It's been a little under a year since SEGA Dreamcast indie scene stalwart publisher Pixelheart (also known as JoshProd) last released something new for the console, with their most recent release Andro Dunos II finally landing back in July - but it's been even longer since they last turned to Kickstarter to gauge interest for a new project. It was Arcade Racing Legends the first time round, and now it's GladMort, a 2D action-platformer that pays homage to titles like Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Metal Slug and Magician Lord.
Like quite a few of PixelHeart's releases, GladMort was developed for Neo Geo first and foremost (by Chipsonsteroids), with Dreamcast (a full port with enhanced music) and PC ports also available. The game is 95% complete, but just needs backer support to push it over the line and finally get it released. At the time of writing, the Kickstarter - which launched earlier today - has already soared past its funding goal, so you can now back the campaign with confidence knowing that everything will definitely be going ahead.
Looking at the gameplay footage, the game looks excellent visually, as is most often the case with Neo Geo games. Playing as the titular GladMort, the gameplay has you traversing through five levels, dispatching enemies, while also trying your best to avoid traps and... death. Considering GladMort pays homage to Ghouls 'n Ghosts, though, you might end up doing that a lot... Challenge is something the game wears as a badge of honour. The developers have made a demo available for download that you can play on your computer. Give it a try and see how you fare.
Obviously PixelHeart will be producing the physical Dreamcast editions of the game in their typical "configuration", i.e. the Japanese and American style versions will have a reversible manual that allows you to choose between the Japanese and American cover to display (with the separate backer tiers simply being for sealed game collectors to choose which cover is displayed when the game is sealed), while the PAL-style edition comes in a PAL case with a bonus soundtrack CD (there is also a stretch goal for a reversible PAL manual as well).
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| Provisional covers, not final. |
So there you go, something new from PixelHeart! Once again, click here to go to the campaign page. Will you be backing GladMort on Dreamcast? Maybe even Neo Geo?! Let us know in the comments below, or via one of our many social media pages.
