No Bones About It...

With console developers dusting off the relics of past generations like it's going out of fashion, ‘what was old is now new' seems to be the creed of the moment. Lucky for Backbone Entertainment then, who have a passion for the old school few can attest to. With several unique titles under their belt, such as the fun PSP platform series Death Jr, the developer is perhaps best known for their unmatched ability to give retro titles a new lease of life on outlets such as Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA). Most recently, their work on the exemplary Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix proved a fitting homage to Capcom's fighting series, with crisp animé visuals, tight gameplay and steady online modes.

But what is it that makes big developers like Sega, Konami and of course, Capcom turn to Backbone to bring their classic franchises into the current generation? After all, you wouldn't trust a rank amateur to preserve your most valuable assets, so we thought it best to find out for ourselves just how the team manage to deliver the goods time after time.

Studio Creative Director, Micah Russo and Studio Art Director Norm Badillo took some time out of their hectic schedule to spill the pixels and give us an insight into what they do. Clearly the pair are driven by a passion for retro titles, but they both reckon that, given everything they've learned from porting some truly iconic games, to turn their attention back to making new games again. But first, to get a feel for where they're going, we have to see where they came from.

Dave: "Hi guys, thanks for taking some time to chat with us, we're all big fans of your work, particularly Streets of Rage 2, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and of course, Super Street Fighter II. First off, could you tell us a bit about your history and how the hell you managed to secure such brilliant work? I imagine many other developers would have jumped at the chance to convert some of these."

Micah: "Backbone Entertainment has a loooong history in classic games. Emulation of classic games has been a big part of our business ever since we were founded over 15 years ago. Because of this, we've accumulated a lot of experience in the field. We've probably made classic Joust on every major platform that's ever existed. But more importantly, we're all huge classic game players. We were raised in the arcades and on the Atari, the NES, and Sega Master System back in the day.  If you ever visit the studio you'll see that we even have quite a classic arcade set up in our kitchen.  These games are part of our childhood and any time we get to play them or work with them is exciting for us. Put those two together and you've got a studio that's primed to work with classic games, whether it's emulations, accurate ports, or re-envisioning classic games for the modern audience."

Dave: "And of course, now you have the perfect platforms to put these games out in Xbox Live and the like?"

Micah: "The XBLA and PSN markets are really exciting in that they're creating the opportunity to remake these games in a way that's true to the arcade feel of the originals, but with all the great current day bells and whistles. As one of our business development guys likes to say, we make the games we remember playing in our heads."

Dave: "As you say, it must be brilliant, but just how much of a task is it to port a game that's almost 20 years old over to a current-generation console? Do the original developers give you a strict dos and don'ts list when it comes to tweaking the game a bit or improving the visuals for example?"

Micah: "The cheesy answer is that it can depend quite a bit. For starters, there are different kinds of "porting." Sometimes we do emulations and in those cases we get the original game up and running as close to the original as possible. Other times we do ports, which involve more modification, or even re-writes of the original code to behave like the original game. Usually we try to get these to play as close to the original game, but sometimes we have to make modifications based on controller differences or other hardware considerations."

Dave: "Porting definitely sounds pretty tough as it is, but what about the games that go a step further and require a lot of modification, or in the case of some of your work, a complete re-build from the ground up?"

Micah: "Well, you have projects like Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix where we can get in there and tune the gameplay and art a little bit more than a straight port or emulation. And, on the far extreme there are games like Bomberman Live and 1942: Joint Strike where we are creating a new game from scratch that is designed to evoke the feeling of the originals, but also stand on their own for modern day gamers. In short, the amount of freedom we have as independent developers can vary quite a bit game by game. For example, we might have to make a character pixel perfect for the original, or we might have the freedom to create an entirely new look for a new character in the game. It's one of the things that keeps making games so challenging and fun."

Dave: "I'm glad you mentioned Street Fighter because Super Street Fighter II is another of our editorial team's favourites. We covered almost every aspect of it and even did an interview with Larry Oji and DJ Pretzel from OverClocked Remix (who provided the stellar remixed soundtrack) last year. I'm interested to know how this came about. What was your reaction when you landed the license and was it daunting to revamp such an iconic series?"

Norm: "It was a dream come true! Everyone on the team grew up with the license, and are fans of UDON's artwork. When Capcom came to us with the proposal, we broke out our Supergun with CPS-2 boards, and every rendition of Street Fighter we could find, even the rare Super Street Fighter 2 game for the Japanese Dreamcast. We went out and collected all of the Street Fighter comics by UDON. The reaction was pure elation!"

Dave: "Superb! It can only imagine it must have been like opening that one present you always wanted on Christmas day. But, even though it was exciting, were you quickly brought down to earth by the size of the task or did it just spur you on to do the series justice?"

Norm: "Revamping the series was a huge task, but because of everyone's love for Street Fighter the creative ideas poured out non-stop. Everyone on the team here at Backbone is a fan, so the collaborative efforts and suggestions were cross-discipline. Art would work with Design on tuning; Design would have input on Art, Engineering had many ideas with how to implement the tournaments and with particle FX's and so on. The collaborative efforts also spanned across all the companies involved and to the Street Fighter Community. So as daunting as the task was to work on such a celebrated title, there was a lot of input and ideas from Street Fighter fans all around which truly shaped the game into the great title that it is."

Dave: "I mean, the fan reception of this game in particular has been brilliant and many feel that the series has been done a great justice. As gratifying as all of this praise is, where next for Backbone? If you had total freedom, which old school title would you like to revamp next? For example, can you now, off the back of Super Street Fighter II, pitch a remake idea to developers or do you have to wait until they come knocking on your door?"

Micah: "Well, We pitch a fair number of remakes to publishers, and we have publishers coming to us too when they're looking for a quality treatment of an old school title. It's a nice spot to be in, because games based on classic games are really starting to take off. This is understandable, because when you look at the marketplace right now, you've got two platforms in XBLA and Playstation Network (PSN) that are perfect for these kinds of games. We had five of the top 20 titles on XBLA in 2008, and they were all based on classic games. Publishers are looking at their most popular titles first, but I'm sure we'll see the classic games market continue to grow as these titles gain more success and more and more gamers join XBLA and PSN."

Dave: "The popular opinion at SquareGo, is that they really have changed the face of console gaming in a significant way. What about the community games aspect of these services?"

Micah: "I'm a big fan of the community games space on XBLA as well. I think that's an awesome opportunity for us to see some really innovative ideas come out and for the developers to be rewarded for them. Here's hoping that Microsoft continues to be supportive of that community, and makes sure that the community is rewarded for their effort too."

Dave: "Speaking of which, do you have any advice for the indie or bedroom coder who might be reading this article thinking - I definitely want to make it as a developer, but I have no clue where to begin?"

Micah: "Make game demos, code demos. Then keep making demos. Make them as polished as possible. Get your friends to play them. If you want to get something signed with a publisher, or put a game out in public, or even get a job at a developer, having a demo is HUGE. Pick a game you can make well, too. It's a first-impression thing, so make sure whatever you have grabs someone in the first 30 seconds. If you can't make a full demo, make a mod with an existing toolset such as Unreal Engine, Neverwinter Nights, Warcraft III and so on."

Dave: "And for the entirely coding illiterate?"

Micah: "I'm personally a big believer in higher education too. Go get a degree in art or computer science, or with one of the newer game design programs that are out there. And then get your nose in the industry however you can. Find focus tests, be a tester, see if any local schools have any industry connections. See if there are any community events, game jams or whatever. Getting that first break is often the hardest part. Then, when you do make a connection, show a commitment to personal improvement. Being a game developer is a never-ending process of getting better at your job day after day."

Dave: "That really is great advice and with game design courses popping up left right and centre, the idea of starting your own coding house is a much more realistic one. Back to Street Fighter, can we expect any downloadable content like new stages, characters and so on. And, as a massive fan of the series myself, I have to ask who your favourite characters are?"

Micah: "You'll have to hear from Capcom for future news on Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. Rest assured, we're excited to keep working on Street Fighter as much as we can! As a player, I've always been a Ken fan. Nothing beats a good ol' fireball and uppercut."

Norm: "Micah is absolutely right! The community can keep up with Capcom by checking out and posting on the Capcom Unity website. This is the main portal for the game and it was used for fan feedback during development. Capcom is always listening, so if you have any suggestions please let them know.....And as for my favourite character? Well, I always like to play Ryu and beat up on Micah as Ken."

Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is available on Xbox Live Arcade now. Check out Capcom Unity and Backbone's official site for more information.