As most of you know recently there’s been an explosion of kickstarters echoing the spirit of classic 90’s games including: Mighty No.9, Project Phoenix, Radio The Universe, Ghost Song, Shovel Knight, and Shantae. The success of these kickstarters and their mutual vision focusing on the fundamentals without all the extra fluff of modern games reminded me of Griptonite Games a competent developer specializing in licensed and handheld titles usually arcade style. After years of doing the best they could with the licenses they were given they asked for permission to make a Shinobi game since everyone at Griptonite was a huge fan of the franchise especially Shinobi 3. This passion project resulted in Shinobi 3DS which IMO is on the short list of greatest side scrollers ever made, every aspect of the game is a love letter to gamers who miss being challenged and having a game give 0 fucks about opening a can of whoopass on them. Unfortunately as incredible as Shinobi was it still flopped in sales due to being released 2 days before Super Mario 3D Land and critics bashed it for being too hard so Griptonite Games was forced to shut down.
Why do I have such a longass intro and what does it have to do with the thread title? Shutup! I’m getting to that. On a whim last night I googled if any ex Griptonite guys were still making games (most of them work for mobile game companies now) and it turns out a programmer and artist made a kickstarter last year. Better yet they’re staying true to the spirit of Shinobi by focusing on making the player master the nuances of the game mechanics in order to overcome the difficulty, basically going the opposite way of tutorials and hand holding.
It’s not the prettiest looking game but just listen to them talk about it and I’m sure it will convince anyone who’s a fan of platformers/beat’emups to buy it. With the emphasis on spacing, timing, and gear it really gives me a 2D Dark Souls vibe even though that game is already being made by someone else. I like the Ghosts 'n Goblins jump, I don’t know any other games that have it.
Kris from Crazy Viking here. I wanted to point out that girls ARE allowed, and crazy enough were really interested in Volgarr and some of the better players of it at PAX. It would seem it was the males that got more flabby gamer muscles these days! Get out there and kill some lizardmen!
Shinobi is sick as fuck. If it weren’t for orochizoolander I probably wouldn’t have played it. Volgarr looks amazing too. This and Ghost Song are making me want to get a PC. Wish these had handheld/console releases, but oh well.
I’m glad games like this are on the rise. I hope for the same with shmups.
As a big metal fan and lover of Norse mythology I’ve always thought vikings were badass. So when I saw the title of this thread I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.
Cool stuff, I love seeing developers becoming a part of gaming communities. Interceptor Entertainments Community Manager showed up on some other forums and just hyped the hell out of their game, interesting to see you doing the same!
Here on SRK we have a penchant for corny, terrible punch line thread titles it’s not serious :P. Anyways, nice to see you in here I wasn’t expecting that. I just saw your thread on neogaf earlier today it’s a shame it hasn’t been active in awhile if I had an account there I’d bump it, but at least I can make a thread here on a forum where most of us are very passionate about 2D games. Really excited for Volgarr, unfortunately it’s not everyday this kind of game gets made in today’s climate of condescending, handholding, dumbed down big budget games. Can you give us a confirmation of 3DS release? A lot of people including myself I’m sure would prefer playing a game like this on it instead of a game pad on PC.
On the FAQ of the kickstarter page they say they want to bring it to 3DS e-shop and probably will if it sells well on PC, so spread the word and lets get it done!
Yeah let other people know so it sells well and gets an eventual 3DS release. Glad to see hype for this game,
Puts dumbbell on your eye brow That should lower it :P. With the current hot button issue of sexism in gaming being on everyone’s mind lately I felt like having some fun with the title I wasn’t trying to be insulting to girls. You’ve been here long enough to know SRK loves it’s shitty puns :lol:
Ziophaelin cool that you were able to make this game and I hope it sells well enough to fund any further projects, I am gonna snap pick it up on pc and proobbbbably get it again on 3ds if it makes it there
this is exactly what I want to be doing at all times in 2d platformers, killin stuff, best ratio is always
99% killin stuff 1% maybe lookin for stuff
I was super skeptical for like a minute of the first video and then the shift happened. God damn that gameplay looked sick when you know what you’re doing.
I am a huge fan of 3rd Strike and many many fighting games. As is Taron (he really digs smash bros). This game has built in cancels and other ooozing secrets for the ones willing to learn them. Hope you all enjoy it when it hits next Friday.
** Almost forgot, we will put the game anywhere there is demand for it. First we have to recover some of that development cost by getting it on steam
… and thanks for the Shinobi love. I almost retired after that game. Maybe one day I’ll come back to it or someone will convince Sega to let me do a proper Streets of Rage
Did you read my OP? You misunderstood him, he meant if it wasn’t for me spamming the 3DS thread constantly about how GDLK the actual 3DS exclusive titled Shinobi is he wouldn’t have played it.
Move canceling is always a plus in any action platformer :tup: Also I just noticed something…why is the sky blue with the boss in the pic I linked but orange in the same boss fight in the video? Is that related to the secret levels? Also I’m confident it will sell well enough to compel you to being it to 3DS too.
No thank you and everyone at Griptonite, Shinobi 3 was one of my favorite games as a kid and it really blew me away to see someone actually improve on it as well as go the extra mile extending replay value by adding challenge rooms, unblockables, and achievements. It’s disappointing critics weren’t able to judge the game on it’s wavelength.
I’d love to see you guys work on a SOR. Have you played the SOR remake? It’s pretty amazing, if you could do something like that you guys would be legendary heroes around here.
The video was made a long time ago while the game was till in development. A new shiny trailer will be hitting steam in the next few days.
When I was a kid that drive home from the game store was brutal for me. I wanted to play them so bad (whatever my new game was), the only thing I could do to help pass the time for that 20 minute drive was to read the manual. Back in those days games often had really elaborate and colorful manuals that really brought a spark to my imagination. We hope that you enjoy this one so that your “Drive Home”, waiting for Sept 13th is a little more enjoyable (that is if you plan to pick this game up :P)
Check it out guys, the new trailer went up on Steam, shows off (a little) of his fancy moves that action fans may appreciate. http://store.steampowered.com/app/247240/
and crazy enough were really interested in Volgarr and some of the better players of it at PAX. It would seem it was the males that got more flabby gamer muscles these days! Get out there and kill some lizardmen!
Hope you all enjoy it when it hits next Friday.
