I asked my wife for suggestions on our next destination for the Family Travels series. "Australia" was her answer. We have some relatives and friends living there and it was also where we took our pre-wedding photos with the help of my brother. However, I was struggling to come out with an iconic representation of the place other than the Sydney Opera House and Harbor Bridge. And then I remembered the Great Barrier Reef.

The recent attention on climate change has reminded us of how much we have damaged our planet. Reports have also surfaced on how the Great Barrier Reef was affected by this global phenomenon. I decided that I wanted to do a piece on one of the world's eight wonders.

When visualizing the image in my head, I was suddenly reminded of a piece of concept art I did for Mekazoo years ago. It involved the frog character diving into an underwater cave.

Mekazoo has gone live.
Mekazoo has gone live.
Mekazoo has gone live.

It feels good to say it.

I have worked on this game, part-time for 4 years and full-time for 3 and a half. Working on this game has brought me from Singapore to Seattle and back. I have attended PAX twice as an exhibitor and have seen firsthand how people were having fun with the demo. I have evolved, as an artist and as a person throughout these 4 years. I have also become engaged to the love of my life. After all this time, Mekazaoo has finally come into fruition. 

So what is Mekazoo?

It is a 2.5D platformer where you switch between the 5 mechanical animals - Armadillo, Frog, Wallaby, Panda and Pelican. Each of the animals possess unique abilities that aid the player in navigating the game's vibrant levels. If you love side scrolling platformers from the late 80's and early 90's, you should definitely check out Mekazoo! It is available on PC, PS4 and XboxOne. I will recommend playing it on the PC with a controller for the best experience.

Steam link - http://store.steampowered.com/app/390330/

The above images are early concept artwork I created for the foresty world of the Arboretum. We wanted to differentiate ourselves from other platforming titles that had cheery and bright forest settings. The vision we had in our minds were that of a neon and luminous forest that featured highly saturated, almost psychedelic colors. The paintings were very much inspired by the music of MJ Quigley, the Audio Director of the team. I remember bouncing to the beat of an early Mekazoo track as I painted this.

I will be posting more images throughout the week and elaborating on my involvement as the Art Director of the project, so do look forward to seeing more artwork!