New Mega Drive game Xeno Crisis smashes Kickstarter goal

Contra/Super Smash TV like destroys it’s Kickstarter goal in one week.

The news of this one surprised me.  A new Mega Drive/Dreamcast game in 2017?  Clearly it surprised and hyped many others, as within just one week, Xeno Crisis has almost doubled it’s campaign target of £20,000 ($28,800).

Xeno Crisis is an arena shooter that takes inspiration from the likes of Smash TV, Contra, Mercs, Granada, Alien Syndrome, Zombies Ate My Neighbours, Chaos Engine, and Shock Troopers.  Despite launching in 2017, visually, you’d be forgiven for thinking it launched back in the 90s.  And that’s a compliment, not a complaint.  Bucket-fulls of nostalgia come at no extra cost – merely by watching the trailer I feel myself thrown back into my early childhood.  Shooting up baddies with a friend whilst playing on the same screen has never been the same since Mega Drive games.

Like the arena shooters it’s inspired by, Xeno Crisis operates with 8 directional movement and shooting.  Your ammo is limited, however weapons can be plucked from the many corpses you leave in your wake.  Dog tags can also be collected, in order to purchase upgrades, though I’m not sure what need the Xenomorph looking creatures have of them.  To modernise the genre, each room is procedurally generated, keeping you on your toes with each play through.

Developers Bitmap Bureau say of their ambitions:

We want the game to look, feel and sound like the classic Mega Drive games of the ’80s and ’90s, but also add some new elements that weren’t so common in games of that era.  Achieving that classic look and feel is vitally important to us, which is why we’ve teamed up with legendary pixel artist Henk Nieborg, who previously worked on the Mega Drive title “The Misadventures Of Flink”, developed by Psygnosis.

Xeno Crisis is scheduled for release in time with the Sega Mega Drive’s 30th birthday in October 2018, and I couldn’t think of a better birthday present.  If you’re interested in the Xeno Crisis Kickstarter campaign you can still show your support.  Pledges of £15 ($20) or more will be rewarded with a ROM file of the game to be played via an emulator, as well as the original sound track.  If you still have a Dreamcast kicking around, you can receive a physical copy of the game on CD for £30 or more.