For those who didn't quite consider the ramifications of what Dan said: This is essentially the original game. And not in the "Oh, we closely, but not quite, recreated the game using modern development tools" sense, but in the "we literally have the original code running in the background" which is frankly mind-blowing to me. So while, for example, the fireball might _look_ like it comes out slower in the new graphics, it doesn't. There is a slight delay between the dragon opening its mouth and the fireball starting to move in the original, too. This remaster just makes the most out of those few frames.
Yeah, I was actually astounded when I found out they reverse engineered the code. I'm like "how has it taken us this long?!" Yeah, Ben did a magnificent job updating the animation!
Amazing video :) *edited for clarity* Nixitur: to add some details on the subtleties and small changes we introduced, e.g. several timings and hit boxes were very subtlety tweaked to be able to cater to both versions and blend them. Some example of other tweaks involved for e.g. the lizard-man fireball: - When blowing a new fireball we made out to play an outro animation for the previous one. In the original game the previous flame cease to exist immediately, as it is simply the same object that gets reused and teleported. So the modern engine needs to track objects that don't exist anymore in the retro engine (that flame playing its outro keeps moving). - There are lots of custom timing for animation transition that are hand-tuned e.g when you interrupt a running animation with an attack it may play an animation with different timing than when standing still. - They are also different timing based on vertical velocity, as the longer flame animation played after Idle created too much of a vertical disconnect between the mouth and the flame while jumping or falling . - The horizontal speed of the flame originally made it that when running a new flame would always end up _behind_ you because it's initial acceleration made it slower than you run speed. We changed that so that in the first few frames of its lifetime the flame tracks the players' velocity. - We made changes with handling the flame collision, e.g. if you press fire while running into a wall in the original game it would start inside the wall, had to push it back to make sure the extinguish animation played exactly at the wall limit. - Etc. All those things are adding up in order to create the general animated/visual experience. I don't remember all of them off hands but I think in total we probably made about a few thousand small changes of that nature to accommodate for the new graphics and effects and higher frame-rate physics.
I was watching a playthrough and saw the credits and saw it had a Z80 EMULATOR CORE in it. So most likely it's not even a translation of the original code, but something like EmuDX.
@LizardCube Thank you so much! And wow, thanks for the extra info on the development of coding and animation, that's really insightful! It's amazing how many little things are adjusted to give this unique experience, I can't imagine how much of a headache it must've been keeping track of everything! Thanks for your time!
It's really a hybrid Frankenstein thing, I'm not sure there is a good comparison for it (perhaps the Sega 3D releases on 3DS by M2 are the closest comparison?). We do run emulated code but the engine has also been largely modified at different levels (rom mods/hacking + custom vm mods/hacking + higher-level mods). For example, consider the fact that the original game ran with a 4:3 ratio with 30 hz scrolling/physics and our version is 16:9 widescreen with 60 Hz scrolling/physics. Those things alone required large amount of changes (changes in the engine and level design with hundreds of side effects).
I got this game when it came out and I cannot express how much I’ve wanted Lizard cube to give Zelda 2 the same treatment, or even better, they could make it from the ground up without having to stick so closely to the original’s animations
So I clicked on this video primarily because I love The Dragon's Trap and its animation style, and because I've seen your stuff before and I think it's great. Imagine my surprise when our channel gets namedropped in the middle of the video! Thanks so much! You're amazing, keep up the great work!
Thank you so much, that means a great deal! I love your channel, it's such a simple, wonderful idea, I really look forward to yours and genuinely learning about figures in the video game industry! Keep up the brilliant work!
I'm a pixel artist and this and your keyframes video are really helpful to show the greatness of how the early age used limits in its favor, but also there are many techniques today that can make art so much more quality. I love how your videos get you to constantly think about how to make something look good rather than just doing something mediocre without realizing, without giving us a rundown of all the principles of animation. It's not only the knowledge that counts, but a lot of it is just thinking about it.
Hey thanks, I'm glad my videos help you. Yeah, I think there's a few channels now which one could refer to to create a proper awesome looking and functioning game!
I bought this game for the updated artwork alone. The fact that it’s simple to switch between old/new graphics or sound with just the tap of a button was a pleasant surprise. Hopefully they’ll make more remakes like this because it’s amazing. They didn’t have to change the gameplay whatsoever from the original and it holds up just fine by today’s standards. I’m waiting to see what’s next. It was very important to me that it has a physical release and not just a digital download. I don’t mind if games come out as “digital only” so long as the quality ones get a physical release like this one. I can think of many more games that I’d happily repurchase if they came out on the Nintendo Switch with nothing more than a graphics/sound overhaul and a physical cartridge.
The lack of anticipation on the jump animation is also a game feel thing, having a delay before a jump is carried out makes the jump feel clunky and unresponsive, I'm not sure how you'd add an anticipation in while still retaining a sharp responsive jump. From animating and programming a platformer a couple of years ago I ran in to this issue, I was attempting to put in an anticipation but it didn't feel right at all. Visa versa, leaving the anticipation in with an instant jump also looked jarring... I honestly feel like the way lizard cube dealt with the jump animation was the best way they could of.
Oh yeah no, totally. I mean there _could_ have been a weird work around, particularly for the characters that had their feet sticking in the ground before they left it, but it's have been too much work for nothing that major. Plus, LizardMan and MouseMam _do_ have one frame of anticipation before they take off, but it's barely noticeable.
This is incredible. I love the amount of editing you put into each individual analysis. I am so happy that I subscribed to you. Edit: Oh, and also, I completely agree with your idea that it'd be incredible to see more retro games remastered on a mostly one-to-one scale with the amount of care that they did with the likes of Wonderboy. One, that I think most will disagree with, but I would love to see is Commander Keen. Either a new game or all the previous entries remastered in a modern style. With the right developers, you could make some really special games out of some nostalgic properties. I would not mind also seeing 2D remasters of the classic Mega Man games. I think a lot can be done with 2D animation (not sprite-based) that hasn't been fully realized yet with Mega Man.
Thanks so much Mitch! That really means a lot. Yeah, I think this "redraw the code" approach to remasters should almost certainly be the way forward. See, there's The Wily Wars which is a remastered collection of NES mega man games, and it sort of works, but I feel now would be the time for them to really blow the art style out of the waterb
It's like this video was made for me! Having played the original as a kid, Lizardcube's remake was pretty close to perfect for me. I'd rather see a new 2D game from them than another open world ray-traced multi-billion poly GPU killer.
I'd really enjoy a video on the fire emblem animation (gba stuff like binding blade + blazing blade). Each attack/critical hit animation has its own personality to it and feels like it's following a rhythm of sorts.
Thanks for shining a light on this gorgeous remake. Games like this, Cuphead, and Dust: An Elysian Tale give me hope for the future of 2D animation in gaming.
Thanks! I like Dust, but it's main animated focus seem to be on Dust himself and a few other characters, some of the enemies aren't animated nicely, and it's kinda jarring. I'd have liked to see a bit more effort put into those areas. Cuphead definitely though!!
I agree it would have been nice if the enemies were as fluidly hand-animated as Dust himself rather than rigged marionettes, but the whole game - programming, art, animation, most of the story, pretty much everything but the music and voice acting - was created from the ground up by one guy (Dean Dodrill) over almost four years. It's not as polished as it could be with a larger team, but still a pretty impressive achievement even as it stands.
Really enjoyed this video. It's good to have a go to content creator who break down animation in video games and point out the little details that goes overlooked. Can't wait to see what you do for your next video!
Despite my limited experience of the original game (never played it myself but watched a friend play it a lot), I fell in love with the remake the moment I saw the Dev Diaries. Bought it on Steam, bought it on Switch and bought another one on Switch as a gift to a friend.
Late comment, but I'm really glad you brought attention to the work this studio put into this game. Whenever the topic of 'remakes' comes up, I always tout this game as the masterful way to do it. Amazingly executed, yet so faithful to the original, it's mind-boggling.
New games with new frames of animation is really good stuff but only when can retain the same timming of the move execution. DRAGON'S TRAP remake is really a masterpiece because of that. I've seen just so many remakes, remaster of even "ports" who's really gorgeous but the exaggeration in the animation got to trouble the players very much in comparison to the original with simple and animation and efficiently movements of the character the players is controlling. Btw nice video
Fully agree, and I also have to sneak in with some self-critical commentary here. If Ben was left to his own device 100% we may have fallen into that issue you mentioned. Animators typically prioritize visuals, exaggeration and known timeline of events over interactions (with the possibility that anything can be interrupted, and the need to not needless catch the player attention when not required). So there was lots of back and forth between the two of us to ensure that animations didn't get in the way of the controls and interactions. There are a few animations and frames that Ben made that looked great on paper and in the animation preview and were disturbing in game. For example, as pointed in the video we don't have much transition frames on jumping and landing. Ben draw those frames, but many of them seemed detrimental to the gameplay so we had to remove them. Timing were also altered in many places, for the same reason. I think there an important balance between the game design point of the view and the animation point of the view, those are sometimes conflicting with each others and it is a tricky task to make those decisions.
Lizardcube omg Thank you very much in bringing this masterpiece to us. Now I'm hungry to a potential remake of the Wonderboy in Monster Land like this one.
I love this game, and this video does a fantastic job of showcasing and bringing to light how much passion and effort went into this remake. Seriously great job, subbed!
These characters are just so cute, and when they move I just gone full on "look at em' go". It's funny how you'd address informations I anticipated early in the video, like how when I notice Birdman's cycle interpreted the old one so well, and you'd point it out anecdotally. And when I'm curious about how they work around with "mirroring" of the sprites, you show me there's actually a gear switching animation going on which I couldn't notice myself. I guess your coverage is broad enough, and has a balance between educating amateurs and animators alike. Keep it up Dan, this is fun :D
As an animation nut who can barely draw, I have fallen absolutely in love with this games character design, animations, and this insightful overview of yours. 10/10 subbed
07:32 wow, I was convinced, there was some tinkering going on with the statue. But it is a simple 2d drawing. That it looks, like it is shifting slightly is incredible.
i love how such a small change in animation can change the feel so much. i wish some of my favorite old games got a reboot or even a online multiplayer. Zombies ate my neighbors with upgraded graphics would be awesome
I would love it so much if someone did this to Seiken Densetsu 3. That game is in dire need of a remaster, it was incredible, especially for it's time.
Videos like yours are what sell games. **clicks Add to Wishlist on Steam** I will likely end up buying it later on when I've some time/need a new game.
As Dan well knows, I'm a bit of an outsider when it comes to 2D platformers (I know....what am I doing here?!) but I do know the love this is receiving is well deserved! The level of detail you go into is amazing and I can see why there would be aspiring animators who view your vids as an educational source. Good job, bro!
Thanks Ben! It did feel like I was talking about you when I was just saying "Ben" in the video. Maybe I should do a video on your animation next time? I think you're animated pretty nicely.
Thank you for covering wonderboy the dragon trap. I feel this game set a standard of how remakes should be where you can swap the graphics and music. It's weird that the first game that really did it was a sega master game of all things. But in all honesty what is your out look on game preservation?
Well Nintendo's virtual console has been a great resource for playing old games, and everyone else seems to be catching up with collections and such. I reckon developers and publishers could do the gaming world a solid and maybe upload their roms for people to store and preserve.
As a animator myself i do genuinely enjoy stuff like this cause there are a lot of games out there that can definetly still be worthwhile to play with just a splash of new color and paint. I do have a question and i think it might prove for a interesting topic. What about animation in something like a strategy game. I know to most people it probably doesnt mean much but it can be very important part of bringing the battles or the worlds to life. That and it would be kind of interesting what sort of examples you could find that would work best for one of your videos :)
Yeah that sounds like a good idea. It's an interesting topic is like to tackle in future anyway, is animation important in games? Or, how important is it? Strategy games will definitely have to be a heavy research one for me.
If you want i have a fairly large knowledge of RTS / strategy games or im at least aware of a huge number of them. If ya want i can try and help ya with examples via twitter
I am so not used to your videos pooping up in my notifications. I had the same three people for a year now and then I saw your avatar and was like "Who's that and why is he in my notifications?". After watching the video I remembered. I love animation and could listen to you swooning over good animation for hours XD
To be honest, that's not what I meant. My notification box is usually pretty empty because I used to only have three channels where I've rung the bell. I completely forgot that I've rung the bell here too. I was just confused as heck. I personally don't have many problems with the notification box. I'm just upset that I can't choose not to be notified when someone begins to stream. I have no problem with the algorithm either. It lead me to this channel and many others that I wouldn't have found otherwise.
Im playing it on android with gamepad and it is absolutly amazing not only the art style, the animation but also the music, is a pure master piece, thanks for this video, we need in this kind of applications in oldest videogames :)
Fantastic video! Wonderboy Dragon's Trap is a great game, and your breakdown of the updated art and animations compared to the 8-bit original really underlines how much work went into the remaster. Great stuff!
I wholeheartedly agree that this way of remastering a game should become the standard for remaking 8 and 16 bit games. It's amazing to see how they managed to keep the original code running and give it that amazing new coat of paint. I think something similar happened with the Shadow of the Colossus PS4 remake, though I don't know if it's exactly the same. Anyways, great video, you've gained a new follower!
Check out the big statue in the field scene: I suspect it _is_ a 3D model since the big sword seems to rotate beyond mere parallax of 3+ layers in the statue alone.
The problem with animation is that it takes time. If for example you have an animation for when the characthers turning around, that will make you stand still and wait for the animation to finish before the character actually moves the other way. This is why alot of 8-bit platformers are really solid, and some of the ones for 16-bit consoles feels a bit sluggish and floaty.
The fact that you can seamlessly transition between retro and modern visuals with a press of a button, during gameplay, just blows my mind! This is the newest addition to my list of favorite games, and I'm so glad I didn't write it off as "just another remake". (P.S. The passwords can be used on the original game too! It's like a time machine!)
I had never heard of Wonder Boy until I saw this on the Switch eShop when it dropped and BOY, what a game. I think I switched graphic styles like ten times on each screen, every board feeling more beautiful and breathtaking than the last. Until I saw your video I always thought it was rebuilt ground up and then they just used the old sprites and backgrounds for the "Retro mode", it's absolutely crazy seeing how people do weird stuff like this. Also, WHERE are the views for this channel. Criminally under-promoted.
Yeah, it's a pretty masterful remake! And thanks! I'm slowly getting there, taken a couple of years. It's because I don't release a video every week, it can be over a month between uploads.
This is what I expected Shantae Half-Genie Hero to look like, beautiful hand drawn animation i and backgrounds, instead of all the tweening and 3d backgrounds we got. I loved the game, but I expected more.
Not necessarily related to the animation, but it’s also worth noting that the game lets you transition between the original and modern graphics at will in game. Those wipes between the two styles toward the beginning were in-game, not edited. Really great touch.
Never played any old school Sega/Nintendo games and generally dislike pixel art, but the really beautiful animation got me to give this a shot and I really enjoyed it. Sure, it was very rudimentary compared to modern metrovania games and could be very obtuse at times, but the game play enjoyable enough snd was impressed about how the Metroidvania element was incorporated in such an old game. Frankly it was better incorporated than in many modern games like Shantae HGH
8:47 Wow I had never heard of the Dreamstone animated series before. It looks like the first season is currently available to watch for Amazon Prime members!
yeah this game is great i didn't need you'er video to know that, but wow you showed me something i didn't notice, I didn't notice that they really did switch the items to the other hand, cool.
Imagine that, every time you turned in a corridor to go in the opposite direction, you had to switch your sword and shield to the opposite hands you had them originally, on the fly, in a split second. You'd be the fastest, most nimble swordsman in the planet!
Pretentious? Sure. I knew I was being twee. But false? I don't know. Sure, artists can dedicate themselves to projects which don't pan out. Writers make books which fail, directors make films which flop, comedians tell jokes which fall flat. But I've always thought that if someone truly loves what they're doing, if there's passion, then some of that will show even in the failures. There's beauty in effort. Though it might be imperceptible to a chosen audience, if a work of art is made with sincerity then there will always be a glimmer of something admirable. Even if it's only noticed by one or two people in the world.
Joe England, this guy is commenting everywhere just getting rises out of people. Viewers and commenters will eventually understand I have a chill vibe attitude which I enforce in my comments.
there is gdc talk about anticipation for LoL and to solve problem of instant spell they moved anticipation to the end of the animation so using spell constantly looped that anticipation for next attack. In games animation really can't be "pixarish" but there are some places where you can squeeze a bit of "magic".
Ooooh I think I watched a bit of that one. Apparently there's a GDC on Wonderboy but many GDC videos are actually behind a monthly pay wall, which is a shame.
This is absolutely insane!!! I am speechless. He managed to "rebuild" the game through animations alone. It's like the game logic has been changed (yet it hasn't!)
I'm mainly a programmer, the art side of games is something I'm trying to develop more. Imagine my surprise when I see Omar's face and recognize him immediately, then. I know him from the fantastic open source user interface library Dear ImGui, which as far as I knew was his main gig. To learn that he also did the programming for this game is really neat, I don't know where he finds the time!
I've been wanting to pick this game up. I agree that more games should do identically coded remakes with brand new art. I wouldn't be interested in playing Wonderboy if not for the graphical overhaul and I grew up with a NES. Give people young and old a reason to try out the classics.
Another great video, As an animator this is inspiring when I heard Ben did the art and animations I was like wow, It inspired me to collab to do a game which I did game art and animation.
I got the original as a Christmas present the year it was released and loved it to bits. Having gone from a 128k zx spectrum with very basic graphics that took ages to load to the mastersystem which was in a different league at that time. I was quite surprised to hear they were remaking the dragons trap and what a job, it is awesome. I love the original but this is so sweet. It would be great if they could remake wonder boy in monsterland but make it open world like dragons trap with the new hand drawn style. I would also like to see ghouls and ghosts given the hand drawn treatment. I grew up in the 80s so 8bit and 16bit always hold a special place in my heart and to see teams of people remaking some of those golden oldies with such attention to detail is amazing.
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy its absolutely superb. I also love the fact they added the unknown rooms just so there's a little extra to look for. Cos man I spent hours pressing up on the d pad trying to find secret doors in the original dragons trap.
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy the artwork and the iconic soundtrack have been done to perfection. Generally you can be in dangerous waters remaking a classic but this is top banana.
Dan Root no problem! Worth the wait from seeing it in my feed! Never had time till now to watch it! Also, I'd kill to get the Alex Kidd remaster on Switch!
Wow what a great series! Really enjoyed this. Some ideas for future series: Cuphead (obviously), Hollow Knight (would love), Ori and the Blind Forest, Rayman Origins/Legends.
Dan, in the Snes days there was a gem. It had been inspired by a tough enemy from ghosts and goblins. Demons Crest the artstyle was something that connected with me as a kid and would like to know if the animation was any good or if its just the nostalgia.
Lets take a moment to appreciate how influential the Wonderboy franchise has been .... 1st it was the grandfather to the now "Runner" games and then being the #1 inspiration for games like Shantae
Just watch out for Virtua Fighter when you get to 3D fighting game animation. The way it uses IK rigs is some kind of insane and potentially endless rabbit hole of 'Wait, they did what!?'
Not only the new generation would enjoy it :-D I played Wonderboy as much as I could as a child and played this version! Plus, most of the old days game had to be clever as they couldn't expand as they which. Not only they can be revamped graphically, but extra levels can be added (that game did it). It's not a win-win. It's a win-win-win !
The developers of the Wonderboy remake said they would love a chance to work on the classic Zelda games. It'd be a dream to see Zelda II in the style of The Dragon's Trap.
If I had a billion dollars and a cloning machine, I would totally have this team do ALL classic 8-bit and 16-bit games. Since that's not an option, here's my pick for games that I'd love to see remastered like this. The SNES version of SimCity, with loads of animation to make the city look vibrant and alive. Legend of Zelda II, the Adventure of Link. Hopefully with a flipping dungeon map as an extra Blaster Master Chrono Trigger. Please keep the characters chibi-looking, though, rather than make them more DragonBall Z-ish. Breath of Fire II Sunset Riders Earthbound. It already looks amazing, but I'd love to see the battle scenes improved, rather than just stills of the enemies.
The opportunities are endless. It'd be with a fun replacement to emulation. The companies make money, younger people get a new looking game, and nostalgia people get their old game back!
I would love more games to get this style of animation. I've never played Wonder Boy..... But when the game first released I bought it cause I loved the art style. I've kinda grown tired of 8bit games (for now), but I would love to see more animated games like this, hollow Knight, etc.
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
Just wanna say thanks to *Roy the Boy* for submitting the wonderfully funny community captions!
For those who didn't quite consider the ramifications of what Dan said: This is essentially the original game. And not in the "Oh, we closely, but not quite, recreated the game using modern development tools" sense, but in the "we literally have the original code running in the background" which is frankly mind-blowing to me.
So while, for example, the fireball might _look_ like it comes out slower in the new graphics, it doesn't. There is a slight delay between the dragon opening its mouth and the fireball starting to move in the original, too. This remaster just makes the most out of those few frames.
Yeah, I was actually astounded when I found out they reverse engineered the code. I'm like "how has it taken us this long?!"
Yeah, Ben did a magnificent job updating the animation!
Amazing video :)
*edited for clarity*
Nixitur: to add some details on the subtleties and small changes we introduced, e.g. several timings and hit boxes were very subtlety tweaked to be able to cater to both versions and blend them.
Some example of other tweaks involved for e.g. the lizard-man fireball:
- When blowing a new fireball we made out to play an outro animation for the previous one. In the original game the previous flame cease to exist immediately, as it is simply the same object that gets reused and teleported. So the modern engine needs to track objects that don't exist anymore in the retro engine (that flame playing its outro keeps moving).
- There are lots of custom timing for animation transition that are hand-tuned e.g when you interrupt a running animation with an attack it may play an animation with different timing than when standing still.
- They are also different timing based on vertical velocity, as the longer flame animation played after Idle created too much of a vertical disconnect between the mouth and the flame while jumping or falling .
- The horizontal speed of the flame originally made it that when running a new flame would always end up _behind_ you because it's initial acceleration made it slower than you run speed. We changed that so that in the first few frames of its lifetime the flame tracks the players' velocity.
- We made changes with handling the flame collision, e.g. if you press fire while running into a wall in the original game it would start inside the wall, had to push it back to make sure the extinguish animation played exactly at the wall limit.
- Etc.
All those things are adding up in order to create the general animated/visual experience.
I don't remember all of them off hands but I think in total we probably made about a few thousand small changes of that nature to accommodate for the new graphics and effects and higher frame-rate physics.
I was watching a playthrough and saw the credits and saw it had a Z80 EMULATOR CORE in it. So most likely it's not even a translation of the original code, but something like EmuDX.
@LizardCube
Thank you so much!
And wow, thanks for the extra info on the development of coding and animation, that's really insightful!
It's amazing how many little things are adjusted to give this unique experience, I can't imagine how much of a headache it must've been keeping track of everything!
Thanks for your time!
It's really a hybrid Frankenstein thing, I'm not sure there is a good comparison for it (perhaps the Sega 3D releases on 3DS by M2 are the closest comparison?). We do run emulated code but the engine has also been largely modified at different levels (rom mods/hacking + custom vm mods/hacking + higher-level mods). For example, consider the fact that the original game ran with a 4:3 ratio with 30 hz scrolling/physics and our version is 16:9 widescreen with 60 Hz scrolling/physics. Those things alone required large amount of changes (changes in the engine and level design with hundreds of side effects).
I got this game when it came out and I cannot express how much I’ve wanted Lizard cube to give Zelda 2 the same treatment, or even better, they could make it from the ground up without having to stick so closely to the original’s animations
Yeah, this hand drawn effect to older games is definitely a wonderful approach!
So I clicked on this video primarily because I love The Dragon's Trap and its animation style, and because I've seen your stuff before and I think it's great. Imagine my surprise when our channel gets namedropped in the middle of the video! Thanks so much! You're amazing, keep up the great work!
Thank you so much, that means a great deal!
I love your channel, it's such a simple, wonderful idea, I really look forward to yours and genuinely learning about figures in the video game industry!
Keep up the brilliant work!
Man that delay in turning really makes a difference, great stuff as always!
It's good, right?
I'm a pixel artist and this and your keyframes video are really helpful to show the greatness of how the early age used limits in its favor, but also there are many techniques today that can make art so much more quality. I love how your videos get you to constantly think about how to make something look good rather than just doing something mediocre without realizing, without giving us a rundown of all the principles of animation. It's not only the knowledge that counts, but a lot of it is just thinking about it.
Hey thanks, I'm glad my videos help you.
Yeah, I think there's a few channels now which one could refer to to create a proper awesome looking and functioning game!
These animations are so dang smooth, for each and every form.
Amazing! I thought this was a full remake, really impressive how it seems a whole new game just by the visuals
I know, right? It's so clever. There is Monsterboy and the Cursed Kingdom which _is_ an actual remake.
So gorgeous! Ill get them both, thank you
I bought this game for the updated artwork alone. The fact that it’s simple to switch between old/new graphics or sound with just the tap of a button was a pleasant surprise. Hopefully they’ll make more remakes like this because it’s amazing. They didn’t have to change the gameplay whatsoever from the original and it holds up just fine by today’s standards. I’m waiting to see what’s next.
It was very important to me that it has a physical release and not just a digital download. I don’t mind if games come out as “digital only” so long as the quality ones get a physical release like this one. I can think of many more games that I’d happily repurchase if they came out on the Nintendo Switch with nothing more than a graphics/sound overhaul and a physical cartridge.
The lack of anticipation on the jump animation is also a game feel thing, having a delay before a jump is carried out makes the jump feel clunky and unresponsive, I'm not sure how you'd add an anticipation in while still retaining a sharp responsive jump. From animating and programming a platformer a couple of years ago I ran in to this issue, I was attempting to put in an anticipation but it didn't feel right at all. Visa versa, leaving the anticipation in with an instant jump also looked jarring... I honestly feel like the way lizard cube dealt with the jump animation was the best way they could of.
Oh yeah no, totally. I mean there _could_ have been a weird work around, particularly for the characters that had their feet sticking in the ground before they left it, but it's have been too much work for nothing that major. Plus, LizardMan and MouseMam _do_ have one frame of anticipation before they take off, but it's barely noticeable.
This is incredible. I love the amount of editing you put into each individual analysis. I am so happy that I subscribed to you.
Edit: Oh, and also, I completely agree with your idea that it'd be incredible to see more retro games remastered on a mostly one-to-one scale with the amount of care that they did with the likes of Wonderboy. One, that I think most will disagree with, but I would love to see is Commander Keen. Either a new game or all the previous entries remastered in a modern style. With the right developers, you could make some really special games out of some nostalgic properties. I would not mind also seeing 2D remasters of the classic Mega Man games. I think a lot can be done with 2D animation (not sprite-based) that hasn't been fully realized yet with Mega Man.
Thanks so much Mitch!
That really means a lot.
Yeah, I think this "redraw the code" approach to remasters should almost certainly be the way forward.
See, there's The Wily Wars which is a remastered collection of NES mega man games, and it sort of works, but I feel now would be the time for them to really blow the art style out of the waterb
It's like this video was made for me!
Having played the original as a kid, Lizardcube's remake was pretty close to perfect for me.
I'd rather see a new 2D game from them than another open world ray-traced multi-billion poly GPU killer.
I'd really enjoy a video on the fire emblem animation (gba stuff like binding blade + blazing blade). Each attack/critical hit animation has its own personality to it and feels like it's following a rhythm of sorts.
Thanks for shining a light on this gorgeous remake. Games like this, Cuphead, and Dust: An Elysian Tale give me hope for the future of 2D animation in gaming.
Thanks!
I like Dust, but it's main animated focus seem to be on Dust himself and a few other characters, some of the enemies aren't animated nicely, and it's kinda jarring. I'd have liked to see a bit more effort put into those areas. Cuphead definitely though!!
I agree it would have been nice if the enemies were as fluidly hand-animated as Dust himself rather than rigged marionettes, but the whole game - programming, art, animation, most of the story, pretty much everything but the music and voice acting - was created from the ground up by one guy (Dean Dodrill) over almost four years. It's not as polished as it could be with a larger team, but still a pretty impressive achievement even as it stands.
Also, your video on key frames really helped me with my stop motion animation, thanks!
Really enjoyed this video. It's good to have a go to content creator who break down animation in video games and point out the little details that goes overlooked. Can't wait to see what you do for your next video!
Thank _you_ for watching!
I can't wait to get started on my next video
Despite my limited experience of the original game (never played it myself but watched a friend play it a lot), I fell in love with the remake the moment I saw the Dev Diaries. Bought it on Steam, bought it on Switch and bought another one on Switch as a gift to a friend.
IM SO SORRY THIS HAD A DISLIKE FROM ME FOR 4 HOURS THAT WAS AN ACCIDENT DAN
Hahaha, I did notice that, actually 😆
Late comment, but I'm really glad you brought attention to the work this studio put into this game. Whenever the topic of 'remakes' comes up, I always tout this game as the masterful way to do it. Amazingly executed, yet so faithful to the original, it's mind-boggling.
New games with new frames of animation is really good stuff but only when can retain the same timming of the move execution.
DRAGON'S TRAP remake is really a masterpiece because of that.
I've seen just so many remakes, remaster of even "ports" who's really gorgeous but the exaggeration in the animation got to trouble the players very much in comparison to the original with simple and animation and efficiently movements of the character the players is controlling.
Btw nice video
Thanks! And yes, I completely agree!
Fully agree, and I also have to sneak in with some self-critical commentary here. If Ben was left to his own device 100% we may have fallen into that issue you mentioned. Animators typically prioritize visuals, exaggeration and known timeline of events over interactions (with the possibility that anything can be interrupted, and the need to not needless catch the player attention when not required). So there was lots of back and forth between the two of us to ensure that animations didn't get in the way of the controls and interactions. There are a few animations and frames that Ben made that looked great on paper and in the animation preview and were disturbing in game. For example, as pointed in the video we don't have much transition frames on jumping and landing. Ben draw those frames, but many of them seemed detrimental to the gameplay so we had to remove them. Timing were also altered in many places, for the same reason. I think there an important balance between the game design point of the view and the animation point of the view, those are sometimes conflicting with each others and it is a tricky task to make those decisions.
When I come to make my own game, these are all design philosophies that I'll have to bear in mind for people to have an enjoyable experience!
Lizardcube omg
Thank you very much in bringing this masterpiece to us.
Now I'm hungry to a potential remake of the Wonderboy in Monster Land like this one.
this video is really well edited and a super great follow-up to the key frames video, the time and effort really shows
Hey, thanks so much!
I love this game, and this video does a fantastic job of showcasing and bringing to light how much passion and effort went into this remake. Seriously great job, subbed!
Underrated channel
👊🏻😎
Truly
These characters are just so cute, and when they move I just gone full on "look at em' go". It's funny how you'd address informations I anticipated early in the video, like how when I notice Birdman's cycle interpreted the old one so well, and you'd point it out anecdotally. And when I'm curious about how they work around with "mirroring" of the sprites, you show me there's actually a gear switching animation going on which I couldn't notice myself.
I guess your coverage is broad enough, and has a balance between educating amateurs and animators alike. Keep it up Dan, this is fun :D
Thanks so much! Ahh nooo, are you going to start a "Dan bingo", haha
As an animation nut who can barely draw, I have fallen absolutely in love with this games character design, animations, and this insightful overview of yours. 10/10 subbed
Thanks so much, I'm glad you enjoyed both the video and the game 😃
Amazing job on this video. Literally played this game for hundreds of hours and still discovered new things watching this ❤
07:32 wow, I was convinced, there was some tinkering going on with the statue. But it is a simple 2d drawing. That it looks, like it is shifting slightly is incredible.
I've really been wanting to rewatch this video. Things aren't the best right now and, this just made me feel great. Can't wait for the next video!
I hope you're okay!
Thanks dan
I love the cover of this video ,the pose is dynamic and beautiful, the video is very helpful, nice work!
Hey, thanks a lot! Not many people mention the thumbnails!
Thanks for exposing me to this gorgeous, underrated game. And thanks for making such polished, thoughtful videos too.
And thank _you_ for your kind words!
i love how such a small change in animation can change the feel so much. i wish some of my favorite old games got a reboot or even a online multiplayer. Zombies ate my neighbors with upgraded graphics would be awesome
I reckon we'll see more of these
I would love it so much if someone did this to Seiken Densetsu 3. That game is in dire need of a remaster, it was incredible, especially for it's time.
Both of wonder boy and monster boy have a wonderful animation 👌
Videos like yours are what sell games. **clicks Add to Wishlist on Steam** I will likely end up buying it later on when I've some time/need a new game.
I do my best! You'll love it!
I never heard of this game! Thanks for diving deep into the frame/animation stuff, it's definitely on my games to buy list :D
HylianDragon it's worth the buy!
Yes! I loved the turning animations so much! They added to the experience for me in a way I didn't even think of. It was such a nice little touch.
Same!
As Dan well knows, I'm a bit of an outsider when it comes to 2D platformers (I know....what am I doing here?!) but I do know the love this is receiving is well deserved! The level of detail you go into is amazing and I can see why there would be aspiring animators who view your vids as an educational source. Good job, bro!
Thanks Ben! It did feel like I was talking about you when I was just saying "Ben" in the video.
Maybe I should do a video on your animation next time? I think you're animated pretty nicely.
These editing skills are god level. Truly incredible. Amazing analysis and attention to detail. I love these videos.
Thank you so much!
THIS. Not only did I already love the Wonder Boy art style, but the animation brought to the table here is absolutely wonderful.
It's pretty great, isn't it?
Thank you for covering wonderboy the dragon trap. I feel this game set a standard of how remakes should be where you can swap the graphics and music. It's weird that the first game that really did it was a sega master game of all things. But in all honesty what is your out look on game preservation?
Well Nintendo's virtual console has been a great resource for playing old games, and everyone else seems to be catching up with collections and such. I reckon developers and publishers could do the gaming world a solid and maybe upload their roms for people to store and preserve.
As a animator myself i do genuinely enjoy stuff like this cause there are a lot of games out there that can definetly still be worthwhile to play with just a splash of new color and paint.
I do have a question and i think it might prove for a interesting topic. What about animation in something like a strategy game. I know to most people it probably doesnt mean much but it can be very important part of bringing the battles or the worlds to life. That and it would be kind of interesting what sort of examples you could find that would work best for one of your videos :)
Yeah that sounds like a good idea. It's an interesting topic is like to tackle in future anyway, is animation important in games? Or, how important is it?
Strategy games will definitely have to be a heavy research one for me.
If you want i have a fairly large knowledge of RTS / strategy games or im at least aware of a huge number of them. If ya want i can try and help ya with examples via twitter
Yeah for sure!
I am so not used to your videos pooping up in my notifications. I had the same three people for a year now and then I saw your avatar and was like "Who's that and why is he in my notifications?".
After watching the video I remembered.
I love animation and could listen to you swooning over good animation for hours XD
Haha, thanks a lot! I know, RUclips's algorithm or whatever is pretty whack.
same here. I will never get used to how the videos keep pooping as if my notifications box is a toilet!
To be honest, that's not what I meant. My notification box is usually pretty empty because I used to only have three channels where I've rung the bell. I completely forgot that I've rung the bell here too. I was just confused as heck.
I personally don't have many problems with the notification box. I'm just upset that I can't choose not to be notified when someone begins to stream.
I have no problem with the algorithm either. It lead me to this channel and many others that I wouldn't have found otherwise.
Im playing it on android with gamepad and it is absolutly amazing not only the art style, the animation but also the music, is a pure master piece, thanks for this video, we need in this kind of applications in oldest videogames :)
Fantastic video! Wonderboy Dragon's Trap is a great game, and your breakdown of the updated art and animations compared to the 8-bit original really underlines how much work went into the remaster. Great stuff!
Hey, thanks so much! Did you find this through PixelProspector's Tweet, per chance?
god, the way the blob actions match your dialogue at 1:20 is so clever. it's not lost on me.
Woohoo!
I wholeheartedly agree that this way of remastering a game should become the standard for remaking 8 and 16 bit games. It's amazing to see how they managed to keep the original code running and give it that amazing new coat of paint. I think something similar happened with the Shadow of the Colossus PS4 remake, though I don't know if it's exactly the same. Anyways, great video, you've gained a new follower!
Thanks. I agree. There is a lot of fun missed out on because of the stigma of "outdated graphics". As an artist, I feel I must accept this challenge.
Check out the big statue in the field scene: I suspect it _is_ a 3D model since the big sword seems to rotate beyond mere parallax of 3+ layers in the statue alone.
Yeah that's what I thought. At least even faux-3D, like just some skewing on a flat layer. Either way, it's subtle and looks great.
The problem with animation is that it takes time. If for example you have an animation for when the characthers turning around, that will make you stand still and wait for the animation to finish before the character actually moves the other way. This is why alot of 8-bit platformers are really solid, and some of the ones for 16-bit consoles feels a bit sluggish and floaty.
It depends if it interrupts the animation or not. It can still happen before the animation has finished.
The fact that you can seamlessly transition between retro and modern visuals with a press of a button, during gameplay, just blows my mind! This is the newest addition to my list of favorite games, and I'm so glad I didn't write it off as "just another remake".
(P.S. The passwords can be used on the original game too! It's like a time machine!)
I wasn't aware of the passwords, that's great!
I had never heard of Wonder Boy until I saw this on the Switch eShop when it dropped and BOY, what a game. I think I switched graphic styles like ten times on each screen, every board feeling more beautiful and breathtaking than the last. Until I saw your video I always thought it was rebuilt ground up and then they just used the old sprites and backgrounds for the "Retro mode", it's absolutely crazy seeing how people do weird stuff like this.
Also, WHERE are the views for this channel. Criminally under-promoted.
Yeah, it's a pretty masterful remake!
And thanks! I'm slowly getting there, taken a couple of years. It's because I don't release a video every week, it can be over a month between uploads.
This is what I expected Shantae Half-Genie Hero to look like, beautiful hand drawn animation i and backgrounds, instead of all the tweening and 3d backgrounds we got. I loved the game, but I expected more.
That's fair. Shantae is still good though
Always back with the great vids 👍🏽
Not necessarily related to the animation, but it’s also worth noting that the game lets you transition between the original and modern graphics at will in game. Those wipes between the two styles toward the beginning were in-game, not edited. Really great touch.
Yeah that's right! I do mention it briefly when I say "nifty little feature", but it's not explicit.
Never played any old school Sega/Nintendo games and generally dislike pixel art, but the really beautiful animation got me to give this a shot and I really enjoyed it. Sure, it was very rudimentary compared to modern metrovania games and could be very obtuse at times, but the game play enjoyable enough snd was impressed about how the Metroidvania element was incorporated in such an old game. Frankly it was better incorporated than in many modern games like Shantae HGH
8:47 Wow I had never heard of the Dreamstone animated series before. It looks like the first season is currently available to watch for Amazon Prime members!
That's awesome!
yeah this game is great i didn't need you'er video to know that, but wow you showed me something i didn't notice, I didn't notice that they really did switch the items to the other hand, cool.
Imagine that, every time you turned in a corridor to go in the opposite direction, you had to switch your sword and shield to the opposite hands you had them originally, on the fly, in a split second. You'd be the fastest, most nimble swordsman in the planet!
Excellent video Dan! I learned so much from the video on keyframes. Wonderboy wasn’t on my radar at all but this is a really inspiring project
Hey thanks a lot! Yeah, I love how they brought it together.
the animation is beautiful, and the music is just.. so so good.
A thing of beauty is a joy forever, and art is always beautiful when it's a labor of love.
Pretentious? Sure. I knew I was being twee. But false? I don't know. Sure, artists can dedicate themselves to projects which don't pan out. Writers make books which fail, directors make films which flop, comedians tell jokes which fall flat. But I've always thought that if someone truly loves what they're doing, if there's passion, then some of that will show even in the failures. There's beauty in effort. Though it might be imperceptible to a chosen audience, if a work of art is made with sincerity then there will always be a glimmer of something admirable. Even if it's only noticed by one or two people in the world.
Joe England, this guy is commenting everywhere just getting rises out of people.
Viewers and commenters will eventually understand I have a chill vibe attitude which I enforce in my comments.
You're right, its nice to watch these animations.
I love it
I don't know why I wanted to cry watching this haha Loved it
I definitely wanted to cry when editing it....into the early hours 😂
I'm so glad I subscribed to this channel!!!
I'm so glad you've subscribed to this channel!
I love your content, as I am looking to try to make my own 2d game, I was love Vector and that hand drawn style so I'm glad I found this video.
Hey, thanks ever so much! I'm looking forward to making my own game someday too! Good luck with it!
I'm so happy you covered this game too!
Have you covered it? I'll have to check it out!
Dan Root ah, nono, sorry! I meant, I remember seeing you talking about it on Twitter ahah
Ahh I see, haha. Well thank you either way
there is gdc talk about anticipation for LoL and to solve problem of instant spell they moved anticipation to the end of the animation so using spell constantly looped that anticipation for next attack. In games animation really can't be "pixarish" but there are some places where you can squeeze a bit of "magic".
Ooooh I think I watched a bit of that one.
Apparently there's a GDC on Wonderboy but many GDC videos are actually behind a monthly pay wall, which is a shame.
I really adore your discussions. This was a treat.
Hey thank you so much!
This is absolutely insane!!! I am speechless. He managed to "rebuild" the game through animations alone. It's like the game logic has been changed (yet it hasn't!)
It's crazy, huh?!
It's the things you never notice that you always notice, isn't it.
That was a really deep and well made analysis.
Thank you!
The parallax in the above ground level reminds me of Shadow of the Beast a lot!
Subscribed, bell rung, still no notification. Shame I had to see this a day late, since it's probably your best one yet, overall.
Ah man! That's so rubbish! Have you tried tweeting RUclips?
Well, don't worry, nothing wrong with seeing it a day late!
the statue in the plain is actually 2.5d, i think. when the camera moves, the statue's shape forms like a folded paper (convex)
That's right, yeah! So subtle but effective!
Great episode. Gonna have to study those animations myself.
I'm mainly a programmer, the art side of games is something I'm trying to develop more. Imagine my surprise when I see Omar's face and recognize him immediately, then. I know him from the fantastic open source user interface library Dear ImGui, which as far as I knew was his main gig. To learn that he also did the programming for this game is really neat, I don't know where he finds the time!
That's so cool!
I've wanted remakes of EVERY SIDESCROLLER EVER done like this for years now. So, to answer "what else could we do this to?": everything.
I've been wanting to pick this game up.
I agree that more games should do identically coded remakes with brand new art. I wouldn't be interested in playing Wonderboy if not for the graphical overhaul and I grew up with a NES. Give people young and old a reason to try out the classics.
It's definitely a cool idea! Look up Alex Kidd Deluxe coming out this year too, similar idea
I think a hand animated reskin of FF6 would be amazing.
And it goes without saying that RockMan would be at the top of my list for hand animation.
Mega Man definitely needs this.
Another great video, As an animator this is inspiring when I heard Ben did the art and animations I was like wow,
It inspired me to collab to do a game which I did game art and animation.
He's a one man artistic army!
I got the original as a Christmas present the year it was released and loved it to bits. Having gone from a 128k zx spectrum with very basic graphics that took ages to load to the mastersystem which was in a different league at that time.
I was quite surprised to hear they were remaking the dragons trap and what a job, it is awesome. I love the original but this is so sweet.
It would be great if they could remake wonder boy in monsterland but make it open world like dragons trap with the new hand drawn style.
I would also like to see ghouls and ghosts given the hand drawn treatment.
I grew up in the 80s so 8bit and 16bit always hold a special place in my heart and to see teams of people remaking some of those golden oldies with such attention to detail is amazing.
It's truly wonderful, isn't it? Like it's been tinkered with in just the right way and hasn't been overdone.
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy its absolutely superb. I also love the fact they added the unknown rooms just so there's a little extra to look for. Cos man I spent hours pressing up on the d pad trying to find secret doors in the original dragons trap.
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy the artwork and the iconic soundtrack have been done to perfection. Generally you can be in dangerous waters remaking a classic but this is top banana.
I would love the see the same treatment to Wonder Boy in Monster Land 😍
After playing it, I realized how BEAUTIFUL the animation is.
I'm totally with you on DBZ, it's Zee not Zed and it's the only time I say that. It's cause of the theme song I rkeon.
Yep, that might be it!
I've only gotten the time to watch this now and this is amazing! Great job, Dan! =)
Thank you!
Dan Root no problem! Worth the wait from seeing it in my feed! Never had time till now to watch it! Also, I'd kill to get the Alex Kidd remaster on Switch!
It'd be an easy win!
The animation in this game looks so much better then Cursed Kingdom.
Wow what a great series! Really enjoyed this.
Some ideas for future series: Cuphead (obviously), Hollow Knight (would love), Ori and the Blind Forest, Rayman Origins/Legends.
Thanks! Well, I've already done a Cuphead video, which you can check out. And those other three are on the cards at some point!
I love your videos! Keep it up!
Thank you!
Dan, in the Snes days there was a gem. It had been inspired by a tough enemy from ghosts and goblins. Demons Crest the artstyle was something that connected with me as a kid and would like to know if the animation was any good or if its just the nostalgia.
Lets take a moment to appreciate how influential the Wonderboy franchise has been .... 1st it was the grandfather to the now "Runner" games and then being the #1 inspiration for games like Shantae
I am in love with the character designs
They're too cute!
If I were to change one thing I would add more frames to the character changing direction because I feel they turn way too fast but that’s just me.
I actually want to get this game now, because it looks beautiful! It might be a cool thing to look into for animation practice and reference.
Yeah go for it!
Just watch out for Virtua Fighter when you get to 3D fighting game animation. The way it uses IK rigs is some kind of insane and potentially endless rabbit hole of 'Wait, they did what!?'
Ace, thanks for the info!
Not only the new generation would enjoy it :-D
I played Wonderboy as much as I could as a child and played this version!
Plus, most of the old days game had to be clever as they couldn't expand as they which. Not only they can be revamped graphically, but extra levels can be added (that game did it).
It's not a win-win. It's a win-win-win !
YOUR BACK, I MISSED YOU!
Edit: Dan Root replied to me in the 1st time.
I missed my back too! 😍
The developers of the Wonderboy remake said they would love a chance to work on the classic Zelda games. It'd be a dream to see Zelda II in the style of The Dragon's Trap.
Oh really? Yeah, that would be a dream!
Matthew Young I'd be down for that 😁
If I had a billion dollars and a cloning machine, I would totally have this team do ALL classic 8-bit and 16-bit games. Since that's not an option, here's my pick for games that I'd love to see remastered like this.
The SNES version of SimCity, with loads of animation to make the city look vibrant and alive.
Legend of Zelda II, the Adventure of Link. Hopefully with a flipping dungeon map as an extra
Blaster Master
Chrono Trigger. Please keep the characters chibi-looking, though, rather than make them more DragonBall Z-ish.
Breath of Fire II
Sunset Riders
Earthbound. It already looks amazing, but I'd love to see the battle scenes improved, rather than just stills of the enemies.
The opportunities are endless. It'd be with a fun replacement to emulation. The companies make money, younger people get a new looking game, and nostalgia people get their old game back!
I would love more games to get this style of animation. I've never played Wonder Boy..... But when the game first released I bought it cause I loved the art style.
I've kinda grown tired of 8bit games (for now), but I would love to see more animated games like this, hollow Knight, etc.
What music did you use in this vid? Its spectacular, and not very distracting.
Thanks! It's all music from the game itself!