We play the demo framed within the Steam Festival to discover one of the most interesting indies games of this year
Narita Boy wowed many when it broke into Kickstarter in March 2017. The crowdfunding platform no longer has the same strength as a few years ago to raise projects in the video game (although there are some exceptions), but it shows when one is well armed and It has the right elements to make an impact. The Adventures of Narita Boy, a hero who came from reality to the Digital Kingdom to save him from a great evil, immediately stood out with a striking retro-futuristic aesthetic to the rhythm of the synthesizer, animations full of personality and the promise of a love letter to the 80s. from arcades to pop icons of the time.
With a detailed presentation, videos, animations, convincing samples of the soundtrack, surely in another era the game would have reached higher levels of financing by seeing precedents. Unfortunately, some fiascos on the platform formed a current of disenchantment that is still noticeable, so the game managed to reach its goal of € 120,000, but stayed at € 160,000 of the € 300,000 set as a final goal. With that began a long development in which the director, Eduardo Fornieles, has tried to shape his dream of creating a video game with his personal imprint, changing the streets of Tokyo where he worked for different companies settled for a return to Spain that allow you to stay with less expense.
Dream trip to the 80s
Now that journey seems to be coming to an end. As almost always happens, the project has taken much longer than the most optimistic forecasts pointed out, but it has also gone beyond what was initially planned. With the announcement of the entry of Team 17 as editor, support for multiple languages and a confirmed release for 2021, the icing on the cake is the demo that we can play of it as part of the Steam festival that runs until February 9 .
This is a short but very revealing demo in the sense that it helps us to verify that the audiovisual promises of the initial kickstarter have been perfectly captured once we get to the controls. The strange Digital Realm, with its neon lights, chromatic aberration and image distortion is recreated as promised, with that mix of mysticalism and futurism that was so evocative in its presentation. At all times it manages to transport us to that dreamlike reverie between the fantasy-medieval epic and that image of the future that the 80s offered us, when computing began to reach the masses and computer-generated images began to break into screens all over the world .
Style and Substance
Apart from a first immersion in this suggestive world and its mythology, since the demo is framed at the beginning of the game, it also allows us to know a little more about its combat system, which shows a promising aspect and an intention of depth. Once we get the “Technosword”, we will begin to know the varied offensive abilities of Narita Boy: different sequences of blows, a more powerful blow holding the button called “Homerun”, attack at medium distance in the form of a rifle, a devastating beam of tricolor energy that sweeps the screen in a straight line and a dodging movement that seems more than necessary in the face of the strength and resistance of some initial enemies. It is clear that it does not seek to be a “parade” and the combat, even in these early stages, is challenging and with good response. The only thing that worries us from what we saw in the short demo is that the platform can be a source of frustration due to the ease with which we can change direction in the air, which sometimes makes it difficult to land on the specific point.
In any case, the demo is enormously promising for its set of graphics, audio, setting and story, which also promises to have a background. It is a different game, refreshing and with an irresistible aesthetic. We can only advise playing the demo and letting everyone decide whether to put it on that wish list, always so important to independent studios.
- Demo Narita Boy
