Shera And The 40 Thieves: New NES Game Launches Kickstarter
Retro game maker CrazyGroupTrio has put over two years of work into Shera And The 40 Thieves, a new NES game that crosses Donkey Kong with Prince of Persia to create a solidly entertaining experience. Now the Kickstarter is active, and it’s earned its initial goal in just two days.
Once there was a half-genie named Shantae Shera,whose powers of purity were discovered and quickly coveted by the evil wizard Malice. Malice was already wreaking havoc on the community, but he knew he would be even more powerful if he added Shera’s magic to his own, so he ordered his 40 thieves to kidnap her. Now he’s busy performing the ritual to absorb Shera into his body and become the ultimate menace, and only Sarzha, Shera’s son, can stop him.
Thing is, Sarzha doesn’t seem to have inherited any of his mother’s powers. While that kept him off Malice’s radar, it also means he’s relying on pure skill to get past Malice’s traps. There’s a bigger problem: the time limit. It isn’t level-specific, it’s a Prince Of Persia style countdown that progresses through the whole game. You must hone your skills and jump through all of Malice’s defenses within that limit to save Mom and therefore the world.
We’ve played the Shera demo. This is an NES game you want in your collection, whether it’s digital or physical you’re after. The gameplay is very addictive — and difficult, in the classic NES sense. But it’s hard in a fair way, not in the “computer cheats and you want to throw the controller across the room” sort of way. Git gud, as it’s spelled, and you can make it through the dozens of stages in time.
A digital copy of Shera And The 40 Thieves costs a $10 pledge. A physical copy by itself costs a $35 pledge, and a boxed version with manual and stuff costs $55 (or $50 if you make the Early Bird pledge in time). The campaign will be active until June 19, and the game will be released this October. Don’t miss this one — Shera is challenging fun.