by A promising new sci-fi action arcade platformer for the NES has recently launched on Kickstarter and has already hit its funding target, with 18 days left in its campaign.
BioCreeps is a new project from the pixel artist Nate Ehlers, who is co-designing the game alongside the experienced NES programmer Łukasz Kur (Gruniożerca Trilogy, The Cowlitz Gamers Adventure, Mystery World Dizzy).
It takes place in 1992 and sees players take control of two government-hired mercenaries, Rod and Todd, who are tasked with freeing Earth from a bunch of alien creeps by infiltrating their base, and kicking out the "creeps".
BioCreeps is designed for 1-2 players and features 5 zones in total, with 80 levels — each of which is said to include its own unique enemies, obstacles, and a boss.
Interestingly, though, in a slight twist from your typical NES platforming fare, the idea here isn't to run left to right, jumping on whatever moves, as you only stun enemies while on the ground. Instead, players are encouraged to spend most of their time airborne, using their shotguns to propel themselves skyward, to perform acrobatic displays of violence.
Here's the official description for the project:
"Blast your way into an exciting arcade platformer where the only way to defeat your enemies is to shoot them from above! ...Grab a friend and start pulverizing a variety of disgusting Creeps! Collect cash throughout the levels to purchase end-of-zone upgrades and special moves."
According to the Kickstarter information, the game originally began life as a solo project by Ehlers for the NESMaker Byte-Off II game jam, but over the last few years, it has since "blossomed" into something more ambitious, which is why Kur was brought on board to help out. Outside the core team of two, there are also other people who have contributed to the project, including David Ehlers (Nate's dad), who apparently learned FamiStudio just for this game to compose the soundtrack.
It is currently at 95% complete, with all that's left being the final beta testing, along with "the visual & level polishing that go along with that process." Once that is done, manufacturing will begin, with the current estimate for the release date being January 2027.
If you fancy securing a copy of the game for yourself, the digital ROM edition of the game is priced at $10, with a cart-only version costing $45 and the complete-in-box edition listed at $65.
You can find out more about the project here.