With strong influences ranging from Robert E. Howard’s Conan stories, the classic fantasy art of Frank Frazetta and other illustrators, PC games such as the Barbarian series, “B” games such as Sword of Sodan and many others, Crian Soft’s violent and nudity packed Age of Barbarian was one of those games that drew some controversy in some circles for its decidedly NSFW (and DEFINITELY not for the kiddies content). Granted, if you appreciated all of what the game was attempting in its gloriously macho over the top recreation of its fantasy world, you were grinning like a Cimmerian while playing through the bloody side-scrolling hack and slash action. Conversely, if you were a cranky prude who only saw a trailer or screenshots, you were probably shaking your fists at a monitor and letting your eyeballs and brain boil in your skull.

No matter how you felt about the game, creator Christian Fanucci is in the process of whipping up an even more polished sequel and yes, it’s crowdfunding time! Given that the goal is a pretty modest $12,000 and the funding campaign runs until February 2, 2014, I’d say Fanucci makes his target provided he’s got people who aren’t afraid to fly their flags proudly and say they loved the first game and want to see a second. Given the planned and promised changes to make it an even bigger sequel (Golden Axe style mounts, a bigger world map and many side quests to tackle), this is one of those games that I hope sees everything happen to get it out there and played by those who want more of Rahaan and Sheyna’s adventures on their computers. Forget about this one coming to consoles, as it would probably be an automatic AO for the near nudity and other scenes alone. That said, fans of Conan, the Sword and the Sorcerer and a ton of other 80’s flicks should get this on their plate and check out some of the higher-end rewards, as they’re pretty cool for those with the cash to spare.