Bitmap Bureau announces Xeno Crisis is coming to Game Boy Advance in late 2024

Developer Bitmap Bureau has announced that its 2019 retro-style arena shooter Xeno Crisis will be ported to the Game Boy Advance. The port that finally brings the game to one of the most beloved retro handheld consoles you can get.

Xeno Crisis was initially released on Steam in 2019, and up to two players can battle it out across 10 levels against thousands of enemies as they slowly make their way to the source of the alien menace. It’s inspired by classic Sega Mega Drive and Genesis titles and was, in fact, successfully Kickstarted for those same consoles. Now, it’s available on almost every device, but Bitmap Bureau isn’t satisfied, so it’s finally coming to one of Nintendo’s best-known retro handhelds in late 2024.

Get ready to crack out a cartridge

The Game Boy Advance port of Xeno Crisis will include the Arcade, Boss Rush, and Infinite game modes for you to make your way through. The store listing, where you can already pre-order your copy, shows that it includes everything the PC version has. There’s even a ROM copy, so you can play it on your PC if you’d like. While unfortunately, we only have a release window, it’s still a brand new Game Boy Advance game fans can pick up 23 years after the console’s initial launch.

This Game Boy Advance port looks to have everything that the PC version has, except for multiplayer. I must admit, I wasn’t sure if Bitmap Bureau would bother including link cable compatibility for the few dozen of us who have the equipment and inclination to meet up and play Xeno Crisis from start to finish in co-op in a day.

The trailer shown below only includes a single marine and the developer tells us that only one marine is setting out on a mission this time. However, the cutscenes do appear to show the complete story from other versions of Xeno Crisis, so you won’t miss out there.

In Xeno Crisis, you work your way through missions by collecting weapons, defeating enemies, and picking up Dog Tags that they drop. These Dog Tags can be exchanged between areas for upgrades to make your characters stronger and more effective in the next biome. Of course, some enemies won’t even flinch unless you outflank them before attacking them, meaning you must master enemy types and attack patterns, too.

While most versions of Xeno Crisis can be played in co-op, single-player has always been on the cards, and it looks like single-player not only works just fine but is also incredibly fun to play. Enemies rush at you as quickly and ferociously as the projectiles from each boss, some of which look so nasty it’s hard to stomach fighting them.