French developer 2:21 this week announced its intentions to produce remastered versions of its Twinsen's Little Big Adventure games. A planned third game has been delayed beyond 2024, the original intention was to release this sequel in time for the 30th Anniversary of the series, but development has only reached a prototype phase. The remasters will serve as an interim proof of potential to prospective publishers of the third game. These updated versions have been assembled by a small team, with the Unreal Engine 5 serving as the technological base.

The original Little Big Adventure was released and published by Electronic Arts in 1994, and the second in 1997. Activision dealt with the latter's distribution in North America. Certain territories received retitled versions - Relentless: Twinsen's Adventure (1) and Twinsen's Odyssey (2) - this inconsistent branding by market departments caused much confusion during the nascent days of gaming discussion online. The 2:21 team has sought to hybridize the different titles, but the 'Relentless' moniker is no longer part of its new naming system, thankfully.Original LBA series developer, Adeline Software International, became defunct in the early 2000s; to the dismay of their loyal fan base. The company hinted that a third game was in early development, but little was heard of it during a turbulent period - parts of the leadership had splintered off after a takeover by SEGA Europe. Key members of the original team would later collaborate on the GOG re-releases of LBA 1 & 2 in 2011, soon after gaining rights to the series from EA. Classic versions were issued in 2022, with support for game controllers, cloud save slots and an achievements system added alongside numerous QoL updates.

I have fond memories of playing LBA 1 back in the nineties, albeit the inferior budget edition that had to be installed via multiple 3.5" floppy diskettes. It was missing fully animated cutscenes and voiceover dialogue, but it was a fun transition from my home console gaming experiences. In my mind LBA 1 was an isometric 3D equivalent to a Legend of Zelda game, albeit presented in full SVGA on a 15" fishbowl monitor! The tank-style control system was extremely unwieldy during combat sequences, and it would be deemed barbaric by modern standards. The second game did little to refine the fundamental gameplay style, but many games of that era shared a similar directional control method - Resident Evil being a prime example.The graphical overhaul is based on concepts by character designer Paulo Torinno, who was already announced as working on the threequel in the position of Art Director. The original game utilized a combination of 3D assets as an overlay onto pre-rendered 2D backgrounds, and the sequel added full 3D third-person outdoor levels. The character and object gouraud shading technique was very much of its time, but the quirky visuals had a certain charm to them, especially in an era where 3D acceleration was in its infancy. Judging from the announcement screenshots, the newly established aesthetic for the two remasters appears to be full of colorful and expressive characters, with lively environments serving as a backdrop. Hopefully the choice to use Unreal Engine 5 will result in a more fluid animation system, as the original games were a bit stiff in their presentation of motion.The developers are aiming to have the remasters ready in time for the 30th Anniversary of the series in 2024. A demo version of Twinsen's Little Big Adventure 1 Remastered will be accessible to attendees of the upcoming summer Steam Neo Fest, scheduled to happen from June 19th to 26th 2023. The team is primarily aiming to have the remasters reach a new generation of gamers. The existing fan base will also be excited to receive modern updates of their favorite games from the past.Ben Limare, 2:21's CEO, has outlined a development roadmap: "Each game will benefit from a graphical and technical overhaul with Epic Games' Unreal Engine 5. This means that we will faithfully rebuild both games from scratch. In order to improve the experience, we will also rework Twinsen's controls and adding new features. The option to use the original game controls will of course remain available for those who wish to play as in the original games. This work will also be the occasion to remaster the original music of the composer Philippe Vachey, to guarantee you the best possible experience.

We hope you are as happy as we are! And of course, the development of the reboot continues, but in a time frame that matches the ambition we have built.

We have created Steam pages for Twinsen's Little Big Adventure 1 and 2 Remastered: please pledge your support by adding the games to your wishlist!"


The above video is from 2022, so it was posted long prior to this week's reveal regarding the remasters. At that particular point in time, the developers discuss their efforts to bring the third Little Big Adventure to fruition. We now know that it is stuck at the prototype stage, with 2:21 seeking to secure further financing via a publishing partnership.