2003 puzzle platformer Voodoo Vince is a game that deserved better than original Xbox exclusivity. Creator Clayton Kauzlaric agrees, so his independent studio is releasing an HD remaster for Xbox One and Windows next year.
Between its colorful New Orleans setting and the concept of a living voodoo doll that hurts himself to hurt his enemies, Voodoo Vince was a pretty unique game for its time. Unfortunately it was exclusive to a console that at the time catered to more hardcore tastes. Between that and the inability to make it backwards compatible on later consoles due to some code trickery, walking pincushion Vince faded into obscurity.
But now Kauzlaric’s Beep Games is bringing him back. The remastered Voodoo Vince will feature the same gameplay as the initial release, only with effects and graphics tweaked to look good running at 1080p and 60 frames per second.
“I’m super excited to bring Voodoo Vince back,” said Kauzlaric via official announcement. “Backward compatibility was never possible due to the nature of our game engine, but the ID@Xbox program got me thinking about publishing an HD remastered version independently, with much of the game rewritten from the ground up to run on newer hardware. The folks at Microsoft have been amazingly supportive of the idea.”
I’m pleased to see this relic from a very different time in Xbox history being restored. The Voodoo Vince remaster is due to hit Xbox One and Windows in early 2017.