Just released on WiiWare, we chat with developers Bplus about their latest title Bit Boy!! and what they have in store next...

Imagine a game you can play in the style of every generation of console to date. The best bits of that classic arcadey feel the old 16-bit consoles, mixed with the bigger, more beautiful levels of the 128-bit era. With Bit Boy!!, you can! N-Europe has spoken with Bernd Geiblinger, the game's Art Director, to find out more...

N-Europe: Hi there Bernd! Thanks for taking the time to talk with us. To start off with then, for those who still have no idea, what is BitBoy!!?

Bernd: Bit Boy!! is a totally new kind of game mix that is literally delivered together with all its 'predecessors' which of course haven't been ever released. Our one-pixel-hero Kubi must rescue his Pixel Pals that have been kidnapped by a very abstract, pixellated and of course evil monster from the 4-bit era, so we send him on a journey back in time where he rushes through the whole history of videogames.
Players accompany Kubi in this totally crazy-pixellated retro journey and battle hordes of nasty monsters in dungeons of the 4-bit, 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, 64-bit and 128-bit era.

N-Europe: What would you say will be the main unique feature of the game, compared to other similar titles?

Bernd: I believe the main unique feature is also its most outstanding one: Bit Boy!! spans the whole history of videogames, from early Atari with its super-pixelated graphics to Wii with its unique motion controller. Making all these generations - this journey through time - was an enormous task and we are so happy and satisfied that all gamers from young to old can now experience the history of games like never before.
Oh, and the simulated Arcade Joystick is a nice feature too. ;-)

N-Europe: BitBoy!! looks packed with content. How long do you expect it will take the average gamer to complete?

Bernd: Bit Boy!! really is full of variety and every new level offers something new, a fresh and unique theme. We intended that the Bit Generations themselves are not too long because we wanted to give EVERYONE, even new gamers that generally lose interest quickly, the chance to unlock all of them. If you cannot wait to see the next generations, you can really rush through the game, but that way you will never see your name on the top of the high score tables. Finding out the right tactics for a super-duper score can be really tough, you have to survive to collect all the fruit and defeat as many monsters as possible. As a nice reward, the top score of each bit generation is displayed on the title screen, so get your name there!

N-Europe: How does BitBoy's co-op mode work?

Bernd: One of the big things of today's games is assistance and helping from other players. Just grab a friend, connect his Wii Remote and a second Kubi will join you. To make it not too easy, players share the number of attacks as well as lives. To make things even more fun, we have included the unlockable 'WARP MODE' that is fun alone, but absolutely a blast together with a friend. Work together to get the ultimate high score!!

N-Europe: Can you tell us a little more about the different modes in the game?

Bernd: There is Classic Mode - the standard game mode, where you must Save all your pixel friends in each level and wipe out evil monsters. Collect delicious fruit to earn bonus points and find the perfect tactics to achieve a high score in each Bit Generation.
Then there's Warp Mode, the score attack-based, endless mode unlocked after you complete Classic. You cannot get rid of any monsters here and, if one touches you, you will be instantly warped into the next level. Collect as many Time Diamonds as you can in each level and reach the ultimate high score!
Then there's Turbo Classic Mode, unlocked after completing the last level of the 128-Bit Generation ("Bit Boy Wii") in Classic. Here, gamers must play all levels of all generations at once in super turbo fashion with a huge amount of attacks and unlimited lives!
And then finally there's Turbo Warp Mode, which you enter after completing the 128-Bit Generation in Warp Mode. Collect Time Diamonds in EVERY SINGLE LEVEL of the game at once with ultra speed as long as you want.

N-Europe: Do you expect Kubi to become the Bplus mascot?

Bernd: Not many may know that, but Kubi already was playable as a FantasyME in PL�TTCHEN � twist 'n' paint and starred in a small GameClub.at project a little time ago. Together with the little lad Niki he is one of our heroes, but the gearwheel ZeLeLi that travels through time and space is still Bplus' true mascot.

N-Europe: We haven't heard from Vektor Tank since you first announced it, what's going on there?

Bernd: Vektor Tank is coming along pretty nicely; we already have released some juicy in-game screenshots a while ago. We put much work into Vektor Tank and constantly refine gameplay to make sure you'll have an absolute blast when you get to play it.

N-Europe: Any plans to expand your operations to DSiWare?

Bernd: We have no particular plans in that direction yet, but some ideas are floating around in our office.

N-Europe: What are your thoughts on Wii MotionPlus?

Bernd: Our first game idea, the one that Nintendo loved so much that they made us official developers, was a game that would need a kind of hardware like the Wii Motion Plus. Of course we cannot give any further details on that at this time.

N-Europe: We're keen to see a sequel to Plattchen. Are there any plans?

Bernd: There are some concepts for a successor but we do not believe that it is the right time to release another puzzle game of this kind on WiiWare � let's wait and see how everything develops.

N-Europe: Similarly, what are your thoughts on Satoru Iwata's crazy glimpse into the future during the E3 conference - the Wii Vitality Sensor?

Bernd: As developers, we are always happy about new hardware that gives us access to even more possibilities. There are certainly some cool ideas, like at that time with Tetris 64, a game that never made it out of Japan. It adjusted the difficulty of the game to the pulse of the player and depending whether you chose the Stress Mode or the Relax Mode, it became easier or more difficult with higher stress levels.

N-Europe: Intriguing. Telltale Games reported a positive spike in WiiWare sales of the Strong Bad series following the introduction of the Wii storage solution a few months ago. Any joy to speak of with your own titles?

Bernd: Since the increase of sales was around the Easter holidays, it probably was because of that and not because of the SD support. Nonetheless, we are very happy that this long-awaited solution exists now.

N-Europe: And finally, Bill Trinen was getting pretty cheeky with Reggie Fils-Aime during Nintendo's E3 conference. Do you think Reggie killed him after?

Bernd: I am sure Reggie just took his name... but that's all.

N-Europe: Heh. We hope so too. Bernd, thanks for chatting to us!

We hope so too! Many thanks to Bernd for taking the time to speak with us. Bit Boy!! is available to download now on Wii for 600 points.