Fans of 90’s-era platformers may have noticed a distinct lack of wacky action-scrollers among current AAA titles. Fortunately, the team at Interceptor Entertainment is hard at work reviving this beloved genre, complete with updated graphics, for today’s discerning audience. Enter Rad Rodgers, a new action platformer that follows the adventures of a boy and his game console.
Taking inspiration from classic games like Commander Keen, Ruff’n’Tumble, and Conker (the ‘M’ rated one, not the Game Boy Color version), Interceptor hopes to bring back the glory days of Apogee platformers. The Kickstarter campaign is going strong and well on its way to hitting the $50,000 goal by the end of the month.
The story follows Rad, a boy who gets sucked into a TV vortex after a long night of gaming (like you do). When he wakes up, he finds himself starring in his very own video game. Rad is joined on his adventure by his foul-mouthed, sentient game console, Dusty. The pair must navigate their way through seven danger-filled levels of hardcore precision platforming.
In addition to serving as his vulgar guide, Dusty equips Rad with a variety of ridiculous weapons. He’ll also have to enter the Pixelverse, a special area that exists behind the game world, to repair glitches so he and Rad can continue their journey. Dusty is voiced by Duke Nukem himself, Jon St. John, which makes the crude humor pitch perfect.
A possible stretch goal would see the release of a standalone mobile game, Dusty’s Surfatron. Taking place entirely in the Pixelverse, Dusty has to earn power-ups and weapons that can transfer over to the main game. A neat potential universe expansion, but definitely not deal breaker either way.
In the Kickstarter trailer, the developers mention that they have plans for additional episodic releases of Rad Rodgers down the line. The estimated release date for the PC and PS4 version is set for February of 2017. If you just can’t wait, backers who pledge $17 or more get access to the Rad Rodgers beta after the campaign ends.
(Ed. We’ve added the very promising Rad Rodgers to our Kickstarter Curator page, check it out at Kickstarter.com/cliqist.)
I get what they were going for, but I think the super old school interface design might be a bit much. The graphics are gorgeous, don’t slap pixelated mess over them.
OK I initially skipped past this on Kickstarter because of the cartoony look, figured it was a kids’ game. But after closer inspection it mostly definitely isn’t! Actually reminds me a bit of Earthwork Jim in style, but with the adult humour – funny names for the pledge levels too.