Track and Field DS interview

Arcade sports classic Track and Field is back next year with a whole new revamp for the Nintendo DS. As we wait for its arrival, we've been talking to Toby Allen, assistant developer on the new game. He tells us what to expect from this DS incarnation and how Track and Field will work on the unique DS format. We ask Toby too what's new and what familiar features of the original hit will still be in evidence in the new game. Get all the inside info on Track and Field for the DS in our in-depth developer review now!

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Track and Field DS interview
Really we should have a wander back to the original arcade Track and Field game where it all began, so maybe you can give us a little history lesson…
The game is actually older than I am, which is kind of nice in the sense that the game was released in 1985 on the old arcade machine. It's now become a legend due to all the button bashing – for those of you that don't know, the aim was to use two buttons to generate speed and one button to perform any actions that were needed for the various events that you had. The game evolved through various platforms – it appeared on the NES, there was an Xbox Live Arcade version just recently and there were various other iterations of it. What we looked at was the old original arcade machine and that's obviously where we have based most of out work, but then using the rest of the games that had been developed as a resource of information. We have one of the old arcade machines at work, which Konami gave us.

So now we see the game being released on the Nintendo DS, but can we expect more button bashing or will the stylus be used as a controller instead?
The game is based around the stylus and touchscreen, as the DS is one of the console formats that is capable of developing a game in a variety of different ways – as the DS obviously has the touchscreen, the microphone and it also has the two screens, so you can really develop the game in the sense that it pushes your abilities to do original things. In our game specifically, we will be working mostly with the stylus to generate energy and also movement within the game, which is something that has always been part of Track & Field. That incredible frenzy you get, and which was one previously possible with button bashing.