KUBO 3

KUBO 3 is a retro-styled 8-bit adventure game from SJ Games, made by a young developer from France with help from his father. The player controls Kubo, a turtle hero. Moglar has kidnapped the people of Kubo’s village and scattered the sacred crystals needed to save them. Kubo must travel through an underworld, a haunted graveyard, an underwater world and the open skies to recover the crystals, then enter Moglar’s castle for a final confrontation.

The game combines two perspectives, in the manner of NES-era action-adventure titles. A top-down overworld map lets the player explore and choose a path, while side-scrolling platforming levels contain the main action. Players fight monsters, deal with environmental hazards such as the currents in the underwater world, and collect crystals on the way to each world’s boss.

The game features four worlds, each with its own enemies, hazards and visual style. Other features include a crystal-collecting quest that moves the player from one world to the next, a series of monster encounters and boss battles leading up to the fight against Moglar, and 8-bit visuals modelled on the NES. The developer describes the game as short enough to be completed in a single sitting.