Interview: Mike Z and Alex Ahad Talk About Skullgirls
Those of you who know me or have read my articles probably know that if there's one genre of video games that can get me excited, it's fighting games. It was quite a treat when I had the opportunity to correspond with Reverge Labs about its upcoming game, Skullgirls. In this interview I spoke with Mike “Mike Z” Zaimont and Alex “o_8” Ahad about their upcoming title. Mike’s the Lead Designer and Lead Programmer, and Alex is the creator of the IP and the Creative Director of the game.
GamerGaia: Thank you, Mike and Alex, for affording us this great opportunity. I’d like to use this chance to introduce some of our readers to Skullgirls, a unique 2D fighter coming out this year. Let’s start out with the story and mythology behind Skullgirls. The game is based on something called the Legend of the Skull Heart. What is that legend?
Alex: So there’s this ancient, mystical artifact called the Skull Heart, and every seven years it will grant a wish to a young woman. However, if their heart isn’t pure, their wish will be twisted and they’ll be transformed into a monster known as a “Skullgirl.”
For example, in the back-story there was the Grand War between three nations. The queen managed to get the Skull Heart, and wished for peace. However, she was transformed into the most powerful Skullgirl yet and attacked the three nations. The three nations had no choice but to end the war and work together to defeat the new Skullgirl, and ended up finding peace because of that.
GamerGaia: The back-story of Skullgirls is very expansive. What factions appear in the game, and how are they different?
Alex: The first arc of the story focuses on the city of New Meridian in the Canopy Kingdom, which is controlled by the Medici Mafia. Meanwhile, the kingdom’s military wants to destroy the Skull Heart. But the military’s Anti-Skullgirl Lab has gone rogue and wants capture it so they can study and weaponize the Skull Heart’s power.
GamerGaia: Character trailers have introduced us to some very interesting-looking personalities so far. Could you tell us a little about the girls revealed so far? We’d love to know how Vice-Versa ended up on Cerebella’s head.
Alex: Sure. There are four characters we can talk about now, so I’ll talk about their stories, and Mike can talk about their gameplay.
First up is Filia, who was an ordinary schoolgirl until a Parasite named Samson grafted himself onto her head. Filia lost her memories in the process, and without anyone else to guide her, Filia has no choice but to trust Samson.
Mike: Filia’s what is traditionally referred to as a “rushdown” character - she doesn’t have as many special moves as the other characters and hits for less damage, but she’s extremely fast and great at stringing together long combos.
Alex: Cerebella’s a performer in the Cirques des Cartes circus, which is actually a mob front to hide a lot of its leg-breakers and hitmen. She’s an orphan who was taken in by the head of the mob, and actually doesn’t know where her living weapon hat, Vice-Versa, came from. She’s actually a really good person, but works for the mob because she wants the attention of her adopted father.
Mike: Cerebella’s a grappler - she’s best up-close using throws, so she also has some special moves to help her to get in close. I’ve spent years playing grapplers like Zangief and Iron Tager, and with Cerebella I really set out to make a grappler that was fun to play and approachable. She’s slower and of course has command throws, but she still can do combos and has ways to get in. So far feedback on her has been really great, even from people that don’t usually like playing grapplers.
Alex: Peacock was a war orphan who was captured by slave traders, but was saved from near-death by the Anti-Skullgirl Lab and was rebuilt into this bio-mechanical monster to fight the Skullgirl. Cartoons were a huge influence on her difficult childhood, and shaped her psyche as she was transformed into the weapon she is today.
Mike: Peacock’s a ranged character, or “zoner” in fighting game parlance. She doesn’t completely suck up close, but she’s much better at a distance. So she has a lot of moves to keep her opponent away, such as projectiles and dropped objects and has movement options like a teleport to escape if they get close.
Alex: We haven’t shown much of her yet, but the last character can talk about is Parasoul. She’s the princess of the Canopy Kingdom and is actually the daughter of that Skullgirl queen I mentioned earlier. Naturally that event shaped her a lot, so she’s very protective of the country and her only remaining family, her little sister Umbrella. She commands an elite unit of the Canopy Kingdom’s military called the Black Egrets and attacks with Kreig, a fiery living weapon umbrella.
Mike: Parasoul is more of a classic poking character. She can set traps around the field, and then tries to steer you into them with her broad, fencing-style moves. She’s not as maneuverable as some of the other characters, so she requires a fair amount of strategy and set-up to play.
GamerGaia: It’s called Skullgirls, and all of the combatants revealed so far have been female. Can we assume a 100% female final cast?
Alex: At launch it will be, but we’ll be adding male characters as DLC in the future. The name “Skullgirls” refers to the monsters the Skull Heart makes, not the characters as a whole.
GamerGaia: What about the setting of Skullgirls? What kind of place is the Canopy Kingdom?
Alex: I’d say the Canopy Kingdom is what you’d get if you mixed a gothic fantasy kingdom with 1940s America - art deco stylings, a strong military presence and creepy monsters lurking in the shadows.
The kingdom’s citizens, of course, are scared of the Skullgirl, but manage to live normal lives despite that threat constantly looming over them.
GamerGaia: Let’s talk about the game itself. There are a lot of fighters on the market, but Skullgirls is clearly different from the pack. What do you think makes it unique?
Mike: My goal from the start was to make this the best competitive fighter out there, but I also want new players to pick up the game and be able to enjoy it. A lot of people think those two things are mutually exclusive, but they’re not. Many of the game’s features are based on things found in other games, but I’m trying to refine them and combine them in ways that make Skullgirls feel both familiar and new.
It was actually really interesting watching people play it at the ReveLAtions tournament because I saw a lot of people from different game backgrounds pick it up and have fun, including some I didn’t think would like it at all. People from completely different fighting game backgrounds played against each other and had a blast.
GamerGaia: How does the combo system work in Skullgirls? Can it be compared to the combo systems of any existing fighting games?
Mike: I’d say it’s most like the Versus series up through Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 with a little bit of Guilty Gear thrown in. I want to capture the freedom and fun of those games, so there are chains, launchers, air combos, and OTGs (off-the-grounds), as well as the ability to cancel normals to specials and specials to supers.
Of course, this freedom had a down side - the worst case scenario being an infinite combo - so I’ve added an anti-infinite combo system so we don’t need to clamp down on things in ways that impede the fun of the game. Basically, if the game sees you looping your combo, the hit sparks change and then the other player can break out of it by simply hitting any button. I’m trying to combat cheesy tactics and encourage actual fighting, so as long as you improvise and keep changing things up you can keep your combo going.
GamerGaia: What types of game modes will Skullgirls have? Will it have a traditional “Story Mode?”
Alex: I can’t go into much detail, but there will be single player modes with varying levels of story content in them.
Mike: We’ll also have robust online play, tutorials that we hope will actually teach you how to play fighting games and a training room with some pretty unique options.
GamerGaia: Multiple character endings are all the rage. Will we see different endings for different characters?
Alex: Yeah, definitely. The Arcade mode’s story isn’t canon, so we’ll get to have fun with those... some will be cool, others might be sad, and some of them may even be silly. Since it’s not canon, I can play around like that, and even draw some of the characters’ Skullgirl forms.
GamerGaia: What kinds of online capabilities will Skullgirls have? Will there be DLC available for console versions?
Mike: We’ll have the full suite of online play features you’ve come to expect like ranked matches, rooms, etc. We’re also looking to let you invite a friend into Training mode so you can try things out with them. While not an online gameplay thing, we’re also going to let you upload replay videos to your YouTube and Facebook accounts so you can share your matches with your friends or see pro matches. And as Alex alluded to before, we’ll definitely have DLC for new characters, as well as free game updates.
GamerGaia: A lot of our readers may be surprised to know that Michiru Yamane, the famed composer behind most games in the Castlevania series, is signed on to write the music for the game. How do you like what she’s done with the score so far?
Alex: We’re really happy with it. I’ve got to admit, when I heard that Yamane was a possibility, I totally geeked out and had to jump on that opportunity. Yamane’s Castlevania soundtrack is one of the most memorable game soundtracks ever, and I think her style’s mix of upbeat and gothic sounds is a great fit for the Skullgirls world. The fan response has been so great that Autumn allowed us expand our contract with her, too.
GamerGaia: Some may know you as a renowned competitive fighting gamer and EVO tournament champion with many distinguishing features, not the least of which being one of Guilty Gear’s best Potemkin players in the world. How did a legendary gamer like yourself come to be a part this game's development?
Mike: I think “legendary” is a bit much - Valle and Choi are legendary; I’m just some guy people know. I sat down and started working, that’s how! I’d been working on a fighting game engine for several years in my free time, and Alex had been working on characters and a story concept for an equally long time. Eventually, we met and magic was born - magic with creepy appendages and some sort of congenital disfigurement.
I finally got to work on the game full-time when EA closed Pandemic Studios. Reverge Labs’ CEO was also at Pandemic at the time, so Alex and I joined with Reverge to pitch the game and get it signed, which took nearly a year.
GamerGaia: This game almost seems too interesting for the mainstream. Are you aiming for commercial success, or would you be content with a cult following?
Mike: “Too interesting?” Well, nobody really aims for commercial failure, so of course we’d like the game to sell well - I certainly wouldn’t refuse a dump truck full of money! Honestly though, I’ll be happy if the fans enjoy it, and I would be ecstatic to have it deemed worthy of inclusion in Evolution or SBO... as long as I can keep working on it and still pay my rent.
GamerGaia: Is Skullgirls a stand-alone title, or are there plans for future installments?
Alex: I’ve got a lot more characters planned out and two more story arcs in mind, so we definitely want to make more.
Mike: While we’d certainly like to eventually make a Skullgirls 2, I also think there’s something appealing about continually releasing characters and improvements for a game, to really get it perfect and make that initial purchase worthwhile... as long as we’re able to stay in business that way, that is.
GamerGaia: We’re all looking forward to the release! Do you have an idea yet of roughly when Skullgirls will be ready to ship?
Alex: We’re currently looking to release it sometime in 2011.
GamerGaia: Thank you for your time. We look forward to more news and the release of Skullgirls.
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