Battle Boss Brand references Mega Man, Battle Boss Ziggs references Bomberman; I only thought it would make sense that the third would follow suit. However, I can't seem to pinpoint any reference to a particular game. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.
VFX wise i was inspired by old vector games. played/studied Astroids, Tempest, Battlezone, Trail gunner ...etc. And then of course watched a bunch of cheesy 80s movies to get into the "hacker" vibe. all of that + a little wreck it ralph was it for me at least.
Early on we were joking about Malzahar's ultimate making you play Virtual Boy and then throwing up on yourself. This is the hell that he can show you: https://youtu.be/KyLpQFCAkQo
BB Malzahar refers to Tempest 2000. The exact names for other references aren't coming to me right now, but I do know them.
I get a virus vibe from him. Like the voidlings are viruses and malzahar is infecting the game with them. I don't know if he's inspired from any games but being a virus spreader could be his theme. (and no game has intentional viruses that I can think of)
Tbh he reminds me a bit of Evangelion unit-01
His splash art reminds me of Star Fox.
All of his abilities remind me of Tempest and Geometry wars, but I don't know who they designed him after
Galaga maybe?
