This time, we heard the story from the "TECHNIC BEAT" staff from the Planning Team and Shinji Hosoe who is known as "MEGATEN" from SuperSweep.

Part 2 is about the characters of "TECHNIC BEAT".

Mihara was working on Tekken Force Mode of TEKKEN 4 (PlayStation 2) at the time of this interview, so he is not participating in this interview.

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Now I'd like to ask about the characters. In the "TECHNICTIX" (PlayStation 2), there were 9 characters, and in this game, there are 6 characters. What is the reason for this?

Tsubouchi

This time, as we were making the characters, the balance of the nine characters became an issue. When we shifted from the PlayStation 2's analog stick to the 8-way lever, there was a point where we just couldn't express the movement of the TECHNICTIX in the arcade.
Once we started talking about organizing the characters, we got to where we are today. To be honest, we really didn't want to but had to make them go away.
As a result, we have added 9 types of elements to the current 6 characters, so it was rather difficult to create them.

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Please tell us the characters you worked on.

Takano

Knitty, Bot, and Cart.

Mikawa

Rain, Hassy, and Willie.

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Knitty and Rain are beginner characters, right? What is the reason for a different person in charge of each?

Tsubouchi

As creating the characters of "TECHNIC BEAT", Mihara told us, "I want a big difference like Ryu and Ken in STREET FIGHTER ZERO 3 than Ryu and Ken in STREET FIGHTER 2.
[Footnote: Ryu and Ken in STREET FIGHTER 2 are different but compatible character that uses the same techniques. In STREET FIGHTER ZERO 3, even though they dress similarly, they are different characters that use their own evolved techniques.]

And for Rain, she is cute so we made her cuter, and more beginner-friendly. We put in a lot of elements of Swan who are gone.

Takano

Knitty's normal actions haven"t changed, but using the "Super Action" will make it more interesting. With the addition of the C button Super Action to all characters, I think they changed a lot.
Knitty covers the whole thing with its big marker by pressing Super Action. The concept of Knitty is "for beginners", so the more used normal actions are easier to use, Super Action is a bit thoughtful than the other characters.

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I see. How about "Bot"?

Takano

In the previous game, Bot lifted the marker and if you held the button down, the marker spread out, move around, and get faster. But then Mihara said let's stop holding the button down, so we changed the spec: the marker spreads out as soon as Bot lifts it, and it becomes small when he moves.
Since the marker becomes small, we made it so that it could cover a wide area using the C button.

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You can see Bot's Special Action from the website now, right?

Takano

Yes, that action means "to cover the whole thing".
Cart's basic kicking action doesn't change, but in Super Action you can use it in more advanced ways, such as bouncing off the screen and reacting to all the markers you touch.

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How about "Rain"?

Mikawa

The basic concept is the same as in the previous one, so I think it's easy for beginners to use, but the C button is a bit difficult. Once you get used to it, you'll be able to get a decent combo.

Hassy has sliding action as same as in the previous. You can use that action to slide towards the marker, but it's for advanced players because he is a slow walker. So with the C button, we wanted to give him coverage for the slowness, so Hassy itself will become huge and cover the entire screen.

Willie was my biggest problem. LOL
After much trial and error, Willie can hold the marker that is continuous at the same time. I think it's for advanced users. The C button can cover the entire screen for the same reason as Hassy's.

It's a place where people can have fun with their friends.

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I heard that the "competitive and cooperative play" is quite extensive this time around.

Tsubouchi

First of all, the basic concept is that it's a place where people can have fun with their friends because it's an arcade.
Each character has a different personality, so there are many ways to enjoy this game. I think there are many surprises and discoveries, such as the fact that it's possible to connect chains in such a way just by having different personalities, and it is fun even playing alone.

Mikawa

There are good combinations and character chemistry in cooperative play. For example, Cart with Hassy, and Hassy with Hassy.

Tsubouchi

Using Hassy is easy to make reserved markers, so you can play in a variety of ways, like after Hassy made the reserved marker, Cart can make a marker that will follow after those reserved ones.

Mikawa

Cooperative play is very interesting.
By Cart kicking something that doesn't normally connect and solidifying it, Willie could take it, or keep the marker big enough for Hassy to slide in, etc.

Tsubouchi

If you play together, you can get through the difficult parts pretty well. But if you don't synchronize with each other, you give in and make mistakes. LOL
When it goes live, I hope you'll play it.

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