WHEN XENO CRISIS LANDED ON THE MEGA DRIVE IN 2019, CREATOR BITMAP BUREAU PROVED A LOT COULD BE DONE WITH SEGA’S AGEING SYSTEM. WE CAUGHT UP WITH STUDIO COFOUNDER MIKE TUCKER TO UNPICK THE MAKING OF THE TEAM’S GREATEST WORK
IN THE KNOW
» PUBLISHER: BITMAP BUREAU
» DEVELOPER: BITMAP BUREAU
» RELEASED: 2019 - 2023
» PLATFORM: MEGA DRIVE, VARIOUS
» GENRE: SHOOTER
DEVELOPER HIGHLIGHTS
88 HEROES (PICTURED) SYSTEM: PC, VARIOUS
YEAR: 2017
NINJA SHODOWN SYSTEM: PC, VARIOUS
YEAR: 2017
FINAL VENDETTA SYSTEM: PC, VARIOUS
YEAR: 2022
When Mike Tucker and Matt Cope founded Bitmap Bureau seven years ago, they set a confidently straightforward plan in place. The longstanding friends weren’t looking to revolutionise the cutting edge of contemporary AAA gaming, or even wildly reinvent retro genres for new modern audiences.
“It’s a bit of a cliche, but I just wanted to make games that appeal to me,” reveals Mike, Bitmap Bureau design director and cofounder. “Since I was a kid, I’ve had ideas for games in my head and I’ve carried some of those from my younger years. So Bitmap Bureau was really about making things that Matt and I enjoy making and would enjoy playing in the hope that other people would also enjoy them.”
That understated assertion of Bitmap Bureau’s founding, however, belies the remarkable quality of the team’s work, and Mike’s own rich history in the gaming industry. He joined the realm as a tester for SCi Games way back in 1995, before moving into the likes of level design at the outfit that would ultimately get scooped up by Final Fantasy firm Square Enix. He also worked in the very early days of mobile games back in 2000, initially at IOMO and later at InfoGames, serving as a game designer and programmer. None of those experiences, however, quite scratched the itch that told Mike he should be making games like those he loved as a youngster, in the classic era of home and arcade gaming.
With that dream in mind, he founded Megadev games in 2008, making successful retro-inspired titles that were picked up by then high-profile publishers including Adult Swim. Megadev marked a huge stride in the right direction for Mike, and yet still he longed to be making games that were more authentic to the medium’s past – and his own.
So when he got a call from Matt Cope, who wanted to bring his programming, porting and electrical engineering skills back to gaming after a hiatus, he knew it was time to commit to those longpresent voices telling him to make games like those he cherished as an arcade-obsessed youngster. And
