Sometimes, a developer’s last game hints at their next one. Other times, the programmer of Spelunky HD announces a basketball beat ’em up. Say hallo to Dunk Lords [official site], jamming our way in 2018. This is a delightful surprise, and not just because of that name. The slam-jamming shakalaka ’em up boasts 2v2 b-balling action with fisticuffs, special moves, and environmental hazards, which sounds a lark.

Dunk Lords will pack local multiplayer for up to four players as well as a story campaign which supports two-player co-op. Dunking is better with friends, after all, and dunking on friends is best of all.

I do like this ’90s sort of fightsport. Most of my memories of friends’ Mega Drives and Amigas involve brawling in Speedball, NHL, and other games I couldn’t even name. If you’re a bloodsport fan too, you might fancy taking a gander at baseball fighting game Lethal League if you haven’t yet.

Anyway! Back to Dunk Lords. It’s due on Steam some time in “early 2018”, made by Andy Hull’s studio Story Fort.

The lineup of Dunk Lords looks to include an old man powered by Mountain Dew, a bear, a robot, and a humanoid strawberry who… wait, is this screenshot ↓ the strawbman attacking foes with the pulped, boiled, and sweetened flesh of their kin?

That’s not on.