Previews

GDC 2016: Halfbrick goes retro with upcoming platformer/brawler Dan the Man

Slam Dan

GDC 2016: Halfbrick goes retro with upcoming platformer/brawler Dan the Man
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| Dan the Man
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Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride developer Halfbrick is kicking it old school in its next game: Dan the Man is a pixel art brawler based on studioJOHO's popular web-cartoon of the same name.

This is a platformer with a focus on beating up foes - a chunky combat system lets you punch enemies, drop kick them from a great height, toss them about with wrestling moves, and attack 'em from far away with projectile attacks

The whole thing plays like a cross between Smash Bros and Metal Slug, and it controls surprisingly well on the touchscreen, giving you a twitchy, fizzy, retro brawler that will appeal to those who grew up on coin-op games.

Dan the Man

Dan the Man's got a full campaign to play through with 12 levels - but you'll also be able to play a more pick-up-and-play arena mode - either in quickfire stages or an endless brawl against waves of enemies.

You can also focus on upgrading your attacks, or buy entirely new characters - including time-hopping badass Barry Steakfries from Monster Dash and Age of Zombies.

The game will be free to play, with that oh-so-fashionable system where you can watch an advert to save your progress. Or you can pay a few bucks to turn off this system altogether and play for as long as you like.

Dan the Man is available on Android in a handful of soft launch countries and will be out on iOS and around the world later this year.

Mark Brown
Mark Brown
Mark Brown is editor at large of Pocket Gamer