Black Finger JET is a new run-and-gun from the makers of Metal Slug and R-Type. Here are the first details.
We knew there had to be a reason why Akio Obayu has been tweeting so much lately – including his recent story that the development of the iconic Metal Slug involved sleeping on futons that smelled of old men. Both Akio and several other ex-Metal Slug personnel have now formed Kohachi Studio, and their debut is Black Finger JET.
Like Metal Slug before it, Black Finger JET is billed as a run-and-gun with the “feel of an old-fashioned game,” as the team explains on the game’s Steam page.
“Depending on the situation, use various guns such as handguns, machine guns, shotguns, and sometimes ride the proud vehicle ‘JET car’ and defeat the enemies that rush,” the game’s blurb continues. “A versatile and perfect vehicle, the JET car transforms into an airplane, sometimes a submarine, as well as ground battles!”
【新作ゲーム開発開始のお知らせ】
この度、akio氏(@akio_1963)、みいはあ氏(@meeher00)、HIYA!氏(@Hiya_Unit)、ESAKA-KEN氏、石黒しなの5人がメインメンバーとなり、インディーゲーム開発する事になりました。… pic.twitter.com/GD0OdC414I
— 石黒しなの@TGS2023出展 (@RyoSK1942) May 15, 2023
The combination of side-scrolling action with firearms and vehicles certainly sounds like Metal Slug, while the first glimpse of its pixel art hints at a more colourful, cutesy style than that earlier series’ blackly comic military theme.
The same Steam page also shows off what might be a boss of some sort – a gigantic mechanical fish, complete with articulated spine. Black Finger JET isn’t all retro pixel art, though – the teaser trailer credits Lafleur Samuel and Boo Me as ‘collaborators of 3D models’, which suggests we’ll be in for some sort of 2D-3D hybrid, or perhaps a variant on Octopath Traveler's HD-2D aesthetic.
Whatever form Black Finger JET takes, its pedigree alone makes it well worth keeping an eye on. Not only did Akio work on Metal Slug, but he also created the timeless biomechanical monstrosities of R-Type. His creative partner Meeher worked with Akio on Metal Slug, and as Time Extension notes, also has the likes of Undercover Cops and Samurai Spirits Bushido Retsuden to his name.
More on this one as it comes in.
