Smash TV was a popular arcade game way back in the early 1990s. If you have not heard of this game, it was a dual-stick shooter based loosely (and unofficially) on The Running Man, a 1987 action-thriller classic starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Basically, in this game, you participate in a futuristic game show and move from one room to another killing wave after wave of enemies, earning cash, prizes, and fame in the process. This top-down hack-and-slash style was actually featured in another famous arcade game called Gauntlet several years earlier, but unlike the futuristic theme of Smash TV, this game went for a fantasy setting. The levels were also larger and more complicated compared to Smash TV as well.

Smashdungeonfeat

But where are all this leading to? Why should you care about some 30-year-old games? Well, the reason we spent all that time describing those games is to paint you a picture of how they were like, because if you combine the fantasy setting of Gauntlet with the structure of Smash TV, you will get an idea of what Plastic Cow Games’ upcoming mobile game Smash Dungeon is going to be. Check out some of its early gameplay footage below for a visual demonstration:

From what we know so far, Smash Dungeon will have procedurally-generated levels, skill sets that you can upgrade as you go, several boss battles, as well as tons of items, unlockable characters, and more.  It drew its original inspiration from Gauntlet, but the gameplay then ended up more similar to Smash TV.

One cool feature here is that different enemies will have different abilities and attack types. For example, the Mutant will explode upon being killed, while the Dancing Plan will constantly spawn new enemies if not dealt with quickly.

 
The Mutant will explode upon death

It will probably be quite a while before we can get our hands on the finished game, considering that Plastic Cow Games is just a one-person studio. However, even in this early stage of development, Smash Dungeon is still looking very solid. The developer also said that that they would be looking for beta testers in the next couple of weeks, so if you’re interested, be sure to keep yourself updated!

 
The Dancing Plant will keep summoning enemies if you don't deal with it quickly