Team Reptile: From Megabyte Punch to Bomb Rush Cyberfunk
Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox
It would be easy look at Team Reptile's Bomb Rush Cyberfunk and conclude that the stylish skater is the product of a deep affection for Sega's Jet Set Radio. But as game director Dion Koster and managing director Tim Remmers tell GamesIndustry.biz, it's just as much the product of ten years of creative and business decisions at the studio.
Shortly after Team Reptile was founded, its first foray into the games industry was 2013's Megabyte Punch, a 3D fighter for PC. Eventually, it would get a console for the Switch seven years later.
Remmers says that the biggest takeaway then was to temper ambitions with its current toolset and skills.
"When you start out as a game developer, you always want to create the perfect game with all features possible as your first product. However, this hardly turns out well," he explains.
Megabyte Punch, as its name implies, has fighting game elements at its heart. However, the studio built the game surrounding that heart into a side-scrolling adventure title. Remmer says, "This wasn't the worst, but it did water down the concept's core. [It] did extend development time while not making the game better."
Perhaps as a result, the title didn't immediately click with audiences.
Koster says, "Megabyte Punch is our only title that wasn't an overnight success. Although it was received very positively, it did become successful later on. It showed us the reality of appeal and visibility and made us appreciate the long-term view more."
It was self-published, but the initial struggles it faced did not dissuade them from sticking with self-publishing for future games.
"At first, we were able to make games with shoestring budgets due to
Read more on gamesindustry.biz
