PixelJunk Eden Encore released; creative inspiration revealed

PixelJunk Eden Encore arrives on PSN today, but did you know its concept is based off an obscure ZX Spectrum game called "Bugaboo the Flea"?

GDC 2009: PSN Preview Guide -- PixelJunk Eden Encore, Fat Princess, Rag Doll Kung Fu


PixelJunk Eden Encore released; creative inspiration revealed

Bugaboo the Flea even looks a bit like PixelJunk Eden...

In a new Q&A with PixelJunk mastermind Dylan Cuthbert, GamePro's Sid Shuman learned an intriguing fact -- that PixelJunk Eden was in fact inspired by a mid-80s game for the ZX Spectrum called "Bugaboo the Flea."

In both games, the objective is to guide your tiny character around a organic environment with careful jumps. Both games sport a similarly colorful visual design, and the core gameplay is similar. But PixelJunk Eden is a far more forgiving game to play, and add modern technology and co-op multiplayer.

From the Cuthbert Q&A:

If PixelJunk Monsters was your take on the RTS genre, is PixelJunk Eden your vision of the platform genre?

Um...there was a game a long time ago on the Sinclair Spectrum. And it was called Bugaboo the Flea. It was a hideously difficult game. But the art style was surprisingly good and original, and the game always left an impression on me. I'd always wanted to somehow bring elements of it to a future game I would make. So PixelJunk Eden is kind of the raw essence of Bugaboo, plus our take on platform gaming.


Below, watch footage of both Bugaboo the Flea and PixelJunk Eden. Are they delightfully similar in concept or what? Note the time meter at the bottom of both games as well.

THE VERDICT by Sid Shuman Sid Shuman's Avatar

This is a good example of why I love working in the games industry -- learning arcane factoids such as this. Just watching the footage of Bugaboo, it's clear that Eden is a kind of spiritual successor...and a much better game!

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codizzle587

you know after watchen both videos they look alike but in what sence is still undiscovered for me ....o yeah that buggaboo game looked waaay to hard for me but pixeljunk looked awesme to bad no ps3 tho :[

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