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Cardboard Robot Games

Pocket Rumble

The release of Pocket Rumble on Switch has been a long time coming. It was originally over a year ago, way back during the first Nindies Showcase.

After a lengthy delay, Pocket Rumble’s Switch version is finally complete. It has passed Nintendo’s internal check systems. We’ll be seeing it before the end of July.

Pocket Rumble

Pocket Rumble’s launch may not be too far off. The game has received a classification from PEGI, indicating that a release could be just on the horizon.

Originally, Pocket Rumble was supposed to hit the eShop sometime in March. That didn’t happen, and Cardboard Robot Games has yet to share a final date. One of Pocket Rumble’s developers did recently suggest that it will be arriving in the near future.

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Pocket Rumble was planned to hit the Switch eShop in March. That didn’t happen sadly, and the game remains without a concrete release date. The good news is that Pocket Rumble shouldn’t be too far off.

As for why Pocket Rumble was delayed, one of the co-designers mentioned that “the date we announced was too early to begin with due to miscommunication”. “Working out the technical kinks of the port has just taken much longer than we expected,” the developer added.

Pocket Rumble

Nintendo UK recently published an interview with Christian Stewart from Cardboard Robot Games, developer of the upcoming Switch 2D retro fighting game Pocket Rumble, on their website. Make sure to read the full interview here if you’re interested; below are some interesting excerpts:

On why the game is designed like a Neo Geo Pocket Color game:

Two buttons was a big, big thing about Neo Geo Pocket. Somehow SNK got really complex, complicated fighting games that felt close to the Neo Geo arcade games in portable format, with two buttons. There was some magic there that we wanted to replicate in which we could make a game that has only two buttons, but still have the complexity that something like Street Fighter, with six buttons, could have.

On why the game is a natural fit for the Switch because of its local multiplayer capabilities:

Right, that’s exactly why we need to be on Nintendo Switch! This is the first time a handheld has really had the feel of playing on one console in local multiplayer. It’s perfect. We didn’t know anything about the Nintendo Switch when we were first designing the game but as soon as we heard about its capabilities we were like “this is perfect, this is exactly what we need to be on. This is a local, multiplayer, portable console and here we have this very important local multiplayer game that’s focussed on portability.” So it was a perfect fit!

On the challenges of making a game with the limitations of a Neo Geo Pocket Color-inspired art style:

The resolution of those sprites is very, very small. It is very hard to convey certain things. Subtle nuances are very difficult to convey at such a small resolution. It’s absolutely worth it, because I think the Neo Geo aesthetic on top of the nostalgia just complements what the game is trying to do very well.

We’re trying to get rid of a lot of executional barriers and keeping things to their bare fundamentals, but those fundamentals are still very complex because they’re the inherent mechanics of 2D fighting games.

We’re simplifying as much as we can. So those simple, lower resolution graphics and limited colour palettes work really well with how much we’re focussing on the core combat mechanics.

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Pocket Rumble

Pocket Rumble was one of the many promising indie games revealed for Switch lately and initially, the 2D brawler was targeted for a release in March. We are now quickly approaching the end of March and unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like Pocket Rumble will make its targeted release date. Developer Cardboard Robot Games had the following to say on Twitter:

We’re currently unable to comment on the release date of Pocket Rumble. As soon as that changes we can and will post more info.

We know this isn’t the news you wanted to hear. Thank you so much for your overwhelming support so far. We love  you guys!

This is definitely disappointing, but hopefully the delay won’t be too bad.

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