As part of a new interview with Famitsu magazine, cult-favorite game director Goichi Suda (aka Suda51) stated that developer Grasshopper Manufacture has some big plans for the 20th anniversary of its hit game No More Heroes. A cult-classic that was previously a Wii-exclusive, the game launched in Japan on December 6th, 2007, so Suda51 wants to commemorate the event in a special way. “We’re planning to deliver something special, so please look forward to it,” Suda said. “Travis Touchdown is definitely coming back!”
During the interview, it was pointed out to Suda that next year will mark the 20th anniversary–at least in Japan. Suda responded, “Marvelous is well aware of this, so we’d definitely like to do something together to mark the 20th anniversary.” That could mean anything, but my money is on there being some kind of re-release of the first two games on different platforms. Both No More Heroes 1 and 2 came to PC in 2021 ahead of No More Heroes 3’s release on Switch, but have otherwise only been available on Wii. An enhanced re-release of the first game was launched on PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2010, but only the PS3 version of that came to the US in 2011. The third game was ported to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC in 2022.
Despite having finished Travis’ story with No More Heroes 3, Suda has been unable to leave Travis behind thanks to the character’s popularity. A crass, no-nonsense hero for a disillusioned generation, Travis brought a scrappy charm to his messed up world of Santa Destroy that spoke to players who were getting tired of typical AAA fluff. Part of the appeal was also being on a Nintendo console, a platform traditionally known for more child-friendly fare, though the games have remained consistently popular despite expanding beyond Nintendo’s ecosystem.
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
