''Intrepid Izzy'', is a independently developed, commercially released video game developed by Dutch studio Senile Team and published by Wave Game Studios. It is a

Metroidvania Metroidvania is a sub-genre of action-adventure games and/or platformers focused on Nonlinear gameplay, nonlinear exploration and guided progression with a need to acquire key items to enter certain areas. The term is a blend word, partial blend ...

style 2D platformer for the

Sega Dreamcast The is the final home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was released in Japan on November 27, 1998, in North America on September 9, 1999 and in Europe on October 14, 1999. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, prec ...

and

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

. The game was announced in March 2017, followed by a

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

campaign in September 2017, which was successfully funded the following month. Initially projected for a Fall 2018 release, after several delays it was released on 26 July 2020 on

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

. As the physical Dreamcast version could not be patched it was released the following year in August 2021. On December 2, 2022, the game was digitally released on

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North ...

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...

, and Xbox Series S/X.

Gameplay

Development

''Intrepid Izzy'' was Senile Team's first new original game since 2009's ''

Rush Rush Rally Racing ''Rush Rush Rally Racing'', also known as ''R4'', is an independently developed, commercially released video game developed by Dutch studio Senile Team and published by RedSpotGames.

''. Development of ''Intrepid Izzy'' started after 2017's '' Rush Rush Rally Reloaded''. The game was designed, illustrated, animated and programmed by Roel van Mastbergen on a proprietary engine with proprietary tools. Ben Kurotoshiro, who previously scored ''Rush Rush Rally Racing'', returned to compose the music. Senile Team revealed the project in March 2017. The developers launched a

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...

kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

campaign in September 2017, with the goal of raising €35,000 and a projected release date of October 2018. A playable demo was released on October 25, 2017. The game was successfully funded a day later with 413 backers pledging €36,367.

Reception

''Intrepid Izzy'' has received positive reviews. The Steam version of ''Intrepid Izzy'' received an honorable mention on Digital Foundry Top 2021 games with Audie Serlie describing the game as "an excellent game that combines things like ''Wonder Boy'', ''Gianna Sisters'', and ''Street Fighter'' all into one package that works surprisingly well. The Dreamcast version was reviewed by Tom Charnock from the Dreamcast junkyard who acknowledged that ''Intrepid Izzy'' built on the foundation of Senile Team's debut title '' Beats of Rage'' and featured many callbacks to classic franchises like Capcom's ''

Street Fighter is a Media mix, Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting games developed and published by Capcom. Street Fighter 1, The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by List of Street Fighter video games, six other ma ...

'' and Sega's ''

Hang-On is an arcade racing game released by Sega in 1985 and later ported to the Master System. In the game, the player controls a motorcycle against time and other computer-controlled bikes. It was one of the first arcade games to use 16-bit computi ...

'', and called it the king (or queen) of Indie Dreamcast platformers. The Playstation 5 version of the game was reviewed by Andy Schneider from Mega Visions, he gave the game five out of five stars and favorably compared the game to classic

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

franchises such as ''

Alex Kidd is a platform video game series developed by Sega. Games The franchise includes seven titles. * '' Alex Kidd in Miracle World'' - 1986, Master System * '' Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars'' - 1986, Arcade, Master System * '' Alex Kidd: High-Tech ...

'' and '' Kid Chameleon'', "For old school gamers, like myself, this game is a rare treat. It reminded me of many great games from the past." The Nintendo Switch version holds 65% on

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

References

External links

*
Developer's website
{{Homebrew 2020 video games Dreamcast homebrew games Indie games Multiplayer and single-player video games Nintendo Switch games Platformers PlayStation 4 games PlayStation 5 games Senile Team games Video games developed in the Netherlands Windows games Xbox One games Xbox Series X and Series S games