Tantalus Media on bringing Twilight Princess to Wii U, says Sonic Mania on-track, talks ease of Switch development

A portion of a Miketendo64 interview with Tom Crago of Tantalus...

Miketendo64: As great as it was though, Mass Effect 3 wasn’t your only biggest port to the Wii U, because you also ported and remastered Twilight Princess HD. I know you have talked about this a few times now in the past, but for our readers who never read the story of how it came to be, would you please tell us how the port happened in the first place? When did development for it begin and what was your most favourite moment from the whole process?

Tom Crago: Definitely it was a huge title, and one of our proudest achievements as a company. We had worked with Nintendo before on Top Gear Rally on GBA, and had remained in close contact in the intervening period. I guess they were impressed by the work we’d done on Mass Effect 3, which was a launch title on Wii U, and so they approached us to talk about Twilight Princess. It’s not every day someone from Nintendo asks you if you’d be interested in making a Zelda game, so definitely it was happy moment. By that stage Tantalus had shipped around thirty games on Nintendo platforms, and so certainly it felt like a natural fit. A huge thrill, but a natural fit. We worked with Nintendo very closely. A dedicated team in Kyoto worked with us throughout the duration of the project, and senior members of our team made several trips to Japan. My favourite moments were definitely those visits to Kyoto, especially spending time with Aonuma-san, and having the opportunity to present our ideas for the game.

Miketendo64: Also because I’ve brought up Sonic Mania, how did you first get involved with the project and how is yourselves and your team finding working on the game? Are you still all set for a Summer release?

Tom Crago: Here again SEGA initiated the conversation. We made a couple of games with them back in the 1990’s (maybe before some of your readers were born) and had maintained a close relationship. It was an easy negotiation and we started working with SEGA and Christian Whitehead last year. The game is really Christian’s baby, but we’re loving bringing it to Switch. Yes it’s on track for a summer release.

Miketendo64: Since everyone else has talked about it, we may as well let you have your chance to do the same. Given all the platforms you have brought games to, how has Tantalus Media found working with and developing for the Nintendo Switch?

Tom Crago: Nintendo made a lot of smart decisions with the Switch. It’s easy to write code for, and from an architecture standpoint it’s straightforward. I like the form factor too, it’s a great piece of hardware.