Pocket Universes

👋 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

FPS and Handhelds: A Short Retrospective of an Unlikely Pair

Looking back at the history of first-person shooters on handheld consoles

SUPERJUMPErick Figueiredo

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

SUPERJUMPSam McNeill

Golden Sun is the Best RPG You’ve Never Played

This handheld masterpiece deserves to stand tall beside its role-playing brethren

SUPERJUMPBrandon R Chinn

Building Games for a Crank

Playdate developers, RNG Party Games, discuss the imminent release of Bloom and their experience creating it

SUPERJUMPSam McNeill

Indie Excavation: Handheld Flashbacks

Unearthing more indie gems, featuring Dogurai, Squidlit, and GB Rober

SUPERJUMPAndrew Johnston

Tapwave Zodiac: The PDA That Was a Hopeful Game Boy Challenger

Ambition turned into disappointment at a critical point

SUPERJUMPC.S. Voll

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

SUPERJUMPAndrew Johnston

Nintendo’s DS Delivered the Visual Novel to the West

No other platform did as much to popularize the genre

SUPERJUMPC.S. Voll

An Elden Ring Player Rises to Fame Within the Community

The Reddit sensation within the game that has become a global sensation

SUPERJUMPJade Hadfield

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

SUPERJUMPJade Hadfield

Elden Ring Lore: The Beauty of Mystery

FromSoftware’s take on storytelling is one of the reasons I can’t stop playing

SUPERJUMPJade Hadfield

Revisiting the Soul of FromSoftware

Delving into old favorites

SUPERJUMPJade Hadfield

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.

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.

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

The Genius Communication of Elden Ring

The language of The Lands Between

SUPERJUMPJared McCarty

Is the Execution Barrier of Fighting Games Too High?

Why newcomers struggle with the fighting games and how we can make them more accessible

SUPERJUMPAdrian Ma

Hidden Gems of Game Design Volume 27

Featuring GhostControl Inc and Europa 1400: The Guild

SUPERJUMPJosh Bycer

Thank you to Berke, Brandon, CT, Cathie, Claire, Geena, Lexi, Nick, Oren, Peter, Troy, Radha, and Wes for supporting independent, cynicism-free games publishing.