Updated at 6:30 p.m. ET
No more teases. PlatinumGames is givingThe Wonderful 101another shot.
The studio turned to its fans for help though, launching aKickstarter campaignon Monday to crowdfund a remaster of the 2013 cult classic for the Nintendo Switch, at minimum, with stretch goals to bring it to Steam and the PlayStation 4.
The Wonderful 101: Remasteredis Platinum’s first attempt at self-publishing one of its games, and the first of four projects to be revealed on the “Platinum 4” website the developeropened early Monday morning.
Within minutes of going live, the Kickstarter campaign reached its $50,010-minimum goal to make the Switch version a reality, then quickly surpassed the $250,000 stretch goal for a Steam version and the $500,000 threshold for the PS4. The estimated delivery date for backers to start receiving their copies is April 2020.
The stretch goals have since been updated to include a time attack mode at $1 million and “Luka’s First Mission” – a 2D side-scrolling epilogue – at $1.5 million.
“We’re developers first, not publishers,” Hideki Kamiya, Platinum’s senior vice president andThe Wonderful 101’sdirector, said inthe pitch video. “So this creates a lot of challenges for us.”
“That’s why we need your help in order to bringThe Wonderful 101to modern platforms,” he added. “With enough help, we might even be able to add additional content to the game. Therefore, I humbly ask for your assistance.”
Like most crowdfunding campaigns,The Wonderful 101: Remastered’sKickstarter offers backers an array of digital and physical rewards in addition to their copy of the game. However, this campaign offers a prize that only Platinum can deliver. Those who pledge 11,000 yen ($101.22 USD) or more will receive a tweet directly from Kamiya himself…and then he will block them.
For those not in the loop, blocking people is kind of his thing.
GameXplain was the first to report Platinum’s plans for the remaster, verifying through two anonymous sources that the game would be coming to the Switch, and the PS4, at least, and the existence of the company’sKickstarter account.
Industry insider Liam Robertsoncorroborated the report on Twitter, adding that the Kickstarter was a backup plan after Platinum pitched the game around to different publishers, Nintendo included.
The launch of the Kickstarter follows up the photo Platinum tweeted a few days before, which many immediately read asa tease related toThe Wonderful 101. Front and center is Kamiya, with a Switch console on his left, and the monitor behind him having a date and time set to Oct. 1 (10/1) at 1:01.
Originally released for the Wii U in Aug. 2013 (Sept. 2013 in North America),The Wonderful 101was, and in many ways still is, one of the more unique action games out there. Its foundation is built on the idea of strength in numbers, having players control an army of superheroes and citizens they rescue along the way to combine (literally) and fight an invading alien force. Add in an over-the-top charm and sense of humor, and some very large scale boss battles, and the result wasa gem of an experiencefor those who played it.
“For those who played it” is the key phrase though. The Wii U was a struggling platform, andThe Wonderful 101was a game with niche appeal, so it didn’t sell well.
Still, a majority of the standouts in the Wii U’s library have received second chances on its successor, the Switch, includingBayonetta 2(also from Platinum) andTokyo Mirage Sessions #FEmore recently. Neither of those games did great sales-wise the first time around, so it stood to reason from fans that Wonder-Red and company could get one, too.
They can and did.
Platinum recentlyreceived a capital investment from Chinese holding company Tencent, an agreement the developer said it made in order to be able to self-publish its own titles. The plan to crowdfundThe Wonderful 101: Remasteredpreceded that deal,said Platinum, so none of the money received from Tencent will be used for the development costs of the remaster.
The studio also hasBayonetta 3(Switch)andBabylon’s Fall(PS4, PC)in the pipeline, while their last project,Astral Chain(Switch), was just announced to havesold over a million copies.
