Dragonbox owner Michael Mrozek – who some of you might remember from the OpenPandora and Pyra hardware projects – has opened a crowdfunding campaign for one of the most ambitious 'new retro' projects we've seen in a long time.

PSCD Games' Black Jewel Reborn is an action platformer with serious Rastan vibes, but incredibly, it is in development for four different retro systems: Mega Drive / Genesis, SNES, NES and Game Boy.

The 'reborn' part of the title relates to the fact that this is a remake of an existing indie game called (you've guessed it) Black Jewel. The team worked with creator Oscar Selestini to port the game to the Mega Drive, improving the presentation and adding in a second character in the form of the Amazonian warrior Julia.

The campaign is seeking €40,000 to finish the production of the game, with the Mega Drive version being around 80% complete at present. The graphics for NES and GameBoy versions are 20% complete, while the game engines and music are fully written. The SNES version will be based on the Mega Drive version, with improved visual effects and music being added.

It's worth noting that the team behind the game, PSCD, is located in a country which is not yet supported by Kickstarter, so Mrozek is running the crowdfunding campaign via his own account. "We've been working with PSCD Games for some time and are happy to support the development of new games for classic consoles," Mrozek says.

It's all looking rather nice, but will you be pledging some cash? There's a demo available if you'd like to give it a spin before you lay down your money.

[source kickstarter.com]