Pocket Universes

Showcasing handheld gaming and REPLACED

Pocket Universes
Source: SUPERJUMP.

👋 Hi there! Welcome to the latest edition of SUPERJUMP Weekly. This week, we're celebrating handheld gaming with a series of features that explore different platforms and games (including some notorious attempts to take on Nintendo's mighty Game Boy). In this issue, we also showcase the works of Jade Hadfield and feature REPLACED in our latest On the Radar update.

We hope you enjoy this issue. Please consider becoming a Backer if you would like to support our unique brand of independent games journalism. Thank you.

IN THIS ISSUE

✍️ Story Showcase: Handheld Gaming
⭐ Author Showcase: Jade Hadfield
📡 On the Radar: REPLACED
📅 This Week on SJP
🏆 Backers

HANDHELD GAMING

STORY SHOWCASE

FPS and Handhelds: A Short Retrospective of an Unlikely Pair
Looking back at the history of first-person shooters on handheld consoles
Night of the Living Dead (1968) Comes to Game Boy 2022
Indie developer Salt & Pixel is resurrecting the legendary classic on an equally legendary handheld console
Golden Sun is the Best RPG You’ve Never Played
This handheld masterpiece deserves to stand tall beside its role-playing brethren
Building Games for a Crank
Playdate developers, RNG Party Games, discuss the imminent release of Bloom and their experience creating it
Indie Excavation: Handheld Flashbacks
Unearthing more indie gems, featuring Dogurai, Squidlit, and GB Rober
Tapwave Zodiac: The PDA That Was a Hopeful Game Boy Challenger
Ambition turned into disappointment at a critical point
Monochrome Fantasia: Life in the Age of the Game Boy
The third best-selling video game system of all time never got the respect it deserved
Nintendo’s DS Delivered the Visual Novel to the West
No other platform did as much to popularize the genre

JADE HADFIELD

AUTHOR SHOWCASE

👤
An Elden Ring Player Rises to Fame Within the Community
The Reddit sensation within the game that has become a global sensation
Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights Takes Dark Fantasy to the Next Level
Combining dark fantasy aesthetics with the metroidvania formula to deliver an indulgently moreish, twisted fairy tale experience
Elden Ring Lore: The Beauty of Mystery
FromSoftware’s take on storytelling is one of the reasons I can’t stop playing
Revisiting the Soul of FromSoftware
Delving into old favorites

REPLACED

ON THE RADAR

Pixel art gets a bad rap. While it is sometimes used out of laziness, there's also no question that pixel artists do some amazing work using only the simplest of tools. If you want to see what pixels are truly capable of, REPLACED is truly taking the art form to the next level.

Source: Steam.

The 1980s, a different timeline. A nuclear accident has devastated large swaths of the United States, leaving many dead and even more struggling for life as society collapses all around them. Just when the night seemed darkest, the Phoenix Initiative revealed the R.E.A.C.H. program, a new technology that promised to stop the death. But there are a lot of secrets surrounding Phoenix and R.E.A.C.H. - not the least of which is that the R.E.A.C.H. program has been transplanted into a human body now headed out into the wasteland.

REPLACED is an action platformer that's all about spectacle. Gameplay appears to be split into two modes. The first is a 2D brawler, pitting the protagonist against waves of enemies in combo-based combat. The second is platforming, with the protagonist free-climbing up various tall structures. Both modes are designed for spectacle, whether showing off impressive vistas or fluid dodges and blows.

Source: Steam

Really, it's any excuse to show off the absolutely stunning visual design. REPLACED shows off a lot of features that we're not used to seeing in pixel-based games - highly detailed lighting, subtle shadow effects, and some interesting tricks to simulate 3D when it's needed. Scenes can quickly shift from beautiful to terrifying and the protagonist explores the desolation. Add in a 80s-style dark synth soundtrack and you have something that's a treat for the senses.

REPLACED is pending a release date.

💻 Created by Sad Cat Studios
✍️ Andrew Johnston

THIS WEEK

ON SUPERJUMP

The Genius Communication of Elden Ring
The language of The Lands Between
Is the Execution Barrier of Fighting Games Too High?
Why newcomers struggle with the fighting games and how we can make them more accessible
Hidden Gems of Game Design Volume 27
Featuring GhostControl Inc and Europa 1400: The Guild

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