New La-Mulana Wii Screenshots

By: Derek Yu

On: October 21st, 2009

La Mulana

20 new screenshots on the official blog. Looking very, very good! I really like the direction they’re going with the artwork.

  • Megidolaon

    Gorgeous! Can’t wait.

  • Adamski

    The backdrops look beautiful and detailed yet the player sprite remains somewhat simple in terms of shading?

  • Nemo07

    Brilliant! The backdrops are simply amazing. It also seems that at least two puzzle have been potentially reworked (the ones that were more or less GuideDangIts, too, which is a relief).

    I will definitely be picking this up as soon as it’s released.

  • alastair

    Looks beautiful, along with th

  • Greg

    Having the character stand out from the background isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

  • http://0xdeadc0de.org Eclipse

    mmhmm red orange juice <3

  • Nosgoroth

    Looks awesome. Day one.

    @Nemo07 Whoa, it took me ten seconds after reading and understanding your post to realize that you had used a WikiWorded trope. RuinYourVocabulary indeed.

  • skaldicpoet9

    Man, this game has finally pushed me over the edge. I am going to have to get a Wii again. I was thinking about a PS2 but then I started looking into the games and there wasn’t much that I wanted to play that I couldn’t already play on my PC. It seems that the Wii is the way to go when it comes to more traditional console gaming. With Cave Story, La-Mulana and Super Meat Boy all coming to the Wii the choice had already been made for me :P

  • skaldicpoet9

    btw PS2 above is a typo I meant to type PS3 of course.

  • creath

    What ever happened to Cave Story?

  • blueskirt

    I’m loving it, I hope they’ll keep going in this direction with the artwork.

  • jack

    Must get 32bit swimsuit

  • Stij

    Is it sad that I recognized the TV Tropes reference in Nemo’s post almost immediately?

    Anyway, this is looking pretty good…I’m glad they’re still making it look like a retro game.

  • DarkFalzX

    Sorry to be a Debbie Downer here, but I feel like Nicalis is missing the point with their “HD remakes” of modern games purposely made to look 8-bit in the first place.
    It’s like, if after MegaMan 9 came out last year, a company would’ve come along and said – “This looks like crap! We need to make it HD and re-colorize the backgrounds to look like someone let a pixelartist loose in Photoshop for the first time”. Or maybe a better analogy would be if someone decided to make HD remakes of Monet paintings saying “look all this splotchy, blurry mess – if we render these images more realistically, wouldn’t they look much better?”. Again – missing the point!
    CaveStory was meant to be a throwback to SNES days, and LaMulana was an MSX homage, faithfully recreating all the MSX tropes.
    Oh, and lets not forget that they are commercially publishing free games someone else made. No wonder they are only releasing them on Wii – people who own a PS3 or 360 are generally savvy enough to download and play the superior free versions, not the versions that look like shareware circa 1996.

  • Jayce

    Nicalis doesn’t have a huge role to play in this remake. NIGORO’s really the ones in control of La Mulana. NIGORO’s also made quite a bit of explanations as to why they took the directions they did. It would be nice if you were to directly address their explanations rather than what you “feel” they are trying to do.

  • King

    Well Debbie, this isn’t just an HD version of the game, the entire game play has been reworked, making it more of a SNES reference as opposed to a MSX one.

  • James Monkman (RGCD)

    I agree with DarkFalzX – I like 8/16-bit stylised games to use authentic 8/16-bit graphics. To me the above screenshot just looks wrong.

  • DarkFalzX

    Well, it’s nice to know that everyone here is all down with butchering of unique indie games, turning them into generic mass-marketable fodder. Bravo guys – makes me all happy for all the endless hours I spent trying to craft something unique and special for this community that values originality so much. As for what “I feel” Jayce – is that compromising ones artistic vision for commercial purposes is never a good thing. Sure – original LaMulana was an unwieldy beast of a game, but maybe LaMulana was just a bad choice for casual console port?

  • Derek

    Yeah, I dunno, I can understand your ire to a certain extent, but I like looking at the new graphics. They’re still pretty unique, imo.

    Maybe more so than the original version? Wasn’t that just dressed up to look like Maze of Galius?

    I like both art styles, personally.

  • DarkFalzX

    The original LaMulana was less of a Maze of Galious homage, and more of a homage to all things MSX, including stupid, unintuitive bits.
    The graphics of the remake aren’t bad on their own, but my complain lays elsewhere – that in order to mass-market the game the visual uniqueness of LaMulana and CaveStory were entirely stripped down in favor of slightly generic “pretty” or “sharp” look.

  • Gutter

    @DarkFalzX : So you would prefer to see them released in the original format?

  • skaldicpoet9

    It is inevitable when releasing something to the mainstream market that things will be lost and or gained in the transition. The developers obviously want to give the game the right amount of mass appeal (which I find hard to believe that, in their original representations, that the public would go for something as obscure and retro as the original La-Mulana and Cave Story games).

    I personally don’t mind the overhauls on the games. If anything it exposes these wonderful games to a whole new audience of gamers that may one day pick up the originals. What is bad about more exposure? I understand the “don’t fix it if it ain’t broke” sentiment but I am sure the games will have a healthy dose of what we all love about the games along with some new additions to freshen things up a little.

  • DarkFalzX

    Gutter – my answer is both yes, and no. Yes, if the games were to be commercially released, they should’ve retained the aesthetics of the original versions, as their look was a big part of their charm, and no, because at least in case of LaMulana I don’t think the game has mass-market appeal in the first place, so I don’t think it should’ve been released at all.
    To reitterate my initial point though – there technically COULD be made a photorealistic, normal-shaded, havok-physics-based version of Katamari Damacy… but would it still have the same charm as the crude graphics of the original?

  • nobody2

    So copying the trend of other indies is somehow original? A trend which was also “inspired” by even older mainstream games, yet somehow that’s also original?

    So in 20 years, some indie shmucks will copy the graphics of today’s popular titles and they’ll be considered original too? Or maybe, they’ll still be using old low-bit graphics, and still consider themselves original. You’re killing me.

  • Karuvitomsk

    Mentioning Cave Story’s sort of a moot point — you can choose the style of graphics that you like. And it’s about time we pay up to Pixel, anyway.

    And KD was “crude” because any more detail would be too much for the PS2. Whereas the games we’re talking about here were made to look the way they do for stylistic reasons.

    I don’t really think it’s our place to say whether an overhaul of games like these is wrong — the developers should be able to do what they feel’s right.

  • Derek

    Hmmm, well… Katamari had a very unique art style (and overall style). La Mulana was made as an homage to MSX. While it looks really good for what it is, it’s not the same thing.

    Anyway, I think it’s fine (and understandable) to not like the new graphics, but it’s not really a butchering (or as gross a misinterpretation as your Katamari example). With both La Mulana and Cave Story the original creators are doing the remakes. In the case of Cave Story, you can even switch back to the original graphics, if you like.

    What I mean is that there is such a thing as crass commercialism and “selling out,” but it’s not like Michael Bay is holding a gun to Pixel’s head to do a 3d FPS… it seems more like the creators were given an opportunity to reach a wider audience and they took it. I don’t see why that’s so bad, aside from the obvious fact that some people will prefer the original game.

    At least they are thinking about it and not just shitting out a quick n’ dirty port.

  • strong

    i also think the la mulana graphics and even the cave story graphics- no, especially the cave story graphics- still seem very much in-tuned with the styles of the original.

    cave story isn’t actually changed that much, from what i’ve seen- they only made the sprites a lot higher resolution. they aren’t even adding any colors other than what the original sprites had, and that’s admirable.

    i don’t know why so many people get so upset about these.

  • MrUnimport

    DarkFalzX: don’t spit on developer intentions in favour of your own interpretations, or what you feel they should be intending. As well, saying that a simple change of art style turns excellent games into “generic mass-marketable fodder” is an insult to the work and hours that went into gameplay, music, and simple level design. La-Mulana isn’t La-Mulana just because it looks like an MSX game: it’s perfectly capable of standing on its own, not to mention that now it evokes an entirely different era of classic games.

    And Cave Story looks pretty much the same anyways. I also don’t appreciate your slight against Wii owners, who are apparently far too ignorant to have heard of La-Mulana before, and too stupid to realize they’re paying for a free game. NIGORO actually intended to make it an XBLA title, with even higher resolution and more detailed graphics. La-Mulana wasn’t snatched out of their saintly indie hands by the cruel, corporate Nicalis. They had always intended to bring the game they made to market and make it its own entity. Nicalis is just the enabler.

  • DarkFalzX

    MrUnimport – I don’t appreciate your ad-hominem attack in a discussion about an issue that has altogether absolutely nothing to do with me personally, for that you sir are a douche. My Wii generalization is entirely justified, as it is primarily a casual console marketed to casual market – read – non-gamers, and if you are in denial about that, it’s certainly no concern of mine. As for my complain being “an insult to the time spent reworking the game”, by your logic nobody has any right to complain about anything, as any act requires some sort of effort, no matter how misguided.

    I see this discussion is getting out of hand, so it’s time for me to stop posting. I have made my opinion on the issue clear – “HD remakes” are a waste of time and an insult to original creation, especially if they are of games originally purposely styled after 8 and 16-bit graphics limitations.

  • Dusty Spur

    to be honest I don’t give a shit about all this “butchering the game” talk, I just don’t really like the new graphics much. the backgrounds seem… inconsistent? I’m not sure what word to use. and the character sprite looks overly washed-out. nothing is wrong with them in a technical sense, but I’m just not feeling the style.

    I think it’s pretty cool that something like this is able to happen at all though. even if I prefer to stick with the original.

  • rfafwarwra

    i want to play this on my pc

  • MrUnimport

    While I respect your decision to protect the comment threat by not making further posts, I cannot help but wonder why you accuse me of an ad-hominem attack (of which, scanning my own post, I see no evidence) and then proceed to call me a douche.

    Although I will not discuss the topic with you further, I ask that you kindly show me where you think I made an ad-hominem attack.

  • Anifanatic

    @DarkFalzX
    Blissfully ignorant, willful in fact. You just happened to skip over the post that directly counters your argument. Didn’t want to respond to it?

    “nobody2 said about 18 hours later:

    So copying the trend of other indies is somehow original? A trend which was also “inspired” by even older mainstream games, yet somehow that’s also original?

    So in 20 years, some indie shmucks will copy the graphics of today’s popular titles and they’ll be considered original too? Or maybe, they’ll still be using old low-bit graphics, and still consider themselves original. You’re killing me.”

    Let them do what they want with what’s theirs. It’s not like they’re pulling a George Lucas and trying to pretend like the original version they released wasn’t their “original vision” and try to pretend it didn’t happen. They’re not saying “The new version is superior, the old version sucks” or anything like that, so stop acting like it’s anything that drastic. They’re just making a different version, that’s all.

    Do you complain when they port games over from older systems onto newer ones? Super Mario All-Stars had you pulling out your hair? Chrono Trigger DS made you rage? Tetris being released on practically every console ever made?

  • Austin Wilburn

    The old version isn’t going anywhere. If you prefer it, don’t play the new version.

    I own a Wii, and am currently running a system that can’t handle the old LaMulana. (The Dread Vista)

    So this is really the only way to play this legendary indie title. If anyone would want Nicalis to stop development simply because they don’t like what they are doing with it, it would be like a flaming insult to people who want development to continue.

  • nobody2

    @Anifanatic I think you got my opinion backwards. I was responding to the idea that updating the graphics is somehow making the game unoriginal or mainstream. New graphical techniques are more original than a neo geo throwback. Whether they’re better is up to opinion.

    @Austin Exactly, they’re not losing anything. I don’t own a Wii, but I like options.

    I also like money, and this dude needs money, just like the rest of us. If broadening the appeal of the game requires a new platform and a redesign, then so be it.

  • Death Of Rats

    looks fantastic, but after watching the Let’s Play of the game, it’s not a game for me. I like platformers, but this one is terribly unforgiving, almost more so than the nes-era age of unforgiveness.

  • Anifanatic

    Nobody2: I was using your post in response to DarkFalzX, and then the rest of my post was also aimed at DarkFalzX, sorry if I wasn’t clear. I meant to support you. :P

  • nobody2

    @Oh, ohhhh, whoops, shoulda read the first sentence more carefully. My post is highly ironic.

  • judgespear

    This version will be slightly less unforgiving than the MSX styled one. They’ve already made a lot of changes that make the game a lot more intuitive. I personally can’t wait, especially after Windows 7 broke all compatibility with this game. It’ll be great to have a version of it that’s actually playable again.

  • judgespear

    I think the blog post where they flat out says “we decreased the difficulty level.” speaks for itself. Don’t judge Wii La-Mulana based on PC MSX fangame La-Mulana. They’re not the same.

  • judgespear

    *say