Jitsu Squad Interview: Creators Talk Beat 'Em Up Essentials, Fight Fatigue, and Following Your Dreams

gamerant.com:

Jitsu Squad, Tanuki Creative Studios' first game, is at once a bombastic four-player beat 'em up, a love letter to anime, and a celebration of 1990s video game culture. The indie game recently dropped on Steam to favorable reviews, and is set to launch for consoles later this year.

Game Rant spoke with the creators Dave Baljon and Sebastien Romero about Jitsu Squad, its long development, and their influences. Interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Revita Is More 'Interesting and Diverse' Thanks to Co-Workers and Fans, Developer Community

Q: Can you introduce yourself and share your favorite beat ‘em up game?

Romero: My name is Sebastien Romero. I am the composer and the animator for Jitsu Squad. I started working with Dave around 2016 and yeah, we've been working together ever since.

My favorite beat ‘em up… Let's see. I really, I really love Streets of Rage 2 because of the music. But I think I'd prefer Ninja Baseball Bat Man because it is so hectic. The speed of the action. It’s very fast for a beat ‘em up. River City Ransom is another one of my favorites. I like the original NES version, but I also really liked the newer version released on the Nintendo DS. The interactions between characters were really revolutionary on the NES.

Baljon:I'm Dave. I started Jitsu Squad a long time ago, somewhere around… I think it was the beginning of 2015. I started making designs, drawings, and everything. And then Sebastian and I met each other at a birthday, and he saw what I did. He saw the artwork and said, “you know what? I know how to animate and these drawings would look pretty cool in motion.” And I have no background in animation whatsoever. So from there we just tried working together and decided to see how things