Previews

TGS 2014: Hands-on with Never Gone, the old-school beat-'em-up with a new lick of paint

Never Gone give you up

TGS 2014: Hands-on with Never Gone, the old-school beat-'em-up with a new lick of paint
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iOS
| Never Gone

Hidden away at a little stall, slap-bang in the centre of the Tokyo Game Show 2014 floor, was this little gem, standing out to the coin-dropping arcade enthusiast in me.

From Chinese developer HippieGame, this is the mighty slick gothic beat-'em-up Never Gone.

Initially titled Requiem, the team have been working on the game for a year and a half, and it really shows.

Never Gone is a title very much influenced by Japanese arcade games of the '80s, with the control scheme feeling very much like Golden Axe or Streets of Rage.

The 2D animation is silky smooth, and a great deal of attention has gone into the character and backdrop artwork.

You control your vampire with the fixed virtual d-pad and three buttons: attack, jump, and shield. These can be chained together for different attacks and combos, with devastating results.

Two characters were playable in the demo - the Blood Ranger and Dark Sister, each with their own moves, upgradeable skillsets, and unlockable weapons.

There will be a fully-fledged story mode, and the devs anticipate 25-30 stages and plenty of bosses to have a stab at.

With very few brawlers like this on mobile these days, it's good to see what's shaping up to be a quality title all-round. Let's just hope that IAPs and other free-to-play shenanigans don't ruin the treat.

HippieGame are planning to release Never Gone in China some time around February 2015, with an eye to release worldwide down the line.

Danny Russell
Danny Russell
After spending years in Japan collecting game developers' business cards, Danny has returned to the UK to breed Pokemon. He spends his time championing elusive region-exclusive games while shaking his fist at the whole region-locking thing.