First Treasurenauts details

A few months ago, a new game from Mutant Mudds developer Renegade Kid was outed through a trademark filing: “Treasurenauts”. The studio has, for the most part, been keeping quiet about the project.

This month’s issue of Nintendo Force finally offers up some information. The magazine interviewed Renegade Kid co-founder Jools Watsham, who shared all sorts of interesting details about the 3DS eShop game.

Here’s a roundup of his comments:

– Treasurenauts are a varied band of heroes, adventurers, and misfits
– At least 8 unique characters
– Some need to be unlocked
– Two tiers to the character selection process
– Tier 1: only cosmetic; no effect on gameplay
– Tier 2: weapon type; choose from sword, firearm, and bomb
– Weapons have different strengths and weaknesses over other weapons
– Sword: close range, fast attack rate, medium damage
– Firearm: long range, medium attack, low damage
– Bomb: medium range, slow attack rate, high damage
– Looking to provide a very different gameplay experience compared to Mutant Mudds
– 2D art style like Mutant Mudds
– More towards 16-bit rather than 8-bit or 12-bit
– Music also pays homage to the 16-bit era
– World map is a treasure map
– This is like the world map from Super Mario World
– Navigate the treasure map to access the different levels
– When you complete a level, a new level on the treasure map opens up
– Sometimes you may not be able to advance past the first screen of the new level since a pathway is out of your reach or is blocked by an obstacle that can’t be tackled at that time
– New ability power-ups or a second teammate may come into play in these situations
– Local multiplayer
– Download Play supported
– Stand on a friends’ head to reach a high platform
– Double Jump ability included in the game
– Each player can be equipped with a different weapon type
– Some areas have dual pressure pads that must be triggered together, leading to a special door with a lot of treasure, a completely separate secret pathway, etc.
– Don’t have to stay together with your friend in the level
– Can send a special voodoo summon to your teammate, allowing them to warp to you instantly
– Bosses included
– Defeat them to earn power-up abilities such as Double Jump
– Health is tied to wealth
– If hit by an enemy, some of your treasure will be lost
– Some of the treasure can be recovered if you move fast enough and regather it while it’s blinking on the ground
– A certain percentage is lost for good
– Multiple endings
– Endings affected by your treasure amount
– Aiming for Q4 release

Be sure to check out the May/June 2013 issue of Nintendo Force for the game’s first screenshots and full interview with Watsham.