Indie Games News/Previews #4

Venture Kid by FDG Entertainment (2015) - PC

Several months back I took a quick look at an upcoming game by FDG Entertainment based on the ultra-awesome Wonder Boy. Impatient as I might be to play it, FDG are still working hard on that project so I will have to wait, but it seems at the same time they have been beavering away on another game, again based on a classic series of 8-bit platform adventures - Mega Man. However, while Monster Boy looks like being, for all intents and purposes, an HD remake of the great Wonder Boy III (which is certainly no bad thing), Venture Kid is a brand new game that merely takes its inspiration from Capcom's much-loved series. I just hope it's not as teeth-knashingly tough as those games are!

The simple back-story involves the evil Dr. Teklov and his plans to build a secret weapon disguised in his huge space fortress, and young hero, Andy, who means to thwart his terrible plans. There are to be nine stages in total, through which Andy must run and jump, shooting or avoiding the many scary enemy creatures as he goes. He has a basic Mega Man-style pea-shooter gun by default and other weapons become available as you play through the game. The themed stages obviously get more and more complicated as well, requiring highly accurate movements to avoid the many hazards, and each stage's exit is guarded by a ghastly boss. It's not tremendously original then, but is it any good?

My main worry prior to playing this game was that it would share the savage difficulty of most of the Mega Man games which so fill me with fury, but happily it looks like it doesn't. It certainly has its tricky moments but overall Venture Kid is a much gentler and therefore (in my opinion) more enjoyable game. The style is unsurprisingly based on that of the NES and it's great. The graphics are crisp, colourful and varied while the chiptune music is superb, and control of Andy is quick and responsive too, making this an essential game for all retro-platform fans. I've had a great time playing the demo that's now available and it looks like the game is pretty much ready, so expect it to be available from Steam some time soon. You'll have to queue behind me though!

To find out more about this superb platformer and get the demo, check out its Steam Greenlight page here :)