Sonic Mania dev Stealth launches Kickstarter for Vertebreaker, an action platformer [Update: Campaign Cancelled]

[Lant_War]

You can pledge here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/headcannon/vertebreaker

There's also a demo available on Stealth's site, you can see the game here:

 

[LewieP]

If Sega didn't want a Sonic Mania 2, they are beyond help.

I'm done with Kickstarter, but I will certainly follow this project. Trailer looks great.

 

[Deleted member 8860]

It looks super early, but the combat and traversal show promise.

 

[Deleted member 29464]

Interested just because of the dev alone, gameplay looks like it could be good.

 

[Buckle]

So SEGA didn't want to do a sequel to the best Sonic game in decades.

That figures and jives with all their other terrible sonic decision. Can't wait to see what stupid gimmick the next game will have.

 

[Madison]

Wow @ Sega, now I wonder if the success of Mania actually made someone inside of the company jealous

 

[LuciusAxelrod]

Watching the trailed, I started out thinking "is this a Castlevania?" But no, it's really a Ristar! Neat!

 

[TheMadTitan]

That sword attack sound needs to be work in progressed out ASAP.

Looks fun though.

 

[Caiusto]

Damn, this looks really promising, reminds me a lot of Ristar.

 

[Jintor]

That looks dope. Pretty good sense of movement with the swinging while still being readable (though one-way platforms probably needs more visibility polish but since everything has the same texture atm I assume that'll be dealt with)

 

[BackwardCap]

Wish they went with a different crowd funding organization.

 

[Claris]

That sword attack sound needs to be work in progressed out ASAP.

Looks fun though.

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It says at the very beginning that sound effects are placeholders.

 

[MH MD]

This is not from the developers team "evening star" witch christian whitehead, so there is still a chance for Mania 2 to happen, even from didn't team still

Jumping at conclusions here is really silly

Wow @ Sega, now I wonder if the success of Mania actually made someone inside of the company jealous

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SEGA and Sonic Team are the ones who pushed Mania to be green lit in the first place and were proud of it before its release, and its eventual success, why be jealous of themselves lol

 

[Pancracio17]

Man, I though Sonic Mania was a huge success. Why on earth wouldn't they hire them back for a sequel? Are they gonna do it internally or something?

Oh well, movement looks nice, I hope the end product is as varied and unique as Mania was. Id rather it be more platformer and less combat.

 

[Hella]

Dang they have the gameplay and style down, looks really good. Hope they pull it off.

The grappling spine is an ingenious way to maintain speed and momentum even when you hit dead ends.

 

[Indelible]

Love the name, it is also one of my favorite wrestling moves.

 

[TheMadTitan]

It says at the very beginning that sound effects are placeholders.

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I know, I'm saying that one should go first.

 

[Deleted member 5621]

Is this... Sonic Boom Shattered Crystal but good?

 

[kodax_shc]

Lets not take this as a sign that Sonic Mania 2 isn't in production.

 

[mindatlarge]

He could have mulitple projects brewing, it's not unheard of...

 

[Billfisto]

Better get some Shane Helms involvement, or at least allow you to do this:

 

[Nanashrew]

Umihara Kawase type grapple hook. I like, I like.

 

[Spinluck]

Did the Sonic Mania 2 budget go to the godtier Sonic Forces cutscenes?

 

[LewieP]

SEGA and Sonic Team are the ones who pushed Mania to be green lit in the first place and were proud of it before its release, and its eventual success, why be jealous of themselves lol

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Sonic Team got that Jared Leto energy.

 

[Deleted member 3294]

If Sega didn't want a Sonic Mania 2, they are beyond help.

I'm done with Kickstarter, but I will certainly follow this project. Trailer looks great.

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So SEGA didn't want to do a sequel to the best Sonic game in decades.

That figures and jives with all their other terrible sonic decision. Can't wait to see what stupid gimmick the next game will have.

Click to shrink...

Wow @ Sega, now I wonder if the success of Mania actually made someone inside of the company jealous

Click to shrink...

This is just one of the Sonic Mania devs, most of the rest of the team started their own studio called Evening Star and it doesn't seem like they're involved with this: https://eveningstar.studio/

If they're working on a Sonic Mania sequel isn't known but it's not like all hope of one happening is lost.

 

[flashman92]

There were some cool tricks you could do in Knuckles Chaotix to gain speed and this game kinda reminds me of that, except better since I don't need a partner

 

[Madison]

This is just one of the Sonic Mania devs, most of the rest of the team started their own studio called Evening Star and it doesn't seem like they're involved with this: https://eveningstar.studio/

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Stealth was p important when it comes to creating Mania iirc

 

[Nanashrew]

This is not from the developers team "evening star" witch christian whitehead, so there is still a chance for Mania 2 to happen, even from didn't team still

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Is there something Christian Whitehead isn't telling us?

 

[Deleted member 3294]

Stealth was p important when it comes to creating Mania iirc

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Afaik he wasn't more or less important than the rest of the team was. Though regardless I think a sequel without his involvement would still be possible.

 

[Velocity:Design:Comfort]

Stealth was p important when it comes to creating Mania iirc

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He can do two things. In fact if I was a game dev aNd I had enough time I would also probably try to have something I make all the profit from. Especially if my other projects are games where an IP holder is making most of the profit like with Sega

 

[Azure J]

It's Spooky Scary Ristar! That's so cool.

Definitely down to see more.

 

[sir_crocodile]

very interested, but it doesn't say how it's being distributed so I'll have to give it a pass for now

 

[Deleted member 17210]

I like the demo. It has a 16-bit era vibe to it. The controls aren't the most intuitive but I'm okay with a bit of a learning curve.

 

[crimsonECHIDNA]

Looks pretty dope. I'm interested.

 

[Deleted member 6056]

You can pledge here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/headcannon/vertebreaker

There's also a demo available on Stealth's site, you can see the game here:

Click to shrink...

This looks so awesome. It's like sonic, dynamite heady,Ristar, umihara Kawase all rolled there mechanics into one great game. The aesthetic of a cute skeleton with an elastic bone Whip is awesome.

 

[MH MD]

Sonic Team got that Jared Leto energy.

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Now wouldn't that be something lmao ,the closest thing is probably sonic movie, no one at sega was happy about design yet clearly they couldn't fix it before first trailer

Is there something Christian Whitehead isn't telling us?

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That's some unfortunate typo lol

 

[Spudacus]

Getting some Knuckles Chaotix vibes.

 

[dlauv]

The physics play with the grappling spine looks so good. I hope it finds funding fast.

Wow @ Sega, now I wonder if the success of Mania actually made someone inside of the company jealous

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He probably thinks he can direct the next one just fine or just give it to DIMPS under the direction to be more like Mania.

 

[MaverickHunterAsh]

I don't like what this suggests for Stealth's involvement in a Sonic Mania sequel, or a Sonic Mania sequel at all, but Vertebreaker here looks very cool (great name, too) and I'll be following its development.

 

[dlauv]

This is just one of the Sonic Mania devs, most of the rest of the team started their own studio called Evening Star and it doesn't seem like they're involved with this: https://eveningstar.studio/

Click to shrink...

An OG member, not "just one of." He made a working port of Sonic 1 on the GBA, made a working prototype of S3&K for iOS, and worked with Taxman on the iOS ports. This was long before a majority of the crew joined in, including some of the OG SFGHQ members they got on board for Mania who are now in that studio.

 

[jett]

I guess Sonic Team was jealous that their garbo-games got obliterated by Headcannon.

 

[Mesoian]

This is not from the developers team "evening star" witch christian whitehead, so there is still a chance for Mania 2 to happen, even from didn't team still

Jumping at conclusions here is really silly



SEGA and Sonic Team are the ones who pushed Mania to be green lit in the first place and were proud of it before its release, and its eventual success, why be jealous of themselves lol

Click to shrink...

With...the way things are...it makes me wonder if there's some Sega CD-esque jealousy internally at sega of japan.

 

[Ouroboros]

Instant back.

 

[Lightjolly]

So its Sonic meets Bionic Commando

 

[retroman]

Looks promising! I like everything about it so far (graphics, gameplay, spooky theme).

 

[MH MD]

People seems to forget that SEGA liked mania so much, they made an expansion DLC a year after release with a free update that added to the game, and also made a cartoon shorts for Mania.

I mean they just tweeted this today!

a Mania inspired art.
So the notion that somehow sega is abandoning mania and try to bury it cause they are jealous or something is laughable and quite silly

 

[Jamesac68]

I like the game but nothing I do seems to want to make the demo run in anything other than postage-stamp size.

 

[Deleted member 3294]

An OG member, not "just one of." He made a working port of Sonic 1 on the GBA, made a working prototype of S3&K for iOS, and worked with Taxman on the iOS ports. This was long before a majority of the crew joined in, including some of the OG SFGHQ members they got on board for Mania who are now in that studio.

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I'm not going to measure a developer's worth by when they joined a project.

 

[Deleted member 2474]

y'all need to settle down with the weird jealous-sega narratives in this thread. literally one person on this project worked on mania (which would be, well, stealth).

 

[Crayolan]

Grapple Hook games are always cool.