Dear Reader:
Igarashi talks about Judgment art choices, imprecise Wiimote controls, and being shot down when presenting remake ideas
A portion of a Kikizo interview with Koji Igarashi…
Kikizo: So why did you pick Obata-sensei to do the designs rather than Kojima-sensei, and have you had any problems translating these designs into character models for the game?
Igarashi: The Castlevania core fan base really likes Kojima’s art style, we know that. Since we’re bringing this game to the Wii, though, we’ve also got a new potential audience. The Wii does skew a little bit younger, so I wanted to “soften” the art style a little bit. Also, one of the people on our team was actually a former assistance to Obata-sensei. I thought that I’d use that connection to ask and see if he’d be interested. He happily agreed to do it, and that was that!
Kikizo: You mentioned that you don’t really think of this as a fighting game. I take it you’re not really aiming to make a “competitive” game along the same lines as Street Fighter or Virtua Fighter?
Igarashi: Yes, definitely. In games like SF or VF, all of the movements and inputs are extremely precise, and timing is crucial. I wanted to appeal to a broader audience than the general fighting-game crowd. There’s also the issue of the Wii controller. It’s difficult to do those sorts of precise movements when you’re waving something around. That’s why we opted to do more of a competitive action game.
Kikizo: Would you have any plans to remake older Castlevania titles, like you did for Dracula X on PSP? Maybe for release on services like WiiWare or Xbox Live Arcade?
Igarashi: Castlevania has a lengthy legacy of great games, and I’m definitely interested in revisiting them if I get a chance. However, every time I’ve tried to pitch something like that, I just get told I should make a new game instead. But yes, if there is another opportunity like there was with Dracula X Chronicles, it’s something that I would definitely like to do.