Ufouria: The Saga 2 reinvents an 8-bit classic

• Ufouria: The Saga 2 is the brand new sequel to a 33 year old cult classic.
• This sequel maintains the humorous tone of the original game while giving it an entirely new art style.
• The developers used real versions of characters and objects to create the in-game models.

Ufouria: The Saga 2 is coming to Xbox Series X|S and for long-time gamers, this release is a real event. After all, it’s not everyday that a game gets a sequel 33 years after its release. When our friends at Sunsoft in Japan first showed us an early version of Ufouria: The Saga 2, we knew immediately that we had to bring it to the West and allow Xbox players to play it. But before we delve deeper into this brand new sequel, allow us to give you a quick history lesson.

Sunsoft is a legendary Japanese game publisher that has been around since the 1970s. In the late 1970s, the company began developing arcade games, which led to the creation of some hits such as: Arabic, TwoAnd kangaroo. In the late 1980s, the company expanded into home gaming with products for consoles such as the Famicom (known in the West as the Nintendo Entertainment System). Following the growth of the home console market, Sunsoft produced iconic titles such as: Blaster Master, Batman, Fighting formula, Ufouria: The Saga (known in Japan as Hebrew), And Gimmick!. Despite various challenges, Sunsoft has continued to develop games with passion and creativity thanks to a small but dedicated team that values ​​its commitment to quality and playfulness.

After being more discreet for a few years, Sunsoft has started with “Sunsoft is back!” » Campaign with the aim of getting back to the top of the gaming world. And as part of this campaign, it was decided to give a sequel to one of its most famous 8-bit titles. The original Ufouria: The Saga was released in Japan on September 20, 1991 as a Famicom title. Now described as Metroidvania, it was so far ahead of its time that the word didn’t exist when it was first released. Ufouria: The Saga features a comical and surreal world in which a crew of very unique characters embark on a humorous adventure to save the planet from an alien invasion. Thirty-three years later, it’s once again up to Hebe (a mysterious snowman-like creature), O-Chan (a girl in a cat costume), Sukezaemon (a ghost) and Jennifer (an anglerfish) to combine their very special powers to get rid of these nasty aliens.

As old-school gaming fans ourselves, we at Red Art Games wanted to support Sunsoft’s initiative and make this new title available to as many players as possible. That’s why our own Red Art Studios developed the Xbox Series X|S version of Ufouria: The Saga 2 in collaboration with the Sunsoft team. While this sequel retains the same cast of protagonists, the same basic premise (the comically evil alien Utsujin has landed on Earth with the goal of conquering the planet), and the open-world platformer gameplay style, it also features new story , dialogues, characters and even areas. But mainly, Ufouria: The Saga 2 features a brand new and quite eye-catching art style.

For this sequel, more than 30 years in the making, Sunsoft decided to give the world of Ufouria a stop-motion style with handmade felt work. To get an idea of ​​what the game should look like, the developers created real versions of the characters, enemies and levels to serve as reference images. First, they took the fabric used for needle felting and physically recreated a certain well-known stop-motion character by hand to experience the texture and feel. With this information in mind, they then began creating computer-generated graphics (CG), using the model as a reference.

When creating the CG, the developers really tried to express the warmth and softness reminiscent of wool. They particularly emphasized the impression that the wool seen in the game was made up of multiple layers, giving it the fluffy silhouette of wool. They also intentionally made some parts, such as the platforms, uneven to give them that imperfect handmade feel. And when it comes to enemies, the development team had a very specific idea: small enemy figures are all made of snack materials.

For example, several enemies are made of chocolate or grape jelly. The design came from the idea that people don’t want such snacks to stick to the felt because the stains will be difficult to wash off. Taking all of these creative ideas and combining them with the crazy and humorous world of Ufouria resulted in a truly special game. We’re excited for Xbox players to experience Ufouria: The Ufouria: the saga 2 and we hope you enjoy your time with Hebe and his motley crew.

Ported to consoles by Red Art Studios, Ufouria: The Saga 2 is now available for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.