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A new Commodore 64 is launching later this week from the developers of Gremlin Graphics games like Bounder, Re-Bounder, Bulldog, Future Knight, and Skate Crazy.
Thin Ice is expected to release tomorrow (Thursday, July 22nd) and is being developed by Christian Shrigley & Terry Lloyd, both of whom worked at Gremlin Graphics and later went on to develop games for Core Design, the creators of Tomb Raider.
It is described as "a fun new arcade action experience for the Commodore 64," and features a simple plot about an Ice Dragon, called Binky, whose home is suddenly invaded by "all manner of nasties," leading them to step up to eliminate the threat. With the player's guidance, Binky will explore the various caverns he calls home, pushing ice blocks around the stage to crush any nasties they see, and collecting bonus letters to activate their fire breath ability.
On the surface, the goal of each stage is simple: defeat the nasties and head for the exit before the timer runs out. But there are also several variations in how these enemies behave, with some of the Nasties chasing Binky, while others wander aimlessly, or explode if you get too close. This should hopefully give the game a bit of longevity, with players being rewarded with higher scores for learning the behaviour of each, and reacting accordingly.
The game is being published by Thalamus Digital, who previously helped distribute great Amiga games like Roguecraft, Return To Blacktooth, and Cecconoid, and will be released tomorrow as a D64 file, which is compatible with C64 emulators and hardware devices such as the C64 Ultimate and C64 Mini.
As Thalamus tells us, though, a physical edition is also coming soon, with the game's cover art created by another industry veteran, Simon Phipps, whose name is likely familiar to fans of both Core Design and Gremlin.
Here's the link to the store page. A price has not yet been revealed.