Jitsu Squad Developer Interview

Learn the secrets of the stylish tag team beat 'em up!

Jitsu Squad, one of the fastest and flashiest beat ‘em ups in recent memory, is headed to consoles in December. Among Jitsu Squad’s standout features are gorgeous 2D artwork, a catchy soundtrack, and 4-player local co-op. To learn more about the original PC game and upcoming console versions, we interviewed Dave Baljon and Sebastien Romero of Tanuki Creative Studio.

Co-Optimus: Thanks for taking the time to visit our headquarters situated on as remote island for this definitely in-person interview. First, can you tell us a little about yourself and what you do at the studio?

Dave: Hi, I am Dave Baljon, founder of Tanuki Creative Studio. [I am] responsible for the story and all the character designs.

Sebastien: My name is Sebastien Romero, co-founder and responsible for music and animation.

Let us also introduce the rest of the team members: Pieter Visser and Akli Touati are responsible for the combat mechanics and coding. Laurent Romero is responsible for art and enemy/boss key frames, and Lex van Boheemen did all additional support.

Dave Baljon (left) and Sebastien Romero

Co-Optimus: Before we get our "jitsu" on, do you have any favorite beat ‘em ups? What are your thoughts on this year’s previous big beat ‘em up releases, TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge and Final Vendetta?

Dave: My favorite beat ‘em up would be Alien vs. Predator from Capcom! I like these two franchises, and the art and gameplay of the game is truly amazing!

Sebastien: My favorite beat 'em ups are probably the River City Ransom series. I really love the original NES game but also spin-offs like Tokyo Rumble. In terms of soundtrack, no brawler can beat Streets of Rage 2.

Dave: We love the TMNT Konami classic, so when the announcement came of a new TMNT pixel art-style beat ‘em up, we were hyped, and Tribute didn’t disappoint. The only thing it’s missing is a good scanline shader to give the amazing pixel art more depth, but it's a really great game that shows a lot of love and passion!

We used to play [Konami’s] Vendetta in the arcade. It’s not as well-known as Final Fight, but it’s a great beat ‘em up! We are glad about [Bitmap Bureau’s spiritual successor]. The graphics and gameplay are solid, and we like the use of color and the animation. Definitely worth a shot!

Co-Optimus: Jitsu Squad is a Kickstarter success story. Can you tell us a little about the process of launching the campaign and eventually delivering the final product?

Sebastien: Launching a Kickstarter project is a lot of work. It takes months of planning and preparation. We started out with bad luck because COVID-19 struck the world just one week after the launch. We had no choice to take down the Kickstarter page and try later.

It was difficult, but we dusted ourselves off and relaunched the Kickstarter campaign one year later. We didn't sit still, however. [We returned with] an actual playable demo for people to try out. We highly recommend to anyone who’s planning a Kickstarter: make a solid, short demo [so that] people can truly experience your idea.

Dave: We had a pretty good start with the second Kickstarter, but things really got better near to the end of the campaign when YouTube influencer and fighting game fanatic Maximilian Dood started playing the game during the last two days. We always watched his streams during lunch, so we thought it would be cool to put him in the game as an assist character. We never expected that he would play the demo during the Kickstarter period. It was awesome, and we are eternally grateful!

Co-Optimus: ININ Games is the publisher for the console versions of Jitsu Squad. How did they pick up the game, and what kind of support have they given you?

Dave: ININ actually contacted us during the first Kickstarter campaign. That Kickstarter was, of course canceled, but we always stayed in touch. We [contacted them] again during the second Kickstarter, so they did not forget about us. ININ and Strictly Limited have a great catalog of old-school games, so we felt right at home and [have] built a good relationship with them over the years.

Sebastien: We released Jitsu Squad on PC (Steam and Epic) ourselves. ININ was not involved [with those versions]. ININ is responsible for publishing the game on all consoles, including physical and digital releases for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Switch and the digital Xbox release. We have been working closely together, especially on the Collector's Edition.

Co-Optimus: Can you give us a quick idea of how you arrived at the premise of Jitsu Squad?

Sebastien: We wanted to create the ultimate beat ‘em up! We have an amazing team of people who share the same interest in games, so working together on this project wasn’t that difficult.

Jitsu Squad took us about 5 years to make. We got our inspiration from games we love to play ourselves such as Marvel vs. Capcom, Samurai Shodown, Street Fighter, Metal Slug, and Streets of Rage, of course! We threw everything in a blender, and Jitsu Squad was born!

Dave: We get a huge smile on our faces when people who play the game see the references or create combos that we never believed were possible. It’s fantastic!

Co-Optimus: The game features four playable characters – all animals. How do the members of the Jitsu Squad differ from each other?

Dave: That’s right. We wanted to have four characters completely different from each other, so the experience would be different.

Our heroes were cursed by an evil sorcerer; that’s why they are portrayed as animals. [They can temporarily] transform back to their human forms, making them invincible for a short period of time! We call that Fury Mode.

Co-Optimus: What are some of the mechanics that differentiate Jitsu Squad from other beat ‘em ups?

We have lots of stuff which makes Jitsu Squad stand out compared to other beat ‘em ups:

Each playable character has their own unique Epic Super Special, you can create 100 chain-combos, players and bosses have powerful in-game character transformations, we have awesome crossover assist characters, your character can Parry and Counter to increase the strength of your attack, up to 4-player Tag Team combat, unique secondary weapons for each playable character to create awesome combos, and an upgrade system to level up your character and unlock new special moves with fighting game input commands.

Co-Optimus: Wow, that is a lot! What’s the Tag Team feature like?

We have something that other beat ‘em ups don’t: Tag Team mode, which is based on games such as Marvel vs. Capcom. This awesome feature makes it possible to select up to four characters and switch [between] them during your quest anytime you want! You can team up with a friend and create your own unique insane combos as well! You need to finish the game to unlock this mode.

Co-Optimus: How many stages does Jitsu Squad offer? Do you have any favorites?

Dave: The game has 8 stages in total, each with its own unique theme and enemies. The stages are pretty long, and [a full playthrough] gives the player more than two hours of gameplay with each character. My favorite stages are Castle Hellstorm and Primal Rage. I like the creepy characters in Castle Hellstorm, and I love the dinosaurs in Primal Rage.

Sebastien: My favorite stage is Infernia since it is so packed with events, and the difficulty is reaching a sweet spot there with the enemies. I loved making the music for it, it has two cutscenes, a train ride segment, and a surfing segment – all in one stage.

Co-Optimus: The game features an exciting story and new moves to learn as players progress. That said, have you considered the possibility of an arcade mode that offers a more streamlined, old-school experience?

We have thought about it. Let’s see what the future has in store. ;)

Co-Optimus: Can you tell us more about the free DLC that’s in the works?

Dave: The DLC was made possible by the Kickstarter that we did. We have the following planned for next year:

Co-Optimus: Jitsu Squad is coming soon to PlayStation and Switch. Did porting the game to consoles present any specific challenges?

Sebastien: It might not seem so, but Jitsu Squad is a powerful game, especially because of its huge amount of texture pages. It was a challenge for the port studio. I believe ININ Games would be the one who could answer this question better than we can because we were not involved that much.

Co-Optimus: The store page for the Switch version of the game mentions 2-player co-op. Is it going to be 2-player or 4-player?

Dave: We know what the store page says, but Jitsu Squad will be 4-player on all platforms. This is confirmed by ININ.

Co-Optimus: That’s a relief! In addition to the PlayStation and Switch versions, an Xbox port is in the works as well. When will the Xbox game arrive?

Dave: The Xbox digital port should be ready for release on December 9th as well. We are excited about this.

Co-Optimus: Glad to hear it! Finally, is there anything you’re proud of about Jitsu Squad that we haven’t touched on yet?

Dave: We are extremely proud that Jitsu Squad became what we had in mind. Believe it or not, Jitsu Squad started out as a trailer with animated gameplay. It was “fake it till you make it.” Looking back, the game looks and plays better than we could have possibly imagined. Our team did an amazing job, so we are all very proud.

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Jitsu Squad will arrive on PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox in December 2022. The retail PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Switch versions are available to preorder for $29.99 each. Physical collector's editions can also be preordered for $69.99 at Games Rocket. If you can't wait, Jitsu Squad is already out on Steam and Epic for $19.99.