Successful Kickstarter 'Kero Quest 64' Could Come To The Switch Successor

I've said it before, but indie 3D platforners are quickly becoming a dime a dozen, and I can't keep up anymore. This game might end up being fantastic, but I don't have the time or the money to invest in every one of these projects that gets announced. At one time, my goal was to own every 3D platformer that comes to Switch, but I think I'll have to let that dream die.

Best of luck to the developers, though. I wish then all the success in the world, because if I ever learned game design, I would want to make a 3D platformer too. 10 years ago, the indie market was oversaturated with 8-bit games, but now, 64-bit is the new 8-bit, I guess.

I still say too many 3D platformers is a good problem to have. I'd rather have this than to go back to how things were in 2015 when the only 3D platformers were Mario, which just kept getting more linear, and Sonic, which just kept being mediocre. But now we're reaching market saturation, and they're all starting to look kind of the same to me.

@Liam_Doolan

uh, did you mean to say “magical shards” in paragraph 5 there? I had to do a double take.

“magical sharts” are what you get from eating gas station sushi.

love the site!

Interesting, looks like a Frogger 3D style platformer if the game is a generation behind the PS2 version.

Eh, doesn't look that good or unique/interesting, no offense.

@Not_Soos I think the main issue is that 99% of them are not good enough.
This one looks too unpolished... also there is nothing more ugly than an upscaled n64 game. in their situation i would have kept the resolution down and add more things, that look like n64 but havn't been possible on tha actual machine (like more moving grass etc).

Love the N64 style so much 😍

@jojobar

Yeah, that's true. There are some indie platformers that stand out--I absolutely adored A Hat in Time, for example. But a lot of others are just... fine. Like, I played the first would of Demon Turf, and although I know people really love that game, it did nothing for me so I put it down and have yet to pick it up.

Cavern of Dreams had some cool ideas, but I beat it in just a couple days and don't see myself ever really revisiting it. I've heard good things about Corn Kidz 64, but it just looks the same as Cavern of Dreams, so I haven't picked it up. There's one coming out this year about like an uncanny-looking bear that makes me feel uncomfortable. It has the Demon Turf aesthetic where it tries to be Paper Mario with a 2D sprite in a 3D plain, but it's just off-putting to look at. I could go on.

I'm admittedly really excited for Yooka-Replaylee, though. I think that's probably because of the pedigree behind it and because the visuals actually look modern and not super low-poly or an awkward blend of 2D and 3D. It actually feels triple-A, and maybe that's an unfair standard to put on indie companies that don't have the same budget or experience. But as a consumer, I can't help it if there are better options out there.

Admittedly, this game looks like it could be fun, but I can't help but see that it doesn't really do anything that hasn't already been done before. I'm curious to see the reviews for this one.

@Not_Soos I recognize so much of what you say, but with Metroidvanias... There are just too many to keep up and hence, I quit trying to and started the obligatory cherry picking process instead.

@jojobar this is not unpolished... at all. Level design of the three levels in the demo is good and controls are great, two fundamental aspects in a 3D platformer. I don't think there are too many 3D platformers nowadays. Really, there are not that many (not many as metroidvanias for example), especially good ones, and this seems pretty promising.

Because the Switch 2 is going to be compatible with Switch games of course it's going to be on the new one.

Love me a good 3D platformer, but as someone who grew up with the PSone/N64, I must say I have no love for the "low-poly" look and wish fewer indies were going for it these days.

Totally get that budget is an issue with these developers though. And this particular game does look pretty neat.

@Pillowpants

I've never been a big metroidvania guy, but I can definitely see that. I think the problem is, indie studios often don't have the biggest budgets to work with and metroidvanias are very economical. It's a genre that involves a lot of backtracking, so you can pad out a game to be 10, 15, 20 hours despite the amount of content actually being fairly miniscule. This is why I think roguelikes have become so popular as well--which is another genre I'm not a fan of.

Even pixel art and low-poly art is in many cases chosen, I think, less because the developers were just super inspired to make a game in this particular aesthetic and more because it was cheaper and easier for them to develop. Like, if the people at Yacht Club Games had 100 million dollars, for example, would they still have made Shovel Knight look like an NES game? Personally, I doubt it. It's less about passion for the aesthetic and more about necessity, in my humble opinion. Paper Mario-esque games, too; I imagine it's a lot easier to make 2D sprites on a 3D plain than to rig a bunch of 3D animated models.

That's not to say Shovel Knight isn't still great for what it is, or that the developers weren't big fans of games like DuckTales and Super Mario Bros 3. But I think the vast majority of gamers would say that even the best-looking 8-bit game isn't all that aesthetically pleasing if they're being honest with themselves and not letting nostalgia cloud their judgment.

This might be a hot take, I'm not sure, lol.

Well of course this game would go directly to the Switch 2. There's no way the original Switch could run this properly.

Oh look. News about a thing that's been officially announced (and named). What a novel idea.

@Not_Soos
Whats so good about a Hat in time then? And what are your favourite 3d platformers this gen? Which ones would you say are standouts?

I love 3d platformers and you seem to be a specialist so I'd be happy to take any recommendation.

@Not_Soos I am a big fan of pixel art, so I suppose it might be a bit of a hot take, but I can really appreciate pixel art and animation. But I understand where you're coming from. In the end we're all collectors and fans of video games and Nintendo, that's why we are part of this community.

Which retro looking game with N64/PS1 graphics is going to be the first to struggle to hit 30fps on the new system? Bonus points if it runs on Unity, bonus bonus points if it also struggles on PS5.

this looks pretty good, but, actually looks too much like Mario 64. I mean, aesthetically. if you swapped out the frog character for Mario, most people would be fooled by screenshots, ya know? that's a problem. games need to be unique enough to pass that test.

@Not_Soos actually Shovel Knight was always intended to have NES style graphics even before the kickstarter

@mlt

A Hat in Time is probably the closest I've seen a non-Nintendo 3D platformer come to capturing the magic of Mario. In a lot of ways, the game is a spiritual successor to Sunshine. The game is fully voice-acted and has a ton of memorable characters. The plot is really funny, it feels like you're watching a cartoon. In fact, I'd love to see an animated adaptation of A Hat in Time.

The music is top-notch, and I appreciate that the game doesn't go with 64-bit graphics like so many other indie platformers. A Hat in Time looks more like a GameCube game, which is my favorite era and one that I think still holds up well visually. The physics are super satisfying; Hat Kid has a really floaty double jump, which you can link together with a dive move for some crazy Super Mario Odyssey-esque maneuvers. Lots of gameplay variety, too--one level is straight up horror and gave me a legit panic attack the first time I played it, lol. The Switch version has some pretty serious performance issues though, so I would recommend playing it on other hardware instead.

Most of my favorite 3D platformers this generation are remakes of the games I grew up with as a kid, so I'm probably a little biased. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Spyro Reignited Trilogy, Pac-Man World Re-Pac, SpongeBob: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated... I think Ty the Tasmanian Tiger is also super underrated, so maybe look into those as well. Bowser's Fury is excellent and one of my favorite Mario experiences ever, so I'd say it's worth double-dipping even if you've played 3D World. Crash 4 was really great and captures a lot of the spirit of the originals, but I wouldn't recommend going for 100 percent. Sonic Frontiers was a solid time, despite being a little unpolished; I loved the open-world exploration and environmental puzzle-solving.

As far as indie 3D platformers besides A Hat in Time that really resonated with me, a couple come to mind. The first is Clive 'N' Wrench, which is honestly pretty much the Banjo-Threeie people have wanted for ages. The controls are super good, there's 10 different sandbox levels to explore that are super expensive and filled with collectibles. Nintendo Life gave it a pretty bad review score that I thought was super harsh. The game had some issues at launch and wasn't the most polished experience ever, but they've since patched a lot of that out. Another one I'd recommend is Poi, which isn't the best-looking game in terms of graphics, to be honest. But it feels a lot like Super Mario 64 and sells for like 10 bucks when it isn't even on discount.

If you have an Xbox or PlayStation, the Psychonauts games are fantastic. They have the best story of any 3D platformer I've ever played, with a lot of genuine surprises. The gameplay variety is also great, it's voice acted by several prominent actors from cartoons I grew up on like Richard Horvitz, who played in Invader Zim and The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. It's a very cool, Tim Burton-esque game that does a shockingly good job at portraying mental health, especially in the second game, and the worlds which all take place in different people's subconscious are all really unique.

Also on PlayStation, the Sly Cooper games are fantastic and, of course, Astro Bot. Jak and Daxter was much childhood, so I really love the first game in particular; Jak II and III go a completely different direction that I didn't care for, but the Daxter spinoff game is a solid return to form.

Definitely looks the part, and may end up being a good addition to the genre. Just not my interest anymore.