New Screens Shown from Banjo-Kazooie Spiritual Successor Project Ukulele by Former Rare Devs

[Shawn Zipay]

Playtonic Games, the studio formed by many former Rare veterans, showed off a bit more of their Project Ukulele this past weekend. Of course, being made up of former Rare devs, these screenshots should feel right at home for those that are fans of Banjo-Kazooie.

Playtonic was formed in 2014 by veterans of Rare Ltd, including Steve Mayles, creator of the beloved Banjo and Kazooie characters, and Chris Sutherland, the software engineer responsible for more than two decades of iconic games. Between them, the seven-person Playtonic team has over 100 years of combined experience working on blockbuster franchises.

Project Ukulele, an all-new 3D platformer adventure, has been conceptualised as a spiritual successor to the team’s most revered and successful releases of the past, with stunning worlds to explore, unique collectables to uncover, fun moves to learn and hilarious characters to meet – or defeat.

At EGX Rezzed the Playtonic team pledged to recapture the spirit of their previous releases, while enforcing their reputation for innovative, fun gameplay with game worlds that players not only explore, but expand and unlock in a totally free-form structure.

Playtonic also announced that they will launch a Kickstarter in May 2015. This will allow the team to "greatly expand the scope of Project Ukulele and ensure the creative freedom required to make the game that fans want to play."