MDK 2 reduced from 280 MB to 40 MB for WiiWare release

Beamdog co-founder Trent Oster has commented on the challenge of squeezing MDK 2 into a file one-seventh of the original's size, and why WiiWare was the game's destiny.

Oster told Nintendo World Report that the Wii's motion controls fit well with MDK's gameplay, but hinted that the console's more humble graphical standards were a consideration.

"We also approached the title with the understanding that reworking the artwork to current generation standards would be a lot of work," he said.

"We felt the Wii could best support the original content with engine updates. We made a few performance calls, sacrificing character shadows for a higher frame rate".

Olster said the 40 MB file size limit was "somewhat of a shock" to Beamdog.

"We did some quick projections and knew it was going to be a tough job taking a 280 MB ... game and crunching it down to 40 MB," he said.

"We started by looking at how the game data was stored and re-designed the core data structures to make them much smaller. We then started examining content and potential techniques to compress the data while minimizing the fidelity loss."

Eventually, some content had to be cut - including part of the game's soundtrack.

The WiiWare re-release of the classic BioWare-developed sequel is out now, while a current-gen port, MDK 2 HD, is due on PC next year.

Thanks, Go Nintendo.