DekaDuck blends hand-drawn 2D art with fast-paced action

Asteristic Game Studio has revealed the first trailer for DekaDuck. This fast-paced 2D action platformer features fully hand-drawn art and animation. It is currently being developed for PC via Steam. The game takes inspiration from classic genre staples but uses modern movement systems. Players control a bounty hunter who is a half-duck, half-robot marvel. The story begins after a crash on an uncharted planet. You must bring criminals to justice while working for a criminal yourself.

The gameplay centers on a unique detachable arm mechanic. This system encourages players to experiment and improvise during combat. You will shoot, grab, and dash through a sci-fi world full of conspiracies. Use the specific quirks of your enemies to solve puzzles and defeat bosses. The team intends to launch a Kickstarter campaign soon to support continued development. Outlets like Niche Gamer have already highlighted its expressive gameplay and nostalgic visuals.

What We Can Expect

Action packed platforming! – Dash and shoot your way into victory – with fast movement and even a super dash, Dekaduck’s abilities are out of this world!

Grab it all! – Dekaduck has a detachable hand that can grab almost anything – enemies, items, platforms, you name it! Use different enemies to enable different abilities for Dekaduck, like using a bat as a boomerang, jumping around with a spring-like enemy and using small duck toys as bombs!

Colorful characters! – Meet many different characters in Deka’s journey – like Aiko, the Intergalactic Police Captain that has a crush on him, and Ekos, arms dealer (literally!).

Six secret-packed stages! – Fly to different worlds on Dr. Less’ ship, each packed with secret areas, different enemies and giant bosses – all hand-drawn digitally!

My Thoughts

The trailer for DekaDuck immediately grabbed my attention because it is so incredibly bright and colorful. The level designs look exciting, but what really stuck out to me was the protagonist. The half-robot character jumping through a 2D platformer is giving me heavy Mega Man vibes. Granted, I haven’t played a ton of the Mega Man series myself, so I could be way off on the technicalities, but that is why they call them vibes! There is just something about that classic aesthetic paired with modern, expressive movement that makes this look like a fun ride. I am curious to see if the detachable arm mechanic adds that same level of strategy I have seen in other iconic robot-based platformers.

Check out the great trailer here!