See the comment above during play testing!  We basically were trying to save some efforts but found it was easier to rewrite most of it – adding more and more content to be exclusive to the NES iteration rather than simply porting the iOS app.

Review Fix: How does this game disrupt the video game landscape?

Artur: While it’s the first of its kind for a long time, we saw it’s possible to do an RPG on NES. You can do a lot with a small team.  It’s certainly unique, and fun to imagine a group of friends huddled around an NES playing a card RPG in 2017.

Review Fix: Who will enjoy this game the most?

Artur: Even casual RPG gamers would like it, since setting up your party doesn’t take ages and one can jump right into the action. The RPG enthusiasts will enjoy it too, we tried to stay faithful to the original.  As an adult gamer, it’s hard to find time to commit to exhaustive RPGs.  Expedition can give you your fix without the long set up and time investment.

Review Fix: How do you want this game to be remembered?

Artur: One of the most unique RPG games on NES.

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?

Artur: We hope people will have as much fun playing it as we had making it.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13861 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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