We first noticed Under The Island almost two years ago, when its debut trailer brought all kinds of happy memories from the glory days of GBA Zelda flooding back. This weekend, Top Hat Studios and Slime King Games showcased even more of their upcoming Minish Cap-like, and announced that it'll arrive on Switch on 17th February.
As you'll see in the above release date trailer (narrated by none other than our good friend Jon Cartwright, we might add), the GBA charm is strong with this one — that opening dungeon looks more than a little like Deepwood Shrine, no? But that's not to say that it's without interesting mechanics of its own.
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The top-down adventure game sees you play as Nia, an intrepid explorer who sets out to save Seashell Island from its sinking fate. It's got the usual block sliding and button pressing puzzles that we'd expect to see from a Zelda-like, but we're also particularly interested in the 'Treat Bag' item that we spotted in the above trailer, which lets you befriend or otherwise utilise wild animals' abilities to solve problems. Come on, who doesn't like a smiling pixel art dog?
Here's a rundown of the game's key features and a handful of screenshots from its eShop listing:
DISCOVER THE LEGEND OF WHAT'S UNDER THE ISLAND!
Uncover a sinking mystery and step into the role of Nia, a newcomer to Seashell Island - and join forces with local girl Avocado to investigate an ominous fate - the island's destined to sink beneath the ocean! Explore colorful regions, battle strange creatures, and uncover the ancient mysteries that could threaten your new home.CLASSIC TOP-DOWN ADVENTURE
Journey across a lush island, brought to life with vibrant pixel art and timeless top-down exploration. Delve into hidden corners, uncover secrets, and face dangerous foes across diverse, interconnected biomes.SIX DISTINCT REGIONS TO EXPLORE
From eerie sentient greenhouses, to frozen caverns, and chaotic sawmills, each biome holds its own dangers, upgrades, and treasures to uncover! Become the champion of the cook-off, reunite lost cats, and dodge the rage of the cereal pirates.STRANGE ENEMIES & UNUSUAL TACTICS
Face off against vomiting eggplants, tunnelling wolves, and other bizarre creatures. Use artefacts, loot, and new abilities you discover to turn the tide of battle. Befriend animals and see if they can help you on your adventure - particularly if you give them treats!A CAST OF MEMORABLE CHARACTERS
Meet the island’s quirky inhabitants, each with their own personality, story, and a role to play in your adventure. Forge friendships, lend a hand, and see how they can aid you in return.
Under the Island arrives on the Switch eShop in just a few weeks for £17.99 / $19.99.
What do you make of the GBA vibes in this one? Will you be checking it out later this month? Let us know in the comments.





Comments 13
Wow, this one also looks pretty good! Will keep an eye on it, let's see how the reviews are.
By the way, that voice from the trailer sounds familiar.
Looks pretty good to me! Ive been itching to play a game like this, so ill throw it on the wishlist for now.
Watched the trailer before reading the article. Immediately recognized the narrator. Minish Cap is my favorite 2D Zelda game. Anything that looks and plays like it will get my attention.
This looks cute.
This is the kind of retro look I love.
There is a demo of the game on Steam.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1583520/Under_The_Island/
If there's one man with vocal tones that can sell me on a game alone, then it's Jon's. XD
wishlisted
There's a demo up on Steam if anyone's got the means to play it. I'll be giving it a go after work as this definitely looks like my type of game.
edit: @ShadLink beat me to it 😁
Recognized Jon's voice immediately, nice that he's the narrator of this trailer - the game itself looks pretty good to me as well, definitely interested in seeing/hearing more of it and most likely eventually playing it myself!
Added to Steam wish list. I'll check out the demo on my Steam Deck OLED and wait for a sale on this one.
I’ll keep my eye on it.
Looks great!! I'm glad it is like Zelda but also kind of doing its own thing.
Neat. This looks pretty solid. I’ll try out the demo on Steam and hopefully this one’s the first true hit of the year for me. It looks like it could be.
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