''Oniken'' is a

side-scrolling A side-scrolling video game (alternatively side-scroller) is a video game viewed from a side-view camera angle where the screen follows the player as they move left or right. The jump from single-screen or flip-screen graphics to scrolling grap ...

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

platform Platform may refer to: Arts * Platform, an arts centre at The Bridge, Easterhouse, Glasgow * ''Platform'' (1993 film), a 1993 Bollywood action film * ''Platform'' (2000 film), a 2000 film by Jia Zhangke * '' The Platform'' (2019 film) * Pla ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

developed and published by independent

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian studio

Joymasher Thais Weiller is a Brazilian game designer and producer. Together with Danilo Dias she co-founded JoyMasher and released ''Oniken'', ''Odallus'', ''Blazing Chrome'' and ''Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider''. Work She has also created ''Rainy Day'' ...

for

Microsoft 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 ...

OS X macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

and

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

. The game was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows on June 21, 2012, on OS X and Linux on November 20, 2012, and 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 ...

on February 1, 2019 as ''Oniken: Unstoppable Edition''. In August 2012, the developers have announced that the game was accepted 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 ...

Greenlight.

Gameplay

The game has an 8-bit style and follows a classic slasher gameplay formula similar to '' Strider'', ''

Ninja Gaiden is a media franchise based on action video games by Tecmo featuring the ninja Ryu Hayabusa as its protagonist. The series was originally known as in Japan. The word " gaiden" in the North American ''Ninja Gaiden'' title means "side story" in J ...

'' and '' Shatterhand''. The objective in the game is to get to the end of each level and beat the boss for the level. There are six levels in the game and an extra mission with an additional character in ''

Contra Contra may refer to: Places * Contra, Virginia * Contra Costa Canal, an aqueduct in the U.S. state of California * Contra Costa County, California * Tenero-Contra, a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerla ...

'' gameplay style after you beat the game.

Plot

Taking place in a

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction are genres of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astronom ...

future, human kind has nearly been completely destroyed by

global war A world war is an international conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I (19 ...

. Those few humans that have managed to survive are being oppressed by a cybernetic armada known as the Oniken. A small resistance led by General Zhukov attempt to defend against the Oniken but are ultimately overwhelmed by their forces. Zaku (a legendary ninja mercenary, with an unknown past) who is believed to be the only one capable of stopping the Oniken, is approached by Zhukov and asked to join the resistance movement against the robotic forces, to which Zaku obliges.

Development

''Oniken'' was developed by the duo consisting of friends Danilo Dias (JoyMasher) and Pedro Paiva (then Arcaica, now Menos Playstation) as a means for them to pay homage to their favorite games from the

8-bit In computer architecture, 8-bit integers or other data units are those that are 8 bits wide (1 octet). Also, 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) architectures are those that are based on registers or data bu ...

era, such as ''

'', ''

'', '' Kabuki Quantum Fighter'', ''

Shadow of the Ninja ''Shadow of the Ninja'', originally released in Japan as and later released in Europe and Australia as ''Blue Shadow'', is a 1990 action-platform game developed and published by Natsume for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game revolves a ...

'' and '' Vice: Project Doom''. Zaku's character design was highly inspired by that of

Kenshiro is a fictional character and the protagonist of the ''Fist of the North Star'' manga series created by Tetsuo Hara and Buronson. In the story, Kenshiro is the rightful successor of an ancient art of assassination called '' Hokuto Shinken'', ...

from ''

Fist of the North Star is a Japanese manga series written by Buronson and illustrated by Tetsuo Hara. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' for 245 issues published from 1983 to 1988 and initially collected in 27 volumes ...

'' fame.

Reception

Shortly after release, ''Oniken'' was included in the July Jubilee bundle, part of the series of bundles on Indie Royale, a Desura indie bundle service. It received a score of 7/10 on Destructoid. Multiplayer.it gave it 8.0/10.

References

External links

Last archived version of official website
(

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...

) {{Portal bar, Video games 2012 video games Action games Video games about cyborgs Indie games Linux games MacOS games Video games about ninja Nintendo Switch games Platformers Post-apocalyptic video games Retro-style video games Video games about robots Science fiction video games Side-scrolling video games Single-player video games Video games developed in Brazil Video games featuring female protagonists Windows games Xbox One games Japan in non-Japanese culture JoyMasher games