Ode to the Old School- Secret Saturdays Revealed

As we mentioned in our interview with High Voltage Software producer Cameron Rains, licensed software aimed at a younger demographic is often of lackluster quality. Publishers realize they can turn a quick buck by putting a minimal of energy and funding into a recognizable product. A few moments with High Voltage/D3’s The Secret Saturdays: Beasts of the 5th Sun looked to debunk the trend. The title clearly draws inspiration from NES favorite Bionic Commando, with a grappling claw mechanic that sends the protagonist feverishly swinging around the screen.  As a testament to the quality of this early build, we had a hard time putting the Wiimote down- we’re eager for the final version this fall. Today, we pose our questions toward Secret Saturdays producer Josh VanVeld.


Tech-Gaming
: How long have you been developing games? What attracted you to the industry?

Josh VanVeld: I’ve been working in games since 2002, which means that I’ve been at High Voltage Software for seven years. How time flies!  I’ve been a gamer since I was a little kid and my friends and I started a “Nintendo Club” which involved sketching ideas for new Mario games in our notebooks at school and sharing NES cartridges.  I think that was third grade.  It wasn’t until after college that I found out about an associate producer position here and realized that this was something that I could do for a living.  The rest is history, as they say.
 
T-G: Have the creator(s) of the series seen the game? What was their impression(s)?

JV: I haven’t had the chance to meet Jay Stephens, the creator of The Secret Saturdays yet, but I’m told that he has seen the game and likes it a great deal. Many people from Cartoon Network’s Burbank studios who work on the show have given us lots of great guidance and feedback that we’ve incorporated into the game.  They are really excited about how we allow players to play as Zak, the entire Saturdays family, and a whole host of Cryptids in their quest to foil the evil V.V. Argost and his latest scheme.

T-G: What has been the most difficult aspect of production?

JV: The toughest part is that we really took on a lot of work with the Cryptids, maybe more than we realized when we started.  We wanted to have 50+ Cryptids in the game but we didn’t want them to just be sitting around looking pretty, so we made over 20 of the characters in the game playable.  Most of the others serve as hazards or enemies.  The crazy thing is that most of them have completely unique play mechanics.  Fiskerton can climb walls and boost Zak up to high places.  Zon can fly, Doyle can jetpack, Komodo can wall-run.  Making each and every mechanic look and feel good and incorporating it all into a single game was a big task for us and one that required a lot of late nights from the team.  We’re really proud of what we’ve accomplished and wouldn’t have it any other way.

T-G: Is your game based strictly on the animated series or do you introduce new characters, abilities, enemies, etc?

JV: At the time we began developing the game, there were very few finished episodes of the show, and each episode usually features one or two Cryptids.  This meant we had to look through the Cryptipedia and create lots of creatures that haven’t yet appeared in the show.  That process was a lot of fun and provided a great opportunity for collaboration between the team and the show’s creators.  As far as abilities go, the game’s core mechanics focus on Zak’s Claw.  The Claw helps Zak to channel his powers to influence Cryptids and it also gives him the ability to grapple and fight.  The grappling provides our platforming gameplay, which is really at the heart of the entire game.

T-G: While your game is targeted toward younger players, why should adult gamers be interested?

JV: The difficulty level is meant to be accessible to younger players, but older gamers should enjoy the game as well.  I’m especially proud of what the team accomplished in terms of our grappling and platforming gameplay.  It feels really good and even though I’ve played all of the levels dozens (maybe hundreds) of times, I still enjoy it each time I pick it up to play.

T-G: The game appears to be influenced by a certain retro title, was that intentional?

JV: We were absolutely inspired by Bionic Commando. We were playing the Rearmed version of the game when we pitched The Secret Saturdays. The trick is that we wanted it to be fun for kids, even younger fans of the show.  We don’t think hair-pulling frustration is a necessary part of having fun with a game, so we designed our platforming and grappling mechanics from scratch to be fluid and forgiving.  Other games influenced many of the other gameplay mechanics for the various characters in the game.  The variety is quite staggering.  I’m proud to be inspired by other successful games and building on or modifying those ideas to provide a whole new experience for players.

T-G: What are a few of your favorite computer or video games?
JV: In recent years, some of my personal favorites have been Forza Motorsport 2, Resident Evil 5, and New Super Mario Brothers.  I tend to judge a game based on its ability to sink in its hooks right away and make me lose track of time.  The balance between challenge and reward is a tricky one to find and it’s part of what makes game development such an interesting profession.

T-G: Thanks, Josh!

About Robert Allen

Since being a toddler, Robert Allen has been immersed in video games, anime, and tokusatsu. Currently, his days are spent teaching at two southern California colleges. But his evenings and weekends are filled with STGs, RPGs, and action titles and well at writing for Tech-Gaming since 2007.

36 comments

  1. screenshots looked generic, until I read about the Bionic Commando hook. Will just Zak be able to use the claw or will other players have a similar power?

  2. Very cool. I’d love to see an interview with the Bungie peeps on ODST.

  3. I like kids games as they usually aren’t super frustrating, and I can play with family. Usually don’t get an GTA time with the kiddies.

  4. Thanks for the info. Looks like it could be cool. What else has High Voltage made?

  5. Has D3 ever published a triple-A title? I’m a bit skeptical

  6. Seems like it might be decent. I probably wont spend $50 on it, though.

  7. Cool interview! Keep them coming please.

  8. I like the cell-shaded look, more Wii games should go that route.

  9. I like these developer question sessions. Very nice.

  10. The graphics look like another title, I just don’t remember. Something for the Gamecube.

  11. Tell Josh he couldn’t have borrowed from a better game! Great choice.

  12. I would really like to see an improvement in all licensed games, not just kid ones. I bought Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk, and there were awful and poor, in that order.

    Bring back the Nintendo Seal of quality and rid the world of crappy games.

  13. How comes the claw/grappling hook isn’t in any of the screens?

  14. Forza 2 seems like a slow burn game, rather than an instant hook.

  15. A Lava level? Really, in 2009?

  16. Is that a pun? LOL.

  17. At least there’s no mine cart level. Shown.

    Thanks for the info, guys.

  18. Not a bad show at all. And the game sound very fun, also. Quite cool.

  19. Not really interested in it. Maybe for $20 or so.

  20. Good interview, but the questions are too similar to the last interview!

  21. Grim Adventures of Mandy and Billy?

  22. I just hope it turns out better than BC: Rearmed.

  23. Art looks pretty good. Better than Astro Boy

  24. I’d ask “How long does it take to make a Wii game”?

  25. Billy and Mandy 😉

    Surprise – High Voltage made that one also! I’d like to know what other games Josh has worked on for them.

  26. Good interview. When is it coming out?

  27. Yeah, at least the answers were different. I bet the Ben 10 questions will be changed. At least, I hope.

  28. Gotta love Cartoon network. I could watch their shows all daylong. Damn you work.

  29. I assume it’s coming out pretty soon then. Sounds cool. I’ll keep my eye on it.

  30. Nice character art. This might turn out ok.

  31. Isn’t that guaranteed? Man, that game was a mess.

  32. Still no interest in playing this.

  33. Cheers to the author for giving me some solid ideas

  34. Very useful info. Hope to see more posts soon

  35. Great interview, the looks quite fun and retro. It’s nice to see the industry still has time to put thought into games that aren’t all about bloody war simulations.

  36. Thanks for sharing your interview with Josh VanVeld. Through this interview we are able to know about how Josh Vanveld perspects towards gaming industry and what is his future ideas. Very interesting to go through.