Matthiew Annal and his team behind Nitrome are working hard on completing their latest game, Hot Air 2, the first sequel Nitrome have done that should be released soon. In the meantime, Mat was kind enough to answer a few questions and reveal some information about the development of the game.

FreeGamesNews: When did you come up with the idea of developing a sequel to Hot Air and why?

Mat: We wanted to wait a while before doing a sequel to any of our games as we feel they will feel fresher that way. We also didn’t just want to make a sequel be just the same as the original…we wanted to add features that would make it a superior game.

We also took onboard a lot of fan comments about the original which has led to an easier difficulty from the start and the map screen being included.

FreeGamesNews: when did you start working on the game and when do you expect to release Hot Air 2?

Mat: The game was started back in November last year as a side project to other stuff we were doing. We plan to get the game out some time in February….then again if you had asked me in December I would have said it would definitely be out in January so who knows…..at least you will know we didn’t rush it!

FreeGamesNews: What can we expect from this new game?

Mat: Here are a few facts about the game…

– The game has 30 levels which is 5 more than the original!
– The levels all scroll now rather than being single screens which makes them a bit bigger.
– Every level has a different enemy or trap….none are repeated. (In the first Hot Air a few things such as fire and fans got repeated and a few had no obstacles or enemies just spiked walls of different shapes)
– You access the levels via a map screen this time rather than the bland series of boxes that we had before.
– We still have bits that are opened up by collecting the stars but this time you open routes rather than individual levels.
– You win a different balloon for each level you complete.

FreeGamesNews: I’ve heard about a special feature called “Hot Air Balloon Maker”. Tell us more!

Mat: The big feature we have been working on for the game is the ability for people to make their own balloons for the game. The idea came about when we started receiving fan art with people making their own balloons. It started a fun little idea to satisfy the people that wanted to do this but it has ended up becoming a self contained application that you use outside of the game that we have called Hot Air Balloon Maker. Users will be able to use the balloons they make in the game and the balloon they are using at the time of submitting a score will show up in the high score board next to their name. There is also a gallery where you can browse through what other people have made and you will be able to send them to your friends (although that part isn’t in yet).

FreeGamesNews: You mentioned Boss fights in Hot Air 2 on your site. How can you fight a boss with a balloon?

Mat: There are new boss fights that you encounter in the new sequel. You have no weapons….you will just have to figure out how to kill them using what is around you.

FreeGamesNews: It seems some people complained that Hot Air was “too hard”. What about Hot Air 2?

Mat: The game has been made to start easier than the original which many said was too hard but it will still be a challenge to open up every last bit for those that loved the difficulty of the original.

FreeGamesNews: Hot Air 2 is your first sequel. Can we expect more sequels from Nitrome in the future?

Mat: We will make sequels to most of our games (and there is another in the works) but it might take a while for us to get round to them and we will only do it if we are adding something to the game.

Eric (FreeGamesNews Editor): thanks for your time Mat.

Check out more screen shots of the game here!