Retro-inspired games are all the rage as more and more gamers become frustrated with the sleazy dealings of AAA publishers and look for something that reminds them of simpler times. Super Rad Raygun is one of those games, an action-platformer that takes a ton of inspiration from Mega Man and paints it all in a way that hearkens back to the original Game Boy days. That title will soon be headed to the Xbox One, as well as Itch.io and Gamejolt as DRM-free versions. While the game has been on Steam since November 2016, the new ports will no longer come as a publication of Rooster Teeth. The split was mutual and friendly, with TRU FUN Entertainment looking towards the horizon that the new ports might have for them.
As a title that really relies on understanding the nostalgia of Game Boy era games, Super Rad Raygun is a solid game that offers a lot of challenge, fun references, and thematically appropriate music. There’s also a ton of political satire. While coming to a console is a big deal for a lot of players, launching a DRM free version is also something worth paying attention to. DRM has a way with ruining whole experiences on PC, with many players simply hacking the stuff out of the games to avoid losing those PC resources while playing. It’s also something that many publishers have agreed doesn’t actually work. When Resident Evil 7 released, the DRM was famously taken down in a matter of days. So, now Super Rad Raygun will now be available without all of that nonsense (at least on itch.io and Gamejolt), making it more appealing for some players on that aspect alone.
Bringing a game to consoles can sometimes rekindle interest in said game. There are plenty of indie developers that saw jumps in sales, just from putting the same game on a console. The Switch has been especially useful for this reason and even the Vita versions of some games outsell the PC version by a wide margin. This is mostly due to the difficulty of getting noticed in the Steam marketplace, as well as the plethora of garbage on that market. Since the Xbox has always had love for indies, Super Rad Raygun may do really well on that console.
“We’re delighted to bring Super Rad Raygun to a larger audience. Bringing our game to Xbox One, while simultaneously giving PC, Mac, and Linux players the freedom to enjoy Super Rad Raygun DRM free, is a win-win for everyone!” – Chris Bryant, Co-founder/Game Developer for TRU FUN Entertainment
For those that still want to play on Steam, that will all still be intact.
To celebrate the new PC versions, Super Rad Raygun will be 50% off through the rest of March.
- Itch.io: https://trufun.itch.io/super-r
ad-raygun - GameJolt: http://trufun.gamejolt.io/supe
r-rad-raygun - Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/
app/297660
The Xbox One version will release sometime in late 2018.
For a full look at the game when it launched, check out my review of Super Rad Raygun on PC. Note that things may have changed since that initial review.
