Kobayashi Tetsu thought Naka Yuji was incompetent and he had to step in himself!
While Takashi Nishiyama was Capcom's fighting game producer, he had only worked on a few games at the company, so his skills weren't necessarily much better than Naka Yuji's.
Kobayashi Tetsu grabbed both men, abandoned the Street Fighter prototype, and dragged them to the whiteboard.
"How could you think of this for Double Dragon but not for Street Fighter? These characters need hit feedback!"
Naka Yuji protested defensively, "We do! But it's mainly because Ken's flying kick is so tough, it has Super Armor. See, Ken's American, right? He's a muscular guy, over 200 pounds. Theoretically, no one could block a flying kick from a guy like that."
"What did some American kick you as a kid?" Kobayashi Tetsu was speechless. "Super Armor should be tied to the start of an attack or specific, powered-up moves!"
Alright, Street Fighter's design wasn't fully developed yet, so Kobayashi Tetsu could understand.
He simply drew a few circles to explain his ideas to the two men.
"If a character's moves are all Super Armor, or if they have a large number of Super Armor moves, it means they can directly power through enemy attacks to break their guard, or go for command grabs. For casual players, Super Armor moves might be difficult to control and leave them vulnerable to full combos. But for skilled players, even trading hits while using Super Armor is a worthwhile exchange."
Kobayashi Tetsu wouldn't underestimate fighting game players. Fighting games are inherently counter-intuitive; any newcomer must pay a steep price to get started, and only dedicated players can stick with them.
Lowering the difficulty would strip away the core appeal of fighting games.
This is why Street Fighter 6's Modern Mode Zangief was so heavily criticized. It was too easy; players who had practiced for years could be surpassed by people who had only played for a few hours. The worst part was that these players didn't even understand the fundamental mechanics—they knew nothing about throw breaks or counter-hits—yet they still dominated due to the character's overpowered performance.
For fighting game experts, combat calculations can be as precise as frame-perfect damage calculations.
Given this, if he were to create a character with Super Armor moves, Kobayashi Tetsu could only say:
When Naka Yuji was a kid, he got into a fight with Fat Tiger, who, with his natural Super Armor, beat him up badly.
"Besides Super Armor for moves, don't just have characters throwing punches and kicks. Add projectiles, like letting Ryu conjure a Hadoken with his bare hands."
Naka Yuji was shocked. "That's completely against common sense!"
"A group of people gathering for a fighting tournament is already against common sense!" Kobayashi Tetsu emphasized. "Don't design this game like it's reality. Imagine this: Ryu, an Aikido master, shooting a Hadoken. Does that sound unreasonable? As the saying goes, 'A sword cuts flesh, but a heart cuts the soul.' Ryu has cultivated his body to the extreme, developing the Surge of Murderous Intent. If he closes his eyes and can turn a stainless steel basin into one, that's basic logic."
Naka Yuji scratched his head.
He'd never heard of Aikido masters shooting Hadoken.
But Kobayashi Tetsu had already laid out several requirements:
Long-range zoning, close-range grapples, burst escapes, and, most importantly, try to avoid infinite combos!
Naka Yuji had to admit he was a bit confused by all this. He still preferred Sonic-style games.
Takashi Nishiyama, however, diligently recorded everything, silently committing it to memory.
This foundational figure of [ Street Fighter ] had just been shown a new world by Kobayashi Tetsu.
In an era when action-platformers were just emerging and fighting games were still in their infancy, Kobayashi Tetsu, drawing on experience from the future, laid out a complete design philosophy for fighting games.
After finishing his explanation, Kobayashi Tetsu set down his pen.
"In short, let's refine this concept. Don't rush development. I want you to polish it as thoroughly as possible. I hope that years from now, when people discuss the genre of fighting games, [ Street Fighter ] will be the first title that comes to mind."
Kobayashi Tetsu left, leaving Takashi Nishiyama lost in thought.
"Naka-kun, I never expected President Kobayashi to be so skilled. I always thought all of Atlas's games were your creations."
"Hey! Don't spout nonsense!"
Naka Yuji wiped the corner of his eye.
He hadn't even said anything yet, despite voluntarily working overtime that night after beating Kobayashi Tetsu!
"You might not know this, but President Kobayashi actually developed many of Atlas's early works. I was just responsible for execution. Otherwise, why do you think I've always respected him so much? I've seen the code he wrote."
Naka Yuji tapped his temple.
The design was flawless, concise, and straightforward, as if it had been directly imprinted from his mind. The game's concept was so well-developed that it required almost no trial and error, as if he were a born genius.
Naka Yuji thought that since no such games had ever been created before, Kobayashi Tetsu's ability to develop such a thorough design could only mean one thing: he was a child prodigy!
After Street Fighter, Red Fortress had also likely reached the internal demo stage. Kobayashi Tetsu had supervised the entire process, so the gameplay experience was naturally very similar to the original, emphasizing a steady and balanced approach.
However, Kobayashi Tetsu wanted to make some changes to prevent the bosses from appearing too foolish.
"As a home console game, we shouldn't import arcade design principles. Points aren't the goal; their utility is.
Kobayashi Tetsu gestured emphatically. "Bonus points must grant extra lives! This mechanic is essential."
Iwata Satoru nodded and began taking notes.
President's highest order: Bonus points must grant extra lives!
Hideo Kojima, temporarily seconded to the Second Division to assist with Red Fortress's development, couldn't resist interjecting. "Can't we incorporate stealth elements? For example, attacking enemies before they spot you could grant a greater advantage."
Kobayashi Tetsu pondered for a moment, then shook his head.
"It's not really feasible. In most situations within the Red Fortress, all the regular enemies are one-hit kills, except for the Boss. In that kind of scenario, stealth would be pointless."
"Wait—if we only set it in specific battlefield areas, it might not be impossible."
Kobayashi Tetsu considered this. The Red Fortress is directly integrated into a larger battlefield map. It's not unreasonable to include stealth sections as a kind of reward content, to vary the battlefield's atmosphere.
As for how a Jeep would stealth—
Don't worry about that.
"Here's what you do: Figure out your approach, write up a proposal, and submit it to me."
Kobayashi Tetsu assigned the task to Hideo Kojima.
"Everyone else, get to work on your assigned tasks."
He had too much on his plate. He needed to focus his energy on marketing!
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