Is 1001 Spikes Coming to Blade Strangers?

Remember Blade Strangers? I certainly do. Last year’s wacky cross-developer and cross-country indie fighting game from Nicalis brought together the likes of Cave Story, Shovel Knight, Code of Princess, The Binding of Isaac, and more. Ahead of a new crossover from Nicalis in a different genre space, Crystal Crisis, Nicalis appears to be teasing some newcomers to the world of Blade Strangers. Check out the tweet from Nicalis, which is pretty self-explanatory:

Aban performs a perfectly timed Counter vs Curly in #CrystalCri–wait, what!?! This isn’t #CrystalCrisis! pic.twitter.com/sYFSHcGRQM

— Nicalis, Inc. (@nicalis) February 19, 2019

Pictured in that screenshot is Aban Hawkins, the protagonist of hardcore platformer 1001 Spikes. While Hawkins is already a confirmed member of the Crystal Crisis roster, there have been no hints of his involvement with Blade Strangers before now. And that screenshot definitely isn’t from a puzzle game. This isn’t a formal announcement with a date or price or anything, but it’s a fun tease ahead of such news.

While Crystal Crisis has a lot of the same characters involved as Blade Strangers, also present is a partnership with Tezuka Productions, the house of IP from legendary mangaka Osamu Tezuka. This brings heroes Atom (aka Astro Boy) and Black Jack into the mix. I’m not saying these characters are coming to Blade Strangers, but I may be saying I’ll freak out a little if they do.

Crystal Crisis is a competitive puzzle game that’s set up to resemble a fighting game, not unlike Capcom’s classic Puzzle Fighter series. It is currently set to release for both the PlayStation 4 and the Nintendo Switch on May 28, 2019.