Update: In an update on the kickstarter page, Headcannon developer Stealth, (real name Simon Thomley) has confirmed that the crowd funding campaign for Vertebreaker has been cancelled after one week. Calling the campaign a "spectacular failure", he has outlined the problems in the video below.
The developer states that after one week the 16-bit style game raised only 5% of its goal, with momentum dropping to almost nothing. He also goes into detail about his personal circumstances following the success of Sonic Mania, a Darkwing Duck remaster prototype he was working on and how this led to a rushed Vertebreaker campaign. Despite the huge success of Sonic Mania, Thomley as a contractor doesn't see continued sales royalties and he discusses the incorrect perception that he must be wealthy following his involvement with that game.
Vertebreaker certainly looked very promising for fans of that vintage of Mega Drive / Genesis platformers (check out the original story and video below) and Thomley says Headcannon plans to regroup and return with a beefed-up campaign in the future. We wish the whole team well and hope circumstances improve for everyone involved.
Original story: Fri 1st Nov, 2019 12:00 GMT
Developer Headcannon, probably best known for helping bring Sonic the Hedgehog back to his former 16-bit glory with Sonic Mania (along with Christian Whitehead and PagodaWest), has launched a Kickstarter for a 2D platformer reminiscent of classic Mega Drive titles from the early '90s. Vertebreaker sees you take control of a fallen hero who's been reduced to his bones but has the use of a bone-claw grappling hook which helps him traverse levels in style.
The game has been shown previously and uses Headcannon's 'Methyl' engine to simulate the look-and-feel of its 16-bit inspirations. As you can see from the trailer, maintaining momentum through the swinging mechanics appears to be the gameplay 'hook' here. Movement over the ground without the aid of the bony 'hookshot' is relatively sluggish, so you'll have to master swinging through the retro levels if you want to keep your speed up.
Headcannon's lead developer is Simon Thomley, better known by his alias Stealth on the internet, and has plenty of experience with Mega Drive platformers. With Sonic Mania being such a well-received nostalgia trip, it seems that Headcannon is looking to do something similar with Vertebreaker, albeit with new mechanics and a different spin on 16-bit-style platforming.
After a few seconds of the trailer above (and with some excellent FM chiptunes from Michael Staple), it's impossible to think of any system but Sega's Genesis. If you're a fan of that console and games like Ristar and Dynamite Headdy, this could be right up your alley. Obviously, there's a way to go yet - the Kickstarter has only just launched and the Switch port stretch goal sits at an not-inconsiderable $330,000 - but you can download a PC demo via the game's Kickstarter page to find out if Vertebreaker tickles your retro bone.
Are you a fan of 16-bit platformers? Like the look of Vertebreaker? Let us know with a comment below.
[source kickstarter.com]
Comments 73
A Ristar clone from the mania devs?
Sign me up.
330,000 to port to switch....
Wow. Do they not see sale figures on switch.
Seems a tad greedy to insist on that many pressies to port it.
Not interested at backing at all with that stretch goal. Red flag straight away
Hmm, by my reckoning that will require around 20,000 people to back the game which seems unlikely. Having the Switch port as a stretch goal is a fatal mistake I reckon as Switch owners like me will be put off until we get somewhere near the goal, which won't happen without Switch supporters - it's a vicious circle.
I wish them well as Sonic Mania was incredible and I'll happily dip my toe in if the Switch version gets met.
@Stocksy they know what fans typically go in on these Kickstarters, and it’s Nintendo fans. People shamelessly used the Wii U as a far stretch goal too to get things funded with some having been deceptive about it.
After the success of Sonic Mania, I am shocked SEGA doesn't swoop in to publish this title. Head Cannon seems to do what SEGA can't - understand what made the classic SEGA titles so great!
For some reason, the video won't play on my phone. Strange.
I was quick to back this one, it looks really promising.
That said, the target funding goal is very high, I'm hoping they can achieve it, but right now it seems unlikely unless it gets some real good exposure.
@NinChocolate agreed and I refuse to back up that theory at this point I hope it fails. We need to send a message to a few of these companies that they need to alter their practises. Harsh but true
It looks really good, but iv'e backed too many projects of late. if it were being developed for the switch or pS$ from the start i would be all in. Given the popularity of the Switch and of classic styled games on the platform i see this as a huge mistake.
If it gets close to or surpasses the switch stretch goal, I’ll back
Stylistically, this game reminds me of Decap Attack
@mrmememan
I got the same vibe too and almost posted what you said verbatim.
they're gonna have to change the main character's name eventually.
Looks great,it feels like Ristar,though I hope it's a bit easier then Ristar,Ristar was BRUTAL,I could never finish it
I could get behind this. :9
Looks right up my alley, but I'm not into Kickstarter. I will buy it if it makes it to Switch though. I would be surprised if it doesn't find a way, even if this Kickstarter isn't a success.
Like others have said, it has a definite Decap Attack vibe.
Looks like Ristar + Decap Attack + Castlevania. Sign me up.
@Scorchio
It's nice to see people know what Ristar is, wish that game had a sequel.
I like retro gaming but this looks way toooo retro, as in gameplay and characters could be a genesis game but not a classic one, they've leaned into it to far.
Aren't these guys millionaires after Sonic Mania? Why do they need kickstarter? Did SEGA not pay them?
@Stocksy Wow, it's almost like R&D for porting an in-development engine to a console that 2/3rds of the programmers have never developed on takes time and money, and they'll most likely have to hire some outside help to make sure it goes smoothly.
@gojiguy I'm amazed Sega don't have them working on a sequel, but then that would be expecting Sega to make sensible decisions, something they've always managed to avoid doing in the past (and I still love them for it).
@mrmememan I loved Decap Attack, wasn't sure anyone else out there remembered it!
@gojiguy you severely over-estimate how much game developers make. Especially outside contractors like the Mania team. The only people who make bank in the gaming industry are the people at the top.
I don't back kickstarters, no matter how much they intrigue me. I'll show my support by buying it if it interests me. But that's as far as I'll ever go.
Watched the video, I'm getting Bubsy with a whip vibes. Which isn't good. I'll pass.
After the dismal failure of Sonic Mania, a game which nobody bought, poor and out of luck they had to go to Kickstarter to beg for money. Oh, and those 16-bit games aren't cheap to make, this has 6 whole levels so that's going to cost at least $45,000 per level.
@MisterKorman You are most welcome.
@Nintendo_Thumb I've heard Sonic Mania was pretty good.
@Tempestryke ...how the heck do you get Bubsy vibes form it? This is structured NOTHING like Bubsy.
@Nintendo_Thumb well first of all it's paying 8 people's salary for about a year's worth of work which is about $34,375 per person for level design, AND sound design, AND music design, AND graphical design, AND programming, AND R&D, all of whom are independent contractors. And second of all, Mania has sole over a million copies at this point, which is fairly successful by small third-party standards. But that doesn't matter since the Mania devs were contracted for fixed rates and don't get anything for the revenue SEGA makes.
So it is a roguelike then? Take my money
@Boring-Ol-Steve Thank you, your comment restored my faith in this community. There's just too many opinions here that don't understand how game development (or just plain software development works), or what having stretch goals means. It's not just that porting to Switch requires that much money, it's that also having a Switch port in development concurrently before launch requires additional resources.
Currently not in a place where I have a lot of money coming in, so can't back. Also not a huge fan of skeletons...
Hey, if they are doing this, seems like Sega didn't hire them to make Sonic Mania 2.
Or did they?
Richard Boehner 😂 That's pretty jokes. Game looks fun to play
@Boring-Ol-Steve I think he's referring to Bubsy 2, which had a non-linear layout and extremely fast pace.
@Severian It's almost like we're in sync
the name sounds brutal but i love the look of both the art and gameplay. MC's last name is boner...
Not gonna back it but will buy it if it ever did release either for Switch or 3DS.
Poor guy. Lump sum work is good if you need the money all at once but if the game takes off, not having those royalties means you miss out on life-altering amounts of money. Let’s face it, a whole lot of companies were started on the back of one successful game and if he’d had those royalties, this might be a different story.
It's funny how many comments going on about how he must be a millionaire when the video specifically talks about he's very much not, and explains why he doesn't see any more money from Sonic Mania than he was paid during its development.
It wouldn't matter if it sold a thousand copies or 10 million copies, he made the same amount of money either way.
@Branovices The video was added recently, these comments are from last week. Still, it goes to show that we shouldn’t assume people actually make any money in this industry.
It wasn’t a epic failure because a few people questioned how much money he had. His lack of personal wealth is no excuse for what always was a terrible crowdfunding campaign which is why it failed. It was an epic failure because it was completely handled wrong. Using switch Version as a MASSIVE stretch goal will put people off and even though people @ me saying “no greed here” yes it is. Switch was clearly a massive target market and should have been included in the main campaign if that had put 300k on target I’d have had no issue. The fact a can back this and they can fall a few grand short of the stretch goal and I get no switch version that’s an issue.
Crowd funding is great. Random holding stretch goals are not.
Stretch goals for free DLC, different modes, extras characters.... all good.
Stretch goals for a format. No thanks. Sorry not sorry. No sympathy for him.
Wow $330,000? Destine for failure. You can sub contract a bunch of Brazilians for $30k. It's not a rushed campaign that killed it.
The Kickstarter should have been entirely switch with PC as a stretch. Indie sells better on switch by a massive margin and PS4 is practically dead with ps5 all but announced. I wouldn't commence development on an indie title for PS4 now, ps5 has to be 12 months away if not less. Switch offers a stable platform for at least 5 more years, no brainer!
I wish I could say I cared but I’m honestly getting burned out on all these retro-platformers and Metroidvanias. Plus Kickstarter, so...
@gojiguy I'm surprised sega didnt hire them on full time for other projects
@gojiguy didn't bother to watch any of the video huh? He literally responds to your exact question...
@Supadav03 No such thing as too many Metroidvanias
That's heartbreaking. I admit I didn't even notice the original news post.
Who on earth is calling it "ransom"? Scum who probably consider paying for things wrong. That's who. And this is only technically a pre-order. The amount was strictly to fund their lives while they make the game exist within two years. The only profit depended on finishing it faster or sales on top of the thousands getting their copy for backing it. That's literally what art for it's own sake is you selfish entitled buttheads.
@Trmn8r But he commented last Friday back when this story was posted originally without the video update. He couldn't have.
I hope they can sort things out, but my indie game is set to be released in early 2020 and it's got a grappling hook that looks similar to theirs (it's been in development for over 2 years now). I've been working solo, with money I raised myself without a kickstarter campaign, and even if I wanted to, I don't think I could start a KS because I live in Brazil, and there are KS rules that deny me that ability based on that fact. Anyway, I hope I can somehow start a KS campaign post game launch just to make a switch version of the game. Here's a link for wishlisting to anyone interested https://twitter.com/bitinkstudios/status/1172224025340317696
It honestly doesn't look bad from the video they had out for the kickstarter (above). I am mildly interested. I think it just needs a bit more polish and a little more flare to the art to push it over the edge.
@Supadav03 This could have been more on the Shovel Knight/Shantae: Half-Genie Hero side of the Kickstarter spectrum rather than the ReVeN/Mighty No. 9 side.
If they relaunch the campaign after the holiday season, I'll consider backing, but my wallet is on lockdown for the month.
@nesrocks This.... looks really fun. Not going to lie.
@Popplio Well, double thanks then ^^
That's a shame, hope this doesn't discourage him from continuing to make 16-bit games. Also hopefully Mania 2 gets announced soon here.
The idea that he'd be very wealthy from working on Sonic Mania is certainly humorous. That would never even cross my mind. I think doing game campaigns on Kickstarter has only gotten tougher as many games have poisoned the well. Even Bloodstained, as well received as it was, had major problems during the campaign and since launch. They've irritated a lot of their backers with that one, myself included and I plan to avoid Iga, Artplay, and 505 Games going forward. I'm also less likely to back any games on Kickstarter. Another game I considered backing, Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, also seems to have died a quiet death, so I seem to have dodged a bullet there. Maybe I'd consider contributing to Yacht Club and Wayforward, but that's about it at this point.
Aww, why didn't he let the campaign play out, and maybe promote it more throughout the window? I was going to fund it, but had just saved it to come back to later because I was busy the day I first read about it...
@nesrocks So does hitting the rival slow them down, allowing you to gain a lead or catch up?
@Jayofmaya Yep! The gameplay is balanced so the player who's ahead has to naturally deal with more enemies and whatnot, so the game stays competitive throughout.
@nesrocks Nice. Looks great! What platforms you planning if all goes well on Steam?
Thank you! My top priority is the Switch, of course. I have a soft spot for the NES but that one is difficult to pull off. Gotta prioritise.
Can't say the main character was something I could get behind. Pretty boring and bland. It just looks like they put new sprites on the sonic mania engine and said yeah lets make him slower with a whip
@nesrocks That game looks great. But, I don't have anyone to play with, so, I hope it has online vs, or at least some good a.i. opponents.
@Nintendo_Thumb That's my case too, I rarely have someone to play with. The whole idea for this project was to develop a convincing AI. I think it's pretty good! I should probably advertise that better though. In fact, I should probably advertise everything better, I'm not that good in that area ^^
Too bad the guy knows how to make a good game
Oh, well whatever.
Nevermind.
Hopefully this game still comes to switch. It looks really good, and I love old school kind of games. That goal was really high for a port though
At least they did this early rather than rip people off a la mighty no 9 (still no 3ds copy nor contact to switch to PC) or Zold:Out (2 weeks open beta online only this year, and once they close you can't play; 2nd beta wasn't even in English).
Part of the very difficult job of getting games made and sold successfully is trying to understand the completely reactionary and fickle set of consumers that are most likely to spend money or support a game. This is partly because that group is often completely clueless about the perspective of people who make games.
Gamers, publishers, the industry, and market forces are all complicit in making this odd mishmash of options for supporting/buying games that all try to hide the costs. The result is an overall devaluing of games to the wider audience, in my opinion.
It takes passionate fans to support hard working people like Simon, here, with a promising project like this one, because it is doesn't fit a typical publisher model. Still think it could find the right-sized audience to make it a success if it could be funded first.
It's a shame it has gone this way and there was a mismatch in expectations.
Yes, this reminds me a lot of Ristar and it looks amazing. I really hope they won't cancel the game altogether, it looks great!
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