Kickstarter Shout-out: Four Wii U Kickstarter Projects to be on the Lookout For

Everyone likes to complain that the Wii U has no games right now, and even though the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are also in a dry spell, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One have third party support. This is a bummer since you can do a lot of creative things with the Wii U GamePad, and a lot of Kickstarter projects like the upcoming Hex Heroes show gamers and potential investors what you can do! When I was searching through my list of Kickstarter games to cover, I saw that four of them were coming to the Wii U, with three of them being specifically for the Wii U and PC. I then decided to cover each of them in one article with a one or two paragraph descriptions of the game. Let us get started then! Here are four Kickstarter games that are coming to the Wii U that deserve your attention!

Hive Jump



Let’s start with a game that will fulfill your needs for fast-paced 2D action four-player co-op! Hive Jump puts you in the armored shoes of jumpers as you go across the planet and vanquish these giant and very aggressive aliens. You really don’t need a plot with this game. All you need to do is arrive at a location in need of help, upgrades your weapons, and make sure those alien scumbags know that they have stepped onto the wrong planet! Like I said above, the main goal of the game is to go down into infested hives, and clear the aliens out of the procedurally-generated levels. You can also upgrade your weapons to tackle the more challenging aliens alone or with three other friends. The game also has a form of permadeath where you need to protect your backpack-like device and make sure the aliens don’t destroy it or else you won’t have any lives left. The game looks beautiful, with well-made and very animated sprites. The screen will easily be filled with bright colors, explosions, gun fire, and an interesting lighting effect by using something called a sprite lamp. The combat reminds me of something from Total Carnage and Smash TV. It’s over-the-top, fast, and feels good that you held your ground against the really aggressive AI. The only real concern I have is that the game will be, well, as usual, challenging, but satisfying and fun to play through. I am fine with permadeath, but I want to feel like I am making progress every time I go down into a hive. Overall, this looks like a fun Wii U game. As of writing this article, they are at over $31K of their $50K funding goal. I hope they make it, and Hive Jump gets my official Kickstarter Shout-out!

(If you want to support this Kickstarter, go to this link!)

A Rite from the Stars



However, if you are in the mood for an adventure game instead of a high octane action game like Hive Jump, you should check out A Rite from the Stars. This game puts you in the role of Kirm, a young boy from the Makoa tribe who has to go through a rite of passage to become a man. The game is an adventure game, where you must solve puzzles, avoid dangerous traps, get past treacherous creatures, and journey into the unknown. You will be able to hold one item at a time when solving the puzzles, and you will have help from Kirm’s spirit animal to tackle some of the challenges in the game. Some of the other draws in the game is that you can go through the trials in any order you want, and that there are multiple endings.

I have mixed feelings about the look of the A Rite from the Stars. I like aspects of it, like the design of Kirm, but some parts look slightly generic. It has a cartoony look, and I don’t mind that, but I hope that if this game gets funded, they can get a little more creative and show off some of more interesting spiritual and tribal kind of designs. I am not saying this game looks awful because it doesn’t. The music, from what I have heard, is really good. It has a lot of those tribal sounding flute melodies, and for a lack of a better phrase, fits the overall theme. My only real concern is that some people might think this game looks a little generic or that the playable demo that they offer on the Kickstarter page didn’t impress them. It really does hammer in the importance to have an incredibly impressive demo that is either really late alpha or basically straight up beta. I couldn’t get the demo to run on my laptop, so I couldn’t play the game. However, I do think that this is one of the better Kickstarters, since they do have gameplay and an overall solid presentation. As of right now, the game is at over $27K of its $40K funding goal. I wish the developer Risin' Goat good luck with funding their goal, and A Rite from the Stars gets my official Kickstarter Shout-out!

(If you want to support the Kickstarter, go to this link!)

Nefarious



What if you want to play a game where you are the bad guy? I know I can tell you to go play Overlord or some other game, but I want to give this Kickstarter game, Nefarious a shout-out. Like it isn’t obvious, you play as a bad guy in this game. You are put in the role of Crow, a super villain with, for a lack of a better word, nefarious schemes to kidnap different princesses! This will of course, help him rule the world! The game is a 2D side-scrolling platformer, where the main goal of each level is to kidnap a princess, run away from the police or some monster, and from time to time, fight off the brave hero trying to stop you. Crow has a massive right-handed gauntlet that can shoot bombs, and lay proximity mines to stop the good guys from catching him. The Kickstarter video even shows that some of the princesses might give you a special ability, with one of the princesses wielding an axe. One of the more unique elements shown off in the trailer is that you will be able to pilot a giant boss-like mech, and you must fight off the small, but brave hero.

I love the look of the game. It reminds me very much of a game made by WayForward Technologies, like Mighty Switch Force or their Shantae games. The music is pretty catchy, and it should be, since the villain theme is usually the best song out of any form of media. Don’t believe me? Then why is the best song in a Disney film the villain song 90% of the time? Anyway, the music is composed by Matthew Taranto, the creator of the popular web comic, Brawl in the Family. One of my few concerns is that the art style and graphical presentation of the game shown off in the trailer is inconsistent. For the most part, it all looks great, with Crow having some really smooth-looking animation, but the backgrounds and some of the vehicles don’t look as smooth as they could be. I also wish there was a little more info on what other kind of role reversal Crow will have, besides running away from the good guys, and piloting a giant robot during certain boss fights. There are a lot of things you could do, like have vehicle levels that can change up the gameplay a little. Either way, if you love games from WayForward Technologies or are looking for a fun Wii U game on Kickstarter to fund, I would highly recommend you check this one out. Nefarious is currently at over $20K of their $50K. Sometimes, it is good to be the bad guy! Congratulations to Nefarious and its developer StarBlade Games, and Nefarious is getting my official Kickstarter Shout-out!

(If you want to support this Kickstarter, go to this link!)

Stash: No Loot Left Behind



If you are in the mood for a more ambitious tactics-style game that you can play with or against your friends, then Stash: No Loot Left Behind is the game for you! This game will let you create your own character with five different species, four classes at launch, and even make your own house in the land of Primordiax, the world that the developer, Frogdice, has made for their two previous games. You will be traveling with your friends through a tabletop-looking world, explore into handcrafted and randomized dungeons, and fight enemies in turn-based combat that is similar to franchises like Orge Battle or Final Fantasy Tactics. The game will have a lot of loot for you to collect, but you will get even more loot by taking down a boss, or being rewarded for your skill. Like I mentioned above, you can play with your friends or against other player’s clans.

Personally, I like the look of the game. It might teeter a little on the free-to-play and social gaming art style, but I think it looks good. The music reminds me of the score for games like CastleStorm, Castle Crashers, and the upcoming Hex Heroes. If I had to say one concern, it would be that the overarching story doesn’t seem to be the focus. I don’t mind if the main story in an RPG is spread across different parts of the game, but that means that the lore and universe have to be interesting. There have been many RPGs these past few years that sacrifice story for lore and it always doesn’t work out, like in Dragon’s Dogma. Other than that, I am really looking forward to this game. It looks fun, and well, I love a game that gives me an immense amount of loot to collect. The game is currently at $35K of its $50K funding goal. I think it will reach it, and while this game is coming to PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4, I think Wii U owners would love to have another RPG in their pocket. Congratulations, Frogdice and Stash, you guys get my official Kickstarter Shout-out!

(If you want to support this Kickstarter, go to this link!)

There we go, four potential games that could come to Wii U if they get funded. I hope you enjoyed these four Kickstarters, and I wish each of the four developers of this article good luck!