Creators of Narita Boy Announce Their New Game: Haneda Girl

In 2017, Studio Koba unveiled Narita Boy, a game intriguingly named after Tokyo’s second-largest airport, tailor-made for the Kickstarter platform. It featured sleek pixel art characters navigating a vibrant, neon-lit side-scrolling universe. Drawing inspiration from the nostalgic anime styles of the ’80s, it fused these elements with modern visual effects. Underpinning this was the story of Eduardo Fornieles, a former member of the Friend & Foe team, who returned to his hometown to bring his dream game to life.

Initially just a vision, its stunning aesthetics got fans buzzing and propelled its crowdfunding campaign to remarkable success.

Fast forward four years, and Narita Boy emerged as a standout in the realm of crowdfunded video games. It played like a whimsical twist on the classic action-adventure genre with visuals that seemed to leap off the screen. However, despite its visual dazzle, the gameplay, slowed down by straightforward combat and text-heavy intermissions, didn’t quite match its visual allure.

Studio Koba’s next project, Haneda Girl, sidesteps these issues entirely.

Announced recently and now with a demo available on Steam, Haneda Girl may share a thematic name with its predecessor—this time drawing from Tokyo’s largest airport—but it stands on its own merits. As an action-platformer, it ramps up the pace with quicker character movements and more responsive controls, demanding precise timing as players ricochet between wall jumps while dodging an onslaught of enemies.

Players take on the role of Chichi Wakaba, a nimble swordswoman adept at zipping around the screen in mere seconds. Without the benefit of ranged attacks, she must rely on stealth to outsmart foes, slipping into a “ghost mode” to evade lasers or slicing through obstacles to drop platforms on unsuspecting enemies below, much like in the classic BurgerTime. But she’s delicate, going down with just a single hit.

Her secret weapon, though, is a mech companion named M.O.T.H.E.R. This bulky partner may tread slowly and leap only so high, but it boasts a machine gun turret and can withstand multiple blows before going down, only to respawn shortly after.

Playing through the demo, I found myself frequently jumping in and out of this robotic protector. Whether charging Wakaba’s attacks, absorbing enemy fire, or unleashing a wild spray of bullets, the mech often turned the tide—and sometimes, sheer luck saved the day. The game’s level design encourages a fluid dance between controlling Wakaba and the mech, presenting tight corridors or soaring walls for Wakaba alone, and crowd-packed rooms perfect for the mech’s firepower. There’s a sense that a Wakaba-centric speedrun might be possible, yet the balancing act between the two play styles brings the demo alive. I was constantly torn between sprinting for the goal and taking a moment to strategize, only to burst into delicious chaos.

Or occasionally, I threw caution to the wind and ended up back at the start. As the trailer hints, expect a lot of player deaths along the way.