The Game Boy has a new release (on cartridge!) – step forward top-down RPG, 2021: Moon Escape.
The Game Boy may be a relic from the 1980s, but it’s still enjoying support from a dedicated community of fans and indie developers. Case in point – 2021: Moon Escape, a top-down RPG created by indie developer Mike Yamato.
As well as being released digitally, 2021: Moon Escape is available as a proper cartridge in a box, complete with manual and a handful of stickers.
The game itself looks positively corking, with an 8-bit open world to explore and some surprisingly deep systems, including skill trees and character customisation. Its creator reckons that the game’s single-player campaign will last you between four and five hours. Here’s a story snippet:
Set in a galaxy devastated by an unprecedented war, you will play the role of Tars Nunien, a paladin of the Marked Brotherhood, whose only mission is to return the enemy war plans to the capital planet Astra Nova in the hope of organizing the last desperate defense against the terrible Kisur Barbarians.
It’s all fabulously polished and nicely presented, and having enjoyed the demo available on itch.io (spotted by Time Extension) we can safely say it’s well worth a closer look – Yamato really makes the most of the Game Boy’s handful of monochrome shades to create an absorbing little sci-fi world.
2021: Moon Escape was released on 31 March by incube8 Games, a company that specialises in bringing modern games to Nintendo’s handheld. The boxed version will set you back $59.99, though you can also download the digital version and play it via an emulator.
There’s also a port to Nintendo Switch on the way, with that version due to appear digitally in the middle of May. You can find out more info about the game over at incube8 Games’ website.
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