Physics Sidescroller with Beautiful Czech Animation
2006 Game of the Year, Game Tunnel

In recent years, something interesting has been happening to the sidescroller--that old, even musty standard of the early game industry--in the independent game scene. Retaining the 2D sidescrolling motion and controls of the genre, clever developers have been freshening and renewing the gameplay, with the use of physics and graphic techniques like particle effects to create different and interesting puzzles and situations. Gish was perhaps the first to do so--but in Gumboy we have a beautiful and worthy successor.

Slamdance Guerilla Games Festival Finalist

A sidescroller? Sorta; Steam Brigade's ultimate heritage is in games like Rescue Raiders. You and your opponent have bases at opposite sides of an area; you build units at your base, they move horizontally across the screen (which you have to scroll to see the full play area), and the ultimate objective is to take out the enemy base.

Old school gameplay, in other words but, well, very nicely implemented.

The Finest Sidescrolling Shooter of the 21st Century!

Possibly, anyway. Too bad there aren't more people in the 21st century who care about sidescrolling shooters....

One of the disadvantages in being a developer from a country where there isn't much of a development community and not a lot of connection to the modern market for games, is that you may well spend a lot of time, money, and effort developing a highly-polished game in the style of games you love--and then discover that publishers elsewhere aren't all that interested in your title because, well, it is so retro. Nobody makes them like that any more. And certainly not at this budget. And with these production values.

One of the advantages of developers from countries who make this mistake is that by bringing modern production values and passion for a particular style to the party, they can create a game that is so retro--and also positively kickass for what it is.