April 29th, 2016, at 7:00 a.m.
Blast Brawl 2 is a crowdfunded, action packed, indie game. It’s fast paced and responsive controls immediately grab the player’s attention and engage them in hours of cartoonish combat. But that’s not the only thing that grabs the user. The amazing soundtrack that enhances the game is jam packed with a rapidly growing style of music known to some as Snythwave. We discovered one such up and coming musician from Bogata, Columbia, Jorge ‘Meteor’ Reyes, and interviewed for him Slickster Magazine. During the conversation, we asked if he had worked on any video games or movies. Sure enough he had, and that led us to Mind’s Eye Games. The lead developer and evil genius behind Mind’s Eye newest project, Blast Brawl 2, is Chris Molini. We caught up with Chris and chatted about ninjas, any potential boobies in the game, Kickstarter, Kung Fury…. and of course, some great music.
Chris Molini, Blast Brawl 2 Game Developer Interview
Slickster: Chris, we discovered your game, Blast Brawl 2, through the music of Meteor, AKA Jorge Reyes. How did this collaboration come about?
hris Molini: I’m a gigantic fan of the synthwave/outrun music genre. While making Blast Brawl 2, I decided to try reaching out to all of my favorite retro music artists, and asking if they would want to be part of the game! A surprising number of them actually said yes, and now there are over 40 different artists in the game’s soundtrack. As for Jorge, I actually hadn’t heard of him until right after his album – Parallel Lives – was released. As soon as I heard some of his music I knew I had to reach out (I sent him a message before finishing the third track!) and thankfully he agreed!
Blast Brawl 2 seems to draw heavily on the low budget 80’s movies from the Cannon Film Production Company. Was this an influence of yours and how so? Furthermore, is the tag ‘Boogaloo’ in anyway a throwback to the Electric Boogaloo film?
Good eye – as a matter of fact it is! Some of the promotional art is also a reference to the Electric Boogaloo movie poster. The game is actually going to be a big homage to 80’s sensibilities, in a variety of ways. But I can’t reveal too much just yet.
Obviously, your portrayal of ninjas fits well within the Cannon film Library; however, there seems to be an absence of bikini babes, which were also present in the Cannon films. Was this a conscious decision to remove boobies from your game?
Well… I have to keep actual boobies out. But bikinis – and their respective babes – might make a comeback sometime in the future. You’ll have to wait and see!
In your trailer you mentioned that your wife would kill you if the (first) game did not sell. Obviously, you’re still alive so I assume the game is selling well. How can people purchase your game?
Actually, the game has not been released yet! It will be entering Early Access – on Steam, and hopefully Xbox One – fairly soon. You can currently preorder the game by backing the Kickstarter!
I downloaded your free demo onto my Mac and noticed this game is very fun! But fun is an abstract term. When you’re developing a video game how can you quantify the term “fun?”
That’s a surprisingly big topic! But it really depends on the game. Generally, I just try to figure out what people would enjoy when playing and make everything in the game revolve around that. For Blast Brawl 2 it’s extremely fast combat, responsive controls, and simple but deep characters. But if I were developing, say, a simulation or strategy game the “fun factor” would be entirely different!
The music included in Blast Brawl 2 is a highlight of the game. I suspect that you may have seen the short movie by David Sandberg, Kung Fury. Am I right? What did you think of Kung Fury?
What can we expect from Mind Eye’s Games in the next six months?
Chris, thanks for talking to Slickster Magazine today. Any last shout outs or acknowledgment you would like to give?
Thank you! And as for shout-outs: check out these guys! All of them are awesome people who make great music, and they all deserve the attention!