Rocky Balboa’s influence continues to permeate popular culture. Speaking in a recent interview, Goichi “Suda51” Suda talked about what players can expect from the upcoming title No More Heroes 3. Suda also discussed the game’s influences, the most notable of which was Rocky III.
Suda has been busy working on No More Heroes 3. He described himself as the “executive director” of the game. His hands were full as he filled multiple roles while working on the game, including writing, designing, and directing. No More Heroes 3 comes just after developer Grasshopper Manufacture’s 20th birthday and is a commemoration of the developer’s work over the years.
Suda pointed to Rocky III as a major influence on the game. Suda had watched the movie, along with Creed and Creed II, but appreciated how Rocky developed as a character and considered how such a development could affect the game’s protagonist, Travis Touchdown. He also enjoyed how the movies were filmed, in that Sylvester Stallone naturally aged alongside Rocky. Speaking in the interview with Game Informer, Suda said:
“…I was watching those movies and at the same time kind of coming up with ideas with the latest game I realized, well, I kind of feel that Travis Touchdown, while he might not exactly be like a full-on Rocky-type character the way he is now, I can kind of see him developing into like an older Rocky character, like a little older version of Travis. When he’s older, I could see him be more like Rocky…”
Suda hinted that this meant Touchdown could mature into a mentor for newer assassins. Whether this growth will exhibit itself in No More Heroes 3 is yet to be seen. For now, we can keep an eye out for game updates as time goes on and listen to “Eye of the Tiger” to get hyped for Touchdown’s newest adventure. No More Heroes 3 is coming to the Nintendo Switch in 2020.
