A still from a new 16-bit game called ‘The Legend of Drake: Rise of the 6 God’; Photo: Ya Boy Sprightly/YouTube
If you’ve ever wanted to experience life through your favorite rapper you’re in luck, sort of.
Amateur video game developer Ya Boy Sprightly has released a 16-bit game called The Legend of Drake: Rise of the 6 God. The RPG style game allows users to choose from a list of popular rappers, and live out the outrageous beefs that have decorated (and in some cases hindered) their careers.
In the official trailer fans are greeted with a Final Fantasy-type interface, and through the interactive play you get a glimpse of how rap beefs would play out if it were to take place in a virtual world.
Much of the dialogue is inspired by lyrics from popular songs and fans can use them to respond to certain situations. For example, Drake letting his adversary know that, “Look, I’m on a roll like Cottonelle” (from “All Me“).
The battle modes are equally hilarious. Lil B who is know for his wild Twitter rants, uses crazy tweets to confuse and disorientate his enemy.
There are also several situations where depending on how you respond can send the narrative in any number of directions. For example, when Future tells Drake to, “show these corny fools what’s up,” you can either respond as “Find Your Love” Drake or “Worst Behavior” Drake.
It is an uber-creative concept that weaves in pop culture references, lyrics and rap beefs all into one. But there’s more to it than just hijinks, there’s also a subtle but poignant message attached as well. The opening screen to the game advocates for social justice, a move inspired by Meek Mill‘s imprisonment. There’s also a link where fans can donate to the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization “dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry.”
In an interview with Pigeons and Planes, Sprightly discussed the decision to include this aspect into his game saying, “I started working on this game basically as a joke a year and a half ago, but during the course of that time, a lot has transpired in terms of major racial injustices, specifically affecting the hip-hop community.”
“Make no mistake,” Sprightly continues, “this game is still a ridiculous joke at its core, but I wanted to include a note at the beginning of the game, empowering people to fight for what’s right. I wholeheartedly respect hip-hop culture and meant this as a loving parody. But we need to do what we can to protect the community if we want to continue to enjoy it. If my weird-ass Drake RPG can help with that at all, then those 500 hours were definitely worth it.”
Sprightly is already working on another game this time with unique characters and story lines. Until then you can download The Legend of Drake: Rise of the 6 God for free here, or check out the game trailer below.