NL: What excites you most about the Wii U hardware?
DC: Primarily it's the opportunities offered by the player having what amounts to a next-gen console both in their hands and on TV simultaneously. The lag-free display on two screens at once — and the gameplay opportunities that open up as a result — are really exciting. It's also a huge advantage that Wii Remotes and nunchuks are all so smoothly supported; there are so many of those out there already that 'spur of the moment' multiplayer is really easy for a lot of players.
Not to mention that with Wii U and legacy Wii controllers, you retain all the features like motion detection, pointing, speaker, and so forth — there are so many ways to entertain people. I think Nintendo Land and other launch games have only really scratched the surface of what developers will try on Wii U — especially in terms of multiplayer, controller use and GamePad use. On top of that, Wii U has plenty of power and well-integrated services that will only improve and expand. It's great fun to develop on.
NL: Can you explain the core gameplay behind Scram Kitty?
DC: Scram Kitty is, at heart, a more-or-less equal mix of shooter and platformer. It takes an evolution of the 'wall-riding' controls of The 2D Adventures of Rotating Octopus Character [one of Dakko Dakko's previous titles] and puts them onto super-fast magnetic rails that can be ridden in any direction. Then we add shooting!
So as a player you're involved in not only controlling yourself as you ride on these swooping, changing, hyper-magnetised rails, but also using a variety of weapons to clear out wave after wave of enemies.
NL: Have any titles provided direct inspiration for the game?
DC: Both top-down shmups and platformers are influences, especially games from what you might call the SNES and Amiga eras, depending on your history. Day to day, depending on mood, we've referenced games like Smash TV, Speedball, Ikaruga, Pac-Man CE, Gunstar Heroes, Bomberman, Alien Breed, Super Aleste and of course Super Mario Bros., to name a few! Ultimately it's a special Dakko Dakko take on an arcade game for this generation, on a unique kind of console.
