Save Me Mr Tako! Devs Explain Game Boy Aesthetics

One of the more unique game that will be coming to the Nintendo Switch later this month is Save Me Mr Tako! The game’s aesthetics and sound pays homage to the Game Boy era, something that is different even in the abundance of pixel art games today.

Speaking to GoNintendo, Save Me Mr Tako! Developer, Christophe Galati, said that there was something magical about the Game Boy era, especially when all the percularities of the games, system, come together to create unique experiences.

GoNintendo: What is it about the Game Boy that made you want to create a game that looks/plays like a love letter to those classic days?

Christophe Galati: Thanks to my big brother who collects games, I was able to play a lot of Nintendo games and JRPGs as a child, and those experiences became my main inspiration. There was something magical about the Game Boy and that era, especially in games like Zelda: Link’s Awakening and Kirby. During that time, there were so many peculiar things about that system and those games, but somehow everything fit together perfectly. It provided experiences that helped players to use their imaginations as they were immersed into unique worlds. In Save me Mr Tako!, I wanted to use these limitations to create a world and characters that players could identify with. Even with four colors, you can provide fun and unique experiences that still have the ability to make players feel so much. Those graphical limitations also allowed me to enhance my training and skills at pixel art, so I learned a lot from the entire process.

Galati also explained that Mr Tako will mimic a Game Boy experience by placing similar limitations as the Game Boy on it. Players can expect the four-colour palette, music that was made on a tracker of the old, but yet modernised in a way that will provide enjoyable experience for new players.

GoNintendo: Does the game just mimic a Game Boy experience, or does it adhere strictly to what the Game Boy was capable of?

Christophe Galati: The game mimics a Game Boy experience, but it respects some of the limitations too. For example, there’s the classic four-color palette, there is no sprite scaling or rotation and the music in the game was made on a tracker. But, the resolution is bigger than the original Game Boy (you can choose between playing in 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio), there are more sprites displayed on the screen and the fourth audio channel doesn’t stop when playing sound effects. I chose to modernize some of the aspects in the game so that it would provide an enjoyable experience for new players, not just those who grew up with the Game Boy.

Save Me Mr Tako! Comes out later this month for the Nintendo Switch on 30 October 2018. You can read the full interview from GoNintendo here.

Source: source