The Phantom Punches His Way Onto Major Platforms in New Comic Book Beat ’Em Up
Purple-clad comic book hero The Phantom is finally making his modern console debut, in an arcade-style beat ’em up from King Features and Art of Play Interactive. The demo’s out now, with the full game set to appear on March 12, 2025.
Players can take control of either The Phantom or his partner, Diana Palmer, in a side-scrolling arcade brawler across 14 levels. Both characters can also be used in two-player co-op, as players seek to stop the pirates of the Singh Brotherhood from attaining world domination.
“Use your hand-to-hand fighting skills and trusty weapons to dispatch this evil, and call in assistance from your animal friends Fraka the falcon and Devil the wolf,” the press release said and added: “The first three levels set the stage as The Phantom’s fight to take on the piracy, greed, and the cruelty of the Singh brotherhood leads him across the globe.”
The Man Who Cannot Die
The Phantom was one of the first pulp fiction heroes, who debuted in print way back in 1936. Known as “The Ghost Who Walks” and “The Man Who Cannot Die” due to different family members taking on the purple Phantom mantle, the character has appeared in cartoons, TV, movies and older video games.
The version in this game is Kit Walker, the 21st person to be The Phantom. He defends the fictional country of Bengalla from all forms of evil, making sure to mark bad guys with a firm punch of his signature skull ring. The game, of course, lets players do the same.
Honoring The Legacy
Art of Play has made sure to honor the character’s origins by using hand-drawn animation with comic book styling, as well as presenting a story that fits into established The Phantom canon.
The game’s story falls in line with how the original newspaper strips, and then comics, used The Phantom. For example, no supernatural powers, but plenty of brutal finishing moves. For fans of the character, it’s also worth noting that the game’s story is approved by King Features, the official owner of The Phantom.
Art of Play is based in Melbourne, Australia, and have made a ton of games on other licensed properties already, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Spider-Man.
King Features own multiple pop culture brands aside from The Phantom, such as Popeye and Flash Gordon, and even produced The Cuphead Show! for Netflix.