In a surprise announcement sure to make retro gamers and lovers of the Super Nintendo very excited, Hotline Miami and Broforce developer Devolver Digital, in concert with indie developer Mega Cat Studios, revealed a new SNES game titled Fork Parker’s Crunch Out.
The tycoon-style game featuring Devolver Digitial’s fictional CFO, Fork Parker, who also appeared in the Serious Sam games, is designed specifically for the Super Nintendo and available in extremely limited quantities.
In fact, there are only 500 copies available at the time of this writing.
The game costs $49.99, with all proceeds going to Take This, whose mission is “to decrease the stigma, and increase the support for, mental health in the game enthusiast community and inside the game industry.”
With their purchase, Super Nintendo fans will get everything they’d expect from one of the console’s games, including the box, the booklet, and the sense of satisfaction that comes with making the cartridge work on the third try after blowing dust out of it.
In Fork Parker’s Crunch Out, players take on the role of CFO Fork Parker. Things aren’t going as well as they have been thanks to a new publishing label angling for his share of the marker. So, he does what any money-hungry executive would: use questionable tactics and work his employees for as little pay as possible.
Don’t worry, though, Devolver Digital and Mega Cat Studios promise the game was created without any actual crunch time involved. In fact, aside from raising money for a good charity, Fork Parker’s Crunch Out serves another purpose. It’s intended to raise awareness of the issues created by developer crunch by providing a humorous look at the pressures of game development.
With the resurgence of classic consoles in recent years, specifically miniature consoles such as the SNES mini, it’s little surprise that company’s such as Devolver might look to offer players more unique ways to re-experience classic games and, in this case, consoles.
Perhaps Nintendo would even consider re-releasing some of its classics for the nearly 30-year-old system. While that’s doubtful and nothing but wishful thinking at this point, it’s obvious the audience is open to the prospect, especially considering a handful of fantastic games didn’t make the cut for the mini.
To find out more about Take This and the charity’s mission, be sure to visit the foundation’s official website.
