SPC Interviews: Manfred Linzner (Shin'en Multimedia)

If you recall, it was July of last year where SuperPhillip Central had the chance to interview Mr. Manfred Linzner of Shin'en Multimedia, makers of such technological impressive games such as Iridion 3D (Game Boy Advance), Nanostray and its sequel Nanostray 2 (DS), FAST Racing League (WiiWare), and Nano Assault Neo (Wii U eShop), for starters.

The studio's next project is Jett Rocket II: The Wrath of Takai, a 3DS eShop sequel to the WiiWare original, Jett Rocket. I talk with Manfred about the developer's transition between SD to HD, future Wii U projects, working with Nintendo since 1999, and so much more.

Phil Stortzum (PS): First of all, thank you for this interview opportunity.

Shin’en is known for being technological geniuses when it comes to Nintendo hardware. Now that you have an HD platform to work on in the Wii U, what challenges have you faced moving onto development for HD games, if any?

Manfred Linzner (ML): Thanks for your kind word. We really try hard to create something remarkable with every game. Going from 3DS to Wii U was very easy. The Wii U has so much power to offer that you can simply do what you want without having to worry about performance. The only challenge left is how to create something truly unique with so much power. So I think Nano Assault Neo was a step in the right direction for us.

PS: How do you think the Wii U GamePad brings innovation and a more enjoyable experience to gaming?

ML: The GamePad is great, because it gives the user so much freedom how to play the games. Many games need hardware controls to be fun, some games also work great with touch input. We also think it's vital to let the user enjoy the game his way. No matter on TV or GamePad or even with a mixed setup. And i think the best uses of the GamePad are still ahead of us.

PS: Do you have any unique ideas to implement with the Wii U GamePad for future Shin’en Wii U projects?

ML: I don't think there will be the one novel idea for GamePad use. It's just another tool in your arsenal to deliver great gameplay in different ways. For all of our Wii U games we take a lot of time to determine the best possible usage of the GamePad.

PS: Speaking of future projects, Nano Assault Neo is a glorious looking game. Do you have any more Wii U projects already underway? 

ML: We are working on two new Wii U games currently. One of them is our first game with network play.

PS: Your next upcoming 3DS project is Jett Rocket II: The Wrath of Taikai. How are you making the game a different experience from the WiiWare original?

ML: There is so much diversion and fun packed into this title that it's hard to believe it's 'just' an eShop game. On Wii you had a 3rd person jump'n'run but on 3DS we give the player different game play styles for every level.

PS: What new features for Jett Rocket II can you confirm? How will the game be structured?

ML: We will reveal more information in the next months. 

PS: How close are we to the release of Jett Rocket II? Gamers can never have enough platformers, after all.

ML: The game is planned to be released in Q3/213.

PS: Shin’en seems to be coming into its own on yet another Nintendo platform with the 3DS. How has your mastery of the 3DS changed since your first titles on the system? Is your studio more comfortable with the 3DS? Is there more for you to learn on how to handle the power of the 3DS?

ML: We learned a lot since our first game "Nano Assault (Ex)*". While developing JR2 we also improved our engine a lot to make the game possible in 60fps.

*You can see SuperPhillip Central's review of Nano Assault EX here.

PS: How has the stereoscopic 3D of the system benefited your games, if at all?

ML: I think Nano Assault shows how much 3D can add to the visuals of a game. Also for JR2 the 3D adds a lot of immersion to the game. I think 3D is like HD. You don't want to go back to SD when you played a game in HD.

PS: How has working with Nintendo been? Since last generation they have been more relaxed on their policies. Have you noticed this, and how has it benefitted your studio?

ML: We are already a Nintendo developer since 1999. We never felt really restricted by their policies because they made always sense for their systems. I think the changes at Nintendo in the last years are most beneficial to new developers. In the past it was really very difficult to become a Nintendo developer. Today this is much easier.

PS: Shin’en has come a long way since the Iridion series on the Game Boy Advance. Are there any games in your studio’s past that you would have wanted to do differently? Would you have tackled the development in a different way?

ML: Of course. I think we would do every game a bit differently, well, maybe beside Art of Balance. This is a title where everything came together quite perfectly in our view.

PS: Do you have a personal favorite game that you enjoyed working on the most? Can you elaborate on why?

ML: Personally I had the most fun working on Jett Rocket for Wii. That was because I never made a 3rd person jump'n'run before and there were really tons of challenges to solve. I like challenges.

PS: Conversely, what game that Shin’en has developed gave your team the most headaches during its development? Can you explain why?

ML: I think "FAST - Racing League" was tough. We tested so many different ideas that didn't convince us. Then one day we tried the "Phase Switching" gameplay and all problems were gone. It was simply perfect. The game gave us also headaches allowing two players on splitscreen while still achieving 60 fps. To solve that problem we created a software occlusion culling module for our engine. I believe FAST is the only Wii game that uses such an approach. 

PS: What is in the future for Shin’en? Have you ever thought about developing for other platforms besides those of Nintendo’s?

ML: We are pretty happy with the performance of our titles on the eShop. We still feel that releasing our games on Nintendo consoles is something special. And most important is that Nintendo players do really care about gaming and honor what we do. What more can you ask for?

PS: Is there anything else you’d like to say to the readers of SuperPhillip Central?

ML: Thank you for your support!

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I once again thank Manfred Linzner for his time with answering these questions for this interview. It was very much appreciated, and it answered a lot of questions I had with the studio. As stated, Shin'en's next game is Jett Rocket II: The Wrath of Takai, and as Manfred answered, the game is planned for a release in the third quarter of this year. No doubt we'll be seeing more of the game as its release date approaches. Stick with SuperPhillip Central for when the game comes out we'll have an in-depth review.

Art of Balance TOUCH! (3DSWare) Review

A new banner is here, but I don't care for the construction kit-esque logo. As always, if you think you can do better, I'm open for new designs. With that out of the way, we venture outside the realm of Retro Review Month and look towards Shin'en's Art of Balance TOUCH! for the Nintendo 3DS's eShop. (You can read my interview with Manfred Linzner of Shine'n here.) As for the review, you need not go far or to another link. You can scope it out right here, right now.

An Enjoyable Balancing Act

Shin'en is a company known for its technical prowess when it comes to the games it develops for the platforms it commits to. We have seen this in the past with the Game Boy Advance's Iridion and its sequel, the Nintendo DS's two Nanostray games, and the WiiWare service's Jett Rocket, FAST Racing League, and Art of Balance, the latter of which's 3DSWare sequel is the subject of this review. If the popular party game Jenga has shown us anything, it is that trying to balance a tower of blocks and the end result of them all toppling over can certainly hold some entertainment value. Art of Balance TOUCH! is a game where this principle holds true.

The main aim of Art of Balance TOUCH! with regards to gameplay is to build a steady tower using the blocks provided. When you start each level, you have a starting pedestal (usually shaped differently for every level) on which to place the blocks you are given. When there's more than three blocks to work with, you have to use some strategy as you can only pick from the starting three blocks available to you, and not the ones awaiting you in the queue. The blocks themselves have all sorts of dissimilar shapes like L blocks, rectangular blocks, round blocks, barbell-shaped blocks, and more. 

Three seconds can seem like an eternity.

Art of Balance TOUCH! doesn't just rely on the same old, same old vanilla block types. No, there are several unique types that are slowly introduced to the player throughout the game. For instance, glass blocks can only hold the weight of two blocks. Put any more on them and they shatter. World C showcases timed blocks. Once they are set, they disintegrate after a short period of time. Even owners of the original Art of Balance of WiiWare will experience new gameplay elements and concepts showing up to their delighted surprise. One example appears in a later world where there are gravity blocks that when used literally flip the level on its head. There are two starting pedestals in these levels, and achieving the proper balance for your tower of blocks is an even greater challenge posed by this constantly clever game.

Those timer blocks really have a short fuse.

Once you have placed the final block onto your personal assortment, you hold your breath and hope for the best so your tower doesn't tumble over into the pool of water below as the timer counts to three. If no blocks hit or go below the water level, you have successfully completed the stage. At some points, Art of Balance TOUCH! is an almost zen-like experience while at others it is an effort of anger as you once again fail to satisfy the conditions of the level.

The terrific part about how Art of Balance TOUCH! is structured is that each world has its own map, a series of blocks connected in a nonlinear fashion. There's multiple paths to choose from, so if you are finding one level impossible to solve - constantly seeing your hard work fall to the wayside and go crashing down into a pool of your own failure, you can opt to go around it and try to solve an easier path of puzzles. Special orange blocks are unique levels where the approach you must take differs greatly from the normal pace of the game. For these, you might have to clear a level within a strict time limit, balance a series of blocks on a balancing beam, or have a block tower that reaches a certain height. These orange block levels give you more rings than a normal level as they are harder to complete. The rings you earn from them are used to unlock new worlds - each of which is set in a distinctive environment, from World A's pink flowers to World B's bamboo background.

Having trouble with one particular level?
Go around it and try another path.

After World B has been cleared, the Endurance mode opens up. This essential score attack mode takes levels you have cleared within the main game and assigns them to you in a random order. You get three retries to finish off as many puzzles as you can. After this you are ranked on a leaderboard to see how your overall score (determined by time and how many levels you completed) compares.
Regardless of the bevy of block-placing fun that Art of Balance TOUCH! bestows on the player, there are two glaring omissions that I would have liked to see the game possess. The first of which is some kind of local play for two friends with their own 3DS systems to play either competitively or cooperatively: trying to solve a level before the other can, or working together to deduce the solution to a given level. The other omission is some form of a level creator. Imagine the replay value of designing your own creative concoctions and sending them to friends Pushmo-style.

All we need now for this pool of water
is a rubber ducky to make things even more fun.

That's not to say the content you're getting with the game is too sparse. Nothing could be further from the truth. You have over 200 levels of honing your balancing act with as well as awards from satisfying certain in-game conditions like reaching a specific point total in Endurance mode or beating a given number of total levels. This is one meaty game, and it is so perfect for pick-up-and-play sessions. You might want to sit down with the game with the intention of playing for five minutes yet wind up unknowingly playing for over an hour.

Art of Balance TOUCH! can be played with touch controls (my preferred method) or with the Circle Pad (this is much slower as you must drag the cursor to each block you wish to place down). The shoulder buttons of the 3DS are used to rotate each shape to the left or to the right, though the degrees you can actually rotate each shape are predetermined to make the process simpler on the mind and less agonizing to place each block. I did have some trouble with the camera zooming in and out at times. When I was trying to have a steady hand to place a block delicately, the camera zoomed out and messed up my subtle approach, causing the tower to be imbalanced and - you guessed it - fall over. This only seems to happen when your tower is exceptionally high. It's a small problem, but one that can annoy just slightly.

Gravity can be your greatest friend or your worst enemy.

The presentation of Art of Balance's 3DS debut is overall quite good. The music is soothing and not distracting whatsoever. Sound effects come off as apt to every situation such as when your tower of blocks topples into the water. After playing the game for so long, the "plop" sound of blocks falling into the water taunts me at night as I lay awake in bed. Seriously though, speaking of the water, this is the one of the worst visual portions of the game. It looks more like shimmering tin foil than a liquid with any amount of depth. And speaking of depth, the 3D effect works decently, however, when the timer shows up to count for three seconds after you've assembled all of the blocks, it appears 2D while the wooden base of the pool it is set against is 3D. This looks unsightly and off. Regardless of my two aforementioned visual beefs with the game, Art of Balance TOUCH! continues Shin'en's impeccable record with technical artistry and quality in its games.

While Art of Balance TOUCH! obviously isn't a game that will get 3DS owners to run to get their handhelds online and to the eShop to download the game, it is one that will pick their brains, is extremely capable, is mostly relaxing, and is definitely worthy of some of their hard-earned dough. For those who already own the WiiWare original, this 3DS version adds virtually double the amount of levels, has phenomenal physics, and has much more precise controls thanks to the use of the stylus (though camera problems do arise as do some visual errors). For those who haven't experienced the WiiWare game and enjoy a lovely puzzler, Art of Balance TOUCH! is delightful and worth checking out.

[SuperPhillip Says: 8.5/10]