Battle Kid: Fortress of Peril

Battle Kid: Fortress of Peril[2][lower-alpha 1] is a homebrew 2D platform video game, released in February 2010 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, created by American developer Sivak Games,[3][4] and published through Retrozone with the cover art designed by Larry Bundy Jr. Unlike most games in the modern era, Battle Kid is available for purchase only on a physical NES cartridge. While there has been a demand for a downloadable version, the developer has stated that the game is currently not planned to be released on any other formats due to a contract with Retrozone.

Battle Kid: Fortress of Peril
Developer(s)Sivak Games
bit-games (version 2.0 co-production)
Publisher(s)Retrozone (NES)
Columbus Circle (FC)
Platform(s)Nintendo Entertainment System
Release
  • NA: February 22, 2010
  • JP: October 18, 2018
Genre(s)Platform, Metroidvania[1]
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay
A gameplay screenshot of an underwater area. The pink ball bounces back and forth on the bottom. The eyes shoot projectiles.

Battle Kid is very similar to I Wanna Be the Guy, an indie freeware game for the PC, in terms of the design of the main character and the projectile weapon he possesses, the trial-and-error difficulty, and instant death mechanics of all enemies and hazards. However, the similarities end here as the actual gameplay and control is much more in the likeness of Mega Man games on the NES and the boss fights at the end of each major stage. The main character, Timmy, can only be hit once before the player is greeted with a 'game over' screen; however, there are infinite continues and the player will start over from the last save point. There are also keys which unlock different areas of the fortress and enhancement cards which give the player a number of different abilities to overcome obstacles. There are over 500 individual rooms, over 30 different enemy types, and multiple difficulty settings.

Plot

Dr. Tina Byers, a scientist who works at Disch Corporation receives a transmission about a group of unknown origin taking base and building a Supermech, a kind of robot that has many weapon systems at Fortress Il' Akab, a fortress once inhabited by a wizard race who planted monsters and traps inside. Fearing that the Supermech may be a threat, Dr. Byers informs Timmy about the transmission and introduces him to a prototype combat suit. Wearing the suit, Timmy goes out on his ship to stop the production of the Supermech.

Releases

Original releases

There have been three U.S. releases of Battle Kid: Fortress of Peril. The first one was a limited edition run of 33 copies for early pre-orders, game play testers and production staff, with each copy being uniquely numbered. February 2010's version 1.000 was the second, main, and currently most common release. A third release of version 1.100 was released on July 2, 2010.

The main differences between the 1.0 and 1.1 releases of Battle Kid was the fixing of a glitch discovered in the 1.0 version of the game. This allowed the player to become invincible, therefore being able to beat the game with ease. Also fixed was a sound effect and the letters "D" and "V" of the game's font, which were sometimes confused with "O" and "U" respectively. Exclusive to the 1.100 release as well is an extra level originally showcased at the 2010 ScrewAttack Gaming Convention which can be accessed by typing "SGCLEVEL" into the password screen.

The cover art and cartridge label for 1.1 were also totally redesigned and re-colored by "Guru Larry" Bundy Jr. He had made a pencil sketch of the original cover, but did not have enough time to finish off the piece personally, and therefore it was handled by Sivak.

Japanese release

Columbus Circle announced on July 18, 2018 that it will release a modified translated version of Battle Kid in Japan sometime in September 2018 under the name of Battle Kid: A Perilous Trap.[5][6]

Legacy

Battle Kid 2: Mountain of Torment was announced on May 12, 2010 and released on December 15, 2012 by developer Sivak Games. New features have been covered, such as the following: new block types of ice, conveyors, and sludge; Wall Grip upgrade;[7] the in-game death counter;[8] and the intro stage.[9] Though it is unlicensed, it is notable for being published 17 years after the console's discontinuation in North America and nine years after its discontinuation in Japan.

References
  1. Johnson, Jason (August 31, 2011). "Interview: Talking NES Homebrew With Battle Kid 2's Sivak". Gamasutra. Retrieved July 13, 2016. When Battle Kid: Fortress of Peril released for the NES last year, it was hailed as one of the finest (though, admittedly, one of the very few) homebrew titles put out for the system. / It's also a very hard Metroidvania-style platformer...
  2. "Battle Kid: Fortress of Peril - retroUSB". www.retrousb.com.
  3. Agnello, Anthony John (November 19, 2013). "Back from the dead: 9 modern games for obsolete consoles". The A.V. Club. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  4. "Sivak Games". sivak.nintendoage.com.
  5. Columbus Circle will publish Battle Kid for the Famicom, Twitter announcement.
  6. Columbus Circle product page for Battle Kid. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
  7. Battle Kid 2 - First gameplay demo, YouTube video
  8. Battle Kid 2 - demo video #3 - New features and another area, YouTube video
  9. Battle Kid 2 - demo video #4 - Intro stage, cutscenes, and status , YouTube video.

Notes
  1. Known in Japan as Battle Kid: Kikenna Wana (バトルキッド　危険な罠, Batoru Kiddo: Kikenna Wana, lit. Battle Kid: A Perilous Trap)
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