You can now get a taste of Concursion for free with the game’s demo, newly launched on Steam! Dive into the fusion of five classic gaming genres, all blending into one seamless experience. You start where most platformers finish -at the bad guy’s castle- and run, jump, fly, fight and occasionally dance through the kingdom on your quest to unearth the truth behind these rifts and put a stop to Darklord Biganbad, once and for all.

Track your progress on the online leaderboards- the top five highest scoring players at the end of the week will all win a copy of the full game. To celebrate, we’re giving 50% off the full game on Steam for one week! Take a test drive now and then snap up the full package for just $4.99. That mega discount won’t last for long so get it while it lasts!

Who will fail spectacularly and who will top the leaderboards? Who can find Lord BigunBad and rescue the princess? Be a winner, test ride the Concursion demo now on Steam:  http://store.steampowered.com/app/303340

If you already own the game, you won’t be able to download the demo through Steam. However you can still play the demo through the Concursion website and post your scores, as long as Steam is running in the background.

Concursion is currently on sale until August 18th for 50% off on Steam

If you’ve never played Concursion, it’s best described as a mashup of a bunch of classic 8-bit games that combines elements from multiple games at the same time. Players must call upon long dormant skills to complete even a single level of this fast-paced and difficult game.

We took a look at the game a short while back and found the game to be pretty demanding as platformer-type games go. During our review of Concursion, we mentioned that the game might be a speedrunner’s dream. The fact that the developers are actually holding their own speedrun even is pretty awesome.

Danny ‘Danger’ Garfield, Primary Architect of Concursion says: “We are about to find out who the number one contender is. Judgement day is approaching. The champ is here!”

Puuba ‘Born Ready’ Dave, Quality Assurance Engineer states: ‘The fans all want to know the truth. You want Puuba Dave as the underlying champion. There’ll be hell in the cell. There is no escape. There is only Team Dave.”

Fans can vote for their favorite on YouTube using the hashtags #TeamDanny and #TeamDave. Puuba will be giving away prizes during the show that will include Concursion Steam codes and other goodies.

You can watch as the mayhem unfolds live on Twitch.tv/PuubaDanny  starting at 5pm PDT this Thursday the 10th.

You can grab your very own copy of Concursion right now on Steam at http://store.steampowered.com/app/303340/

This gameplay trailer of the preview build illustrates the game’s premise beautifully:

Concursion is ambitious to say the least, and doesn’t appear to be a “jack of all trades, master of none.” The shifting between play styles is a central part of progressing through the game rather than the window dressing one might expect from a mash-up of this many styles. In one of my favorite early levels, you begin in a space suit with the ability to rocket upwards to avoid obstacles and enemies.

This space suit form has extreme offensive limitations, though. Eventually, I came across a green shard (collecting these was the goal in every level I played) surrounded by bricks I couldn’t break while wearing the spacesuit.

I did what one does best in the space suit and rocketed away, avoiding blasts from nearby spaceships shooting from rectangular tears in the world, to the tear I was aiming for, where I fell out a ninja.

This ninja mode, reminiscent of Ninja Gaiden, was definitely my favorite in Concursion. I proceeded to hack-and-slash my way through bricks surrounding another tear, and jumped through, finding myself flying a spaceship.  I took some damage along the way (mainly from taking these awesome screenshots), but broke those bricks with my spaceship’s missiles, revealing the shard.

While the game still has a ways to go before its release, it’s definitely a successful blending of multiple retro styles. These styles play off of one another well, as frequent bounces between them are necessary to complete each level. If that cohesive blend of platforming, shooting, hacking-and-slashing, aerial exploration, and maze racing à la Pac-Man isn’t enough to hook you, the soundtracks actively adapting to each universe will.

Concursion is being developed by Puuba and is set to release this Spring 2014 on PC and Mac. YOu can learn more at www.concursiongame.com

Read on after the break for more information about the features you can find in Concursion and the developer.

Imagine a world of bright blue skies and puffy white clouds. You sprint across platforms, jump over gaps, and bounce off of an enemy… only to find yourself in outer space…

Concursion is a fusion of five classic gaming genres, molded into one seamless experience.

It’s not a compilation. Each of Concursion’s worlds intertwines with the others. You’ll utilise radically different sets of game mechanics in quick-fire succession – taking on everything from platforming, to space combat, to Pac-Man-style maze-busting.

What happens if the rift points between each of these worlds move? What if they actually chase you – forcing you, against your will, into alternate dimensions? What if your foes have ways to cross these boundaries, morphing and changing as they go…?

Features:

• Five classic gameplay genres – platforming, shooting, hacking-and-slashing, aerial exploration and maze racing
• Five original worlds, each with its own game mechanics, art style, and story to tell
• Five whole soundtracks from an Emmy-nominated composer, cross-blended between the worlds
• Unique fusion play – radically different game mechanics charge into each other head-first!
• Explore cartoon worlds, outer space, and even Feudal Japan!

About The Developer

Puuba means a lot to Danny Garfield, attached to some form of work or another for the past 15 years! This time things are a little different, it’s now the name of his studio working on flagship title Concursion, an ambitious title that blurs the lines between 5 retro genres.