Game Boy-Tribute Platformer ‘Save Me Mr. Tako’ Returns From The Dead After Publisher Dispute

At the end of 2020, the game Save Me Mr. Tako mysteriously disappeared from online retailers. Vague statements from both developers and publishers failed to tell the full story of the backstage falling-out, but after almost six months without a word, developer Christophe Galati announced they will re-release the game themselves on PC later this year. Publishing god-kings Limited Run Games will oversee a Nintendo Switch release of Save Me Mr. Tako as well. Both versions will release on May 5, 2021.

I personally missed out on the peaceful, bouncy, Game Boy-styled adventure on it’s initial run and was bummed to see Save Me Mr. Tako wiped off storefronts. Similar to games like Scott Pilgrim Versus The World The Game, Mr. Tako puffed into non-existence overnight with no words on the game’s return. It took almost a decade for Scott Pilgrim to rise from the dead, so fans had little hope for the niche indie’s future.

In a Patreon blog-post, Galati explains that he “parted away with my former publisher Nicalis, resulting in the game being removed from [Steam and the Nintendo eShop], but did not give specifics as to what caused the split. Tako fans, however, can look forward to a delightfully, and unexpectedly tooled-up experience in Save Me Mr. Tako Definitive Edition.”

Definitive Edition boasts touched up game physics, improved camera behavior, re-balanced enemy behavior, a new difficulty mode, the ability to swap tako-hats on the fly, and a full level design rehaul.

In his Patreon blog-post, Galati shows several promising screenshots including new beautiful border images players can enjoy when the game comes out in May. Galati has seemingly taken his situation in stride, using the time Mr. Tako was off the market to sharpen and polish. I, and certainly many other Mr. Tako fans are counting down the minutes until May to finally be saved by the once-disappeared octopus.