Look Who's Kickstarting Now

As we roll into spring and the Easter Bunny has finished crapping out eggs on our lawns, new games are looking to sprout from the internet with your help. This month Kickstarter has a spiritual successor to a Dreamcast classic, a charming 16-bit action RPG, a chance to save one of the last major arcades still standing, and a visually stunning 3D Puzzle/Action/Adventure title. 

HOVER: Revolt of Gamers



We first got a look at Hover: Revolt of Gamers  last month when I posted a preview article about the game. To summarize the game, it is heavily inspired by Jet Set Radio, but with the addition of a first person view that can be played using the Oculus Rift. The gameplay seems to be more racing oriented without the graffiti mechanics of JSR, and has been impressively built by a small but talented French team using the Unity engine. Rounding out the team is Hideki Naganuma, the original composer of the Jet Set games... to ensure the game sounds at great as it already looks. In under 24 hours they've already met half of their goal, expect great things from this game.

Heart Forth, Alicia



A game that looks as if it could have easily been made by one of the best teams at Squaresoft or Konami back in the day. Metroidvania games are all the rage these days, but that just simply means the game won't be overly linear. The combination of a tight action-platformer with a deep story and RPG mechanics is not something you see very often these days, which makes this game all that much more special. With still almost a full month left, they are close to double of their original goal and making even more amazing stretch goals as this Kickstarter shoots through the stratosphere.;

SOURCE



Another Metroidvania style game, but also vastly different from anything being done in Heart Forth, Alicia. While that game very much sticks to the classic sprite style of that era, SOURCE is taking advantage of higher end PCs and the new consoles to create something both visually stunning and innovative on the gameplay side of things. There haven't been many open environment flight exploration games, and certainly none that also had puzzle elements. The small husband and wife dev team are struggling to reach their goal with only 20 days left, so if you like what you see in the video-- send a couple bucks their way.

Super Arcade Project 2014



There aren't many true arcades left in this day and age of Chucky Cheese and Dave and Busters. The fact that Super Arcade is still standing in Walnut, California is a testament to arcade culture. At the end of last year they announced that they only had the budget to stay open maybe for another few months before they'd be forced to close. Super Arcade is the home of the weekly tournaments Wednesday Night Fights and The Runback, both of which are streamed over Twitch. Southern California is home to many of the best fighting game players in the country, and this would mean their dojo was essentially going to be closed.

The outpour of support from the fighting game community has been amazing on this Kickstarter. Many people who will never even visit Super Arcade were willing to donate for T-shirts, tokens, etc... just to keep this scene alive. Their goal has already been met, so anything donated at this point will ensure that Super Arcade is around just that much longer.