Phantom Gear: A New Game For The Genesis
Bits Rule, a new indie game studio located in Buenos Aires, is working on a blast from the lost past — a new Sega Genesis game. The Mega Drive (the name of the Genesis everywhere except the US) was hugely popular in Argentina, and the team at Bits wished to revitalize the machine they grew up with. So, they’re taking a whack at making a brand-new Genesis game.
Titled Phantom Gear, its mechanics should feel familiar — it’s an arcade action platformer reminiscent of the Genny greats like Dynamite Headdy and Ristar. The game will be 32 megs large (which was big in the mid-90s). Five big worlds crammed with challenging bosses are in the works. Now Bits has launched a Kickstarter to cover the cost of publishing Phantom Gear in proper fashion.
In an expedition to the ruins of a forgotten civilization, Dr. Valentine and Engineer Agnis discover an Ancient Artifact that is the container of great source of energy. Thanks to this discovery, Valentine And Agnis used the Artifact to create new technologies to improve humanity.
But a Phantom from the past started to move again and generate chaos in the World. From this chaos came a faction that wanted to weaponize the Artifact – the Ocular Force.
In one of their attacks on the laboratory of Valentine and Agnis, Ocular Force succeed in stealing a small piece of the Artifact. Unfortunately, in that attack Agnis also lost her life, leaving her daughter Josephine alone in the world.
Valentine decided to adopt the daughter of her friend and complete the work of Agnis – a set of combat armor for Josephine, so she could defend herself, and the future!
Access to the game is as cheap as a $15 pledge — you will get the digital ROM for that price, plus the soundtrack and a PDF of the manual. But the main reason this Kickstarter exists is to produce a physical cartridge complete with box and manual. The cartridge costs a $50 pledge, while upping it to $70 gets you the works — the cart, the box, the manual, a poster insert, three postcards, and your name in the credits.
In just a week, Bits Rule has already amassed two thirds of its funding goal. Help them reach it by pledging before August 15. If you need to try before you buy, a Phantom Gear demo can be downloaded here.