2010's The Flying Hamster is an adorable bite-sized shooter mainly aimed at mobile and portable platforms. Flying Hamster II: Knight of the Golden Seed is a gorplatforming adventure that aims to resurrect the spirit of the classic Wonder Boy/Monster World franchise.
Normally, when a mobile-centric shooter gets a sequel, the developer stays in or around the genre that made the game popular in the first place. Flying Hamster developer The Game Atelier has pretty much thrown that idea out the window, opting to instead make a platforming adventure game with RPG elements, a love-letter to Sega's truly wondrous boy. From the game's Kickstarter campaign:
Our main inspirations are the Wonder Boy / Monster World, Zelda series and Secret Of Mana, and along with our vision of what a 2D platformer RPG should be, we are ready to deliver the best gaming experience ever.
So, instead of just flying, heroic hamster Newton is now collecting weapons, and armor...
... chatting with NPCs ...
...and transforming into a number of conveniently-equipped animals.
I'm completely in love with the art direction of the game at this point, and the animation is just buttery smooth.
Flying Hamster II: Knight of the Golden Seed is a an incredibly ambitious project. The Game Atelier is pulling out all the stops, even going as far as to recruit Michiru Yamane, the composer behind the music for Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Suikoden III and more. The game is aimed at a Steam PC release, but the developers want it everywhere — there are stretch goals for version on PlayStation 4, Vita, Xbox One, 3DS and Wii U.
The Game Atelier is currently looking to fund Flying Hamster II: Knight of the Golden Seed through Kickstarter, with a target goal of $150,000. If I had that much, I would hand it right over.
Well, that's a lie. I'd do so many other things, but I still might help out. It is a game about flying hamsters, after all.