Cyber Shadow is the latest indie title that's inspired by 8-bit NES games of the past such as Mega Man and Ninja Gaiden. It's published by Yacht Club Games, the studio behind the now-iconic indie game, Shovel Knight, but the title was actually developed by one person from another smaller indie studio.
In an interview with Game Rant, Aarne Hunziker of Mechanical Head Studios spoke about how it feels to work on a game mostly by himself, the working relationship between them and Yacht Club Games, what Cyber Shadow was inspired by, and if a sequel is in the works.
Q: Cyber Shadow looks to be a mix of several different old-school franchises. Which franchise were you inspired by the most and how did you go about making the game feel unique compared to other retro-styled action games?
A: My answer may vary by the day, but let's say Shadow of the Ninja this time. The gameplay is methodical and deliberate as opposed to run and gun. While the game starts off simple, very similar to games of the bygone era, it keeps growing to something more complex in an attempt to bridge old school and modern gameplay.
Q: How was it like working with Yacht Club as a publisher for this title?
A: Felt more like working with friends than what I imagined a publisher/developer cooperation to be like. On top of handling the heavy lifting required to get the game translated and on every platform they also offered a ton of feedback.
Q: Is there any chance for a sequel to Cyber Shadow in the future or possibly more 2D sidescrollers like it?
A: Hopefully, but now I need a break, maybe go ice skating and have a slice of chocolate cake.
Q: How is the development process like when working on a game with a sole developer? What are the pros and cons of not having multiple development staff members on a team?
A: I need to jump between a lot of different seats which was daunting at first but became enjoyable later on. Can’t get bored of drawing pixel art when you need to do SFX, level design and coding too. This leads to a downside, which is the velocity of progress is quite slow. Just handing over a sprite to a coder to do their magic would feel pretty liberating. The upside is that you are in control of every aspect and can make sure everything works as intended.
Q: How long has the game been in development? What started this idea? How did it come to life?
A: Five years of mostly full-time development. It got kicked off when I wanted to see an old game mockup of mine come to life. It was supposed to be a training project but kept growing into something more until it was a game in stores.
Q: What kind of audience are you hoping to reach with Cyber Shadow?
A: Main target audience is ninjas in training that need to hone their skills to become super ninjas. Others can try too.
Q: I've noticed that checkpointing is very forgiving and fair for players. Is this something that was done to keep players going instead of feeling overwhelmed with the difficulty?
A: I couldn’t come up with the justification for having a lives system that puts in the beginning of a level so might as well let people spawn from a maximum few rooms away from where they were. You also keep the currency you collected so you have the opportunity to buy stuff at the checkpoints to get a better chance of succeeding in the next stretch.
Q: Is there anything that was cut from the game that you wished made it into the final product?
A: Upon receiving a skill there was a section planned that would’ve included training in that skill. In the end, it felt like something that would get in the way of replaying the game so it was cut.
Q: And on the other hand, was there anything that you wanted to do but didn't have the time/resources for?
A: Some additional optional content involving the many characters in the game to build up their backstory.
Q: Anything else that you would like people to know about the game?
A: Think and act like a ninja and you may make it through the many challenges of Cyber Shadow!
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Cyber Shadow is now available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, and Xbox One.