Image courtesy Exploding Rabbit
Jay Pavlina, the guy behind the hit Flash game Super Mario Bros. Crossover, is creating an original game and using Kickstarter to fund it.
The new game is called Super Retro Squad. Much like its copyright-unfriendly predecessor, it features side-scrolling gameplay with characters from a variety of different classic game genres. But this time, the characters are original.
Pledge $15 to the fundraiser, and you’ll get a copy of the game when it’s released. Targeted platforms include PC, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android. “The plan is to get it on Steam,” Pavlina told Wired on Monday via phone.
Pavlina also said that he will “totally” support ThinkGeek’s iCade, the miniature arcade cabinet that acts as a classic joystick setup for iPad, in the iOS version of Super Retro Squad.
The game has already reached its initial funding goal of $10,000 with 24 days to go. Pavlina’s new studio, Exploding Rabbit, promises that more features like a Time Attack mode and online functionality will be added if the game exceeds additional goals.
Super Mario Bros. Crossover blatantly used assets from games like Mega Man and Super Metroid, but Pavlina says that he was never threatened with legal action by any of the copyright holders of the characters he used.
In Super Retro Squad’s Kickstarter promo video, Pavlina notes that he’ll never be able to monetize Super Mario Bros. Crossover. “It’s kinda depressing to spend all that time working on something you don’t even own,” he says.
