Battle Kid: Fortress of Peril has blasted onto the Xbox. It was released on physical NES carts over ten years ago and has been resurrected by new indie publisher 8-Bit Legit. The game was originally developed by Jordan Ordorica of Sivak Games. The fledgling publisher is headed up by Tim Hartman and he has kindly taken some time to give me some insight into the game and what they plan to do next. The release is available now on Xbox with more ports planned for the future. Tim starts by telling me a little about 8-Bit Legit.
‘8-Bit Legit is a new publishing venture that is taking 8-bit games to modern consoles. In addition to seeking and signing games for us to publish, I work on the porting process, marketing, store asset creation, social media, trailers, game achievements/trophies, build testing and anything else that needs done basically. If you want to narrow it down, you could say I’m a founding partner.’ It sounds like Tim keeps himself busy but what about Battle Kid itself? What kind of game is it and what can we expect?
‘Battle Kid: Fortress of Peril is one of those games that’s so important to the NES dev scene and was one of the first games we went after to publish with 8-Bit Legit. Jordan’s game design is fantastic and it’s no wonder the game is still relevant twelve years from its original release. Players can expect a tough-as-nails platformer with seemingly endless possible ways to die. The game has five difficulty settings and arcade and story modes. The game has 550 action-packed rooms with more than thirty enemy types and eight bosses.’
I always like to ask why gamers would be interested in new games designed for old consoles and Tim explains that ‘old games on new consoles is something we really love in gaming. These releases help people without actual cartridge-based hardware experience the indie gems in all their glory. Modern consoles give us a chance to add some bells and whistles to the games as well like achievements (Xbox), swappable borders and in-game manuals. We love being able to shed light on games and open them up to a new audience that might never have discovered these titles.’
Tim also explains that he has worked with larger publishers such as Mega Cat Studios and showcased games at large conventions such as PAX. ‘It blew us away at the response we got for our little 8-Bit games that found themselves right next to dazzling modern games. Even at an event like that, thousands of people took notice of our games. It really helped us build the scene and put new eyes on this developing movement of NES developers. It helped us get the confidence we needed to start 8-Bit Legit.’
There is more to come as well form 8-Bit Legit as Tim confirms ‘we have a slew of publishing agreements signed that include a lot of well-known NES homebrew games that have flourished on cartridge. Look for our announcement soon on the next game we will be taking to Xbox.’ And he ends thanking those that make it possible. ‘We cannot thank everyone enough for the support we have been receiving. It shows that 8-Bit games are still relevant and desired even on modern consoles. We are continuing to add to our porting process and always welcome feedback or suggestions.’
Thank you to Tim for speaking to me on behalf of 8-Bit Legit. Battle Kid; Fortress of Peril is out now on Xbox.
