Developers often try to create a sense of progress and growth when working on a sequel, and Windjammers 2 is no exception. This may raise questions about how French developer Dotemu managed to evoke that sense of progress in a sports game, especially one dedicated to a fictional sport. As the Windjammers IP has laid dormant since 1994, it seems the team had quite a while to come up with ways to add new aspects to the original. Lead programmer Kevin Delbrayelle and art director Stephane Perez spoke to Game ZXC about the ways that they expanded the series' lore and mechanics in Windjammers 2.
According to Delbrayelle and Perez, the team went through a lot of effort to make sure that the game would be a faithful sequel. Windjammers 2 was a passion project created by fans of the original Windjammers, so it may not be a surprise to hear that the team decided not to change up the base formula much. Not only is it difficult to radically overhaul the mechanics of a sports title, the original Windjammers didn't have much of a plot to change. In the first game, players select one of several characters and face off against the rest in battles of wits and reflexes. Windjammers 2 is much the same, but Dotemu made a few important and interesting changes.
Mechanics in Windjammers 2
When it came to the mechanics, Delbrayelle and Perez touched on two new features in Windjammers 2: the drop shot and the new character weight classes. The drop shot was added because the original Windjammers had a problem with players hanging back in the court and refusing to get close to their opponent. With the new mechanic, a frustrated player can give the disk a shallow toss and force their foe to approach the net. While this may seem like a very simple tweak, it's one that lends itself well to the existing rhythm of the game, according to Perez.
We wanted to choose the right features and not include everything. So there was a lot of iteration, a lot of ideas we tried, and we just kept a few ones that seemed like the good ones.
New character weight classes operate similarly - giving characters more options without impacting the flow of gameplay. In the original Windjammers, players could pick between small, medium, and heavyweight characters. Windjammers 2 offers two new character sizes: very small and very heavy characters. Very small characters move incredibly fast but can't hit very hard, meanwhile very heavy characters move the slowest and hit the hardest. Perez said he prefers to play as the game's heaviest characters because their sluggish movement speed keeps him from getting ahead of himself.
The Aesthetics of Windjammers 2
While the changes made to Windjammers 2's mechanics are interesting, the developers put most of their energy into expanding the game's world and lore. Even a cursory glance at the game shows this ideology, beginning with the presence of Windjammers 2's island map. In the original game, the road to the championship is simply represented by defeating the other characters. For Windjammers 2, Perez said Dotemu made the deliberate choice to give players' journeys to the top a visual representation.
In the original game, you were fighting all the other characters, and you win the championship at the end. But this time, we wanted to visualize the entire trip, so there’s a map with different courts and you can choose your next opponent.
This combines nicely with the game's arcade mode to give players even more input over their progress. In Windjammers 2's arcade mode, players are given the choice between two challengers at every step. Each match also brings new courts, which can put their own spin on the game. Different courts have their own set of characteristics and distribute points in their own ways. For example, the clay court features a pair of bumpers in the middle that can send shots flying wildly, and the beach court lends itself well to bank shots. The courts also feature a glimpse at the world outside each match, which can be compelling.
A Future Imagined by 90s Kids
According to Delbrayelle and Perez, they envisioned Windjammers 2 taking place 10 years after the original game. Since it released in 1994, that would place the sequel sometime around 2004. However, rather than keep the game's world realistic, Dotemu went above and beyond when reigniting this dormant franchise. As such, Perez explained that the team decided to set Windjammers in a version of 2004 inspired by what he and other players thought the future was going to be like back in the 90s. Glimpses of the world outside the court show off creative worldbuilding that developers put into the game, which Delbrayelle is also interested in.
Windjammers is so focused on the courts and characters. You don’t see much else in the game, so we wanted to give the player some kind of perspective. You can see something else outside the courts, bits of the world the championship takes place in.
At the edges of each court, an audience can be seen watching the match play out. These onlookers come in a variety of shapes and sizes, giving Windjammers 2 a sense of realism. However, the crowds also occasionally feature anthropomorphic animals, robots, and people playing badminton. This was a very deliberate attempt to show more of the world that the sport of Windjammers is played in and highlights the retro-futuristic world that Dotemu staff envisioned. The result is a greatly expanded world that shows off the effort Dotemu put into making Windjammers 2.
Windjammers 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
