Since Alex Kidd is oddly relevant this year, today we’re going back to an Attack Helicopter Week of years past to look at one of the most innovative stages from SEGA’ flagship title for the Master System, Alex Kidd in Miracle World. In the mid to late 80s, the SEGA Master System was the underdog in a sales race with
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On Tuesday, renowned comic book creator, Crusade Comics founder and “Teen Sensation” Billy Tucci launched a crowdfunding campaign for Shi: Omnibus Volume 1, the hardcover book that collects all 12 issues of Shi: Way of the Warrior, the three-part Tomoe miniseries, and the 48-page Shi Vs. Tomoe, making a thicc 488-page total. At the time of this writing, the campaign
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Welcome back to Attack Helicopter Week here at The Splintering! Today, we’re taking off with Choplifter for the SEGA Master System. We previously reviewed Jaleco’s Nintendo Famicom port of Choplifter a while back, so let’s take a gander at how SEGA’s Master System port fares compared to its 8-bit contemporary. (Spoilers! – Pretty damn well) Among side-scrolling shooters, Choplifter is
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Over the weekend, independent comic book creator Wyatt Holliday launched a crowdfunding campaign for Heroine Adventure Magazine issue 1, “the world’s first-ever pulp heroines magazine.” Weighing in at a thicc 128 pages, Heroine Adventure #1 is a standalone, full-length pulp novel presented in 7×10 format. The project is already fully funded, so now all Holliday has to worry about is
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In the era between arcade classics like Defender and “bullet hell” shoot-em-ups like Ikaruga, the 2D shooter genre really hit its stride. The greatest titles of the 80s and 90s featured a mishmash of several genres, including sci-fi space shooters (R-Type, Thunder Force), fantasy (Wings of Wor, Lords of Thunder), and even underwater warfare (In the Hunt). However, one of
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Well, well! It looks like M2 is getting into the Attack Helicopter Week spirit! The Japanese developer recently announced that Kyukyoku Tiger-Heli will be coming to both Nintendo Switch and PS4 in Japan as a “Toaplan arcade garage” collection. Scheduled for release on 28 October, Kyukyoku Tiger-Heli will be available both in digital format for 3,960 yen and a physical
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On Friday, veteran comic book creator Andy Smith launched a crowdfunding campaign for 1stMAN 2: Learning Curve, a 52-page graphic novel that promises to recreate energy of comic books from the 80s and 90s. 1stMAN himself is a superhero described as part Spider-Man and part Captain Marvel (with The Ray’s color scheme, to boot). Here’s the official plot synopsis taken
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Game publisher Hamster has announced that DARWIN 4078, the classic vertical scrolling shoot-em-up arcade game, is now available on PS4 and Nintendo Switch as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released by Data East in 1986, DARWIN 4078 is the predecessor to 1987’s Super Real Darwin. In DARWIN 4078, your ship absorbs and converts the energy from other
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Ninja games were all the rage when I was growing up, and I had no shortage of great ones. Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden, SEGA’s Shinobi, Natsume’s The Ninja Warriors, and Konami’s TMNT brawlers were all in my regular gaming rotation as a kid. Of course, this is before the advent of 3D gaming, when titles like Acquire’sTenchu started to up the
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Publisher GameMill Entertainment recently announced that Cruis’n Blast is coming to Nintendo Switch on 14 September. Originally developed by Raw Thrills and released in arcades in 2017, Cruis’n Blast is the latest in the long-running arcade racing series that began with Cruis’n USA in 1994. You can check out the latest trailer below, following a brief breakdown of Cruis’n Blast
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Independent comic book creator and Rune Cutter Comics founder Matt Burke recently launched a crowdfunding campaign for Butch Cleaver 2, the 52-page sequel to the first Butch Cleaver graphic novel that was successfully crowdfunded in 2020. Written and illustrated by Burke, Butch Cleaver 2 is a hyper-violent supernatural fantasy book that is described as an unholy combination of Batman, Swamp
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Publisher Eastasiasoft has announced that retro-inspired action platformer Metaloid: Origin will be available on PS4 starting Tuesday, 13 July (that’s tomorrow, at the time of this writing). Developed by Retro Revolution and ported by 7 Raven Studios, Metaloid: Origin is actually the sequel to a run-and-gun action title METAGAL. And while the name “Metaloid” might suggest an inspiration from Nintendo’s
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Over the weekend, veteran comic book creator Tyler Kirkham launched a crowdfunding campaign for Final Boss, an all new 40+ page high-octane graphic novel. At the time of this writing, the campaign is well beyond funded, so now all that is left to worry about is stretch goals and fulfillment, right? Returning to the book… Created, written and illustrated by
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Publisher Ratalaika Games has announced that Ametist Studio’s 2D action-platformer Within the Blade is coming next week to PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. Blending ninja action, stealth, and RPG gameplay elements with a throwback pixelated art style, Within the Blade looks to be designed for hardcore platformer fans, whether they are nostalgic for the punishing, retro games of the
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Earlier in July, independent comic book creator and Sleeveless Comics founder Micah Curtis launched a crowdfunding campaign for Englewood: Book 2, the 66-page follow up to the first issue that was successfully crowdfunded in 2019. Written by Curtis and featuring illustrations by Brian Martinez and colors by Armand Strange, Englewood is a street-level superhero story set on the crime-ridden streets
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Game publisher Hamster has announced that Sea Fighter Poseidon, the classic underwater action arcade game, is now available on PS4 and Nintendo Switch as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released by Taito in 1984, Sea Fighter Poseidon has only previously been available to play at home via a Japan-only release on PS2. In Sea Fighter Poseidon, players
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On Wednesday, independent comic book creator and Splatto Comics founder Richard C. Meyer launched a crowdfunding campaign for Knife-Hand: Blindspot, a 48+ page book set in the Jawbreakers universe. Written by Meyer (Iron Sights, 499) and illustrated by Kenneth Loh (G.I. Joe), Blindspot is a solo adventure featuring the titular Knife-Hand as he jumps into action to rescue the rest
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Earlier this week, Koch Media announced that they will be publishing The King of Fighters XV, the next installment of SNK Corp.’s long-running, one-on-one team fighting franchise, which is coming soon to PS5, PS4, SeXBox, and Steam PC. Coming six years after KoF XIV, this latest KoF game continues the series’ tradition of pitting teams of martial artists against each
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Earlier this week, ALL CAPS Comics founder Ethan Van Sciver announced that fellow comic book creator Dale Keown will revive his dormant Pitt series with ALL CAPS. First published by Image Comics and later by Keown’s own Full Bleed Studios in the 90s, Pitt is the story of a ferocious human/alien hybrid who was genetically engineered as a weapon by
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Over the holiday weekend, renowned comic book creator and ALL CAPS Comics founder Ethan Van Sciver launched a crowdfunding campaign for the first wave of action figures based on his popular CyberFrog comic book series. Here’s the official pitch taken from the Indiegogo campaign page: At last! CYBERFROG ACTION FIGURES are GO! We’ve been on a nice winning streak with
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Today I received the physical edition of Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX for Nintendo Switch, and it has a lot to offer if you’re an old-school SEGA fan. And I do mean REALLY old school (like me). To see how the package stacks up to the original SEGA Master System version, check out the video below. Thanks for watching
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Independent comic book creator Aria Black recently launched a crowdfunding campaign for The Adventures of Tail-less in Outer Space, a sci-fi anthology collecting issues 1-5 of the Tail-less mini comics and the Tail-less / Not Daredevil Ashcan. The project is already fully funded, so now all that remains to worry about are those sweet stretch goals… plus printing and fulfillment,
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On Thursday, publisher DANGEN Entertainment announced that Batbarian: Testament of the Primordials will be coming to both PS4 and Xbox One on 15 July. Released on Steam PC and Nintendo Switch in October 2020, Batbarian: Testament of the Primordials is described as a “metroidvania” (or a nonlinear, 2D action adventure game for those who hate the metroidvania term). The game’s
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Game publisher Feardemic recently announced an agreement to publish Twisted II Studio’s first-person horror title Dark Fracture for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, SeXbox and Nintendo Switch. The game is tentatively scheduled for a late 2022 release, to include physical editions. Taking its horrific inspiration from Zdzisław Beksiński and H.R. Giger and featuring an Eternal Darkness-esque sanity meter, Dark Fracture
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Hamster has announced that Raiden, the classic arcade shoot-em-up (or as we called it back in its day, a “shooter”), is available today (1 July) on PS4 and Nintendo Switch as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released by Seibu Kaihatsu in 1990, Raiden was the first game in the long-standing sci-fi shooter franchise. It was ported to
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On Thursday, independent comic book creator Per Berg (aka Narwhal) launched acrowdfunding campaign for Earthbound part 2, the long-awaited follow-up to 2019’s action/sci-fi epic.* The campaign has already blown well past its initial funding goal, having raised more than $8 thousand at the time of this writing. Written and illustrated by Berg, Earthbound part 2 promises to conclude the story
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Comics Du Nord recently launched a crowdfunding campaign for Guardians of Erloth Volume 3 part 1, the latest entry in the four-part graphic novel series. Written by Chael Roberts and featuring illustrations by Ryan Best and lettering by the prolific Eric Weathers, Guardians of Erloth Volume 3 is a 30-page epic fantasy tale of humans versus lizard people. Okay, so
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Publisher QUByte Interactive has announced that the confusingly titled third installment of Minimol Games’ FLATLAND series is now available digitally for Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One and SeXBox. FLATLAND Vol.2 is a 2D platformer featuring colorful yet minimalist visuals. Here’s the official breakdown of FLATLAND Vol. 2 from QUByte: The third sequel in the FLATLAND series brings the most challenging
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Overnight, independent comic book creator Eric Ninaltowski launched a crowdfunding campaign for Shadow Sentry Book 2: Belly of the Beast, a supernatural action adventure book inspired by the high-octane comics of the 1990s. Written and illustrated by Ninaltowski, Belly of the Beast picks up immediately after the first Shadow Sentry book left off. Here’s the official pitch taken from the
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On Monday, aspiring comic book creator Nicholas Geer launched a crowdfunding campaign for The Relentless Tin Soldier, a new superhero adventure book that will be published by Star Cross Comics. Created and written by Geer and featuring illustrations by Sika Murti, colors by Walter Pereyra and lettering by the ever-prolific Eric Weathers, The Relentless Tin Soldier looks to be inspired
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