The King Of Fighter 97 Turbo Game 13
Thao Hoga
We have a real treat for this special issue, the first of a number of interviews with developers and people in the industry. Today we have an interview with Ay (Twitter: @aywhatsgoingon) from the development team of fan made fighting game TMNT x JL, who is the graphics lead and creative co-director. He creates stage concepts, edits and converts graphics, hires pixel artists, illustrators and musicians to make content for the game.
For those unaware, TMNT x JL is a fan made fighting game that has recently made the line up of Combo Breaker 2022, a fighting game tournament that includes the best of the best in the competitive scene. A huge achievement for the team, and totally deserved, as this is a real standout title.
The level of work, effort and sheer quality put into every aspect of the design is absolutely unreal for a fan made game. We love fighters from a casual perspective, and honestly if you had shown me a video of screenshot of TMNT x JL Turbo you could have easily convinced me that this was a genuine game from the 90s. So enjoy this interview!
TMNT Tournament Fighters SNES was at Combo Breaker 2017 and it was accompanied by a strong and passionate community. Mugen developer Kamekaze is known for creating a lot of content and characters for the program.
When our community organizer Tobemorecrazy suggested a character that was an alternate version of Shredder, one snowball turned into an avalanche and things took off. This was roughly in July-September 2017 when the TMNT X Justice League project started to take shape. We released the first version of the game on April 15, 2020. We had a lot of plans for real life tournaments, but alas, the world was not a suitable place at this time.
TMNT X Justice League Turbo was announced in early 2021 and we took the opportunity to also show off the game during Look Alive. The tag gameplay was well received and everyone was impressed by what we achieved!
TMNT was announced as DLC for Injustice 2 in November 2017. I was browsing a fighting game news site for articles on that and saw someone link to the SNES Fighting Discord in the comments where they talked about TMNT Tournament Fighters CE, which is a romhack that features quality of life improvements. This was actually used during the Combo Breaker tournaments!
I never heard of Discord before, so I decided to check it out. I picked out a random name (aywhatsgoingonhere sounded funny, now I wish I picked a more practical nick, haha) and ended up in the TMNT X Justice League channel, where the project was still in its infancy.
King of Fighters is also one of my favorite series, but I would never work on a game like that. There are so many run of the mill Mugen projects where Capcom and SNK fighters are scrambled and recycled without care and reason, I do not see the appeal of working on a project like that. Also, the rosters in these games often reach ridiculous amounts like 60+ or even 100+, I could never finance the content to give a project like that tender loving care like I did with TMNT x JL. We have custom artwork, dialogues and music for every fighter, as well as a cinematic ending and many other touches like special animations. Not to mention the commissioned artwork for promotional materials.
That is why April is my fave, because she is quickly developing into a fierce fighter who can stand next to her shelled comrades and face off against the pesky enemies who used to kidnap her every hour. April is pushing herself to become stronger and help her friends. I think there are some similarities to our development story, when I put it that way.
TMNT comic artist who was there since the 80s. Oldmanwinters recommended him to me and I convinced him by pitching our project and clearly detailing the carefully crafted crazy crossover game that we created. Jim made several promo pieces for us.
Former SNK composer who created music for Samurai Shodown and the jazzy tracks for the bad boy of the King of Fighters series, Iori Yagami. I commissioned two tracks in those genres that fans would both appreciate!
Former Konami artist who worked on TMNT Tournament Fighters SNES. Satoshi Yoshioka created the cutscenes/UI, Wingnut and Armaggon for that game. I commissioned him to create animations for those two characters and a Turtle.
An artist who made art for a very long time, including the iconic Western Street Fighter 2 box. Sadly, he passed away last year. The tribute thread I created on Twitter sums it all up. He was a true talent whose art and positive personality inspired many all over the world. I will do my best to make TMNT X Justice League Turbo the best TMNT game, period.
Thanks a lot! This project started in 2017 in the SNES Fighter Discord and we managed to attract the attention of people throughout the years, including Combo Breaker\u2019s Rick who also happens to be a TMNT fan.
While the world was still in a pandemic in early 2021, the Combo Breaker decided to host an online event called \u201CLook Alive\u201D that would highlight what fighting game communities have been up to (online tournaments, video/game production etc.). TMNT X Justice League was also featured there, because we held online tournaments via Parsec and because we made a name for ourselves by having famous names attached to our project.
Summarized, it\u2019s because of Tobemorecrazy who has been in the scene for literally decades and who has connections to everyone, that our game ended up at Combo Breaker. I\u2019ve said it several times, but passion and hard work are contagious and sooner or later, people will notice your efforts.
TMNT Tournament Fighters SNES was one of my favorite games in my childhood. I rented it so many times \u2013I couldn\u2019t find it in stores\u2013 and I loved everything about it: the graphics, the moves, especially the music, the sound effects etc. Growing up, I was a huge TMNT (or TMHT if you will) fan and I lamented the fact that Tournament Fighters SNES was the last good TMNT game, because I didn\u2019t care for the 2003 TMNT series when it aired, nor did I like the few games I played based on that series.
I\u2019m from 1986 and I got my NES in 1990 \u2013 even back then I knew the first TMNT game was unfair\u2013 and I loved being creative: drawing, arts and crafts, photoshop, you name it. It was always my dream to work on a game, and this was my chance to contribute to a game that I wanted to become a reality so bad.
I started testing the game and very quickly, I got more tasks and responsibilities. Editing stages, working on general graphics and so on. Many mistakes were made, but I learned a lot and had the time of my life. Even though there weren\u2019t many of us in the core team, we were very motivated and the community contributed a lot of knowledge and feedback that were worth their weight in gold. Another thing I often take for granted is that Kame and I are on the same wavelength, we\u2019ve only had a couple of minor disagreements regarding content throughout the years. There are projects that fall apart because of drama, but we\u2019re blessed that we don\u2019t have to worry about that. I have a lot of creative freedom, but the burden can also be tough. Come to think of it, I wouldn\u2019t want it any other way.
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