I posted a few weeks ago about Go! Go! Break Steady, the new breakdancing rhythm game that’s on its way to the XBox Live Arcade. I was fortunate enough to be able to talk with developer Ivan Tung of Little Boy Games, and he shared some more insight into what we can expect from the game, as well as some cool shots of the physical drawings that went into making the game’s unique art style. Here’s the full review.
Fandomania: You’ve been developing Go! Go! Break Steady for the past while, and its release on the XBox Live Arcade is not far away. Can you describe the game a bit for folks who might not be familiar with it yet?
Ivan Tung: The game is a combination music rythm/puzzle game with fun hand animated characters breakdancing. So imagine beat matching and Zuma like game play. It seems like a quirky combination but it works and is fun.
Fandomania: The trailer video looks awesome, and it gives an idea of some of the mechanics we can expect. It looks like there’s a rhythm component to it as well as a color matching aspect. Can you give some details about how the mechanics work as you’re playing?
Ivan Tung: Gameplay essentially alternates between playing the rhythm and playing the puzzle. During the rhythm portion controller icons flow to the center beat circle. If you get the rhythm portion correct by matching several beats, you get some Beatniks (the puzzle pieces) to shoot into the puzzle. The more accurate you are to the beat the more pieces you get. You have to match 3 Beatniks in the ring to knock them out and if you strategize you can create big combo knockouts.
Fandomania: Go! Go! Break Steady features single player as well as co-op and competitive multiplayer modes. How will the co-op work in this game?
Ivan Tung: In Co-op both players play the rhythm portion simultaniously and both players have to get it correct to play the puzzle ring. Players take turns on playing the single puzzle. Co-op is great for couch play because it leads to a lot of blaming.
Fandomania: The art style is very unique and is one of the first things that grabbed me about the game. Who did the art, and what made you decide to go with this hand drawn style?
Ivan Tung: Well right from the start we wanted to make a game that looked completely different and unique. We wanted something that looked really fun and could accentuate crazy motions. I had three artists all with traditional animation training working on the game for over a year doing the art. It was a crazy amount of drawings.
Fandomania: Your promotional material says 20 songs will be included in the game. What sorts of music can we expect to hear?
Ivan Tung: The music is a fun mix of old school hip hop, disco, disco rock… basically the criteria was the music had to be fun, head nodding, fun for game play and something you could imagine a b-girl/b-boy busting the moves to. Finding songs that meet this criteria is super hard because we wanted songs that fit the game stylistically but was conducive to fun game play. A song might sound great and be a great head nodder but if the beat is too consistent it leads a less fun game play experience.
Fandomania: Are you able to share anything about the achievements for the game? And what was your process for creating the achievements?
Ivan Tung: In creating achievements we had several goals: have some easy ones, reward playing through the “All City Tournament” (single player campaign), reward players who really work at being good at the game, reward playing each game mode (single, multiplayer co-op and battle, online play). So some of the achievements are completing the tournament, earning all the tournament collectables, getting a perfect run of 20 moves, winning games online… darn I can’t even remember them all.
Fandomania: How soon can we expect to see Go! Go! Break Steady appearing on the Arcade, and do you know what the Microsoft Points cost will be? Also, do you anticipate having additional content like gamerpics?
Ivan Tung: The game is coming out in July and the price will be right. Sorry Microsoft requests that the date and cost remain secret until their official announcement one week before launch.
Fandomania: How sick are your own breakdancing moves in real life?
Ivan Tung: Hey, I can’t break dance but I still love watching it. I can’t do any moves but now I can name all the moves.
Fandomania: Thanks for talking with me. I really appreciate your time and am looking forward to playing the game myself.
Ivan Tung: My pleasure. Can’t wait for people to have a blast playing. We have had a really positive response from gamers and “non gamers” who have played the game so we’re keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for a hit.
The game’s official website with its awesome trailer is located here: LittleBoyGames
And if you’re on Facebook, you can become a fan of the game here: Go! Go! Break Steady Facebook Group
