What colors are the other fingers?
Kohachi Studio hasgiven us a teaserlook atBlack Finger Jet, a new run-and-gun title from former prominent Nazca developers. Nazca is the original developer behindMetal Slug, and a number of the attached names were directly involved in the development of some of the early titles in that series.
No real gameplay is shown in the trailer, as the game looks to be very early in development. There’s a page for it live on Steam, but even there, it just shows concept art and says that the game is still subject to change. However, both the teaser and the store page seem to heavily imply thatBlack Finger Jetwill be lifting heavily from the team’s work on theMetal Slugseries. It will include 8-directional aiming, and the eponymous Jet vehicle transforms into various configurations.
Among the staff, Akio is covering art, and Meeher is the producer. Sound design is once again in the hands of Hiya! This probably all sounds unhinged, but all of those pseudonyms helped make the originalMetal Slugrun the games they are. Hopefully, they can pull of similar magic withBlack Finger Jet.
Hea-vy Machine Gun
If you’re unfamiliarwithMetal Slug, I pity you. Starting in 1996 on the Neo Geo MVS arcade, they set the highwater mark for both pixel art and run-and-gun shooters. Nazca (and the staff listed above) worked onMetal Slug1-3, before SNK went bust and development moved to another team. That team made a valiant effort to continue the series for three more titles, and they didn’t do a bad job. However, for my money,Metal Slug1 and X are where it’s at. Others holdMetal Slug 3in the highest regard. However you shake them; they are legendary.
Black Finger Jetis currently only announced for PC. There is no given release window, but since it seems like they’re still recruiting staff, we might be waiting a while.
