Buck & Miles Are Bringing the Strange Back to 2D Platformers
There were a lot of games with really strange protagonists and monsters in platformers from the SNES era. Alfred Chicken, Aero the Acrobat, Rocket Knight Adventures, and many, many more games of debatable quality were filled with the strangest heroes and villains, and not one of us batted an eye. Playing as a cat in a shirt fighting armless bunnies? Sure, why not? The developers at Astrojone have fond memories of that time, leading to the creation of Buck & Miles, a story of a trucker and a pilot trying to escape a weird world of hostile cacti, boxing-glove wielding kangaroos, and frowny bats.
Buck & Miles is concentrating on being fun, which shows in its big, pudgy character designs. The look is similar to many of the ‘cute’ platformers of the SNES era, and is filled with a variety of animal enemies to trip up the main characters. Considering truckers and pilots aren’t necessarily known for their ability to fight monsters, the game seems to have a power-up system that uses various hats and items to help the heroes out. The trailer demonstrates a football helmet that lets you break down walls, a propeller hat that slows descent, and a dapper top hat that helps you hit the town with style even when a boulder is rolling after you. They also mention that there is local co-op in the game.
In case the game’s look doesn’t sell you on its strangeness, many of its developers were also part of Tales of Game’s, the group of code superheroes who brought us Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden. Joined by composers Jake “virt” Kaufman (Shovel Knight) and brentalfloss, the music should provide an interesting background to the silly game. With a focus on good old fashioned platforming with a lighthearted feel, Buck & Miles looks like it will be a lot of fun once it’s complete.
To learn more about Buck & Miles, you can look at Astrojone’s website, the developer’s blog, or follow them on IndieDB, Facebook, and Twitter. The game is also looking for votes on Steam Greenlight, and funding on Kickstarter.
