Media Molecule’s Tearaway Didn’t Start as a Platformer

Media Molecule’s Tearaway, heading to the PlayStation Vita this November, wasn’t always a platformer. Studio director Siobahn Reddy talked about trying out different prototypes to insert the player into the game.

“We had tried very early on, right at the beginning, we had tried a lot of it not being that full platformer experience. It was kind of different prototypes of how to get that player outside of the game and the character inside of the game’s relationship going. There were a lot of things tried out that getting the same kind of bond.” One of those things was having the player’s finger poking through the back of the display, which was scrapped due to the impracticability of the same.

On making it a platformer, lead designer Rex Crowle explained that, “Well, I mean obviously, we have the skills of making platforming games, so it felt like we had a good core then, to build this adventure. We’ve got great designers that can create that scenery to climb through and run on, as the messenger themselves was becoming more agile, so we knew we could make more of that.”

(Source)