Game publisher Hamster has announced that Typhoon Gal, the 2D action arcade game, is now available on PS4 and Nintendo Switch as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released in arcades by Taito in 1985, Typhoon Gal has never received an official home release until now. In Typhoon Gal, players control a young martial artist named Yuki, who
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We may have Attack Helicopter Week, 80s August, Monochrome May, and finally Jolly Jinglings to close out the year, but the theme event that started them all is October’s Festival of Dread! And this year’s Festival of Dread event promises to be even bigger than the last! We have plenty of Halloween-themed pieces coming your way, including multiple features, the
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Little girl, big adventure. Cats in space! Selling a ‘cat book’ to a predominantly male audience was a tough sale. Even I didn’t get Starlight Cats: Merlion Rising for myself. I thought that my then 8-year-old daughter would LOVE the book, that it was going to be “CUTE”! The lead character, Rebecca, was about my daughter’s age, and she loves
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On Tuesday, publisher Tribute Games and developer Zenovia Interactive officially released their 2D action platformer Steel Assault on Nintendo Switch and Steam PC. The game boasts a 16-bit arcade aesthetic and a throwback challenge level (without the pocket full of quarters). You can read our previous coverage of Steel Assault here, or check out the official breakdown of the game
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On October 1st, the Indiegogo campaign for Cobalt: Atlanta’s Thrashing will close, and the sign-up page for book 2 – Cobalt : Death Stalks Us will launch. This will be creator/writer Jake Adam’s second crowdfunded comic book campaign as his character and story were also part of a Kickstarter campaign for Super-Abled Comics. When I first saw Cobalt: Atlanta’s Thrashing
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On Tuesday, QUByte Interactive announced that MiniCactus Games’ puzzle platformer Underland will be released on 30 September for the PS4, PS5, Xbone, SeXbox, and Nintendo Switch. Yes, that’s tomorrow, o keen readers of ours! In Underland, players must guide your astronauts through multiple monochrome (!) environments, using all available tools such as excavators, pumps, pipes, cannons, drones and dynamic platforms
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Taito’s original Darius game landed in arcades in 1987, making the series one of the oldest space shoot ’em up series out there. The game’s contemporaries include the likes of R-Type and Gradius, both of which seem to have more name recognition than Darius ever did. Is that because Gradius and R-Type received solid ports to 8-bit consoles of the
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Independent comic book creator Chris Fisk recently launched a crowdfunding campaign for Infinitale Chronicles – The War of the Trees, a 50-page graphic novel set on a distant fantasy world. Written by Fisk and featuring illustrations by António Brandão and colors by Alzir Alves and Chris Hall, the book is intended as the first part in a larger War of
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Over the weekend, independent comic book creator Monika Stephan launched a crowdfunding campaign for Mary Boys: Beefheads!, the 74-page follow-up to the first Mary Boys book that was successfully crowdfunded in 2019. The project is already fully funded, having raised more than $6 thousand at the time of this writing. The book itself follows the titular Mary Boys, a set
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On the latest installment of Sit DOWN Sunday (hosted on Patrick Thomas Parnell’s YouTube channel Riot Press Productions), The Splintering founder Blake Worrell and fellow Splintering contributor George Travlos got another chance to discuss recent comic book news. This week, we were joined by aspiring comic book creator Dionysios. We discussed Parnell’s Sleepy Hollow campaign, Marvel’s future X-Men plans, Dionysios’s
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On Friday, Zaid Comics launched a crowdfunding campaign for The Lost Pages 2: The Silhouette, a 76-page follow-up to the first book that was successfully crowdfunded in 2020. The project is already fully funded, having raised more than $4 thousand at the time of this writing. After polling readers on their favorite character from the first issue, The Lost Pages
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Nintendo recently announced that SEGA Genesis games are coming to the Nintendo Switch via a Switch Online “Expansion Pack”, so I thought the time was right to highlight one of the most prized games included with this additional subscription service: M.U.S.H.A. This write-up is a bit more in-depth than a standard “review,” so I’m winging it with the whole “retrospective”
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Publisher SNEG and recently announced that an HD re-release of Blade of Darkness is coming to Steam and GOG on 7 October. Originally developed by Rebel Act Studios in 2001 and published by Codemasters, this HD port is being ported by Fire Falcom and General Arcade. Blade of Darkness is a fantasy action adventure game featuring hearty helpings of violence
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On Wednesday, Alterna Comics launched its inaugural pre-order crowdfunding campaign for their fall lineup of books. The campaign is already fully funded, having raised nearly $7 thousand at the time of this writing. These campaigns are intended to replace the company’s old pre-order system on the Alterna website, making each quarter a kind of celebratory event and giving customers a
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To mark the first day of the Fall season, independent comic book creator Patrick Thomas Parnell launched a crowdfunding campaign for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, an abridged and illustrated version of the 1819 classic by Washington Irving.* The project is already fully funded, having raised more than $4 thousand at the time of this writing. While not a traditional
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To celebrate 30 years (!) of the Cotton franchise, ININ Games recently announced that Cotton 100%, Panorama Cotton, and Cotton Guardian Force Saturn Tribute will be getting western releases soon. Specific platforms and a release date have not yet been confirmed. However, at least Nintendo Switch and PS4 are extremely likely, and the games will have to be released before
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On Monday, publishing veteran Steve Dye launched a crowdfunding campaign for ROK!T, a new physical magazine that focuses on the biggest names and news on the ComicsGate* side of independent comics. Wait a second… Yeah, we’re doing a write-up on what is technically a competing platform. We’ll be sure to keep this super objective.** Trust me! Dye conceived ROK!T as
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Indie game publisher Playism recently announced that the genre-bending title The Good Life is scheduled to release on 15 October via Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbone, and Steam PC. Co-developed by Japanese studios White Owls and Grounding Inc., The Good Life blends elements of adventure, RPGs, and life simulator. The game boasts the unique style of White Owls’ Hidetaka “SWERY” Suehiro
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Over the weekend, AzDimension released Axilon: The Legend of Artifacts – Prologue on Steam. The game is an action RPG based on the fantasy book of the the same name by Azerbaijani writer Timur Azisov. This “Prologue” is intended as the first chapter of a larger adventure, and it features three environments: a forest, caves, and a snow-covered valley. You
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On the latest installment of Sit DOWN Sunday (hosted on Patrick Thomas Parnell’s YouTube channel Riot Press Productions), The Splintering founder Blake Worrell got another chance to discuss recent comic book news. (Our fellow Splintering contributor George Travlos rightly decided that spending time with family was more important than comics YouTube this week). This week, we were joined by independent
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Game publisher Hamster has announced that Soldam, the matching puzzle game, is now available on PS4 and Nintendo Switch as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released in arcades by Jaleco in 1992, Soldam was later ported to the Japanese Game Boy in Japan and an updated version was released for PS4 and Nintendo Switch as Soldam: Drop,
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On Thursday, SNK officially released the Metal Slug 1st & 2nd Mission Double Pack for Nintendo Switch via the Switch eShop. Priced at $14.99, the Metal Slug 1st & 2nd Mission Double Pack includes both Neogeo Pocket Color versions of Metal Slug 1st Mission and Metal Slug 2nd Mission. If you aren’t familiar with the classic run-and-gun arcade series, here’s
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On Wednesday, comic book creator Eric Canete launched a crowdfunding campaign for Arc Athena Book One, an all new, hardcover graphic novel intended as the first part in a six-issue miniseries. The project is already fully funded, having raised roughly $18 thousand at the time of this writing. Written and illustrated by Canete (TRON Uprising) and featuring colors by Giuliano
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On Wednesday, publisher Tribute Games released a new teaser trailer for Steel Assault, which is scheduled to release on 28 September for Nintendo Switch and Steam PC. Developed by Zenovia Interactive, Steel Assault is a retro-inspired 2D platformer featuring throwback challenge and a 16-bit aesthetic. Here’s the official breakdown of Steel Assault from Tribute, followed by the latest trailer: Punch,
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On Tuesday, Raw Thrills officially released the arcade racer Cruis’n Blast on Nintendo Switch. Cruis’n Blast is the first Cruis’n game to land on home consoles for over a decade. The series is known for high speed racing and wild track and vehicle designs. Here’s the official breakdown of Cruis’n Blast from Raw Thrills, followed by the launch trailer: The
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New Take Media recently launched a crowdfunding campaign for Grandpa issue 1, a new 44-page fantasy comic book project with a bizarre title. With a name like Grandpa, you might expect something like Rambo: Last Blood or Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino, but you’d be wrong, sucka. Created by Damion Daponte and Sterling Vanderhoof, Grandpa is actually about the longstanding battle
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On Friday, independent game developer NGDEV announced that their horizontal-scrolling bullet hell shooter Razion EX will be released on the Nintendo Switch eShop on 16 September. The game has been available for a few months in physical format via NGDEV’s website, but this is Razion EX’s first wide release in a digital format. First released for the Neo Geo in
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Game publisher Hamster has announced that Pop Flamer, the single-screen 2D action arcade game, is now available on PS4 and Nintendo Switch as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released in arcades by Jaleco in 1982 and later ported to the SEGA SG-1000 in 1983, Pop Flamer has never received an official release in western regions until now.
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On Wednesday, independent comic book creator Stephan Velez launched a crowdfunding campaign for The VeilWalker #1, an all-new, 21-page dark fantasy comic book. Written by Velez and featuring illustrations by Sajad Shah and colors by Leonardo Paciarotti, The VeilWalker is described as a blend of action, mystery, thriller, and horror. Here’s the official pitch taken from The VeilWalker’s Indiegogo campaign
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New Polish development team We Dig Games recently announced that their first game will be Hamster Maze, coming in 2022 for SeXbox, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch and Steam PC. Inspired by online videos of hamster maze creation, Hamster Maze blends casual arcade gameplay with Tamagotchi elements. Players rear and train their pet hamsters in preparation for competition with
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