It looks like the creative team behind the highly-praised Super Mario Bros. Crossover is finally making an original game of their own, and they’ve already broken their funding goal. That was fast.

Headed by programmer Jay Pavlina, indie development group Exploding Rabbit are creating Super Retro Squad, a platforming game that borrows liberally from the various Nintendo titles that have served as the inspiration for Super Mario Bros. Crossover. As detailed in the Kickstarter pitch video, all of the various characters are original, but based on familiar traits from certain famous Nintendo icons.

From left to right:

• Erin — Intergalactic thief who becomes attached to a suit of armor
• Kaida — A ninja fighting against another ninja clan that’s turned to the dark arts
• Riser — A commando who rides a unicorn, wields machine guns, and fights dragons
• Kaida — A ninja fighting against another ninja clan that’s turned to the dark arts
• Mecha Boy — A “genius scientist who has to become part robot to save his life”
• Manni and Lanzo — Two “german miners” who have to save Princess Apricot of the Asparagus Kingdom
• Kilner — An adventurer who slays an ancient monster “and unleashes something even worse”

Since the Kickstarter project has already hit its $10,000 mark, Pavlina is also promising stretch goals such as new modes, leaderboards,  and an extra character (Eve VII) with an extra world.

Even the backer rewards are pretty sweet. For various amounts of money, you can get the game, DRM copies of the soundtrack, a nod in the credits, your name spelled in coins in a secret area of the game, or a skin for your own video game character.

Super Retro Squad will be seen in all its 8-bit and 16-bit glory around March 2013 release on iOS, Android, Mac, and PC.

Source: Kickstarter