If you’re a fan of retro games and swear by pixel art, the self-referential Narita Boy is a poetic, multidimensional adventure that will cure your 2D nostalgia blues. Now on kickstarter, Narita Boy has already managed half its funding goal of €120,000 – and there’s 26 days left.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SUos6MgTjA
Set in a fictional 1980’s, Narita Boy follows the creation of mysterious computer engineer Lionel Pearl’s eponymous game, which comes in a bundle with the Narita One console. When Narita Boy explodes in popularity, it becomes the most-requested game amongst youth, but a very serious problem has begun to emerge: The divide between the digital world and the physical world is vanishing, to the extent that the game has become reality.
Players adopt the role of Narita Boy, the game’s hero protagonist who’s received the call to protect the Digital Kingdom from being invaded by the wicked Stallions, a dark force from lower dimensions. They’re so wicked they even have their own rock band, The Metallions:
The game’s core mechanics include a variety of fluidly animated slash attacks, magic invocations, and vehicle riding, as well as power ups and collectibles like high density floppy disks, and comic book pages. Developer Studio Koba is promising players the following features in Narita Boy:
- Pure handcrafted pixel sprites with rich and complex animations.
- A homage to the 80’s that tastes like retro but is also new. Narita Boy reloads the creative canons to find an unique style that combines the past and the future of video games
- Classic 2D scroller action with new exotic time and dimension jump mechanics, RPG elements and amazing worlds to explore; from the streets of the 80s to the weird futuristic landscapes of another dimension.
- An awesome Soundtrack inspired by the glory days of analog synthesizers.
- The Story will put you through a journey between dimensions, neglecting the ebbs and turns of Time itself. Meet weird, unique characters and wield powerful and strange magic.
- Jump, fight, find your own way in order to progress, travel across dimensions and let yourself be amazed by the amazing retro futuristic universe of Narita Boy.
- Find items to upgrade your digital magic and your (meta)physical strength. Find vehicles to traverse greater distances and use your instincts to find well hidden secrets.
- Easy to learn, simple to play, but a real challenge to Master.
Narita Boy is expected to release in 2018 for PC, Mac and Linux.