Bat Boy Presskit, XPLUS

X PLUS Games and Sonzai Games have announced an official release date for their co-developed and Kickstarter-backed title Bat Boy, an 8-bit platformer/adventure focusing on intuitive traversal, kinetic combat and an experience packed with nostalgia across multiple platforms. Players will play as Bat Boy, the leader of a team of young sports-themed sentai heroes on a rescue mission to save his brainwashed allies caught under the spell of evil dark mage Lord Vicious. Accompanied by the mouthy crow Garou, Bat Boy must brave the hostile dimension of Stratoss, encountering all manner of dangerous elements and the many goons of Lord Vicious, from the acrobatic to the aquatic, across the many regions that make up the patchwork of Stratoss's muddled world. Bat Boy's journey takes him through barren landscapes, snowy hidden villages and lush jungles, all the way to haunted mansions and vaulting between airships high above the clouds as he searches for his friends and picks up a variety of new skills along the way that will help him on his adventure. Bat Boy will be available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S on May 25th, 2023.

Features

A thrilling 2D platforming adventure set against nostalgic 8-bit backdrops.
Swing, deflect, spin and power-hit your way through exciting baseball-style combat!
Explore a vast world of unique and exciting environments, ultimately leading to a showdown with one of Bat Boy's brainwashed allies!
Take on the powers of your allies as you free them from the influence of Lord Vicious!
Glorious 8-bit visuals, reminiscent of early legendary platformers.
High octane chiptunes from Evader Music, composer for Smelter and Super Sami Roll.
Dozens of enemies, exciting bosses and intriguing companions to encounter!
Make your way to your allies using your baseball bat to go up against Lord Vicious' goons and solve puzzles!
Hidden secrets, collectibles, unlockable music and more to find!

About X PLUS Games

X PLUS Games, first formed in April 2018, is an independent division of X PLUS, an Osaka, Japan-based apparel and toy company. The team started working on its first original title, Smelter, a platformer/strategy hybrid, when the division was first formed. The game was later released in April 2021.

As the game division's experience grew, the team later decided to leverage their past experience with localization and porting to help other developers fulfill their dreams of having their games appear on other platforms. Super Sami Roll was the first title that X PLUS assisted through publishing, technical support and porting.

X PLUS Games is continuing to support its first published title, updating and improving upon Smelter as well as prepare for the release of its second major title, Bat Boy together with Sonzai Games.

About Sonzai Games

Sonzai Games is a game development studio founded in 2020 by Sergio Matta in Osaka, Japan. Fascinated by Japanese game development culture, Sergio decided to move to Japan in 2013 where he worked on various titles over the years.

The first game released under the new Sonzai Games brand was Super Sami Roll, a solo developed game that launched in July 2021 for Steam and in 2022 for PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

With Bat Boy, Sergio's intention was to do something visually and thematically completely different from Super Sami Roll, but still retaining the same sense of freedom, fast-paced movement, and positive vibes from start to finish.