This is WayForward, publisher of the upcoming cinematic platformer LUNARK and developer of titles like the Shantae series, River City Girls, and Mighty Switch Force. LUNARK is a 2D pixel-art sci-fi adventure developed by Canari Games and inspired by classics like Prince of Persia, Out of this World (aka Another World), and Flashback. The game launches this Thursday, March 30, on Nintendo Switch and other platforms, and you can find out more by viewing the game’s announcement trailer here: https://youtu.be/FIPxGGZif_g
You can also get more info with these behind-the-scenes featurettes…
Featurette #1 (Origins and Influences): https://youtu.be/CHWFhGVtTcg
Featurette #2 (Rotoscoping and Game Design): https://youtu.be/nX7yWiwGKCo
Creator Johan Vinet from Canari Games and some of the folks from WayForward will be here starting at 3PM Pacific/6PM Eastern/10PM GMT to answer any questions you have about the game (or anything else for that matter)! On hand will be:
Johan Vinet, creator, Canari Games (u/johanvinet)
Adam Tierney, director of bizdev and publishing, WayForward (u/AdamTierneyWF)
Your friendly WayForward community manager (u/WayForwardTech)
Thanks for stopping by!
EDIT (5PM Pacific/8PM Eastern): Today’s live AMA is officially closed, but if you have additional questions, feel free to ask and we’ll answer as availability permits! Thanks to everyone who dropped by, and we hope you look forward to playing LUNARK on March 30!
by WayForwardTech
13 Comments
Even without reading the text you can see “Out of this World” and “Flashback”. Is it a love letter that really sticks to the formula, or does it start there and become it’s own game? I’m totally in, but how would you say it’s different than the games that inspired?
Popping in to show my support. So excited for the release!
How fleshed out or complete was the game before you started pitching it to be published?
What’s the deal with Art Hawk (Artemis Hawkins for long)?
OK I have one question each for Johan and Adam…
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Johan – At what point did you realize you wanted to do a game on your own? Was it during a particular game’s development, or was it just something you felt was the right time to try?
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Adam – Were you aware of Johan’s previous work? What convinced you to take a chance at publishing a new IP made by, well, one person? (At least one at the time.)
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As a Kickstarter backer I’m really looking forward to the game!
Just want to start by saying that I’ve been following your work with Lunark for several years and I’m looking forward to finally playing it! I always enjoyed games like Flashback and Prince of Persia back in the day but they felt too hard. But Lunark seems more approachable.
My question is, what’s next after you release the game? Any other retro game ideas you would like to re-imagine?
The one I personally think that everyone is sleeping on are games like Moonstone: A Hard Days Knight (Amiga/PC). It think it would sell like hot cakes in the present Soulslike/ Roguelite game climate.
Now that the 3DS and Wii U shops have closed, how are you feeling about the closure, about how games like “Mighty Switch Force! 2” are no longer available to purchase, what are your thoughts on the loss of options for gamers?
And, uh… maybe ask Nintendo for us to nicely give us another week? (just kidding… unless…?)
The game and art style are absolutely gorgeous along with the polished animations.
Were there significant development challenges on Switch due to it’s mobile hardware and age? Will Lunark run at 60fps on Switch?
Thanks for your AMA, looking forward to the physical copy from Limited Run
Do you ever plan on republishing in physical format some of your previously released titles? For example, “Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse” for Switch goes for outrageous prices on the used market, and I would love to own it, but sadly I can’t and won’t pay hundreds of dollars for it. Same goes for “River City Girls.” What is sad is it is because of the limited release, so I’m guessing people buy them up for the “collector” value of them, hoping to gain monetary value later on at the cost of fans like me, who want to play them and own them forever.
Love the vibes coming from this game. What was the inspiration or goal for the soundtrack for this game?
I grew up with a 386 and the NES. (Atari 2600 for a bit too) Later the SNES and the obvious classics along with Flashback, Blackthorne and Out of This World.
When is your remake of Clock Tower getting announced?
I’m late but still. How was your experience working with Nintendo to remake Advance Wars?
Wanted to ask do you have a favourite animation from the game?
Also i think I remember you talking about judo. What’s your favourite throw?