Nick Burton & Jens Restemeier on Jetpac Refuelled

Observe: we’ve rounded up Jetpac Refuelled software types Nick Burton and Jens Restemeier to answer some probing questions in the wake of the game’s release to XBLA. Nice.

1) So, first question: how come it’s taken Rare till now to get involved in Xbox Live Arcade? Was there interest from the start?

JR: We were busy with our launch titles, so these had to be finished before we could start with anything new. But we think Xbox Live Arcade is an exciting platform for new and innovative games, so this was a perfect opportunity to develop a Rare game for it.

2) Describe the original Jetpac in 10 words or less for the underprivileged majority who never played it.

NB: Simple yet deeply satisfying laser based fun!

3) Weren’t you tempted to stick with a straight port rather than creating what’s basically a new game based on the same principles?

JR: I think people have high expectations for a Rare-developed title, so we couldn’t just stick the Spectrum code into an emulator and charge money for that. We planned some kind of expansion from the beginning, but we had to experiment a bit in which direction we should take it. We didn’t want to change it into a completely different game so the original mechanics had to stay at the core, but we wanted to introduce new features for players to enjoy.

NB: I remember Jetpac very well from the 8-bit days as it was the first game I bought for my Spectrum, and I remember how intense an experience it was at the time. I wanted to recapture that feeling for Live Arcade, so as Jens says we needed to keep the original core mechanics with a simple, easy-to-learn premise but with new features in keeping with the original. That was harder to achieve than it sounds, as it’s pretty easy to keep adding stuff to the point where it becomes too complex and loses something of that instant arcade-like ‘learn to play in five seconds’, ‘learn to master over many hours’.

4) Who was better, Mumm-Ra or Venger?

JR: I don’t think they were shown on German TV. But do you know Captain Future?

NB: Difficult… Mumm-Ra wanted to destroy the Thundercats including Snarf (I hate Snarf) but Venger had that cool horn… So I’ll say Murdoch from The A-Team, he was better than both of them!

5) How did the XBLA development process differ from that of a boxed retail Xbox 360 title?

JR: Actually it doesn’t differ that much. There are of course the size constraints and we have to support all the features expected from a Xbox Live Arcade title, but in the end you’re developing an Xbox 360 title, no matter if it is distributed as a download or as a DVD.

NB: One difference specifically for Jetpac is the way optimisations shifted from graphics and game logic as you would see with a larger title to other areas like Live, which was actually a harder task in many ways than it would be for a game like Kameo, for instance. This is not specific to XBLA but more the type of game Jetpac is, where you can see all the action on-screen at once which must be synched over Live, but this action is rendered as sprites so it doesn’t push the Xbox 360 CPU or GPU in any way.

6) Happy with the reviews so far? Do you think the reviewers all ‘get’ Jetpac Refuelled?

NB: The reviews have been pretty darn good, and more importantly forum posts have been incredibly positive! The only disappointment is when review scores have been marked down because the game is “simple”, it’s supposed to be simple! Simple to learn the rules, simple to play, but not easy to master, and blimey what do people expect for 400 Points? That’s cheaper than the original Spectrum version back in 1983…

7) Do you agree with the practice of putting hats on dogs and taking photos for the internet?

JR: What about a contest? Disguise your pet as a Rare character: give your dog yellow shorts and a blue backpack or dress up your cat as Joanna Dark.

NB: I love that idea, come on, let’s start a competition and why stop at dogs and hats? Sheep in long johns? All right, let’s keep it to domestic pets and no undergarments please – keep it clean people, I know what you lot are like!

8) What are some of the team’s other favourite games on Xbox Live Arcade?

JR: I like Castlevania: SOTN and I played a lot of Mutant Storm Reloaded.

NB: Robotron, Defender, Lumines Live and I love Geometry Wars.

9) Obviously the next Ultimate game everyone wants to see upgraded is Martianoids. Or maybe Bubbler. Do we dare hope?

JR: Who knows? It may be something that will make our fans real happy, though.

NB: Now that would be telling, wouldn’t it – I know what I’d remake, can you guess?

10) Finally: in the form of a traditional Ultimate-style rhyme, tell the XBLA public why they have no excuse for not downloading Jetpac Refuelled.

NB: Jetpac is the best on Live / Click on Buy and you will thrive / On laser blasting 1, 2, 3 / Unleash electric death eternally