Metroid Database.com

This week brings us a new Kickstarter campaign in the form of an indie game called Project Sen. A 2D action platformer, Project Sen is described as a mixture of Mega Man and Metroid, and represents the first major endeavor from newly formed development team CakeMachine Games. If successfully funded by Dec 6., the developers are targeting a late 2014 release for PC/MAC, as well as consoles versions if additional stretch goals are met.

We caught up with project lead, Shoji Ikari, for a brief QA session to get some extra insight about the game design and some of its influences. A longtime Metroid fan, 'Sho' has been visiting the Metroid Database since 1998 and continues to be his favorite site dedicated to all things Metroid.

Although they weren't shown in the early footage, you revealed that Sen would discover various artifacts that would unlock special abilities. Once unlocked, will players be able to use these abilities whenever they choose, or are the abilities primarily intended to be used in only select circumstances and locations?

Players will be able to use these abilities whenever they choose, and they are powered by a stamina bar under Sen's health bar (It recharges on its own, but can be replenished faster by picking up refills). These abilities are multi-functional; they allow Sen to fight enemies in different ways, discover hidden areas in each stage, create alternate methods of progressing through a stage and of course solving puzzles.

Can you describe more about the level design, and whether there will be any notable backtracking elements?

The stages are linear, meaning that they will progress in a left to right fashion and are selected from a hub. However, they do have branching paths which may either be hidden, accessed by using the artifacts, or simply chosen by the player (depending on the stage). Stages may be re-entered after completing them, as many will have both day/night versions as well as different miniboss encounters depending on which route was taken. This will allow players to pick up additional item upgrades for Sen, factoring into replayability.

About how many levels do you expect the game to have?

The game will roughly be 12 stages long (each stage will have different versions depending on which order they were completed in). If we do exceed our budget, we plan on adding in a multitude of additional content including extra stages, some of which expand on events before the start of the game.

What are some of the most notable ways that the Metroid franchise has influenced this project, and what other games might you compare it to?

To me, Sen is an equal mix of Mega Man and Metroid elements. The basic structure is very much classic Mega Man, my favorite being Mega Man 6 for the NES (Which did have branching paths etc). Sen herself is somewhat similar to Samus, having some stoic qualities about herself, however she is young and inexperienced. The environments and atmospheric elements are very much Super Metroid in presentation, since they have that eerie abandoned feeling and colorful art. The characters and bosses (which will be revealed at a later time) are also influenced by the Metal Gear Solid series. I always liked how unique and over the top the characters from Metal Gear were, and that has definitely found its way into Project Sen. Regarding technical points of the game, Sen will also be able to collect energy tanks and "suit upgrades", in a manner of speaking.

Will there be any rating system or treats for speedrunners in Project Sen?

There will be all kinds of extras for speed runs/other unlockables depending on the method of completion, or other factors depending on the player's performance.

Is there anything else your team would like to share with the community?

As our entire team are Metroid enthusiasts, we aim to give fellow fans something that feels very familiar as far as aesthetics and controls are concerned. Over all we hope Project Sen is something the Metroid community will appreciate, and we hope you enjoy Sen's adventure!

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Thanks to Ikari for his time, and the MDB staff would like to wish the CakeMachine Games team the best of luck.

--Aurora Unit