Perky Pickle Studios has wrapped on the development and design for Vivendi-Universal Interactives CRASH BANDICOOT: TAG TEAM RACING. Due out Oct. 18, on Xbox, Game Cube, PlayStation 2 and PSP, this latest outing finds the bandicoot in a pedal to the metal racing brawl. Perky Pickle Studios previously worked on the hit game, CRASH: TWINSANITY. This time around, Perky Pickle partnered with Vancouver-based developer Radical Ent. to produce the expansion of the franchise.
Jordan Reichek, co-owner of Perky Pickle, points out, Unlike the free roaming environment of TWINSANITYs platforming structure, TAG TEAM RACING offered a challenge from a creative perspective in the need to create an engaging storyline while making every aspect of the actual game-play funny. With most cart racers of the past, once youre in your vehicle the story ends and your contact with the characters is limited. Here, we made a conscious effort to fill as much empty space with rapid-fire gags and a phone books worth of cheesy lines.
Reichek continued, Developer, Radical had created an amazing arena for racing that from the start added something new to the genre. We were charged with the task of creating new characters and new situations to coalesce with the new programming technology they developed.
The story takes place in the condemned racing arena of German battle cyborg turned theme park promoter, Ebeneezer Von Clutch. As his park malfunctions wildly out of control, Von Clutch is desperate to find someone who is skilled enough to win its overloaded power crystals and solve the mystery of his own missing power source.
Reichek, who wrote the script for the game, added, With the theme park setting, we were able to fill the on-foot environment with lots of funny character interaction and mini-games that poke fun at the whole theme park experience.
As in TWINSANITY, dialogue and physical actions were approached from a traditional cartoon point of view and then integrated into the game engine. New characters include Von Clutch, Pasadena Opposum, Chick N Stew the sportscasters and the demented park mascot, Willie Wumpa Cheeks.
Kirk Scott, the Vivendi-Universal producer for CRASH, said, After the amazing response to the humor he injected into TWINSANITY, we again brought in Jordan and his company to write the script and design characters for TAG TEAM RACING. We knew Radical had an awesome plan for the game play scope, so we tasked Jordan to fill the FMVs and cut scenes with a funny story and gag situations. The reaction dialogue alone was enough to fill a feature length movie.
Reichek added, Its been a lot of fun to work with Vivendi-Universal and Radical to bring humor to the game. Coming from a cartoonists background, its been a blast to see your character and story work brought to life as a playable experience. Its almost as if youre having realtime interaction with a cartoon and its environment. The possibilities are pretty much endless.
Perky Pickle Studios (www.perkypickle.com) is a full service production company, working with clients to develop varied projects from pre-production through post.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
