Topic: Parasitus Ninja Zero - Castlevania style Xbox 360 Indie Game

[Thy Gory Rory]

Hey folks, I just recently found out about this sweet old-school Castlevania/Ninja Gaiden style indie game for Xbox 360. Guess it came out in August and has had literally no exposure or fanfare... Damn shame, because it literally looks good and you can tell there was passion and effort put into this obscurely developed game. It's only $3.00 (240 microsoft points). I'll admit, I've been loving Bloodrayne Betrayal but this has a more retro 16-bit traditional style that is quite nice. Almost like playing through a long-forgotten Sega Genesis or Super Nintendo game! Also, WE ARE the game's target audience in mind, can't stress that enough. You'll see what I mean after you watch a few vids down below...

Good general gameplay footage:
Parasitus Ninja Zero Stage 4

A recent trailer that shows simultaneous co-op mode:
Parasitus: Ninja Zero Release Trailer

Here's a nice informative written review with an older trailer linked in that article:
http://www.gamingtruth.com/2011/08/24/parasitus-ninja-zero-xbox-indie-review/

Hope I help spread more news of this game, the community here really should know about this. Apparently the developers on one youtube comment unfortunately said this 4 weeks ago:

"To be honest, the sales thus far haven't been too great, we aren't too sure that making more games of such scale would be worth it. We do have some leftover assets though that we are turning into something...keep an eye out.
But yeah, if you like the game and would like to see more spread the word to your friends, forums and favorite sites."

[Kale]

Hahahaha.... wow....

Since you're relatively new, you probably didn't know, this project was started by some on this board. I believe Thernz did sprites for it for a while. I think one (if there are more) of the coders were from here as well.

I'm glad they went back to swords, instead of the guns they were doing.

[Thy Gory Rory]

Totally, I am somewhat new despite lurking about for years. Looks like it turned into a decent Castlevania influenced game that more people need to know about. There's a lot of home brewed fan games out there that never get fully finished or adequately take off. Most are pretty crappy to be honest... I'm glad this one actually got somewhere.

Before I made this topic I did try to find any relevant Parasitus stuff on this forum and there was a teensy old out-dated thread from 2009. Looks like before it really was leaning more towards a Contra style game. Probably would've been fun but I'm also very glad they went more in a gothic hack n' slash sword direction. Yeah, here's an old vid of what it was gonna be like:

Parasitus Gameplay (additional footage)

[Vampire Killer]

Thanks for posting this. I went and bought the game and beat it in about 2 hours. Fun little game, definitely worth the 240 points. Art style is indeed VERY Cv.

[Thy Gory Rory]

Glad someone else is enjoying it. Xbox 360 Indie games aren't that popular unless they have "Zombie" in the title or some random chick with big boobs on the cover. Shame, I was looking at how many people rated the game and last I looked it was around only 140 something. Which probably means only 150 people actually downloaded it! Yikes... If anyone is on the fence and you have a 360, at least play the free demo and then see if $3 is what you'd be willing to spend for the full game. I'll admit that most indie titles on there are only $1 but you literally get what you pay for (usually crap).

[KaZudra]

I'll probably pick it up with windows 8 hits, and XBL gets implemented, along with all the games (hopefully)

[Sonic_Reaper]

This started as Vampiria, even MORE Castlevania influenced.  For some reason, they did like two or three almost complete overhauls/revisions, and it suddenly became a Contra game.  Then it went back to Castlevania.  I don't really mind either way, since it always looks decent, and ran really smooth.  Glad to see that they were able to take it all the way to a finished product.    Will definitely be downloading.

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

Yeah the backgrounds and the sprite look like Thaddeus's work.  He does good stuff.
Character moves rather fast, though.

[Vampire Killer]

Yeah, they do need to slow him down a bit.

[Thy Gory Rory]

At first the character's speed seems a bit too fast but you really become adapted to it when you realize this is slightly a fast-paced game and you're tackling lots of enemies on each side all at once. What's funny is that there's actually at least one speed boost item in each level that makes you go even faster (it's purpose seems to be for making longer ranged jumps and also blasting by some enemies).

I did see "Thaddeus" credited at the end of the game as one of the sprite/pixel artists. Good stuff, really liked a lot of the monsters, bosses, etc.

I was told by one of the developers on youtube that they're making an additional Parasitus game that is going to be a prologue to this one. It's supposed to be out maybe by next week and it's gonna be 80 microsoft points (just $1). I think that's a great idea because I think a lot of people missed out on the main game and if they see this new release it may draw more attention to the original one. Plus it's good news for those that like Parasitus and want more of it

Oh yeah, I was also told that the soundtrack to the game may see some form of public release. I really liked the music and was inquiring if they'd have it available in mp3 format. If I find out any more information I'll be sure to post it here.

 

[Sonic_Reaper]

Well, it's playable.  The experience is over pretty quickly.  And to be honest it's not terribly difficult (I don't know what all those complaints online were about, but maybe the early version was much more difficult).  I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed compared to early screens of the game back when it was Vampiria.  There seemed to be more variety in enemies and a larger emphasis on platforming and exploring.  This game is a really barebones, simple hack and slash.  I purchased it because I will always support indie developers, and Thaddeus does amazing work.  But it seems like a waste here.  The character moves so quickly that a lot of the frames are lost, and many of the the animations seem less than elegant.  But anyway.

[Thy Gory Rory]

Yeah, I don't know why people thought it was too hard either. Granted, I beat it on the normal difficulty setting but I think I wouldn't have that much trouble on the hardest one. I won't deny that there probably could've been more potential here and there... Plus it was pretty short with just those 5 levels.

I think this was a good starting point for the team behind the game and would love to see them progress to bigger and better things. This was a nice first attempt and they certainly kept an old-school ethic when making this game which I believe is part of it's charm. Simple hack n' slash fun that's still more decent than most xbox indie titles out there. But, damn, I could totally picture them making a full-blown metroidvania or something. I think they have the chops for a project like that but it'd probably take up way more time and resources.

[Kale]

Easy... most players this generation are PANSIES! They wouldn't last a second back in the old days.

[Vampire Killer]

I beat it on normal, and didn't find it too difficult.  Still, I wish it was slowed down.

Is the sequel still going under the title of Parasitus?

[Sonic_Reaper]

I know there were a lot of assets that never made it into the first one, I would like to see them used in a sequel, or another similar project.  The next game coming out, apparently is a prequel to the events of the first, and will be only $1 to download.