Target Acquired: Astronite

Astronite, from Dume Games Studio, is a lo-fi metroidvania starring an astronaut whose ship has crash landed... but rather than landing on some mysterious alien world, you are on your own home planet. An ancient being known as the Entity resides in the center of your planet, and while the people knew of this being and even studied it, the Entity remained inscrutable. But one day, the Entity commanded an army of nasty critters to the surface, which is now overrun. You must explore, grow your strength, and gain new abilities to take down enemies and bosses. As you explore, you'll be able to make use of a jetpack, swim underwater, and dash in order to reach new areas, and there are plenty of secrets for intrepid explorers to find along the way.

The game is now available for PC via Steam, Switch via eShop, PS4 and PS5 via PSN, and Xbox One and X/S via Microsoft Store.

Read More

Target Acquired: The Knight Witch

Super Awesome Hyper Dimensional Mega Team, the (super awesome hyper dimensional mega) team behind Rise & Shine, returns with The Knight Witch, a metroidvania with shmup-style gameplay set in a lovely hand-drawn world. You take on the role of a Knight Witch who wields a projectile weapon and card-based spells to fight against the War Golem invasion. Build your deck with dozens of spell cards to alter your combat strategies, and grow your strength to fight more powerful enemies and hulking boss monsters. Being a witch, you are capable of flight, so you'll be exploring in every direction - and fighting enemies in every direction - as you traverse a large open world.

The game is out now for PC via Steam and GOG, and Switch via eShop, and it's coming to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox X/S on Friday. Check our coverage here.

Read More

New Blip: Turbo Kid

A few years back, a team of filmmakers released Turbo Kid, an 80's-style take on the post-apocalyptic future of 1997. In the film, a teenage boy with a BMX bike and a love for comics teams up with an oddly-mannered girl, and they discover the remains of a legendary hero known as Turbo Rider... along with the powerful weapon he once wielded, allowing them to rise up against Zeus, ruler of the wasteland. Oh, and for an 80's-style flick, it was surprisingly gory. Developer Outerminds Inc. offers a metroidvania sequel of the same name, and puts you in the kneepads of The Kid as you pop wasteland scumbags like 99 Bloodballoons. In addition to stealthing, platforming, slashing, and shooting, you also have your trusty bike, which allows you to dash through tight corridors, jump over pits of radioactive waste, and rip gnarly verts (how do you do, fellow bike punks?) to reach higher platforms. For the sake of convenience, the bike disappears and reappears on command, allowing you to transfer from halfpipe tricks to ledge grabs with the press of a button.

The game is coming to PC but does not yet have an announced release date.

To find more promising 2D games currently under development, be sure to check out our 2D Watchlist.

Read More

Target Acquired: Dungeon in a Bottle

Dungeon in a Bottle, from Strange Spaces, is a precision platformer set within the confines of a magic bottle. A thief named Reya comes across this magic bottle while doing some light breaking and entering, but when he attempts to steal it, he is sucked inside. Within this bottle are more than 100 trap-filled levels that will require every bit of Reya's acrobatic aptitude to overcome. At the start of the game, you primarily make use of a wall jump to overcome challenges as you hop up between narrow passageways, dodging spikes and flying over bottomless pits as you try to reach switches, keys, and coins. Later, you gain new types of jumps that allow you to reach greater heights and distances, but you must be careful which jump you use, lest you fling yourself face first into death.

The game is now available for PC and Mac via Steam and Itch. Check our coverage here.

Read More

Target Acquired: Ghost Song

Ghost Song, from developer Matt White, is a metroidvania title. More than that, it draws heavy influences from the design and style of the mother of all metroidvanias: Super Metroid. The game focuses heavily on atmosphere, with detailed subterranean environments and a haunting soundtrack. You have set out to explore a moon known as Lorian V, a mysterious place in which many have perished, leaving ghosts behind in the form of roaming corpses full of anger. But by destroying their bodies, the ghosts can be freed. In addition to the wandering dead, you will also face a number of creatures, many of which are hostile, as well as some large boss creatures. As is typical of the genre, acquiring new weapons and abilities allows you to proceed through the large open world, although there are numerous optional items to be found for those who explore thoroughly.

The game is now available for PC via Steam, Switch via eShop, PS4 and PS5 via PSN, and Xbox One and X/S via Microsoft Store.

Read More

Target Acquired: Depths of Sanity

The submarine-based metroidvania subgenre is a sparsely-populated one, with the only other notable entries being The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human and Song of the Deep... but Bomb Shelter Games is here to change that with Depths of Sanity. You take on the role of the commander of a submarine called The Baroness (not just a sultry G.I. Joe villain any more) who is investigating a deep sea vibration that may be some kind of signal of unknown origin. The game takes place across a large interconnected world divided into themed areas, and you face incredible dangers as you descend into the depths. In order to fight off dangerous sea life and menacing bosses, you'll need to make use of an arsenal of weapons that you unlock over the course of your adventure. The game also features exploration and sees you navigating heavy currents using tow cables and moving through the darkness with only sonar pings to guide you forward... just try not to go insane.

The game is now available for PC via Steam, and it's also coming to Switch and Xbox in 2023.

Read More