Neo-retro metroidvania Narita Boy comes out next month
It looks like the sort of adventure Ready Player One wishes it could be
Narita Boy is a sidescrolling metroidvania about a boy who's trapped in a video game world. He's gotta find a cool sword, beat up some evil code people, and listen to some excellent music while he's at it. If you fancy helping him, the game arrives on PC and consoles on March 30th. It also features floppy disk hoverboards, and looks like the sort of 1980s techy adventure Ready Player One wishes it could be.
Sucked into the Digital Kingdom, Narita Boy has to fight his way through a pixel-y world armed with his rainbow-coloured Techno-sword. An evil baddie named "HIM" has deleted the memories of the game developer, and you'll need to cut down their Stallion henchmen to save the world.
Alice Bee had a go of Narita Boy during Steam's winter Game Festival this month, and reckons it was one of the best demos on offer.
"It's fun. The commitment to the late 80s/early 90s aesthetic is impressive - the screen is made to look like a fuzzy CRT, even," she wrote. "Thing is, I could tell in a hot second that loads of you are going to bloody love this game."
Narita Boy started life as a Kickstarter project back in 2017. Developer Studio Koba said it's inspired by "retro pixel adventures" like Castlevania and Another World, "with a modern touch" from Superbrothers: Sword And Sorcery.
When it comes out on March 30th, Narita Boy will be available on Steam and Xbox Game Pass for PC and console, as well as Nintendo Switch and PS4.