LOST PHOENIX: James Couche’s Indie Action Hit Gets A Gameboy Redux This Friday
I’d been following James Couche for a while and I never would have guessed he would be the one to have me doing video game coverage on this website, but…here we are. The man done went and announced an adaptation of his latest independent action thriller, Lost Phoenix. Couche created the game in association with GB Studio creator Elvies and musician Matt Hein.
“I came of age at the turn of the millennium,” Couche says, “and the Gameboy Color played an outsized role in that part of my life. I received one as a birthday gift just a few months before I joined the Air Force, and it became my travel companion as I left home and journeyed into the great unknown.”
Couche wrote and directed the original movie in a span of several years following the pandemic. Actor Wan DraL stars in the film as an amnesiac in the fight of his life if he’s to remember who he is while the country falls into chaos amid a social justice event. The film scored positive reviews from critics and has since released in January, available to rent or purchase on Amazon and Google Play, and to stream via Tubi.
“I feel like this is a great opportunity for us as indie filmmakers to add value to our films. So many of us are gamers and have a deep love for video games, we could create adaptations with the kind of care they rarely received back in the day. To be honest, this was such a great experience that it makes me want to do this for all my films going forward.”
The Lost Phoenix game will launch on June 15 at itch.io, and will be playable via browser and emulator as well as on Gameboy Color and Gameboy Advance. Watch the game launch trailer below:
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