Proximity Alert: Blaster Master Zero

Inti Creates, the developer behind Azure Striker Gunvolt and the bulk of the latter-day Mega Man games, is working on a new entry in the Blaster Master series. Blaster Master Zero promises an 8-bit-style experience with retro 2D visuals but with some modern hardware improvements. The game features a number of areas from the original Blaster Master, but also adds several new areas and bosses, as well as new movement types and weapons for SOPHIA 3rd, and expanded and improved gameplay for on-foot explorations sequences. The player once again assumes the role of Jason Frudnick, star of the original game (although the name "Frudnick" only appeared in the Worlds of Power Blaster Master novella), and will once again feature Jason chasing Fred and falling into a subterranean world where he finds SOPHIA 3rd conveniently parked nearby. In some added backstory, it appears that humanity once inhabited the underworld after the planet entered an ice age... during which time a strange comet struck Earth, and the story picks up hundreds of years later, with Fred being referred to as a mysterious creature of unknown origin.

The game is coming to Switch and 3DS on March 9 via the eShop. Check out the shiny new trailer below, which features new gameplay details, including boss fights while controlling SOFIA 3rd!

Read More

New Blip: Slime-san

Fabraz, the developer behind Planet Diver and Cannon Crasha, returns with Slime-san, a game about a little slime who is sliming his way through the forest when he is suddenly eaten by a giant worm. Rather than allow himself to be slowly digested Sarlacc-style, the slime decides to platform his way through the worm's digestive system and escape. The entirety of the game is comprised of only five colors, with the green slime able to interact with other green objects as he avoids red ones. Challenges consist of outrunning rising stomach acid, wall-jumping up narrow passages, dodging enemy creatures, and even visiting a small town inside the worm that sells upgrades. Interspersed across the game's 100 levels are boss fights against the worm's internal organs and... carnivorous genitalia?

The game is planned for PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, Xbox One, and Wii U in 2017.




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

Read More

Target Acquired: Bleed 2

Remember Bleed? We sure do. Bleed was a stylish acrobatic shooter starring a purple-haired heroine named Wryn. Well, Bootdisk Revolution hasn't forgotten either, and now they're following up with a sequel entitled - you guessed it - Bleed 2. Wryn wryturns... ahem, returns... and she's more agile than ever, dashing through the air with her pistol and energy blade, wrecking shop on gun-wielding freaks and looking sharp doing it. The wry Wryn wrecks wrongdoers with reckless abandon as she deflects bullets, leaps across flying missiles, and curves between incoming projectiles while aiming shooty death in their direction. In addition to the high-flying action, the game features dozens of bosses, unlockable weapons, and new playable characters, as well as 2P local co-op.

Bleed 2 is now available for PC, Mac, and Linux via Steam. Check our coverage here.

Read More

New Blip: Dead Cells

Dead Cells, from Motion Twin, is a roguelike action-adventure inspired by the Castlevania series. Per genre conventions, the game features procedural generation and no checkpoints, so death returns you to the start of the game. However, it also features the open design of modern-day metroidvania titles, allowing multiple routes through the environment, along with a Souls-esque dodge roll. Gameplay takes place in and around a huge castle, with players facing off against various creatures and humanoid enemies - and their elite variants - plus some tougher boss encounters. Players make use of a variety of melee weapons, including spears, swords, and whips, as well as magic and projectile-based attacks.

The game is coming to PC via Steam in 2017.




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

Read More

Target Acquired: Night in the Woods

Alec Holowka, the developer behind Aquaria and Towerfall, is teaming up with animator Scott Benson to create Night in the Woods, a narrative-focused adventure game starring a number of colorful animal characters, including a cat with anger management issues and several of her friends, which include an alligator and a fox. You’ll be interacting with townsfolk in Possum Springs, uncovering the mysteries of the town after nightfall , running, jumping, occasionally astral projecting, solving puzzles, and eventually – of course – heading into the woods.

Night in the Woods is now available for PC, Mac, and Linux via Steam, and PS4 via PSN.

Read More

Target Acquired: Nefarious

Nefarious, from developer StarBlade (game site) is a game that reverses the well-established video game formula of a princess-kidnapping villain by placing you in the shoes of said villain. Instead of rescuing a princess, you are travelling from land to land, kidnapping princesses to use in your world-conquering doomsday device, all the while facing off against plucky heroes who hope to stop you. The villain, Crow, comes equipped with bouncing grenades and a powerful punch, but can eventually upgrade these attacks to unleash rockets and machine gun fire. Some levels end with Crow manning a huge machine and smashing the hero with repeated attacks, taking a page from many such 16-bit villains of old. Some levels change things up a bit, including a boss fight that takes place as a turn-based JRPG-style battle, and another where a princess hops Crow's back and smashes enemies with her axe as Crow dashes madly through a crumbling and shifting ice environment.

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

Read More

Early Arrival: Dimension Drive

Dimension Drive, from 2Awesome Studio, is a teleportation-based shmup where you must pilot your ship across two battlefields. As you fly, you will encounter impassible lasers, sprays of bullets, other objects that require you to move to the opposite screen, teleporting to the same relative position on the other side. Your ship is capable of emitting a spray of projectiles that may be upgraded to several power levels, and the bullets may be aimed behind the ship to strike enemies you have already passed when you teleport across screens. If you're having a hard time keeping track of the action - or if you don't have two brains - you can bring along a friend for 2P co-op.

Dimension Drive is now available for PC, Mac, and Linux via Steam Early Access.




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

Read More

New Blip: Songbringer

Songbringer is a sci-fi action-RPG from Wizard Fu Games, which offers a procedurally-generated overworld and ten dungeons packed with chunky pixel art and heavily inspired by The Legend of Zelda. The game may be played alone or with a friend in 2P co-op, as players explore the landscape in search of more powerful items and weaponry, as well as abilities that allow them to reach new areas. Players gain access to melee and projectile-based weapons as they take on varied foes, enemy swarms, and huge bosses. Dungeons require the player to solve puzzles to see his way through, with some even removing the player's sword until the dungeon is completed.

The game is headed to PC, Mac, and Linux via Steam, as well as iOS via the App Store later this year.




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

Read More

New Blip: Super Skelemania

If you haven't played Skelemania from Benal, then you're missing out on a great - and somewhat unconventional - metroidvania. Fortunately, there's still time to check it out, as the game is pay-what-you-want on Itch.io right now. In Super Skelemania, you take on the role of a skeleton man who uses his skull to bash enemies, and he steadily gains new abilities that allow him to expand his exploration and grant new combat tactics. These include a long diving jump, a running charge, a downward slam, and the ability to roll through narrow openings, Samus Aran-style.

The game is headed to PC and Mac via Steam in Spring of 2017. A demo is available on Game Jolt and Itch.io. Check our coverage of the original game here.




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

Read More

Target Acquired: Salt and Sanctuary

Salt and Sanctuary, from Ska Studios, is a "soulslike" (a.k.a. Dark Souls-inspired) action-RPG. The game offers a high level of difficulty, a complex interconnected world that the player is free to explore, and a limited number of health-restoring safe areas called sanctuaries. The player may select between numerous character classes, each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and gameplay styles, which may be further enhanced via a robust skill tree. The game offers hundreds of unique items, a variety of upgradeable weapons and armor, and a handful of healing items that the player must maximize in order to survive. Players harvest salt from defeated enemies, but risk losing it all if they are killed, and salt is needed in order to upgrade equipment and level up. This is a dark and unfriendly world that is meant for hardened gaming veterans.

The game is now available for PC, Mac, and Linux via Steam, PS4 via PSN, and also planned for Vita. Check our coverage here.

Read More

Target Acquired: Splasher

Splasher, from the similarly-named Splashteam (game site), is an action-platformer that is all about splashing liquid. The player takes on the role of a Splasher who has escaped from the evil Inkorp, and now he's going back in, fully equipped with his Splasher gear, in order to free his companions. In addition to liquid-based projectiles, the player can also use liquids to splash onto walls and climb them, and he can release a spray that lets him jetpack high into the air. Players must blast enemies, dodge lasers and saw blades, escape rising pools of slime, and free his fellow Splashers imprisoned around the complex.

Splasher is now available for PC, Mac, and Linux via Steam, Humble Store, Itch.io, and Green Man Gaming, and is planned for PS4 and Xbox One this spring.

Read More

Target Acquired: Giga Wrecker

Game Freak is the developer behind a certain monster capturing battling game (Pokémon), as well as a handful of sidescrolling action games, including Pulseman and Drill Dozer, and now they're back with an experimental game entitled Giga Wrecker. In this physics-based action puzzler, you play as a cyborg girl who is able to combine scraps of metal to create new objects, including weapons. Your world has been invaded by robots, and you must use your abilities to smash through obstacles, build platforms to reach new areas, create objects of different shapes to solve environmental puzzles, and tear robotic baddies to bits.

Giga Wrecker has just left Early Access and is now available for PC via Steam.

Read More

Target Acquired: Straimium Immortaly

Straimium Immortaly, from Caiysware, is a tough-as-nails roguelike dungeon crawler starring the Straima Ninja (or one of six unlockable characters) who descends into a cube of procedurally generated interconnected rooms while discovering randomized support items, more powerful weapons, and special abilities... and he even partakes in the occasional game of rock-paper-scissors. But enemies are tough and projectiles are thick, and one wrong move will send the player out of the Cubicus to try again from the start.

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

Read More

Proximity Alert: River City Ransom: Underground

River City Ransom: Underground is nearly upon us. The game has an official release date of February 27, and it will be arriving on PC, Mac, and Linux via Steam. The new launch trailer is below. And, if you want to soak up some more RCR action, we've also dropped in the gameplay trailer and featurette video. You may also want to check out River City: Tokyo Rumble on the 3DS, which just came out a few months ago.

For years, developers have been creating brawlers inspired by Technōs’ River City Ransom. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game, Fist Puncher, and many others have attempted – to greater or lesser degrees of success – to recapture the simple joy of cracking skulls while exploring a sprawling city and getting some RPG-style upgrades. And now, at long last, an officially licensed follow-up is headed our way courtesy of developer Conatus Creative. Resurrecting the Kunio art style and old-school look, with a few additional animations thrown in for good measure, players explore an even larger open world, with more shops, items, and upgrades. Go it alone or with some friends in 2-4P co-op, and punch some bad guys until they BARF!

Read More