Last year, Canadian studio Causal Bit Games successfully kickstarted the excellently-named Insanity's Blade, a tribute to the 8-bit hack-and-slash platformers of yesteryear.
Boasting action and RPG elements and 18 different levels to conquer, the game also features a VCR6-based soundtrack which is as close as possible to the original NES audio. The crowd-funding drive for Insanity's Blade was unique in that it wasn't to actually make the game, but instead raised the funds to polish the gameplay and add new features.
The developer has now confirmed that it has been granted official Wii U developer status, and that Insanity's Blade will be leaving its mark on the Wii U eShop soon.
The title certainly has the NES look and feel nailed pretty successfully, and the team has listened to feedback gained from the PC-based demo to refine the core gameplay. Hopefully Wii U owners won't have to wait too long to find out if the game is worth playing.
Comments 38
That's interesting. The game definitely looks and sounds like a good old NES classic, but it also seems fun to play. Gotta try the demo at some point!
I dunno... It doesn't look that fun to me. However seeing how they are taking their time to port it i'm going to assume early impresions are good. I'll keep an eye out.
Holy awesome!
Support Indie. Indie supports U.
insanitys blade: "Take a father’s journey to hell in order to save the souls of his wife and child."
sounds like king of demons/majyuuou for super famicom: "During the prologue, Abel is granted power from his deceased wife in order to defeat Bayer, and go into hell to save his daughter."
being a huge king of demons/majyuuou fan im interested...
i also wonder what the status is going to be on Odallus, i hope that one makes it to wii u after all as well.
Exciting! I'll be downloading for sure
Thou would like more 16:9 instead 4:3 but well ...
Sounds and looks like Rastan with some Castlevania and Ninja Gaiden wall-climbing for good measure. Given that was the intro I wined what the rest of the game is like? Very cool!
@FineLerv You said it mister! I'm a huge fan of the indie gaming scene, and if Nintendo continue their current trend of supporting talented indie outfits with even half the commitment and passion that Sony appear demonstrate on a seemingly daily basis — particularly on Vita — I'll be one very, VERY happy Wii U owner indeed...
A small selection of my Wii U indie wishlist:
Braid
Broken Age
Cave Story
Don't Starve
Dungeon Decenders 2
Hotline Miami
Limbo
Lone Survivor
Machinarium
Mercenary Kings
Papers Please
Rogue Legacy
Samurai Gunn
Spelunky
Super Meat Boy
Super Time Force
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP
Thomas Was Alone
VVVVVV
...the list goes on...and on...and...
Like the idea. And I am a huge retro gaming fan. But can't they do these games more 16bit style. Not only because of the graphics. But because of the handling...
Eh, I'd say those graphics are actually closer to SNES level than NES.
Multiple layers of parallax, pretty large characters with quite a few colors in some cases, quite a lot of colors overall, loads of sprites onscreen...
Maybe you had some kind of NES Plus that we all missed out on or something.
Fantastic! Can't wait! Reminds me of "Magic Sword" from Capcom on both CPS1 and SNES!
It's like a lower bit version of Black Tiger. Something's off with the rhythm of the gameplay though if you compare the two. Looks neat
I think the 8bit art style has been overplayed quite too many times in recent years.... I grew up gaming in the 8bit era, and while it was cool at first to see 8bit throw backs in new games, I think it worn out its welcome.... I have a mountain of 8bit games from my childhood that I can play at any time on VC.
Sorry if people are still digging it, but there is already a billion awesome 8 bit titles available. Do we really need more?
@Daemonite not everyone likes dudebro games. I game on PC/WiiU/3DS and not one single game announced for the ps4/xBone even looks the slightest bit interesting... Certainly not interesting enough to shell out $400 for an underpowered console that the manufacturer is trying to sell like its a high performance device.... At least Nintendo isn't trying to sell the Wii U as something that it's not. It's a fun and an interesting platform for playing Nintendo games.
@Daemonite Gotta agree with you.
The tension is already strong between the three fanbases, to the point that many try to convince others to only buy one of them (of course the one they like the most). And while the offerings on PS4 and XBone might not satisfy everyone (yet), they still have plenty of stuff coming up which we can hardly hope to see on WiiU.
Joking about consoles is okay and all, but biased bashing is what makes up the majority of the console wars.
Indie support is great and all, I just hope it wouldn't be a synonym for side-scrolling pixel art. More games like Forgotten Memories please! Whenever that's coming out...
I know it is nitpicking, but it is really telling when you misspell your product's name:
#InsantysBlade soon to be released on the #WiiU!
Looks incredibly repetitive, bland & boring... Yep, this was definitely inspired by the NES it even has the crappy screen flicker glitch goin' on
RPG elements makes this kind of thing rubbish. (Temporary powerups is all that is ok.) Removes the need to improve.
Can't see this being up to much .It probably wouldn't have scored too well back in the day either.
My indie game interest is focused exclusively on Mad Men Football.
This actually looks exciting. Do want!
I like 2D action/platformer types but this is too much like a bad NES era game. If you're going to make a throwback game, make it like we remember it, not like it actually was.
maybe if its like 4 bucks id get it, looks to hard
No way this looks like an NES game. There's simply too much information on the screen. I'd say Insanity's Blade looks more like a Genesis title.
They could have made it sound more like a NES by using a NES and recording it. If VCR6 is what I think it is anyway it will make it sound more like a Famicom with VRC6.
@Zobocop I thought it looked like legendary axe until I reminded myself of what that looked like and the sprites are miles better in that.
Looks like some great 8 bit goodness to me! Count be in...thank god for the indie releases!
well it mad eme grin that means it will probally be on my list. Still playing through unepic
I agree with those that say this actually looks more like a SNES or Genesis title. The green bleeding skeletons make me think of Mortal Kombat, he. I'll wait for a review to see if I'll give it a spin.
maybe looks like master system
Wow, these guys must be big fans of Rastan Saga, it looks very similar. If the gameplay is good i will be getting it for sure. I use to love games like this back in the day. Games like Rastan, Rygar, Golden Axe, Black Tiger, Ghosts n Goblins etc. I just wish they made it look more like an SNES game instead of an NES one. Great music too.
yea doesnt really make me think NES, looks like a very old computer game maybe. at a glance i'd say it doesn't look very good and doesn't really interest me. however, i do like an oldschool romp now and again, so i guess we'll see how it turns out.
@AcesHigh73 "You said it mister! I'm a huge fan of the indie gaming scene, and if Nintendo continue their current trend of supporting talented indie outfits with even half the commitment and passion that Sony appear demonstrate on a seemingly daily basis — particularly on Vita — I'll be one very, VERY happy Wii U owner indeed..."
I think half the battle comes from Nintendo, the other half is from the userbase. I'm constantly trying to push my favourite standout Indie titles on the MiiVerse but if nobody is buying them then Nintendo's efforts can only go so far.
That's a great wishlist you got there! What are some of your personal picks that are currently on the e-shop right now, though?
Nintendo would never have let such a gruesom game on to the nes back in the day lol
Nice! I like side scrolling shooter/fighters!
NES & SNES
Oh yeah!!!
this game looks awesome right down to its over the top action its going to be an instabuy for me
Looks pretty nice! Interested!
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