Koji Igarashi on why Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow was made for GBA
Shmuplations has translated a pair of classic interviews with the developers behind Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. One of these was a discussion with Koji Igarashi, the game’s producer – and is currently leading the way on Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.
One interesting part of the interview came about when Igarashi was asked about why Aria of Sorrow was developed for the Game Boy Advance. He cited strong sales of Circle of the Moon and the fact that 2D games were more acceptable on the device in comparison to something like the PlayStation 2.
Igarashi’s full words:
“Partly it’s because Circle of the Moon sold very well for the GBA, and before that I had guessed that this would be the era of the GBA. Those were the main two reasons. In today’s world, if you try to release a 2D game on something like the PS2, it’s going to get lower ratings (compared with 3D titles). The hardcore fans still love 2D, but to the general market, it’s seen as something ‘lesser’ than 3D, unfortunately. Symphony of the Night was a PlayStation game, and many wanted to see a sequel for the PS2, but it turns out that making a 2D game for the PS2 is more difficult than you might think.
For the GBA, on the other hand, 2D is the standard assumption, and graphically it has similar capabilities to the Super Famicom, and the scale of the development isn’t too unwieldy. It’s nice, because a game released on the GBA gets reviewed and appreciated fairly as a 2D game. So yeah, taking all that into account, I can’t imagine making a 2D game on a different system. And I love 2D games, personally.”
