Taking the prize for the first news story I could be bothered to report on in 2023 (don’t worry, there are plenty more to come - just needed a bit of a break after the festive period!), Nape Games have announced that the ‘retro’ version of their successfully Kickstarted Switch/PlayStation 4 title Gemaboy Zero X will also be gracing the Dreamcast. A companion release to the NES variant, Gemaboy Zero is a slightly paired back iteration of the current-gen game, which promises backers an ‘action, exploration and platform Cyberpunk Ploidmania’ experience. Their words, not mine.

Nape Games are no strangers to the Dreamcast scene, having previously released Reknum and Ploid on the platform; and Gemaboy Zero promises more of the same high quality Metroid -style gameplay that fans of this particular developer will be familiar with. Personally, I haven’t played any of the previous Nape Games Dreamcast releases; but you have to hand it to them - while the Spanish outfit might not be the most recognisable of indie studios out there, they have clearly poured a lot of time and effort into creating their own stable of interesting and original IP, with the Ploid canon in particular carving out its own niche and deep world building.

From the Gemaboy Zero Kickstarter page: “ Within the RETRO version for the NES and Dreamcast we will include the new GemaBoy Zero adventure, which will be a parallel adventure to GemaBoy Zero X, a growth adventure for our protagonist Omega while he perfects his Skillmaster ability and thus, be the definitive PLOID X! ”

If any of that makes sense to you, then congratulations - you are clearly fluent in the lexicon of the Nape Games universe! For the rest of us, basically Gemaboy Zero is a cool looking, retro-themed Metroid- style platform exploration adventure that is worthy - on first glance at least - of your attention. Visit the Kickstarter and the Nape Games website for further details.

I’m reliably informed that Nape Games usually have copies of their Dreamcast titles available to purchase after campaigns have ended, so even though Gemaboy Zero crowdfunding closed in December 2022 it’s well worth keeping an eye on these links to stay informed of when physical or digital will be available to purchase by us plebs who didn’t back it.

Are you a fan of Nape Games’ output on the Dreamcast? Will you be acquiring a copy of Gemaboy Zero ? Are you a pleb like me? Let us know in the comments!