NetEase Games and NITRO PLUS have announced that action platformer Rusty Rabbit will be launching on Nintendo Switch on 17th April 2025 (via Gematsu).
Now, on the surface, you might notice the gruff-looking, middle-aged rabbit that chain smokes carrots and think: “huh!”. You might be entertained as he rides around maze-like maps in a mech –look, Kirby has piloted a mech before, let the bunny live. And then you might look at the tag above and see that Gen Urobuchi, the writer of Puella Magi Madoka Magica and creator of Psycho-Pass, things start falling into place.
Rusty Rabbit is weird. Main character Stamp is voiced by Kazuma Kiryu’s voice actor in both Japanese and English, so that should give you an even better idea of the tone. The game takes place on a post-apocalyptic earth that has been overtaken by rabbits. These rabbits worship the Peter Rabbit books. Yep, Peter Rabbit is God. How does that feel, Beatrix Potter?
Stamp — who along with smoking carrots likes to swear — is searching for his estranged daughter. He finds an ancient recording device, known as a D-TAM, which seems to belong to her, and hints at the truth of the world the rabbits have lived in. Oh, and the game takes place on Smokestack Mountain. Yep.
Outside of the clash of cute characters (there are a lot of fluffy bunnies) and gritty setting, Rusty Rabbit sticks to many of the Metroidvania conventions. You’re just controlling a rabbit in a mech. He starts with a drill fist, and from the junk he collects in the mountain, he can upgrade his kit by returning to the hub village.
Various biomes are tucked away inside the mountain, but alongside the mainline story sections, there are procedurally generated dungeons and tough bosses that guard treasure.
So it’s a mix of bold and familiar — but the premise alone is wild enough that we have our eyes very peeled for this one. Also, what is it with rabbits and Metroidvanias? Remember F.I.S.T.?
Have you had your eye on Rusty Rabbit? Hop on down to the comments and let us know what you think of the game.