Ziggurat Interactive Interview: VP Talks Rainbow Arts Acquisition, Slave Zero X, and More - Article
by Evan Norris , posted on 17 August 2022 / 2,764 Views
In January of this year, publisher Ziggurat Interactive closed a deal with Rainbow Arts, a game developer that launched dozens of titles throughout the 80s and 90s, mainly for the C64, Amiga, and PC. As a result, Ziggurat now owns more than 80 games from the Rainbow Arts catalog, including the incredibly rare Rendering Ranger: R².
The 80+ titles from Rainbow Arts fortify an already impressive list of historic games for Ziggurat. Two years ago, the company purchased the rights to multiple game licenses previously owned by Majesco Entertainment, including Advent Rising and the cult classic BloodRayne. This is all par for the course for Ziggurat, which, since its founding in early 2020, has dedicated itself to remastering and restoring a wide variety of classic console and PC games dating back to the 80s. As Ziggurat says on its home page, "Come play big with us as we both celebrate and expand upon the legacy of video games."
To continue that celebration and to learn more about the Rainbow Arts acquisition, we reached out to Ziggurat's Kate Woods, VP of Operations, Finance & Marketing, who was kind enough to answer our questions.
Q1: In January of this year, Ziggurat closed a deal that brought more than 80 titles from the Rainbow Arts catalog under its control. What does this deal mean for Ziggurat, and for the preservation of some forgotten Amiga/C64 gems?
Kate Woods (KW): We couldn’t be more excited about being stewards of an amazing selection of titles from the Rainbow Arts catalog. For Ziggurat, the acquisition of these titles really emphasizes our purpose as a company – to celebrate and expand on titles from the past. The chance to bring these titles to digital platforms and to resurrect them for modern gamers is really special.
Q2: A big piece of the acquisition is Rendering Ranger: R², one of the rarest Super Famicom games, which never left Japan. Recently, pre-orders for the physical SNES version opened at Limited Run Games. What else can you tell us about your plans for the game?
KW: Ziggurat is working with Limited Run Games to bring Rendering Ranger: R² to PC and consoles. The upcoming North American release will take place 27 years after its Japanese release!
Q3: What makes Rendering Ranger: R² so special?
KW: Rendering Ranger is the crown jewel in our Rainbow Arts catalog. It changed what we thought was possible with consoles of that era. The rendered images (similar to what you see in games like Donkey Kong Country) are really remarkable and truly makes it stand out from a lot of other run-and-gun or shoot-em-up games of the era because of how detailed and dynamic the graphics and gameplay are. Not to mention, it has amazing 3-screen-tall boss battles that make you feel incredibly powerful if you manage to beat them. Additionally, as you said, Rendering Ranger: R² was only released in Japan so it reached a much smaller audience than anticipated. Originally developed by Manfred Trenz, the creator of Turrican, Rendering Ranger was slated for a worldwide release, but only released in Japan because of the time needed to craft such a technologically advanced game. Only 5,000 copies were made, making it a rare collectors item, but we’re super excited to have this chance to show this amazing title to a worldwide audience.
Q4: Some other Rainbow Arts titles include Logical, Lollypop, X-Out, and MadTV. Can you tease any plans for these games and others in the catalog?
KW: What I will say is that we are very excited to bring back Ziggurat Retro First Friday releases in 2023. Follow us on social media where we’ll talk more about our Retro titles and the history behind them. Maybe you’ll spot some more Rainbow Arts titles!
Q5: Can we expect more physical copies, via Limited Run Games?
KW: Definitely! We love working with Limited Run and will always enjoy joining publishing forces with them. As for what is coming down the pipeline? We can’t share those details right now, but we’re definitely excited. Stay tuned ;)
Q6: In other news, Ziggurat recently announced Slave Zero X, a prequel to the original 1999 action game from Infogrames. It appeared this month at EVO in Las Vegas and at BitSummit in Japan. What was the reaction?
KW: The reaction we got from players was amazing! So many people stopped in their tracks when they saw the art of our protagonist Shou, made by the wonderful artist Francine (@Personfaces on Twitter). It was also really great to see the reaction from fighting-game-focused players. While it isn’t a fighting game itself, there are a lot of components of gameplay tied to that genre, such as parrying and high-skill combos that have a lot of overlap. Someone at EVO said, “It's like you put a fighting game character in a brawler,” and really...that’s the perfect way to explain it. BitSummit was also a great time. We were represented by our Developer Poppy Works and it’s always a joy to combine forces to share how much we believe in and support this game. BitSummit was also Ziggurat’s first foray into the Japanese market and we can’t wait to see how that evolves.
Q7: What are some other upcoming releases you're particularly excited about?
KW: We have a great lineup through the rest of 2022, including Enclave HD, World Championship Boxing Manager 2, and the retro classic – Terminal Velocity. What is so great about Ziggurat is that we have such a variety of titles we publish in any given year that it will always be new and fresh and keep us on our toes.
Q8: Finally, is there any BloodRayne news on the horizon?
KW: This Halloween is BloodRayne’s 20th Anniversary! While we have no future game announcements, I will say that we will be celebrating in full force, so get your fangs out of your costume stash and start practicing your best dhampir kicks and spins – come October, we will be ready.
I'd like to thank Kate Woods of Ziggurat for her insightful answers, and Ted Brockwood at ÜberStrategist for arranging the interview.
