Fudzilla: How did you become involved in the Lode Runner project for the Xbox 360?

Tozai:  Well, there’s a bit of history involving several of us at Tozai that explains how we got here! In the early 1980’s, one of Tozai’s founding members, Scott Tsumura, who was then an officer at Irem Corporation, saw Lode Runner when it was first released by Broderbund in 1983.  Scott fell in love with Lode Runner and decided that it would be a great title to port to Japanese arcade machines.  Thus, Irem licensed the Arcade rights and Lode Runner became the first home computer game to be ported to an arcade platform.  In fact, Irem ended up publishing four Arcade versions between 1984 and 1986.  The original creator of Lode Runner, Douglas Smith, traveled to Japan to meet with Irem and participate in sales promotions, thus Scott and Douglas got to know each other and became friends.  Later on in the 1980’s, Scott moved to the US (to the Seattle area, which coincidentally is where Douglas Smith also lived) and in 1990 started the US office of Bullet-Proof Software.  At that time, Sheila Boughten, Tozai’s President, also worked for Bullet-Proof Software, and in 1996 Scott and Sheila co-founded Tozai, Inc., which focused on game licensing between Japan and the West for software developers and publishers around the world.  At the same time, Scott co-founded another development company, Big Bang Software.  Big Bang developed Lode Runner for the N64 – and Brett Ballow was the Level Designer for that version.  Scott then formed Nintendo Software Technology Corporation and the team at Big Bang Software became part of NST, where Brett continued to work.   In the meantime, Sheila continued to work as a licensing consultant to developers and publishers through Tozai, including Douglas Smith, and for many years helped bring Lode Runner to various platforms, especially in Japan.  Ultimately, Douglas decided he was ready to focus on fresh adventures and to find a new home for Lode Runner. Tozai, composed of a team with close historical ties to Doug and an enduring passion for Lode Runner, was the obvious choice as the keeper of the flame, and that’s just what happened. Tozai acquired the Lode Runner property and plans to keep the legacy alive into the future.



Fudzilla: How was the decision reached that it was time for a classic like Lode Runner to be overhauled for the Xbox 360 platform?

Tozai:  Tozai was interested in bringing Lode Runner online and we were looking into contacting the Xbox folks about possibly bringing the game to XBLA. At the same time, Ross Erickson--then in charge of acquiring XBLA titles at Microsoft--wanted Lode Runner for Xbox LIVE Arcade since it was one of his all-time favorite games, and for some time he had been looking for the rights owner. Through good fortune and some common contacts, the two companies—ironically located just a few blocks apart—found each other, and the result is what we consider to be the definitive version of Lode Runner.

Fudzilla: I am sure that you are aware by now that Lode Runner holds a special place in the hearts of many older video gamers as one of the classics that drew them into gaming. How do you maintain the integrity of this legacy while at the same time move the franchise in a new direction? Not all sequels and conversions of Lode Runner over the years have been that good.

Brett:  Yes, Lode Runner holds a special place in the hearts of many video gamers. I, along with millions of other gamers, played the original 1983 version relentlessly when it was released. At the time, most large developers were concentrating on the coin-op market, and were designing games to quickly engage gamers and then quickly empty their pockets. These reflex-based games were difficult at the start and became more difficult in a hurry; usually because of increased enemy count, enemy fire power and play speed. Thousands of independent developers were so influenced by the popular arcade games that most early computer games were of a similar nature.



Lode Runner offered gamers a different experience in a few key ways.  First, the fast-paced action was infused with a unique puzzle element; the terrain-blasting mechanic.  Thus, ramping up the difficulty during game progression could be accomplished by increasing level complexity instead of the standard reflex-based parameters; players would often scamper to a safe area where they could survey the level and make a plan; Lode Runner became known as the thinking man’s game.  Second, the game was long (150 levels), yet ever-changing.  Each level had a unique personality, which not only boosted the player’s satisfaction upon completion, but also instilled in them a constant curiosity to see what was next; this level of exploration just didn’t exist in other games.  After two hours of running, blasting and collecting a lifetime’s worth of gold, the player felt that they had actually gone somewhere.  Third, the level editor allowed gamers a chance to express themselves like never before… and they did.



It’s true, there were a few sequels along the way that lost sight of what made the game so special, and either fell flat or delivered an experience that just wasn’t Lode Runner.  We were determined to give Lode Runner a complete overhaul, but were very concerned with maintaining the game’s integrity… so we stripped it down to the bones, but the bones remain intact – a perfect mixture of 2D action (75%) and puzzle (25%).  Sequels that pushed too far in either direction lost a bit of the magic, so we weighed all new features against this ratio; if too puzzling or not puzzling at all, they were nixed. 

Fudzilla: How much time did you spend playing an analyzing various older versions of the game for inspiration?

Brett:  Luckily, Tozai has a Lode Runner museum, so I had easy access to most of the sequels.  In the late 1990’s I had the opportunity to work as the level designer on Lode Runner 3D (a version that lost a few too many of the game’s original bones) and had been scheming for many years about getting another shot at a remake… and did, what luck!!  So, to be honest I didn’t spend too much time analyzing previous versions because I already had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted to do.  I did however play several of the previous versions for fun before our first playable was created.

Fudzilla:  Which version of the original Lode Runner or the sequels did you find the most helpful in contributing to the design of the new Lode Runner for XBLA?

Brett:  The original was definitely the primary inspiration.  The aspect ratio of the underlying grid, the Runner and enemy speeds, the blasting speed and the block regeneration speed pretty closely follow the original.  We also looked very closely at the fourth coin-op version released in Japan by Irem in 1986; it was the first version to incorporate co-operative play and did an excellent job.

Fudzilla:  The new online play in multi-player and co-op modes both locally and over Xbox Live look to be one of the biggest enhancements to the game itself. Can you tell us more about the design of the multi-player modes of the game?

Brett:  The Co-operative Journey is the second largest campaign in the game and was given a lot of attention.  We utilized the ability to stack players and simultaneously blast or run across platforms and ropes which added a cooperative element that was very expandable when coupled with various level constructs and special blocks.  We decided to make each character the target of color specific enemies to alleviate having to change the A.I. to account for proximity – this caused some problems with enemies of different targets blocking each other on ropes and ladders, so we dropped their blocking attributes but disallowed them to run in the same direction while directly overlapped… believe me, blasting a hole and dropping an enemy only to have a concealed enemy unexpectedly emerge and pounce was a cheap way to be taken out.  At this point we had a fun but very challenging game mode, possibly too challenging… so a final addition was made:  The revive point.  The revive point was key in alleviating the frustration of poor partner play – now players with different skill levels can have a very enjoyable session and it is not uncommon for 6-8 revives to happen during the course of finishing a level.

Fudzilla:  The Xbox 360 version of Lode Runner will add five new game modes. What can you tell us about how you came to the decision on which modes to add to the game?

Brett:  The single player Journey was a given, and the co-op Journey was also a pretty easy decision (it is just too much fun).  The single player and co-op Puzzle modes were mandatory just because of my general fascination with puzzles, and because they required very little extra work to incorporate once the Journey modes were in place.  The real scrutiny came when comparing the Hang On and Last Man concepts against others such as Head-to-Head Journey (which presented some real balancing problems) and Dig or Die (a concept based on the Runner being contained in a well with clumps of blocks and ladder/ropes falling down from above or scrolling up from below).  Because two co-op modes were in production, we included Last Man because we really wanted a competitive mode.  We pursued Hang On because everyone was so interested in how it might play out and we all wanted to see a mode with eight yetis running amok… it turned out to be a fairly hardcore mode and the favorite of our Swedish development partner, SouthEnd Interactive.



Fudzilla:  The graphics are clearly amped up over previous versions of Lode Runner and look very state of the art when compared to other similar games. How difficult was it to settle on the graphic look for Lode Runner on the Xbox 360?

Brett:  It took a little effort to find the proper mixture of realism and fantasy; we definitely wanted to get away from a stubby Runner whose body is half comprised of his head, but didn’t want to lose the classic arcade style completely.  At the same time we wanted to increase textures and add enough new graphic elements to the environments so that the player can truly become immersed in the game.  After bumping up the graphics, everyone commented on how nice the elements looked when seen closer, thus sparking a new discussion on level size.  Luckily, the editor and game allows complete freedom to make levels of differing sizes, which was done.  Strangely, although there is no correlation between level size and game speed, the smaller levels appear to play quicker than the much larger levels… so because the smaller levels are so frantic the player may never glance away from the action to take notice of how nice they look.



Fudzilla:  Many Lode Runner fans are asking if any of the most popular levels will make a return in the Xbox 360 version of Lode Runner?

Brett:  Each of the five new game modes calls for slightly different layouts and follow separate rule sets, therefore requiring new levels.   There was some discussion about using the original 150 levels for the standard Journey game mode, but I opted to create all-new levels with exits and entrances that compliment the new level transitions.  Also, with the included level editor, gamers can recreate levels from any past version that they choose. On our website, I show some samples of how the transition concept came to be.

Fudzilla:  A number of Lode Runner fans are excited that you decided not to skimp and offer a full level editor, as this was one of the most popular features of the game. What can you tell us about the level editor on the XBLA version, how it works and how you are able to exchange the levels you have built with other players?

Brett:  The level editor is quite deep.  Players can create levels for any game mode or environment and have access to all of the special blocks, props and level-end blocks (that transform the level after collection of the last piece of gold), and there is a built-in warning system to let the player know if a level is missing a required component, such as a player spawn.  Levels can be named using the MS virtual keyboard, and limitless levels can be saved to the hard drive or a memory unit.  But, the coolest feature of the level editor is the Lode Runner Community where players can search for custom levels or set up a share lobby and share their own masterpieces.



Fudzilla:  As have been the case lately, some are already complaining about the fact that Lode Runner will carry a price tag of 1200 Microsoft Points. Many gamers continue to complain about the high cost of Xbox Live Arcade titles while developers complain about low sales. How was the decision made to price Lode Runner and do you think that pricing it at 1200 points will hurt sales?

Tozai: We can’t really comment on this since Microsoft set the price, not Tozai. We do think that Lode Runner is packed with content and that it compares favorably with much more expensive retail games. We specifically added the Level Editor and Community features so that anyone who buys the game will be playing it for a long time to come.

Fudzilla:  What has the initial feedback been from the places that you have shown the new Lode Runner? Do you know if Douglas E. Smith the programmer for the original Lode Runner has seen it or played it yet?

Tozai: Doug hasn’t seen the game at this time, but we’ve found the overall reviews of Lode Runner for XBLA to be extremely positive. The reviews to date have been great, and whether the reviewer was an old Lode Runner fan or just discovered its time-tested formula of frenzied action and cunningly-designed levels, we’ve been happy to see that almost every review has talked about the game’s great breadth and depth and the care we’ve taken in creating a Lode Runner that is at once both reminiscent of the original game and full of new modes and surprises. If people only pay attention to the name, they might get the idea that it’s just a port of one of the older versions of Lode Runner, so it’s very important to Tozai Games that people understand how much we’ve put into this game with 6 modes, 272 levels, multiplayer, co-op and the Level Editor and Lode Runner Community. The fact that our efforts are being recognized by the pros is pretty gratifying to the whole team here and at SouthEnd Interactive.


Fudzilla: If this version of Lode Runner on the Xbox 360 is very successful, do you anticipate the possibility of an add-on pack with more levels or maybe perhaps better yet a sequel?

Tozai:  We’re already working on a Skill Expansion Pack that will add Hang On levels, 1P Puzzles and Co-op Puzzles. And we have plans for more downloadable content, as well. Stay tuned!