Over the weekend, independent comic book creator Luke Stone* launched a crowdfunding campaign for Rift Riders issue 1, an all-new, 32-page sci-fi adventure. Co-created by Luke Stone and Piper Steed, written by Steed and featuring illustrations by John Dillard (The Buckler) and colors by Edgar Tavitas, Rift Riders is a spinoff of Stone’s Hybrid series. Here’s the official pitch taken
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Strictly Limited Games has announced plans for limited physical editions of the point-and-click adventures in The Journey Down Trilogy for PS4 and Nintendo Switch. Developed by Skygoblin, The Journey Down Trilogy features varied environments, mysterious puzzles, and an “Afro-Caribbean vibe.” Here’s the official breakdown of The Journey Down Trilogy from Strictly Limited: The physical copies of The Journey Down Trilogy
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Earlier this week, NIS America released Prinny Presents NIS Classics Vol. 3 for the Nintendo Switch and Steam PC. This new compilation includes two NIS strategy RPGs: La Pucelle: Ragnarok and Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure. This is the first time that La Pucelle: Ragnarok is available in the West, as the original release was exclusively for the PSP in Japan.
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On Thursday, publisher Curve Games released Chenso Club, a new 2-D, rouguelike brawler for Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbone and Steam PC. Developed by Swedish studio Pixadome, Chenso Club is inspired by the side-scrolling arcade brawlers of yesteryear. Up to four players can choose from a team of super-powered ladies and defend humanity from a horde of invading aliens. Here’s the
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On Thursday, Japanese publisher Waku Waku Games announced that the retro-inspired competitive puzzle game Puzzle Battler! Mirai is now available for pre-order on the Nintendo Switch eShop. Featuring a throwback 8-bit style graphics, Puzzle Battler! Mirai promises a “variety of engaging battle tactics” and a fun, casual story a to tie it all together. Here’s the official breakdown of Puzzle
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Because “Beobattle” didn’t have the same ring to it. Independent comic book creator Vic King recently launched a crowdfunding campaign for Beowar, a 60-page, magazine-sized comic book. Written and illustrated by King (ASYL), Beowar is a fantasy adventure story featuring black and white artwork and a protagonist described as “purveyor of ale and tail.” Here’s the official pitch taken from
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Welcome back to 80s August, The Splintering’s month-long celebration of all things octogenarian… from a 20th century point of view. The SEGA Genesis is largely remembered as a 90s gaming powerhouse, but it was actually released in 1989. That makes a handful of the console’s early games babies of the 80s. Truxton (aka 達人 or Tatsujin in Japan… which means something like “expert”) is one
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Like Paper Mario – but everyone is dead. Publisher Digerati recently announced that the new “paper RPG” The Outbound Ghost will be released on 21 September for Steam and other PC storefronts for $19.99. A digital console release for Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbone, and SeXbox is expected later in 2022. Developed by Conradical Games, The Outbound Ghost is described
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Microids recently pulled back the curtain on New Joe & Mac: Caveman Ninja by releasing the very first gameplay trailer. Originally developed by Data East, New Joe & Mac is a remastered version of the 1991 arcade game. This revamped release will include updated visuals, additional modes, and an extended story mode. Here’s the official breakdown of New Joe &
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Welcome back to 80s August, The Splintering’s month-long celebration of the greatest decade since the creation of Italian sausage. It’s a truly great thing that the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: the Cowabunga Collection is now available from Konami, perhaps for me more so than anyone else on earth. It’s like a pang of guilt has been lifted from my shoulders after a decade of
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Publisher LocaGames recently announced that the genre-blending Future Mirror will be localized into English and released on Steam PC this November. Released in Japanese earlier this year, Future Mirror (Japanese title Mirai Kagami) was developed by indie developer Satsuki no Yume (皐月の夢). The game features elements of adventure, fantasy, and mystery, and boasts engaging characters, a gripping storyline, and “comical
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Over the weekend, homebrew game publisher Mega Cat Studios announced that an all-new retro-styled puzzle game Roniu’s Tale is now available for the original Nintendo Entertainment System. Developed by Kunjee Studio, Roniu’s Tale is inspired by adventure/puzzlers of the 1980s such as Solomon’s Key and The Adventures of Lolo. Here’s the official breakdown of Roniu’s Tale from Mega Cat Studios:
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Welcome back to 80s August, The Splintering’s month-long celebration of the greatest decade. Ever. (Change my mind) Today, we’re going to take a look at Laffin’ Gas Cartoonies issue 3, which was published by Blackthorne Publishing in November 1986. Laffin’ Gas Cartoonies was an ongoing black-and-white anthology featuring several comedy and parody short stories. The book is very much in the spirit of
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Coffin Comics recently launched a crowdfunding campaign for Lady Death: Diabolical Harvest, the 16th chapter of the Lady Death saga since the character’s resurrection in 2015. Like many of the previous Lady Death projects before it, the project has scared up quite a bit of cash, having raised more than $400 thousand at the time of this writing. Diabolical Harvest
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Today we are remembering Jack Kirby on his birthday, August 28
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Welcome back to 80s August, The Splintering’s month-long celebration of the greatest decade since the martians built the pyramids. Today, we’re going to look at Capcom’s very first game, a 2D, vertically scrolling, space shooter titled Vulgus released in 1984. Humanity is under attack! Maybe. Who knows? I wasn’t able to discern any plot from my time with Vulgus, but that was pretty much par for
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“Greetings travelers…” A-hem! Nope, not today. Today – well, on Thursday, anyway – Blood Realm creator Robert Geronimo (!) launched a crowdfunding campaign for Little Maia Omnibus, a collected edition of three previously-released children’s stories. Written and illustrated by Geronimo and featuring colors by Jose Exposito, the Little Maia series is known for having vibrant, sequential artwork and no text.
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On Thursday, independent comic book creator and Riot Press founder Patrick Thomas Parnell launched a pair of dueling crowdfunding campaigns for Last of the Seekers, an all new sci-fi project featuring a transforming alternating robot toy and accompanying comic book.* Inspired by other transforming shape-changing bots of the 1980s, Last of the Seekers is an intergalactic adventure about a robot
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Publisher Hamster has announced that Super Volleyball is now available on Nintendo Switch and PS4 as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released in arcades by Video Systems in 1989, Super Volleyball is a multiplayer sports game that does not feature any fetching beach babes in bikinis. Instead, it recreates the indoor volleyball experience with an approachable arcade
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Welcome back to 80s August, The Splintering’s month-long celebration of the greatest decade since fry bread. Before Ronald McDonald starred in his own video games and the Geico Cavemen were given their own ill-fated television show, the marketing minds at CalRab (the California Raisin Advisory Board) decided to expand the presence of their own claymation mascots in pop culture. As
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RedDeer.Games recently announced that their retro-inspired adventure game UnderDungeon is coming to Nintendo Switch, Xbox and Steam PC sometime in 2022. Aside from the minimalist visual aesthetics, RedDeer also promises that one of the main selling points of UnderDungeon is its “good humor.” Pfeh! We’ll be the judge of that, thanks! Here’s the official breakdown of UnderDungeon from RedDeer.Games, followed
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Not only is it the worst pizza topping ever devised, but Witch’s Flesh is also the latest 32-page graphic novel from Evoluzione Publishing and No Sleep Press. The Indiegogo campaign follows a successful run on Kickstarter, so this is a second chance for those missed out the first time around or prefer Indiegogo as a crowdfunding platform. Here’s the official
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Welcome back to 80s August, The Splintering’s month-long celebration of the greatest decade since the unification of Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate! Today, we’re going to look at Thunder Cross, an a side-scrolling shoot ’em up (or simply “shooter,” as we called them back then) released in arcades by Konami in 1988. It’s important to note up front that I am looking specifically at the US
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Following a successful crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, independent comic book creator Adam Lawson has launched a follow-up campaign for The Exiled, a 140-page sci-fi/noir graphic novel, via Indiegogo. This gives you a second chance to buy into the book if you missed out the first time. The new Indiegogo campaign is already fully funded, having raised more than $8 thousand
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RedDeer Games recently announced that a new classic arcade-style fighter will be coming soon to consoles and PC in the form of Maki: Paws of Fury. Players must take control of the titular Maki, a cute fox who just so happens to be a master of the Tsume no Ken fighting style. Here’s a brief breakdown of Maki: Paws of
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Welcome back to 80s August, The Splintering’s month-long celebration of the greatest decade since Gutenberg invented the printing press! And welcome back to Tale of the Toy, the feature where we tell stories about some of our most cherished childhood toys and action figures. Today, we’re telling the tale of how we originally acquired the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT)
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Atari has hit the ground running this year with revivals of classic franchises. The latest game to get the modern treatment is Yars: Recharged, the fourth game released under their “Recharged” banner. Co-developed by Adamvision Studios and SneakyBox, Yars: Recharged is a re-imagining of the great 1982 Atari 2600 game Yars’ Revenge by legendary creator Howard Scott Warshaw. This new
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Game publisher Henteko Doujin recently announced that new game Armored Lab Force VULVEHICLES is coming to Steam PC on 25 August. Almost certainly inspired by Blaster Master, Armored Lab Force VULVEHICLES injects some cheeky humor and high-octane bullet-hell mechanics into the side-scrolling, vehicle combat formula. Here’s the official breakdown of Armored Lab Force VULVEHICLES from Henteko Doujin, followed by a
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Welcome back to 80s August, The Splintering’s month-long celebration of the greatest decade since the invention of the hurdy-gurdy. Today we’re going to take a look at Cyborg Hunter, one of the very few third party (sort of) games released for the SEGA Master System. Cyborg Season? Developed by SEGA and published in the United States by Activision in 1988, Cyborg Hunter
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On Sunday, the Clownfish TV crew (known for their work on the Clownfish TV YouTube channel) launched a crowdfunding campaign for Crimson Rhen of the True North, a 130+ page graphic novel inspired by Japanese manga and classic 1980s-style adventures. Crimson Rhen serves as the first in a two-part arc, as well as a prequel story to Clownfish’s Shadowbinders books.
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