Pixel Force Halo [ no15 express]

If Halo was released on the NES, SEGA Genesis, and/or Super NES decades ago, this is how it might have looked. In Pixel Force: Halo, "the player will find a multitude of weapons and vehicles from the original Bungie created series; Master Chief platform hops his way through each mission, guided by Cortana and uses 8 directional shooting in a Contra-esque game play style.

Using standard NES controls, the character runs, jumps, shoots, and chucks grenades with the select button. The demake parallels the events of Halo: Combat Evolved, recreating each of the ten levels in side-scrolling platformy goodness, complete with end-level boss fights. (Word on the street is that PF Halo even has a “Legendary Mode”, which can even be unlocked after blazing through the game once.) Being a one-man team, Eric carefully coded and crafted all of the gameplay, visuals, and chiptune remixes to best fit the classic shooter, and the result leaves us with a satisfying single player experience.

Once again, we had the chance to chat with Eric about his latest creation.

Piki Geek: Eric, what a pleasure it is to sit down with you once again, this time to talk about your most recent project, Pixel Force Halo.
Eric Ruth: Its always a pleasure to talk, Dac. Glad I could be here.

PG: So, let’s get this out of the way, after we wrote about how your previous Pixel Force game, DJ Hero, got cease and desisted, there was quite a lot of buzz and fan outcry. What can you tell us about that whole experience?
ER: Well, it was a bit of a headache trying to reason with an industry rep whose ultimate goal is his paycheck, and not what’s actually right or wrong. Other than the email exchange, the whole situation boded well for me and landed me a lot of great press. News sites that don’t even deal in video game news even reported on the ordeal. Overall, I’m surprised to have dealt with a negative stick from UMPG since the project was most likely beneficial to them monetarily. Oh well. What can ya do?

PG: Very true. So, on a happier note, Pixel Force Halo has just released. We’ve played through the entire game and absolutely love it. What made you choose Halo?
ER: Aside from being a phenomenal FPS series, I happen to think the colorful landscapes and heavy shooting action would make a graceful transition to the technologies of old. I didn’t know if I wanted to go through with it at first, so I designed all of the Master Chief sprites and rustled up a quick engine to see if my thoughts on the title would work. So, when I was done making the little test engine, I left the project to go do other things (including Pixel Force: DJ Hero), but ultimately came back to it and started building the rest of the game off from where I started. I actually really like how the final product came out. I hope others feel the same way.

PG: It definitely seems like you took a lot of inspiration from Contra for this project. What other big influences were there?
ER: Well, aside from the obvious Contra nods in the game, there’s also a bubbling soup of influence from Mega Man, Mario, and Metroid. I mean, I take influence from everything I play, but those franchises, in particular, really rubbed off on me to help complete this game.

PG: Now, all of your games, so far, have been released as free downloads. Have you ever given consideration to releasing a title on the iPhone or even XBLA?
ER: I have given plenty of thought to it, actually. I have several projects in mind for various platforms, but I’m not an XNA, Apple SDK or iOS developer, so the only thing I can do is try to find some folks willing to collaborate on some great future projects. I guess on that note, I should mention that if anyone reading this happens to have experience programing for the aforementioned platforms, shoot me an email and maybe we can work something out one day soon.

PG: Alright, then in that case, what’s on the horizon for you? Have any new demake projects in mind?
ER: Well, I’ve always got a short list of projects I’ve got in mind, but I’ve just recently started on another Pixel Force project. Now, I can’t say what it is yet, but know that it is a completely different spin on multiple properties. Its not a “demake” per se this time, but you’ll know just what I’m saying when it hits the net this spring.

PG: Spring? Hot damn. As always, is there anything you want to leave us with?
ER: Thank you to everyone who has made my life better by partaking in my work and sharing your opinions, be them good or bad. I use everything possible to always try and move forward and become better at what I do. Thank you, Dac, for your time here, and thanks to the readers for giving a damn about who I am and what I do.