Review Fix checks in again with the Game Bakers’ Emeric Thoa, who updates us on the development of “Squids Odyssey” on Wii U and 3DS. Easily one of the most enjoyable and deep mobile phone games of all time, “Squids Odyssey” encapsulates the first two Squids mobile games and packs in extra content for the home console debut. A landmark achievement for the small French game development company, Thoa discusses his hopes for the title on both systems, as well as the development cycle.
Review Fix: How are you feeling with the game’s release on the Wii U/3DS on the way?
Emeric Thoa: We are super excited to see our game coming on consoles! We believe SQUIDS is the perfect fit for the 3DS, in terms of gameplay, length of sessions, audience… and the Wii U version looks great. And it’s also been a long time without new SQUIDS content. We’re happy to be able to play them again.
Review Fix: How’s the development/conversion cycle going?
Thoa: It’s been a bit more work than expected, especially regarding the menus… making the controls work with the GamePad was done quickly, but for the menus it’s a different story.
Review Fix: Any unplanned surprises?
Thoa: For sure, the certification from Nintendo is much more demanding than on mobile. On Google Play, there is none: you just upload your game like you would do with a YouTube video. On iOS, there is about a week of delay, then Apple’s certification team quickly reviews the game but they check only for big problems relating to their guidelines. If the game crashes at the 12th level, it’s the developer’s problem. Nintendo does a much more precise testing phase of the game, checking for anything from a technical bug to the texts being spelled correctly in the e-manuals.
Review Fix: What do you think is the game’s strongest feature on the Wii U?
Thoa: It’s using the GamePad’s screen at its maximum. First, you can fully play the game either on the TV or on the GamePad. Second, you can play it fully with the stylus or fully with the sticks and buttons. I’m not even sure if there is another game that does this on the console.
Review Fix: On the 3DS?
Thoa: The controls with the D-pad are pretty cool. If you play a Scout, you can control him with the D-pad while he moves and dash at the appropriate moment to score combos or reach further areas. If you’ve played Squids before, replaying it with the analog controls is worth a try, it completely changes the experience.
Review Fix: What have you learned about yourself as a developer through this process?
Thoa: The gap between having the game running on the console and the game being ready to be put on the store is huge. Aside from the game, there are all these little interface details that are console-specific. That stuff takes up half of the dev time at least.
Review Fix: What are you hopes for the game on the Wii U?
Thoa: We have no idea how well the game can perform on Wii U. I actually think that it’s a good thing that we’ll release close to the new Mario Kart. Lots of people are going to turn on their Wii U again to play that game, and I hope they’ll notice SQUIDS Odyssey and give it a try.
Review Fix: On the 3DS?
Thoa: We have big hopes for the 3DS version. The game is such a perfect fit for it. I hope it’ll make a lot of people discover the game that was made for them. When we first created SQUIDS, we really had mobile console gamers in mind. I think it can do really great on 3DS.
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