News Flash! “Saturday Morning RPG” Kickstarter Campaign and New “Ashley Ao” Gameplay Unveiled

Calling all do-gooders with a little pocket change to spare! Mighty Rabbit Studios were recently in touch with a link to their Kickstarter page for Saturday Morning RPG and it’s got to be one of the snazziest campaigns we’ve seen yet. If this is the first you’ve heard of it, we’ll let Mighty Rabbit explain: “Saturday Morning RPG is a role-playing game with a fresh concept. It’s not some complicated 40-hour epic, it doesn’t have whiny androgynous characters, and it isn’t stuck in some kind of cliche medieval or sci-fi setting. Saturday Morning RPG is an episodic role-playing game infused with a heavy dose of nostalgia featuring influences, parodies and references to all your favorite 1980’s Saturday morning cartoons and pop culture icons!”

The first preview footage for Saturday Morning RPG has been around a while (find it as the second clip in our video gallery below), and at that point only the battle system was shown off. Already the teaser promised a creative spin on turn-based JRPG battles, but the Kickstarter video really ups the ante by panning back and revealing the game’s full scope. Saturday Morning RPG has a truly ambitious sprites-on-3D approach that had Sean quietly chanting “Xenogears, Xenogears, Xenogears…” when he first caught sight of it. If Mighty Rabbit ever completes the equation by doing a Voltron-inspired episode with giant 3D robots, we might just flip out of our skin!

In any case, it’s clear that the results of the Kickstarter campaign will affect the game’s release schedule. Here’s to hoping the fact that Mighty Rabbit are 30% to achieving their goal after only a few days portends a successful fundraiser! Naturally, we have to run out and grab an interview with these cool dudes, so expect to see that on iFanzine in the near future!

Shaz from Honey Tribe Studios also dropped by today with the first preview of Ashley Ao’s second gameplay mode. Needless to say, this should put to rest any fears that Ashley Ao would end up being an endless running game! The footage still looks early, but reveals that players can expect giant bosses fought in a free-roam platforming style, not to mention hand-drawn cutscenes courtesy of Ryan Jackson.

One of the biggest mysteries surrounding Ashley Ao’s gameplay is the matter of what happens if the player lets too many enemies past Ashley during the running segments. It looks as if Honey Tribe Studios may have tipped their hand just a tad here if you pay close attention, but it’s still too early to draw any hard conclusions on how player performance shapes the game. We can say we’re intrigued though! Check out this cool still from the boss intro cutscene, and don’t forget about our massive three-page interview with the dev team.