'No More Heroes' is coming back! The Wii classic gets a Switch sequel
That was definitely unexpected.
Nintendo capped off its latest look-at-all-our-upcoming-games live stream with a nuclear reveal: a new Suda51 game.
Not just any game, either. Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes is the third game in a very bizarre and very excellent series. If you already know what I'm talking about, all you need to do is watch the trailer.
For everyone else! Goichi "Suda51" Suda is a well-known video game designer who has built up a reputation for delivering quirky and offbeat video games. Many of the more widely remembered works with his name on them mix comedy and violence into a surreal, interactive stew.
No More Heroes started life as a Wii game in 2007. In it, you play as Travis Touchdown, a douchey layabout who falls ass-backwards into joining the United Assassins Association. The first game -- an open world action-adventure -- follows Travis as he murders a bunch of higher-ranked assassins using his trademark lightsaber beam katana.
The sequel, released for Wii in 2010, picks up three years later. It's got a similar focus -- slaughter a bunch of assassins -- but with more streamlined gameplay than its sometimes-clunky predecessor. Both games are marked by both their humor and their frequent self-aware fourth wall breaks.
The title Travis Strikes Again (along with the trailer) suggests that this third adventure once again puts you in command of Mr. Touchdown. Nintendo's stream alluded to other indie developers having contributed to the game -- you can see a brief snippet of Hotline Miami in the trailer -- but how that works remains to be seen.
The answer might be in front of us: In Travis Strikes Again, you get sucked into some kind of "phantom game console" that looks like a funky VR rig. To get out, you need to complete the console's six games and defeat the six bosses at the end of each one.
I think it goes without saying that the indie contributions come in the form of those six games, but what does that mean for the open world aspect of previous No More Heroes games? We'll find out next year, when Travis Strikes Again launches.
In the past, Suda51 has actually spoken in vague terms about a third game in the series. It's... something else. I'll let the quotes speak from themselves.
"With No More Heroes 1, the idea came when I was literally sitting on the toilet. It was the result of trying to empty my bowels, if you like," Suda told Siliconera in a 2010 interview.
"With No More Heroes 2, I tried to get rid of whatever was left over in my bowels, and luckily it all happened. What we are hoping to do now with No More Heroes 3 is probably to digest everything we eat and then purge absolutely everything in our guts, just like diarrhea!"
Soooooooooooooo... yeah. Have fun trying to suss the meaning out of that explanation. Whether or not you can: this is exciting news.
Topics Gaming Nintendo Switch
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
