We at SEGA Nerds are big fans of Senile Team, even as far back as when they “broke the Internet” in 2004 with the release of their Streets of Rage/King of Fighters tribute game Beats of Rage on Dreamcast.
I still fondly remember when I wrote for Dreamcast-Scene back then, and our website, along with other hosts who offered to download it, crashed. To this day, the Beats of Rage (BOR) Engine is a favorite tool among aspiring homebrew game devs and has its own thriving community.
In 2009, Senile Team transitioned from humble homebrew development to full-blown indie development with the commercial release of Rush Rush Rally Racing (R4) — one of the best racing games on the Dreamcast, and, to date, the only indie racer. The game was later given an enhanced port to WiiWare where it quickly ascended to the top of the sales chart.
For almost a decade, Senile Team has been flying below the radar, but they have started to rumble once more, with the recently release of a deluxe version of R4, titled Rush Rush Rally Reloaded, which is currently on sale. They also have a sizzling platformer currently in development Intrepid Izzy, our editor in chief Chris Powell has written a fantastic article detailing its development.
Needless to say, we’re all really excited for this upcoming gem, and to whet our appetites even more, Senile Team has started their own behind-the-scenes development vlog. The first episode shows off the game running on Dreamcast, but in addition to the actual game, you get a really cool look into Senile Team head honcho Roel Van Mastbergen game rig and work station. In the reflection of the TV, a poster of the Japanese cover art of the original Sonic The Hedgehog hangs centered in the room.
The first “devlog” perfectly showcases the colorful and imaginative world Izzy will have to journey through holding true to their promise of featuring “gameplay and graphics are like a wonderful marriage between classic and modern gaming.”
The second vlog is much more detailed, similar to Elysian Shadows (another highly anticipated Dreamcast game whose developer also has a YouTube dev series AiGD), we learn fun facts such as Senile Team has their own custom animation software. Unlike most Dreamcast games which run using the KallistiOS Development library (the indie equivalent of Katana), Senile Team use their own custom game development kit.
The devlog is a must watch for aspiring game developers and those who can’t wait to get their hands on the upcoming platformer.
For more information be sure to visit Senile Team’s official website, like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter! Also take your parents phones and have them follow and like them as well. This article is not a paid endorsement 😛
Hopefully we will have more information on Intrepid Izzy and Senile Team in a future issue of Mega Visions Magazine.
