Had the pleasure to talk Nic and Anna Makin who run MakinGames. Let’s learn more about the studio and their recent release of Raging Justice on the Nintendo Switch. You can pick up the game right now for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and on Steam.
Thank you guys for taking the time to speak with me today. Can you tell us a little bit about yourselves?
We’re Nic and Anna Makin, the husband and wife duo running the microstudio MakinGames. Collaborating with our good friends Jay Howse and Steve Burke, we made Raging Justice. After years working together at Rare, we decided to make a game ourselves, the type of game that we loved as teenagers at the arcades – the badass brawler!
Can you tell us a little bit about the history of MakinGames, how was it formed.
We all got chatting one night about how we missed the old school brawlers. Jay had mentioned how Streets of Rage was still so popular – it had just been released on iPhone at the time and was right up in the charts. There weren’t any new brawlers that would scratch the nostalgic itch for us, so we decided to make it ourselves, and Raging Justice was born (though we initially called it Fists Of Justice).
We started work on Raging Justice, putting our passion for beat ‘em ups into the game. After a couple of years the game was coming together and we had no idea what we were going to do with it, Anna suggested forming a company and releasing Raging Justice on consoles and Steam, so we started MakinGames, got hold of some development kits, and pushed ahead to make Raging Justice the best beat-‘em-up we could.
Can you explain to our audience what the game Raging Justice is to those that are not familiar with it.
Now imagine the next sentence in a gravelly movie trailer voiceover: “In a city held to ransom by a mysterious crime lord, three mavericks, Nikki Rage, Rick Justice and Ashley King, fight to prove that no-one is above the law.”
Raging Justice is a classic side-scrolling beat-‘em-up, dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Inspired by the arcade greats of the 80’s and 90’s we’ve used today’s console capabilities to do what the classics only dreamt of; more characters on screen, faster responses, higher frame count… We also had fun adding an arrest mechanic in there so you can choose to play as good cop or bad cop, changing the rewards, and ultimately the ending.
Do you believe that Raging Justice is the spiritual successor to games like Final Fight, Double Dragon or Streets of Rage?
While making Raging Justice we played a LOT of classic beat ‘em ups… we were definitely influenced by the greats; Final Fight, Streets of Rage, Double Dragon, Vendetta, even not-so-greats such as Pit Fighter. We didn’t focus on a single game when developing Raging Justice, rather we were inspired by the most memorable bits from all the games we loved, added our own take on things, and made a modern game with a nostalgic twist. Having that classic 60 frames per second 2D arcade feel, but with crisp HD graphics, surround sound – all the trimmings of modern video gaming.
Who came up with the graphic style of Raging Justice. Is there room in the game for future DLC?
Jay Howse, our artist, developed the art style of Raging Justice, in fact, he did all the artwork, from characters and backgrounds, to user interface and animation. He chose the ‘pre-rendered 3D graphic’ look as it was a very “90’s” look, one that set us apart from the ‘retro’ art styles. Inspired by Killer Instinct and Donkey Kong Country, he set out to make the game look entirely modern yet retain the classic look, making truly high definition detailed graphics that would perfectly compliment the 2D gameplay.
Since the launch we have been working on improving, tweaking, and updating the game. It has been great to see so many people enjoying the game, requesting alterations or improvements to the game. As players were loving the two-player co-op, we decided to add a third character (Ashley King) and make it possible for three players to play alongside each other. We’ve added an entirely new difficulty mode to make it easier to ‘just have a play’ for fun, as well as the ability for all play as the same character at the same time (previously each player had to be a different character).
We feel the game is about as complete as we hoped it would be. Extra DLC isn’t something we’re planning on at this point: the game is a full package with no microtransactions or extra paid content – just as games used to be.
How many people were involved in making Raging Justice. What are their various roles.
The team was only four of us, Nic Makin as programmer and designer, Jay Howse as artist and animator, Steve Burke our music and sound effect maestro, and Anna Makin as producer, organizing everything and everyone in the run up to release (and beyond!).
What does the future hold for MakinGames? Will there be a sequel to Raging Justice?
We’d love to make a sequel to Raging Justice, there were so many ideas didn’t quite fit in, so many things we learnt over the course of the development that we could build upon. There are no solid plans as yet, but we’re approaching the point where there’s not much more we can do to update Raging Justice, so we will start thinking, planning, and designing our next game.
Originally Raging Justice was a digital only game but now it’s available as a physical release at Strictly Limited Games. How did that come about? Will this game ever get a release at a big box retail chain?
We have been so lucky to have such an awesome publisher in Team17. They’ve really helped Raging Justice fulfill its potential, and it was through them that we were introduced to Strictly Limited Games. It’s so exciting to be releasing a PHYSICAL release of Raging Justice, and not only that, but a Limited Edition release in a fancy box with items including an art book. This is a childhood dream come-true.
Do you have any advice for developers who are also hoping to create a high quality game.
Start by making small, simple, games and try to polish them as much as you can. Make your own take on a classic, add a little twist, and polish it until it plays better than the original. Then make another… practice the art because it’s not something that just happens by magic, it takes time and a lot of effort to get a game to the kind of quality you’d want it to be by the time you release it!
Before we end this interview is there anything else you’d like to share?
Thanks for taking the time to interview us :0)
