Finally, the Sonic team presented their new project proposal.
Side-scrolling action games were a staple for handheld consoles. To increase replay value, they had not only redesigned the levels but also introduced new playable characters like Tails and Knuckles.
Each character possessed unique abilities. Tails could fly for short durations, while Knuckles could climb walls. By utilizing these skills, players could explore hidden areas of the levels that were previously inaccessible and find collectibles.
The ninth development kit had been distributed.
At the very front of the long conference table, a single black development kit sat isolated.
Beads of sweat formed on the foreheads of the remaining team leaders.
The Group 5 Team Leader forced himself to step forward and hand over a project proposal.
Oguchi Hisao flipped through the first two pages.
"A traditional dungeon-crawling RPG?" Oguchi looked up at him.
"We've incorporated a lot into the dungeon design—" the Group 5 Team Leader rushed to explain.
"Take it back." Oguchi Hisao tossed the project proposal back onto the table. "This kind of thing would be fine for a regular project. But for the launch lineup of the new handheld? No way. The play sessions are too long, you can't save at any time, and it doesn't leverage the advantage of playing in short bursts. And that infrared communication? You only added an item-swap feature. That's lazy."
Group 5's Team Leader flushed red and snatched the proposal back.
Beside him, Group 10's Team Leader had already started reaching for his own racing game proposal. Seeing what had happened, he silently withdrew his hand.
The conference room fell completely silent.
Minutes passed, but no one else submitted a new proposal.
The remaining groups either hadn't come up with a plan yet, or what they had didn't even come close to the standards Oguchi Hisao had set for the launch lineup.
Without a truly impressive gameplay hook, there was no reason to occupy a precious launch slot.
Oguchi Hisao closed his notebook.
"Since there are no qualified proposals, we'll leave this machine with the Hardware Department for now," he said, preparing to end the meeting.
A hand reached out, steadily gripped the edge of the development kit, and pulled it closer.
Everyone's eyes followed the movement.
Takuya Nakayama brought the machine in front of him, tapping his fingers twice on its black engineering plastic shell.
"Mr. Koguchi, how many of this year's new hires are still on standby?" Takuya Nakayama turned to face Oguchi Hisao.
Oguchi Hisao was taken aback.
"About thirty. They've just finished their onboarding training and are currently scattered across various minor project teams, doing odd jobs. They haven't been formally assigned to core tasks yet."
"Give me ten of them." Takuya Nakayama held up a single finger. "Three programmers, five artists, and two game designers. Form a temporary development team reporting directly to me."
Oguchi Hisao frowned slightly.
"Managing Director, are you going to personally lead the new hires on a project?"
"This machine is just sitting here unused." Takuya Nakayama patted the development kit's shell. "I'm planning to make a simple, casual game. First, it'll secure a spot in the launch lineup. Second, it'll give these new hires some practice. And besides—"
His gaze swept over the core group leaders in attendance.
"I'll show you how it's done," Takuya said. "Let's see what else a handheld game can do besides the same old action, RPG, and puzzle tropes."
The team leaders exchanged glances.
They all knew the Managing Director was sharp and often came up with wildly imaginative ideas.
Oguchi Hisao picked up a pen. "What's the genre? What's the general direction of the project?"
Takuya Nakayama stood up, walked to the whiteboard, and erased everything on it.
He took a black marker and drew a large rectangle.
Then, he drew several horizontal and vertical lines inside the rectangle, dividing it into a grid of five rows and nine columns.
"The game scene is a lawn," Takuya said, sketching the outline of a house on the far left. "This is the player's home."
He then drew a few tombstones on the far right.
"And this is the zombie spawn point."
Takuya turned to face the group.
"The game is called Plants vs. Zombies."
A few suppressed coughs echoed through the conference room.
Someone nearly choked on the name.
Plants? Versus? Zombies?
The combination of those two words—Plants and Zombies—exuded a profound sense of absurdity.
"The core gameplay is simple," Takuya Nakayama said, tapping the grid on the whiteboard with his pen. "Zombies will appear from the right and advance step by step along five horizontal lanes toward the left. If they reach the far left and enter the house, they'll eat the player's brains, and the game is over."
"The player's goal is to plant various plants in these grids to fend off the zombie onslaught."
Oguchi Hisao stopped writing. "Tower defense?"
"You could put it that way, but it's more intuitive and offers more direct control than traditional tower defense." Takuya Nakayama drew a sunflower in one of the grid squares. "Planting requires resources. Our resource is called Sun. In daytime levels, Sun will periodically fall from the sky; once it hits the ground, it becomes a resource for the player. Meanwhile, plants like the Sunflower will also produce Sun at regular intervals."
"With Sun, you can plant offensive plants."
He drew a round-headed creature with a tube extending from its face in front of the sunflower.
"Peashooter. Costs 100 Sun. Once planted, it will automatically fire peas to the right, attacking zombies in the same lane."
Noritaka Oba couldn't help but speak up.
"Managing Director, this control scheme—will a D-pad really work?"
"It will work perfectly," Takuya Nakayama nodded. "A five-by-nine grid is tailor-made for a D-pad. Players use it to move the cursor rapidly between grid cells, quickly pulling up the plant menu for planting. The controls are extremely precise, with absolutely no wasted movement."
Oguchi Hisao sketched a simple grid in his notebook.
"Only Sunflowers and Peashooters? There's not enough strategy."
"Of course there are more than just those two," Takuya's speech quickened. "We'll create dozens of plants, each with a unique function."
He rapidly sketched on the whiteboard.
"Wall-nuts have massive health. Place them in the front to block zombies and buy time for the shooters behind them to deal damage."
"Potato Mines take a moment to sprout after planting. When a zombie steps on one, it explodes instantly, a single-target kill."
"Cherry Bombs cost a lot of Sun. They explode immediately after planting, clearing all zombies in a surrounding circle."
"Snow Peas fire peas that slow zombies down."
"Chompers eat a zombie whole, but they're completely defenseless while chewing."
As Takuya Nakayama described the game, the team leaders—who had initially found the idea absurd—gradually sat up straighter.
They were all game development veterans. Just hearing these basic mechanics allowed them to instantly visualize countless combinations and tactics.
"What about the enemies?" Oguchi Hisao asked, cutting to the chase.
"There can't be just one type of zombie," Takuya Nakayama said, drawing several distinct figures on the right side of the board.
"Normal Zombie: Slow, average health."
"Conehead Zombie: Wears a traffic cone on its head, doubling its health."
"Pole Vaulting Zombie: Fast. It will vault over the first plant it encounters."
"Newspaper Zombie: Uses a newspaper as a shield. Once the paper is destroyed, it will enrage, significantly increasing its movement and attack speed."
"Football Zombie: Fully geared up, high health, high defense, and fast."
Takuya Nakayama tossed the marker onto the table.
"Different plants counter different zombies. Before each level, players must observe which zombies will appear and then select a limited number of plants from the dozens available to bring into the stage."
"This is where the strategic gameplay comes in."
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