- Ufouria: The Saga 2 is the brand new sequel to a 33 year old cult classic.
- This sequel keeps the original game’s humorous tone while giving it a brand new art style.
- The developers used real versions of characters and objects to create the in-game models.
Ufouria: The Saga 2 is coming to Xbox Series X|S and for long-time gamers, this release is quite the event. It is not everyday that a game gets a sequel 33 years after its release after all. When our friends over at Sunsoft in Japan first showed us an early version of Ufouria: The Saga 2, we knew then and there that we had to bring it over to the West and allow Xbox gamers to play it. But before we get more in depth about this brand new sequel, allow us to give you a quick history lesson.
Sunsoft is a legendary Japanese games publisher that has been in operation since the 1970s. In the late 1970s, it began developing Arcade games, which led to the creation of some hits such as Arabian, Ikki, and Kangaroo. In the late 1980s, it expanded into home gaming with products for consoles like the Famicom (known in the West as the Nintendo Entertainment System). Following the growth of the home console market, Sunsoft went on to produce iconic titles such as Blaster Master, Batman, Battle Formula, Ufouria: The Saga (known in Japan as Hebereke), and Gimmick!. Despite facing various challenges along the way, Sunsoft has continued to develop games with passion and creativity thanks to a small but dedicated team that cherishes its commitment to quality and playfulness.
After making itself more discreet for a few years, Sunsoft has embarked on its « Sunsoft is back! » campaign with the goal of coming back to the forefront of the gaming world. And as part of said campaign, it decided to give a sequel to one of its most famous 8-bit titles. The original Ufouria: The Saga came out in Japan on September 20 1991 as a Famicom title. Now described as a Metroidvania, it was so ahead of its time that the word didn’t exist back it when was first released. Ufouria: The Saga features a comical and surreal world where a crew of very unique characters embark on a humorous adventure to save the planet from an alien invasion. Thirty-three years later, it’s once again up to Hebe (a mysterious snowman-like creature), O-Chan (a girl wearing a cat costume), Sukezaemon (a ghost) and Jennifer (an anglerfish) to join their very specific forces to get rid of those nasty aliens.
As old school gaming fans ourselves, we at Red Art Games wanted to support Sunsoft’s initiative and bring this new title to as many players as possible. That’s why our very own Red Art Studios created the Xbox Series X|S version of Ufouria: The Saga 2 in collaboration with the Sunsoft team. While this sequel keeps the same cast of protagonists, basic premise (the comically evil alien Utsujin has landed on Earth with ambitions to take over the planet) and open world platformer gameplay style, it also features new story, dialogue, character and even areas. But most of all, Ufouria: The Saga 2 features a brand new, and quite striking, art style.
For this sequel more than 30 years in the making, Sunsoft chose to give the world of Ufouria a stop motion, hand-made feltwork style. To get the idea of what they wanted the game to look like, the developers created real versions of the characters, ennemies and levels to use as reference pictures. First, they took the fabric used for needle felting and physically recreated a certain well-known stop motion character by hand to experience the texture and feel. With that information in mind, they then began the computer generated graphics (CG) creation with the mock-up as reference.
The developers really tried to express the warmth and softness that wool brings to mind when creating the CG. They especially emphasized the impression that the wool seen in-game had multiple layers and to give it that fuzzy silhouette of wool. They also purposely made some parts, such as the platforms, uneven to give them that imperfect hand-made feel. And when it comes to the enemies, the development team had a very specific idea in mind: small enemy characters are all made from snack materials.
Multiple enemies are made of things like chocolate or grape jelly for example. The design was born from the idea that people wouldn’t want such snacks to stick to felt as the stains would be hard to wash off. Taking all those creative ideas and combining them with the wacky and humorous world of Ufouria made for a truly special game. We are thrilled that Xbox gamers get to experience Ufouria: The Ufouria : the Saga 2 now and we hope that they will enjoy their time with Hebe and his motley crew.
Ported to consoles by Red Art Studios, Ufouria: The Saga 2 is available now on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.
Ufouria: The Saga 2
Red Art Games
SUNSOFT’s Ufouria is back!
– An authentic evolution of the original “”Ufouria””!
Rampage through the fluffy feltwork arts-and-crafts recreation of the world of Ufouria, with your trusty crew from the original game in this exploration-based action side-scroller. Of course, newcomers to Ufouria are welcome too!
– Adventure in the lovingly crafted wacky world of Ufouria!
Familar characters and stages of the original game are back, transformed from their formal pixel art to charming handmade feltwork. Iron bead artwork also plays homage to the nostalgic pixelated look of the original.
Look for all the similarities and differences if you’ve played the original!
– Different courses each time you play!
The various stages from the original game now change randomly every time your enter, making for a fresh new challenge each time! New characters joining your crew let you reach more areas, even ones that weren’t in the original game at all!
– Popoons are now a super powerful cleaning agent!
A new threat…the icky Bumyon makes an appearance! The troublesome Bumyon sticks to everything and everyone and is quite the annoyance, but Hebe and crews can counteract them perfectly with their Popoons. Clean up the Bumyons that litter the planet and thwart the Utsujin’s evil plans!
*Visit the never before seen Hebe’s house!
*Meet rare characters that were only ever seen before in Ufouria art books!
*A Collection feature lets you read up on enemies and their backgrounds!
The post Ufouria: The Saga 2 Reinvents an 8-Bit Classic appeared first on Xbox Wire.
Source: Xbox Blog
—