Interviews// Goichi Suda A,K.A. Suda 51

Goichi Suda, proprietor of developer Grasshopper and known universally as Suda51, is, without a doubt, one of the coolest dudes in games development. I caught up with him on a brief London visit to publicise his new Wii game No More Heroes, published by Rising Star, and starring slacker hero Travis Touchdown. Travis is bidding to become the world’s top hitman by systematically eliminating the ten hitmen who currently relegate him to number 11 in the charts.

As with Suda51’s best-known game, 2005’s Killer 7 for the GameCube, No More Heroes features an insane visual style – at heart cel-shaded, but with all sorts of weird shit going on over the top, such as fruit-machine-style bars that grant power attacks.

Controversially, given that the US version of the game is very bloody, killing an enemy in the European and Japanese versions of the game will yield a pile of ash and an explosion of coins as if from a fruit machine. Because Travis’ weapon of choice is what Grasshopper calls a “Beam Katana”, No More Heroes also steals a march on any upcoming lightsabre game you care to mention.

After the interview, it turns out that Suda51, clad in a New York Dolls T-shirt and a trendy black jacket, is mates with Tetsuya Mizuguchi, and that No More Heroes even contains the video for one of Mizuguchi’s Genki Rockets J-Pop tracks. This is what he had to say:

SPOnG: This is the European version, in which the bodies turn to ash and stone, like Japan, but the American version has blood. Why did you decide to do that?

Suda 51: When I created the US and Japanese versions, I can’t really say which is better. But focusing on it as an action game, I feel more comfortable playing the Japanese version, with the coins coming out and so on, so that’s why I wanted to provide it to Europe.


SPOnG: And the Wii sells to a younger audience. And Manhunt 2 was banned over here, too. Were you thinking about that?

Suda 51: I couldn’t compare any game with Manhunt 2 – Manhunt 2 is more about reality, whereas No More Heroes is more like fiction and has a flavour of comedy. They appeal to totally different tastes.


SPOnG: Did Rising Star Games says that it was best not to have blood in the UK?

Suda 51: No.


SPOnG: You’ve spoken about wanting to get the “Punk attitude” in your games – is this your Punkiest game yet?

Suda 51: Travis, the main character is pretty Punk – he’s very original.