Sonic and Nights Creator Unveils 3DS and Wii Flight Game

The last time Naka decided to make a game about flying, we got this. (Shown: classic Nights Into Dreams wallpaper from 1996.)

Sonic the Hedgehog and Nights: Into Dreams mastermind Yuji Naka and his development studio Prope have been pretty quiet since the initial buzz from Wii's Let's Catch and Let's Play faded, releasing just a few iPhone apps and Ivy the Kiwi for WiiWare and DSi Ware. But something far more substantial is on the way from the studio through a partnership with Kadokawa Games.

This week's Famitsu has a first look at Tenku no Kishi Rodea, an original action game that's in development for 3DS and Wii. Naka is serving as "executive director" on the project, which is being developed by Prope and will be published by Kadokawa Games.

The magazine has a four page spread on the game this week with screens and details from the Wii version and comments from Naka, producer Hitoshi Hasegawa and scenario writer Takumi Miyajima.

In Tenku no Kishi Rodea, players take control of a robot named Rodea and experience free flight via simple Wiimote controls. Rodea's actions are controlled entirely through the Wiimote. You point the Wiimote at the location you'd like to travel, press B, and shake to make Rodea fly off in the target direction. You can then keep Rodea flying by pointing at your desired location and pressing B.

You can also make Rodea perform attacks. Pressing A makes Rodea attack with his gun. You can pick up items in the stages to add more powerful offensive capabilities -- a machine gun item is mentioned in Famitsu as one example.

Point at enemies and objects you find around the stages and press A, and Rodea will perform a spinning attack. Stages are packed with a variety of gimmicks, but you'll find that everything can be interacted with via just the Wiimote.

Simplicity seems to be one of the major points of the game's controls. This doesn't mean that you won't find complex situations. Screenshots show advanced flight sequences that have Rodea attacking enemies while in pursuit. The game also has massive bosses which have weak points that players will have to figure out.

In comments shared with the magazine, Yuji Naka boasted of the simplicity of the controls, which have apparently been in place since the game's prototype phase. Work on Rodea began back in Fall of 2009, explained Naka. A project Prope had been working on was cancelled, and Naka set up an experiment where he had his staff split into two teams to create their next game. This resulted in a prototype which had a new and fresh control scheme. This prototype served as the base for Rodea.

The prototype addressed an issue that Naka feels always comes up whenever dealing with flight-based action games: the unity of "control" and "sense." When you try to make a game that allows for free flight through the skies, the controls tend to become complicated. Naka felt that the original prototype successfully dealt with this problem.

Oddly enough, the atmosphere of the surrounding game was originally set to be hard spy action, which is totally different from the comical and cartoony look of the end product that we're getting. It seems that Kadokawa Games may have had something to do with the change, as they suggested that Prope make an original character-driven action game using the control idea.

Naka is quite open about Rodea being the product not just of Prope's work, but of Prope's collaboration with Kadokawa Games. The two companies had "surprisingly close" meetings daily, which provided stimulus for the game's creation. Naka feels that if it had just been Prope working on its own, Rodea would have ended up a totally different game.

The participation of Takumi Miyajima, who previously did story work on Tales of the Abyss and Arc Rise Fantasia, suggests that Rodea could see a deep story component. Based off Famitsu's look at the game, this seems to be the case.

Your goal in the game is to protect Garuḍa, a continent in the skies, from an invasion by the ancient mechanical empire of Naga, which has been revived after 1,000 years. As you lead Rodea in battle against the mechanized armies of Naga, you'll learn the reasons for their invasion and the hidden truths behind the world. It appears that Naga is after Garuda's natural resources.

Famitsu introduces three characters in this issue. First up, Rodea himself. Even though Rodea is facing off against the Naga armies, he himself is a robot from the Naga Empire. He's just been awakened from a 1,000 year slumber, and has lost his memory. Ion, a Garuda girl who loves tinkering with robots, is the one who woke Rodea up. She serves as a support role in the game. Also getting a brief introduction is Cecilia, a Naga Empire princess who 1,000 years back offered her life to save Garuda.

Miyajima shared brief comments with the magazine. The Rodea project was first described to him as "an action game that's set in the skies." He felt the appeal of gameplay that lets players freely fly through the skies, and decided to join the project working on the world view and story components.

As this is his first time working on an action game, he aimed for "simple and easy to understand." At the same time, he hoped to provide areas that players could explore more deeply. His orders were to create a story could be enjoyed by both adults and children.

Joining what will presumably be a deep single player experience, Famitsu has some hints at a multiplayer component. The magazine's information box on the game lists four player support. No actual multiplayer details are provided in the article, though.

Although Tenku no Kishi Rodea is listed in Famitsu has being in development for both Wii and 3DS, the magazine's entire preview is focused on the Wii version. The magazine does not provide a release time frame for either version.