WayForward Announces Various Upcoming Games

WayForward has announced various upcoming games they’ll be releasing through Limited Run Games, some of which will also be available digitally as well. First up, is a new Game Boy Advance Shantae game. The press release states that this game, Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution, is the long-lost sequel to the original Shantae. According to the press release, the game is back in development after being put on the shelf for almost two decades. It’s also mentioned that WayFoward will be building off the original game code from the early 2000s. Plus, they’ll be releasing the game on a Game Boy Advance compatible cartridge through Limited Run Games.

The Shantae series director, Matt Bozon, says, “Restoring the lost Shantae sequel has been an incredible adventure! After reuniting as a team, we restored the original game demo, and now are working hard to complete the full game on original hardware! This isn’t a demake or a new retro-style game, but an actual GBA-era title that was lost to time. We paused development in 2004, and now we’re back at it nearly 20 years later with the same tools, hardware, and Link Cables that we were using back then. It’s crazy, it feels impossible, but it’s happening! We’re on a time-travel mission to save Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution, and finally bring it to the fans!”

Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution is scheduled to be released sometime in early 2024. A more specific release date has not yet been announced at this time. Feel free to check out the announcement video down below and read a little bit more about the game from the latest press release.

Filling in the gaps between the original Shantae (2002) and Shantae: Risky’s Revenge (2010), Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution sees Shantae protecting Sequin Land from a twisted new plot orchestrated by her nemesis, the pirate Risky Boots. Using a secret subterranean device, Risky is able to rotate and rearrange the continent, plunging it into chaos and giving her more coastal cities to plunder. Fortunately, by harnessing this technology and the knowledge of the Relic Hunters, players will be able to turn the tables on Risky, giving Shantae new paths through environments and a chance to thwart the villain’s scheme.

Another new announcement WayFoward made, which they’ll be publishing alongside their partners, Sunsoft and Limited Run Games, is Clock Tower. The press release states that an enhanced version of the original 16-bit Clock Tower game is headed to Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox and PC, sometime in early 2024. Yet again, a more specific release date has not yet been announced at this time. The game will be made available digitally in North America and Europe and a physical version will be on select platforms, which is being done by Limited Run Games. No platforms have been officially announced for the physical copy. You’ll find the announcement video below, in addition to more info about the game from the press release.

Originally released on Super Famicom in 1995 in Japan, Clock Tower traps players in the haunting confines of the Barrows family manor, where they’ll be pursued by Scissorman, a murderous, shears-wielding psychopath. As teenage orphan Jennifer Simpson, players will use a point-and-click interface to explore the mansion and search every disturbing corner to find items, reveal secrets, and discover ways to survive Scissorman’s assaults. Without any offensive capabilities, Jennifer must rely on her wits and resourcefulness if she has any hope of escaping with her life and earning one of the game’s multiple endings. A tense atmosphere, chilling sound effects, detailed 2D animations, and randomized elements to maximize replayability demonstrate why Clock Tower is considered a groundbreaking pioneer in the survival-horror genre.

Harnessing the power of Limited Run Games’ Carbon Engine, this new edition of Clock Tower retains the authentic gameplay, graphics, and sound of the original version while also adding modern features and enhancements. These include a new vocal theme song performed by Mary McGlynn (Silent Hill series), a new animated opening, motion-comic cutscenes before and after the game, a bonus art gallery, border artwork, save states, multiple language options, and more.

Key Features

The final announcement, this one from WayFoward again, and also NIGORO, is Rose & Camellia Collection which is headed exclusively to Nintendo Switch. The press release says the collection will feature five games, more than 30 characters, and new English voicework. It’s scheduled to launch digitally in North America and Europe somewhere between late 2023 and early 2024. Also mentioned in the press release is the fact that a physical version of Rose & Camellia Collection is going to be sold through Limited Run Games. Once again, you can check out an announcement video below and read some additional info from the latest press release.

Rose & Camellia Collection tells the tale of an over-the-top upper-crust inheritance battle spread across five games: Rose & Camellia, Rose & Camellia 2, crossover title Rose & Camellia vs. La-Mulana, and all-new entries Rose & Camellia 3 and 4 (debuting in this collection). As tensions and tempers rise amidst the division of family wealth and power, so do open hands, resulting in a series of ludicrous one-on-one slap battles between the all-female cast. Using either immersive Joy-Con motion controls or touch-screen swipes, players will smack some respect into their aristocratic adversaries by slapping, dodging, feinting, and countering until only one heiress is left standing.

Initially debuting in the early 2000s as a hit online Flash series, Rose & Camellia Collection marks the first time the saga will be available on a dedicated gaming console, providing the definitive versions of the included games by adding high-definition visuals, full English voiceovers (plus text in English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Japanese), an anime-style opening, and two all-new vocal songs by frequent WayForward collaborator Cristina “Vee” Valenzuela. Complementing the single-player story mode, the collection also offers a new competitive two-player local versus mode, in which one player controls one of the heroines, and the other plays as one of the villains.

Key Features