History VideoGame / PharaohRebirth

''Pharaoh Rebirth'' is a {{Metroidvania}} game developed by Krobon Station (which actually is a mostly lone Japanese developer) for Windows and later ported to UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}, where [[http://store.steampowered.com/app/441280/ it was released]] on March 17, 2016. This version, called ''Pharaoh Rebirth+'', adds a whole new stage, a BossRush mode and achievements.

* BonusBoss:
** [[spoiler:Anubis]], the boss of the [[BrutalBonusLevel Las Vegas extra stage]] in ''Pharaoh Rebirth+''. Appropriately, he's much harder than any of the story's bosses.
** [[spoiler:Rania Qadesh]], the toughest boss by far, is hidden away in Stage 1 and is only accessible after you've achieved OneHundredPercentCompletion. It's an extremely secret fight at that; the unlock method is obscure and winning the fight doesn't unlock anything (not even a Steam achievement) other than an icon on the collection screen.

** When fighting the BonusBoss [[spoiler:Anubis]], its damage is cut in half. That doesn't make the move completely useless, but in terms of dealing damage quickly, there's better options in that fight.

* PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo: [[spoiler: Rania Qadesh or Gadishu]] is the [[spoiler: Middle Eastern savior and Hero of Egypt]] after it falls under attack by a powerful demon, in the previous game, Return of Egypt. Rania makes a return as a Cameo and [[Spoiler: hidden boss]].

* ShoutOut: Many, to video games, anime and movies.
** There are a few references to the "[[Franchise/{{Castlevania}} Vania]]" part of the Metroidvanias, such as the bats that act like the Medusa Heads and one character named Sir '''Belmont'''e. A more precise reference would be Dr. Mahone who looks just like Genya Arikado from ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaDawnOfSorrow'' [[spoiler:and acts like him too, being actually the BigBad's son who works undercover with the good guys to defeat his father.]] The final boss has an attack phase involving repeatedly teleporting then attacking, and indeed starts off sitting on a chair in the middle of a room. And like ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaOrderOfEcclesia'', you can get prizes for beating bosses (with a couple exceptions) without taking a hit. And the game's overall structure as a split-level {{Metroidvania}} is similar to Ecclesia's structure.
** Jonathan is an AdventurerArchaeologist whose rival is a FrenchJerk who hunts artifacts for profit. Can you say ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk''? What's better, the Ark itself appears, encased in a barrier, in a hidden part of stage 1!
** The Egyptian Book of the Dead as depicted in the game is similar to the depiction used in ''Film/TheMummy1999''. Speaking of the ''Mummy'' franchise, the lost oasis of Amshear is likely a reference to the lost oasis of Ahm Shere featured in ''Film/TheMummyReturns''.
** The FullMoonSilhouette mentioned above is of course a reference to ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial''.
** A curse that kills [[Film/TheRing in seven days]].
** To counter said curse's effect, Jonathan and Andre try to catch all the seven Holy Grails to become immortal. Seven magic artifacts that grant a wish when put together... [[Manga/DragonBall Nope, never heard of that.]]
** One artifact summons a spirit that attacks enemies; it attacks and behaves just like a [[Anime/JojosBizarreAdventure Stand]]. It also has a command-input move identical in function to [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaRondoOfBlood Maria's Guardian Knuckle]].
** The conductor of the ghost train looks like the alien conductor from ''Anime/GalaxyExpress999''.
** One boss is only seen as a half-transparent silhouette, similar to Film/{{Predator}}'s use of the cloaking device.
** Two homages to ''[[VideoGame/NoituLove Noitu Love 2: Devolution]]''. The beginning of the game with Andre attacking Jonathan with a fighter jet is very similar to the beginning of Creator/{{Konjak}}'s game, also the haunted elevator sequence in the Cairo hotel stage is modeled upon the elevator part at the start of level 5 in that game. Krobon knows about Konjak and follows him on Twitter, so it's definitely a conscious homage.
** The fight against [[spoiler:Sir Fernando on an excavator]] has shades of the fight against Monster X in ''VideoGame/CaveStory''.
** Krobon himself [[http://www.siliconera.com/2016/04/09/making-game-want-play-talk-pharaoh-rebirths-kurobon/ says that]] the idea of people turning into humanoid animals comes from ''Anime/PorcoRosso'' and Jonathan's morphs when he uses his abilities are a [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay T-1000]] reference.
** Andre's Sniper Mode works more or less the same as throwing eggs in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld2YoshisIsland''.
** Dr. Mahone resembles Hieda Reijirou, the archaeologist protagonist of Daigoro Morohoshi's ''Yokai Hunter''.

* StandardStatusEffects: There's just one, Petrified, that works like in the ''Castlevania'' games. But there's quite a lot of enemies that cause it.

Dr. Jonathan Banfield is an archaeologist who looks like a fluffy white humanoid rabbit: he WasOnceAMan, but an ancient curse has inflicted this status on him. However at the moment he has much bigger problems: thanks to his rival, treasure hunter Andre Betancourt (who was turned into an anthropomorphic animal - a turtle - as well), now they've been struck by the curse of pharaoh Sehur I, that will kill them in seven days. Their only hope appears to be going around Egypt to collect the seven Holy Grails, mystical artifacts that grant their owner immortality. Of course there are also other people interested in having the Grails at all costs, and at one point even the American government and other ancient beings will be involved in their adventures... Will Jonathan lift the curse with the help of his friend [[TheCracker Jack Davis]] and avoid Sehur I's wrath?

''Pharaoh Rebirth'' is a {{Metroidvania}} game developed by Krobon Station (which actually is a mostly lone Japanese developer) for Windows and later ported to UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}, where [[http://store.steampowered.com/app/441280/ it was released]] [[note]]Beware of spoilers in the images![[/note]] on March 17, 2016. This version, called ''Pharaoh Rebirth+'', adds a whole new stage, a BossRush mode and achievements.

It's also more or less the sequel to ''[[https://www.myabandonware.com/game/return-of-egypt-fvv Return of Egypt]]'', another Metroidvania made by the same developer (under the Psuedonym "Driven Phantom Soft" way back in 2003 and was published by Japanese Gaming Magazine, Romdia. The main character of Return of Egypt also stars in Pharaoh Rebirth as both an easter-egg and an NPC.