Lunark Venturing Towards Release with Origins Mini-Feature - Hardcore Gamer

hardcoregamer.com:

Despite how influential they were at the time, there weren’t really that many cinematic platformers released.  It’s a fairly small sub-genre of the platformer, populated mostly by Prince of Persia, Out of this World, Flashback, Blackthorne, Oddworld, and a few others.  The games tend to be characterized by fluid animation, short full-screen cut-scenes (keeping in mind this was decades ago and they were deeply impressive at the time), and a particular style of movement measured by the stride of the player-character.  Platformers went one way and cinematic games another, but every once in a while a new one comes along to remind us that yeah, this was a pretty great micro-genre.  The latest one on the way is Lunark, which has been teased for years now with gameplay clips and animated segments, and today it’s March 30 release date was finally announced.

The easiest way to describe Lunark is a low-res version of Flashback, which was a sci-fi take on Prince of Persia, both of which came out over thirty years ago.  The art may be highly pixelated but is also animated to within an inch of its life, making the world look far more detailed than still screenshots would imply.  Leo adventures across a planet held in the grip of a totalitarian government, chasing down the secrets of his world and origins while jumping, climbing, and shooting his way through screens filled with traps and soldiers that want him dead.  It’s a lot for a young orphan to deal with but he’s got the move-set to handle everything the game throws at him, even if that means redoing an area a time or three to figure out the best way through.  Today’s new video goes into detail on Lunark’s influences and the situation Leo finds himself trapped in, so give it a