Let’s be sincere here for a moment. 2022 sucks. Come to think of it, 2021 wasn’t much better, and 2020 sure as hell gave it a run for its money in terms of pure, raw, unadulterated crap factor. In short, the past half decade or so has been a wash. So what, I hear you cry out in existential terror, can we all do to escape from the nightmarish hellscape of a decade in which we’ve found ourselves? Why, pretend it’s a completely different decade, of course – specifically two decades ago, the dear old 90s. Sure, it had its own batch of problems, but that gnawing sense of nostalgia inside you is right; things were just better back then. Somehow. It’s precisely that commodifiable feeling that Neofid Studios are looking to capitalise on with the release of their new title, Astebros, which allows us to engage in our defiant pretending in the best way possible: a physical SEGA Genesis cartridge release. In the year of our lord, twenty-double-two? Say t’ain’t so!
Kicking As and taking Teborg
From the creators of Demon of Asteborg, a similarly retro-leaning experience, Astebros is billed as a “16-bit roguelite Genesis adventure,” and was Kickstarted to moderate success. Choosing one of a host of familiar-looking-but-sufficiently-legally-distinct-to-avoid-a-lawsuit-rogering characters, you’ll embark on a daring quest as you “explore each area and collect valuable materials to upgrade your equipment the next time you visit the camp.” Also around are pets you can evolve into remorseless killing machines, and Shovel Knight-esque platforming bits. All told, it looks rather fun.
The good news is it’s now available for pre-order on the Neofid Studios website. You can simply opt to receive a digital ROM of the game – you know, if you’re boring – but physical collectors who spring for the proper edition will get “a brand new boxed cartridge of Astebros compatible with the original SEGA Mega Drive / Genesis console (versions I, II and III) with its instructions manual and color printed cover.” You read right: pop that sucker onto your 1994 Genesis, and it’ll run. It may gasp and splutter dust in protest, but it’ll run. And they say magic’s only in fairy tales.
So will you be picking up Astebros? How do you feel about this addition to the ACU (Aste Cinematic Universe, duh)? Let us know!
Via, Neofid Studios.
