The recent Game Boy frenzy continues as a brand new GBA title, Goodboy Galaxy, smashed its Kickstater this week. Not only does this mean we will get a physical release but stretch goals mean even more goodies for backers. I chat to Goodboy Galaxy creator Ric Nicol about the upcoming release. The Kickstarter is currently running and you can pre-order your copy today over at First Press Games. Just before we hear from the team behind the game it’s worth noting that a playable demo is available and gives a glimpse into just how great this upcoming platform shooter is going to be.
The game is also set for a Switch and PC port but its the physical GBA cart I want to get my hands on! I played through the demo recently to get a feel for how the game is shaping up and was impressed. You play as a dog who has landed on a strange planet that is waking up after a two year slumber. You make friends who help you traverse the levels as well as giving you upgrades and items needed to progress. The platforming is sharp and the shooting fun. I was enjoying working out the light-touch puzzles and exploring the world. The little cutscenes featured between the levels are also excellent. There are plenty of secrets to be found as well, it looks as though there will be a lot of re-playability.
Jeremy and I met while working at a mobile game studio in the Netherlands. We both love playing and making games, and often did game jams together – me as an Artist and him on the code side. The first prototype version of Goodboy Galaxy was our ludum Dare Jam game “Goodboy Advance”.
How did you decide that you wanted to start work on a new GBA title?
Funny character based games were a big inspiration for me – I really love Crowtel Renovations by SinksAdventure and Pikuniku (by Arnaud De Bock, Remi Forcadell, Alan Zucconi, Calum Bowen). We decided to have the mini ‘quests’ based on how much we enjoyed those in Link’s Awakening, and Jeremy is a huge Yoshi’s Island fan (he insisted I make a cave level with waterfalls based on his love for that level). We’re also both massive fans of Spelunky (by Derek Yu) and it’s thoughtful approach to game design was a big inspiration.
Besides me and Jeremy, we also hired another ex-colleague of ours to do some additional character designs (Emi Monseratti), and a fantastic animator who I met over twitter (Jesse Zhang) who’s helped me with the trailer. For the full game we’ll probably get a couple more friends to help out too.