WaterMelon, best known for its RPG Pier Solar, has just revealed its next project - a side-scrolling fighter for the Sega Mega Drive called Paprium. Development began quite some time ago, when the game was known simply as Project Y.
Like Pier Solar, the game is being developed for the original 16-bit hardware and will be released on a physical cartridge. Time will tell if it makes the leap to other consoles, as Pier Solar did.
Here are some more details:
After more than 4 epic years of development, WaterMelon Games is proud to present its new 16-Bit game: PAPRIUM (code-name: "ProjectY"), a postapocalyptic, outrageous, street brawler. PAPRIUM has been crafted at WM's Magical Game Factory using Investor's votes and suggestions. PAPRIUM has been developed by a team driven by true passion and 16-Bit excellence.
Year 8A2, somewhere at equidistant point between Shanghai, Tokyo and Pyongyang, a Megapolis rose from ashes of the shortest but most devastating nuclear war in history, its name is PAPRIUM. BRUTAL, MASSIVE. You will fight your way through the city with Tug, Alex and Dice. Redefine the word justice, deal with the BLU drug temptation, and more importantly: STAY ALIVE!
Nothing's too grand for the ultimate Mega Drive/Genesis game:
+ Size Shock: 80-MEG, +24 Levels, +5 Playable Characters!
+ Speed Shock: Uncompromized 60fps advanced 16-bit visuals.
+ Sound Shock: 48Khz x 24 channels (FM, PSG, DT128M16VA1LT).
No detail has been compromized:
+ 1 or 2 simultaneous player gameplay.
+ Multiple game modes.
+ Three save slots for a unseen-before brawler size.
PAPRIUM is available for pre-order in two outstanding editions:
+ LIMITED edition, available in three regions (Japanese, Usa, Europe).
+ CLASSIC edition, black clamshell box with black grid design.
Each edition includes the original 80-MEG game cartridge, a full color instruction manual, quality box, multiple goodies and extras. Game is compatible with both PAL and NTSC original Mega Drive / SEGA Genesis game system. Game is region-lock free.
You can pre-order the limited edition version for $89 right now, with worldwide shipping included as standard.
The game is expected to launch on 16th September, and WaterMelon is stressing that this is a limited production run. The first 1988 purchases (a nod to the Mega Drive's Japanese launch year) will get PAPRIUM MANGA VOL.1 for free.
[source facebook.com]
Comments (41)
@SanderEvers And miss out on tiresome "Segalife" comments like the one above? Now why would we ever want to do that?
Looks fantastic. Fingers crossed it will come to Switch.
It's funny, I can look at 16 bit games today and still be impressed by the detail, sizes of the sprites etc.. yet feel nothing when I look at most of the modern games. There's a timeless quality to that 16 bit look that most modern games won't have many years from now.
The game looks potentially pretty great. The sprite art is definitely lovely.
Take note of what an actual cartridge is people, not the game cards of the switch.
#pedantlife
Love this sort of game, Streets of Rage 2 is still my favourite scroling beat email up and the music is ace. This better come to other platforms
@OorWullie Because in truth it's actually better art in many of those old 16 bit games. Sure, technically it's "inferior", but on a purely artistic level it's often leagues above most of the 3D stuff we see these days. The sense of proportion, colour, line of action, key-frames and so on just look great in many of the old 2D games. I've said it for a long time now; I only wish we could see more modern games with pure art this good but simply in full 3D:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARZyiO3F-fI&t=112s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axBRSw0gDWk&index=191&list=FLPRNNGLAaYqhvf_xmif5RiQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAcVrwn2arQ&t=857s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-uIAY6A2h4&index=184&list=FLPRNNGLAaYqhvf_xmif5RiQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFAa3BE8230
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5XzouEglVc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyAHGHo22Og&index=192&list=FLPRNNGLAaYqhvf_xmif5RiQ
These kinds of games could be released today and would still look great, despite being in low resolution. If you tried releasing most of say the N64 or PSX games today they would just look bad because the tech has aged terribly and the art was almost never pretty enough in an of itself to stand the test of time. And, I expect that will be with case with many modern games in a few generations, which will just look dated, although I think we've long since crossed a minimum threshold where they'll probably stand up well enough to still appeal visually in their own way for the most part. But, some of the great 2D game art is basically just that: It's great art in and of itself, and it would be no matter when you look at it. Looking at the great classic 2D art is pretty much like looking at a great cartoon; it should ultimately be near timeless for all intents and purposes, even when the visual medium it's displayed in/on maybe looks a little dated. Snow White is still a visual masterpiece, and it's 80 years old:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XXic2fuObQ
Other than in term of resolution and the amount of animation frames they could reasonably use for the most part, most great 2D games should hold up similarly well 80 years after their release. But try looking at something like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas even now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXXYHKgSfGk
It's perfectly serviceable, but it's not exactly visually appealing; and it's only 13 years old.
So yeah, there's a lot of old 2D art that I simply love, purely because it looks gorgeous.
This is incredibly cool. I wish more people were as bold as these guys. Imagine if more retro consoles were kept alive to this day with a couple of games a year.
@OorWullie Same here. Part of the reason for that is how varied artstyles were back then, along with your brain filling the blanks.
@NintySnesMan yea. I prefer streets of rage 1. Music on that was great
That advert is so 90s its amazing!
@UK-Nintendo
Hey Bro. The SOR trilogy was fantastic, this retro stuff takes me way back into the land of great memories. Cadillac & Dinosaurs is great also
@OorWullie It is also a little unfair to compare since the 16-bit era was the result of 20+ years of 2D artform. While the N64/PSOne era was the infancy of the 3D artform. A more fair comparison would be to look at the best of the SNES era and compare it to the best of the Wii U stuff from Nintendo. I would take a Breath of the Wild just as much as I would take a Yoshi's Island.
It is cool to see that they are still producing stuff for a dead console. I think certain consoles could still be alive if they had content. SNES and Dreamcast are just two that come to mind. At least with the Genesis there is still actual consoles being produced that can take the cartridges thanks that some retro company.
@NintySnesMan old is gold
OMG this game looks AMAZING! Streets of rage much? I love it already!
I'm a sucker for a 2D scrolling beat em up. Would love this for Switch. Would also love some classic arcade ports too from the likes of Capcom and Data East.
I still have my Mega Drive, but can't justify spending £55 on the standard version of this.
I hope that nobody with photo sensitive epilepsy watches that trailer, damn that 16 bit flickering is annoying.
Sega should subsidise WaterMelon as a subsidiary for their retro games.
If anyone is planning on pre-ordering this then here is a 10% off code. Works with both the classic and limited versions.
9902675
Thats a hefty price tag, ill see where it is a year or 2 from now.
Thanks for the support!
Surprise for you.
https://twitter.com/XLuis__MartinsX/status/846751482737295363/photo/1
For anyone who is yet to purchase I have a 10% discount on code: 9750803 for PAPRIUM
The 90's kid in me just has to have this game! I can remember renting Streets of Rage 2 during the summer, and having my friends stay over. Some of my best retro gaming memories come from beat em ups.
I got the countdown email for this yesterday, having purchased a Pier Solar reprint in the past. The game looks really nice. Kind of looks like an early Neo Geo game with the big sprites and that big 80-meg(early Neo Geo games were close to that size) cart. So interesting to see what can be achieved on the old hardware. I thought the trailer could have been better. I'm already familiar with Watermelon. I'm already familiar with Project Y. I don't need all the extra stuff. Just show me more game play.
8973573 Coupon 10% Discount on PAPRIUM game (LIMITED and CLASSIC editions)
298911 Coupon joystick only 5% Discount.
Preorder now at www.magicalgamefactory.com and use codes at checkout
That ad looks epileptotastic!
Wait I thought Project Y was going to be a Super NES game. Did WaterMelon just switch platform?
The game looks great, shame I had to wait almost half the trailer to see actual gameplay instead of shiny man-boob.
@retro_player_22 Project N is the snes one
@Frurry Lol.. guess I mess that up. Thanks man!
Great looking game and as far as I'm concerned, we can never have enough side-scrolling beat em ups, so bring it on. Hope it comes to a Nintendo platform somewhere in the near future.
That name though...
I have no idea what the inspiration for that word was, but to me it sounds like something that you would get from a promiscuous woman and that you would need to get rid of with penicillin or some medicinal ointment...
Great, I've been wondering about Project Y recently.
Any chance we'll see it on the Switch some day?
patiently waited for this.
@Alex16J
not until they make the profit off physical releases lol.
@retro_player_22

nope, thats called project n actually
@Frurry
haha i just noticed you got that
ah well, kudos for great taste
This looks exactly what I want in a beat em up the music and trailer sold it to me too
This would be a lot more interesting if Pier Solar wasn't full of bugs that never got patched.
Lol at the totally nonsensical trailer!
Thanks for the support!
Surprise for you.
https://twitter.com/XLuis__MartinsX/status/846751482737295363/photo/1
@XGoldenboyX
haha whats up man
Pier Solar was a HUGE let down. This looks pretty good for a fighter but I'm not jumping on it...
@SetupDisk yah, and I didn't think the game was all that great.
10% Discount with Coupon 9344034 10% Discount on PAPRIUM game (LIMITED and CLASSIC editions). For anyone. paprium.com
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