Renegade Kid’s Destineer-published Nintendo DS title, ATV Wild Ride, hit the market at an odd time earlier this year. With the Nintendo 3DS just ready to launch and promising more everything than the current handheld, the solid racer got overlooked.
Now, with 3DS hardware in the hands of consumers and Renegade Kid ready to dive into the next-generation, the developer is readying a follow-up with ATV Wild Ride 3D.
With its follow up, Renegade Kid hopes to inject the ATV Wild Ride with a shot of adrenaline, bringing it up to par with console experiences. Renegade Kid is promising twice as much content as the original: 12 exotic locales, six of them new to the series; 48 tracks, half of them built specifically for ATV Wild Ride 3D. All of the tracks have been enhanced in ways that will take advantage of the 3D graphical capabilities of the 3DS, as well. This means that the classic tracks fans of the original already know and love will look better and play smoother than ever.
“The 3DS is very powerful,” Renegade Kid’s Jools Watsham tells me, “which means more detailed environments with bigger vistas, and a bevy of cool visual effects such as shadow maps, particles, specular highlights, mipmaps, and the nifty stereoscopic 3D effect, of course.
“In a nutshell, our original vision of the game can truly be realized on the 3DS.”
Renegade Kid also listened to feedback from critics and gamers on the original title, most of which Watsham says were positive. With the core gameplay already tight, the developer is focusing more on adding even more airborne tricks and track diversity, including more “dramatic elevation changes.”
The developer is also expanding the benefits of the game’s trick system as well, with something it’s calling “Wild Ride” mode. Successfully performing three difficult tricks in a row will cause you to enter “Wild Ride” mode, which Watsham likens to NBA Jam’s “On Fire.” In this mode, you’ll be locked into a super speed, Nitro-style boost for a limited amount of time, which should encourage players to try out riskier tricks.
ATV Wild Ride 3D is also getting an oft-requested feature that was absent in the original: online play, in addition to local, for up to four players.
As of right now, Renegade Kid doesn’t have a publisher for the title, which made diving into development headfirst a bit of a risk.
“Yes, starting the development of a game without funding is a little risky,” Watsham admits. “But this is how we started Renegade Kid.”
“Dementium started without the aid of a publisher,” he recalls of the the first-person survival horror/action title for the DS. “In fact, the DS version of ATV Wild Ride also started this way. We created a playable demo of the game and shopped it around.”
The key is believing in the product, he says, knowing they have something special players want.
“We believe we’re creating something that offers a fun and unique gameplay experience for the 3DS,” he says, “so we keep the faith that publishers will think so too.”
Another Renegade Kid title, Mutant Mudds, is being self-published on Nintendo’s 3DS eShop. While it’s possible that the racer could end up on the eShop, the project’s scope means a developer will be needed to see it to completion.
“We’re a small studio and have limited funds,” Watsham explains. “We need to find a publishing partner to complete the development of ATV Wild Ride 3D, whether it’s release on eShop or at retail.”
We’ll have more on ATV Wild Ride 3D as Renegade Kid moves through development. Given how solid the original title was, fans of extreme racing and kicking up dirt may have a solid reason to pick up a 3DS when the title’s complete. Follow the latest updates on the official ATV Wild Ride 3D website.
