Sabotage Studio, an independent developer that focuses on “combining retro aesthetics and modern game design,” has announced a new action-platformer named The Messenger.

The game is a pixelated throwback experience that shifts the visual style from 8-bit to 16-bit, and its coming to PC and unconfirmed console platforms sometime this year. Featured above, you can view the game’s debut trailer.

Here’s a rundown on the game, via its Steam page:

As a demon army besieges his village, a young ninja ventures through a cursed world, to deliver a scroll paramount to his clan’s survival.

Leveraging players expectations as a core game design ingredient, The Messenger is first presented as an 8-bit action platformer with a simple story, that unravels into an epic time traveling tale, eventually revealing itself as a 16-bit Metroidvania game packed with replay value and deadpan humor.

Key Features:

• An epic ninja adventure with challenging gameplay and tight controls.
• Legit 8-bit and 16-bit art and music reminiscent of your favorite NES and SNES games.
• Memorable cast of (often silly) villains, bosses and associates.
• Catchy soundtrack by renowned chiptune composer Rainbowdragoneyes, made in Famitracker.
• Character upgrades, new abilities, hidden levels and story arcs to discover.
• Challenging and visceral gameplay where mastery is a thing to behold.