Uncommon Crafts Epic '90s Inspired Street Fighter Game for ITV's 'Drama vs Reality'
ITV have created a desktop game in the style of classic 1990’s ‘beat ’em up’ arcade games to bring to life the recent ‘Drama vs Reality’ campaign — which aims to highlight the wealth of drama and reality shows that are available on ITV Hub.
Earlier this year, the broadcaster successfully launched the new campaign with a series of epic and dark-humoured filmic battles, all shot by Oscar-winning director Tom Hooper, best known for ‘The King’s Speech’ and ‘Les Misérables’ — as well as a nationwide digital outdoor campaign which teased at a game-like concept.
Following demand, ITV have created the game for real, encapsulating the fighting spirit of ‘Drama vs Reality’ — but now giving the power to the public to get in on the action, with a digital game available to play online.
The game includes six characters from the original film series, you can choose to play as: Ferne McCann, Bobby Norris and Kem Cetinay who represent Team Reality and on the opposing Team Drama Jason Watkins, Richie Campbell and Anna Friel are animated for battle.
Nils Leonard, Co-founder, Uncommon said: “Making a real game was next level for ITV. We loved bringing Drama vs Reality to life with nostalgic influences from the '90s with every pixel crafted in 16 bit. Gaming and advertising are a natural partnering that doesn’t get enough air-time. More brands should be playing in this space connecting to millions through gaming experiences. We can’t wait for the Studio to make more of a mark in this world.”
The 16-bit game’s style is reminiscent of arcade games from the mid-90s — every element of the game has been crafted and influenced by that iconic gaming period. The game opens with a spinning coin that must be clicked in order to open the game — replicating how real arcade games would begin.
The nostalgic game includes details such as compressed 16-bit soundtracks to accompany each fight scene — including remastered covers from recognisable theme songs, such as the TOWIE and Love Island themes, across the channel using period-accurate synths.
Audio clips for the game have also been recorded by all the drama and reality stars — this includes everything from fighting talk to action impact noises and losing screams. Each soundbite captures the personality of the star in question from Jason Watkins quoting Shakespeare and classical literature to Kem’s iconic Love Island lingo ‘buff, tidy, peng’.
The game also includes fight scene backdrops from some of ITV’s most-loved reality and drama shows such as outside an Essex nightclub, I’m a Celeb’s iconic campsite, a decadent drawing room from an ITV period drama, and the Love Island Villa. There are in-jokes and risque details in each of the backdrops for fans of the shows to enjoy too.
Each famous player also has a special move and a victory sequence if they beat their opponent, reflecting games from the 90’s era, these include moves such as a shadow pass, electrocution and power punch.
With many modern games today, characters and scene details will be developed using 3D renders — this game created by Uncommon in collaboration with Rave Growl and Node London — used a combination of several hundred drawings, similar to stop frame animation, to build-out the game context and movement.
The game will also launch with a Twitch activation and partnership including promotion on the platform as well as a Twitch live stream on 31st August, with a special well-known host due to be announced, where several players and influencers will go head-to-head in a series of game battles, including the ITV Drama vs Reality game. This is a UK media first for the platform being the first integrated partnership Twitch has done with a TV broadcaster. Ferne McCann will also launch the game, with a live activation moment at Westfield Square, playing the game herself.
