Make baseball great again
With an outstanding score on Metacritic and a 9/10 from our own Chris Carter,NieR: Automatahas proven once again that Platinum Games is one of the best developers in the game today. So much so that seemingly every time people talk about Platinum Games, they talk about what properties they want it to tackle next. I’m sure we all have a game we’d love to see it make, like a goodTMNTtitle, but for me, I can’t help but wonder what a Platinum Games developedBase Warsgame would be like.
If you don’t know whatCyber Stadium Series: Base Warsis, I feel sorry for you. Released in the later years of the NES, it’s a baseball game starring robots that fight each other. Close call at home plate? Fight it out! Caught trying to steal second? Fight it out! I don’t play baseball games because baseball is just so awful, but you can bet your ass I would if instead of being called out at first, I had a chance to fight a robot to the death to decide the call.
With its limited NES graphics capabilities, the action ofBase Warswas rudimentary. There were only four robot models, and while they could be upgraded, every fight pretty much felt the same. It was also wickedly unbalanced if you were armed with a gun. But put that concept in the hands of Platinum Games, and you have a chance to make something magnificent. Imagine stealing home and initiating a massive, visually spectacular fight with the catcher, where the two of you end up in dugouts or in the stands. Imagine getting beaned by a pitch and being able to return. Imagine a bench-clearing brawl that pits you against nine, supped up robots at once. The more I think about the possibilities, the more I laugh at how perfect the idea seems.
As one of the 18 people who boughtInfinite Space, a part of me wants Platinum Games to branch out from the action genre it’s been pigeonholed in. But the part of me that thinksBayonetta 2is one of the greatest games ever made knows that keeping the developer doing what it does best is the way forward. A Platinum Games developedBase Warsis perfect, and something tells me the rest of the Destructoid staff isn’t imaginative enough to come up with an idea as good as that.
Chris Carter
It’s clear that Platinum is at its best when there’s very little meddling.
Star Fox Zerowas allegedly plagued with it, as wasScalebound, which was canceled outright by Microsoft. That’s why, in this dream scenario, they’d re-acquire the rights toGod Handand do a follow-up on their own terms. Remember Clover Studios, the predecessor to Platinum? That team lovingly crafted some of Capcom’s best work, and since the publisher isn’t doing anything with the IP anyway (he almost made it intoMarvel vs. Capcom 3, but was replaced by Amaterasu!), maybe Platinum can put some of theirTurtlesmoney to good use and buy it.
We’re due for anotherGod Hand. We rarely see great, deep dive-oriented technical action these days outside of Platinum’s own body of work (likeNieR: Automata), and since the game’s world is built on absurdity and parody, there’s so much untapped potential for another music icon-themed boss fight or poison animal races. Just stick to the same miniature sandbox setup, with some concessions for modern hardware (Bayonetta 2), and you’re good, Platinum.
Nick Valdez
Yo Platinum, when’s friggin’Anarchy Reigns 2?
It’s been five years. I get that you’re busy making great games out of random licenses, but you’ve got to make another arena brawler. Do it the right way and get everyone’s attention this time around, however. PutBayonettafront and center (not as pre-order DLC), pull characters fromVanquish, The Wonderful 101, andScaleboundand just go for it (licensing issues abound, but whatever it’s my fantasy). The first game’s problem was its lack of an actual single-player story (instead, separating its campaign between two characters), and focus on multiplayer content. That obviously didn’t work the first time, so why not flip it? Focus on single-player content, but make it endlessly replayable with all of those original characters that are just sitting in someone’s computer right now. Then add-in multiplayer content for those who want to mess around with it.
Anarchy Reignswas basically unplayable after the first week since it lost its audience support, so I just don’t want that heartbreak again. But there was a dope fighter with tons of options to play. All of the characters had the special Platinum charm, and weliterallyhaven’t had a game like it since.
Occams Electric Toothbrush
We all know what Platinum does. They are the king makers for high-octane dynamic action games. They create visual poems; each pixel and frame linger in your mind like a slow and delicious poison. Stating that Platinum makes video games is like saying Baudelaire or Rimbaud merely wrote poems. The words do not suffice. The feeling they evoke is beyond audible expression. They create something as close to magic as we will get in this world. That is why Platinum should be the company to re-inventBill Laimbeer’s Combat Basketball.
Not many of you will rememberBill Laimbeer’s Combat Basketball. That is fine. Hieronymus Bosch wasn’t lauded as a mad genius until after his death. Set in a dystopian universe where men fight for breeding rights with the last natural-born women in the galaxy,Combating Baskets starring William Laimbeer, Sr.was decades ahead of its time. The basketing court, a concrete and chrome charnel house, is festooned with traps, from proximity mines to razor saws to homing axes. The uniforms are a garish hue of red or blue(a nation divided taken to its natural conclusion?). The game is largely bloodless, given the subject matter. Some would say that it is due to the limitations of the Super Nintendo in 1991. I would ask them to consider that the Velvet Underground’s debutThe Velvet Underground & Nicowas commercially and critically a failure at the time of its release then open their eyes for once.
Platinum could redefine the medium of video games if they wanted to. They have the brilliance and capability. All they need now isBill Laimbeer’s Combat Basketball.
Josh Tolentino
Like CJ, I, too was one of the 18 people who boughtInfinite Spaceon the DS, and you know what? It’s about time we got another. The gaming climate is friendlier than ever and the success of games likeRogue Galaxy, Elite Dangerous,and evenNo Man’s Skyhave proven the market’s ready for the style of meandering, languid space travelInfinite Spaceexcelled at.
Of course, those same successes would mean that a newInfinite Spacegame would have to step things up. Besides graphics, more detailed ship customization and maybe a refinement of the battle system would be in order, along with content to keep the game from becoming too repetitive. Also, ditching the anime-fiedChildhood’s Endplot might also end up a plus. I’m not so much looking for a sequel toInfinite Spaceas I am a game capable of reminding me that Platinum isn’t all about stylish character action and mediocre licensed titles (that are also usually character action games).
Zack Furniss
Oh man, when CJ asks us to contribute to these posts I have to mull my ideas over for a week. Not this time. I’ve been dreaming up a Platinum-developedOne-Punch Mangame for the last couple months.
Wait! Don’t leave yet. If you’ve seen the anime, you might think that Saitama — a man who can kill the shit out of anything with a single punch — would make for a dull character in a Platinum-style action game. Well, you’re wrong, and you should loosen the shackles that keep your imagination from soaring,
Here’s what I’m thinking: don’t let players play exclusively as Saitama. It sounds weird, but since the show features so many lower-class heroes that are basically super-determined dorks in spandex, they should be a focus of our hypothetical game here. Instead of playing as the titular character and ending threats with a single button, let us play as a whole cast of characters that are chipping away at the ridiculous villains, monsters, and aliens ofOne-Punch Man. Genos the Cyborg could be the character you spend the most time with, but I’d really want to see C-level heroes get their time in the spotlight too. They can all have their own move sets, but they’re mostly there to buy time for Saitama to get there. During climactic battles (like against the Deep Sea King), the gameplay could alternate between your crappy heroes getting their asses handed to them and a mini-game where Saitama’s on the pegs of Mumen Rider’s bike, dodging obstacles and getting closer to the battle.
When you’ve finally bought enough time for Saitama, he gets there, has to dodge a bunch of attacks, andfucking annihilateswhoever you’re fighting in a beautifully ridiculousAsura’s Wrath-esque quick time event. That way you get all of the hype of the kill and the crushing disappointment that it’s already over that Saitama experiences over and over.
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, go watchOne-Punch Man. Then come back and tell me how much you wanna play my imaginary game.
I would absolutely play each and every game suggested here.
