Naughty Dog won't do it, so this AAA dev and his wife made their own Jak & Daxter-inspired retro platformer – it feels great and crushed its Kickstarter goal

In a now-successful Kickstarter campaign that could pass for a me-seeking missile, the husband-and-wife team behind action platformer GearGrit channel "early 2000s console gaming" and stop just short of writing Jak 2 in the sky with smoke.

With Naughty Dog busy with The Last of Us, The Last of Us 2, The Last of Us again, The Last of Us 2 again, and even some other games when it's not re-releasing at least one of those – I'm being mean, but sci-fi adventure Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet does sound fun and, mercifully, less depressing – AAA developer Weston Mitchell of Obsidian and his wife Jessica Mitchell are drawing on "Jak & Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, Kingdom Hearts, and many more" in GearGrit. But, to my eyes, especially Jak 2.

"The planet is on its way to destruction, and those responsible are about to leave it all behind," begins a trailer that hits just a little too close to home as our own planet's billionaires and politicians push baby seals into vats of oil while simultaneously pushing 90 years old.

GearGrit itself, as I learned in a quick romp through its Steam demo, is a throwback to a much happier, simpler time. So far at least, it's a 3D action-platformer with the cityscape grunge of Jak 2, the stretchiness of Sly Cooper, and the punchy guns of Ratchet & Clank. It's like someone threw my PS2 childhood into a blender and dropped a goblin girl named Tansy into the mix. "This project was born for love of Early 2000s PS2 games and we wear our inspirations proudly!" the Kickstarter declares.

Melee combat is more involved than with Ratchet's wrench swinging. Out of the box, GearGrit gives you a multi-hit punch combo, a spinning attack, special attacks fueled by energy, and two flavors of dropkicks. Some attacks break enemy armor while others can be used as platforming tricks to reach ledges or extend jumps. Your guns mainly exist to separate enemies from their organs, and I like the Ratchet-esque shotgun so far. (Any Magma Cannon enjoyers?)

In the demo, I'd say there's something ever so slightly off with the momentum or gravity of the main character, but GearGrit already feels good in motion. The first time I long jumped into a ninja kick off the ground and used the mid-air spiral to reach a ledge, I was sold. You'll collect bolts, heal with floating soda, clear time trials, master vehicle minigames – I'm home, folks. This is as PS2 as it gets without an actual PS2.

GearGrit has a June 2025 delivery date on Kickstarter but no release date on Steam, and this fund is specifically for the next zone of the world, so it sounds to me like it's still a way out.

The devs say they've done the whole thing indie and self-funded so far, "so if funded, the game's release date could come sooner than anticipated!" Lucky for them, it's already passed its modest $25,000 goal with 27 days left in the campaign, so we're approaching stretch goal territory like a hair salon and New Game++.

Ironically, GearGrit is currently only planned for Steam. The team says "we might consider publishers for consoles if that door ever opens for us."

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