Taito Collection 3 Review (Switch)

 

The first two Taito Milestones collection were a bit of a mixed bag. The first collection had ten games on it but lacked for the price that was being asked. The second collection fared better, having The New Zealand Story and a unique version of Darius 2 on it. While still limited to ten games, the third collection is arguably the strongest set of games so far.

Before we get into what’s on here it’s important to say that you now get all the expected game-based bells and whistles retro collections have started to accumulate. Save states, display settings, the ability to tweak in game options and online rankings are all here along with in game manuals. There isn’t much in the way of museum or archive material though.

Headlining this collection are the classics of Bubble Bobble and Rainbow Islands. Both are highly regarded arcade games that you’ll no doubt have heard of. They both play as excellently as you remember as well with their different takes on platforming still feeling fresh and fun, while also influencing so much that came after them. 

The Rastan games are also here.  The impressive Conan the Barbarian inspired sprites still hold up and the arcade style hack and slash will keep you playing longer than most arcade games have a right to. The second game is even more visually impressive with some excellent set pieces and huge graphics, but it lacks in terms of how it plays and will likely be skipped over after the initial wow factor has warn off.

The rare, third game in the Rastan Saga has also been included. Warrior Blade is Taito’s attempt at producing something like Golden Axe. It’s not been the easiest game to get hold of so it’s nice to see it here and it does a good job at creating a swords and sorcery hack and slash game. It has a pretty wide range of moves as well and three different characters to pick from so if you get tired of just hammering the attack button there are options to mix things up.

Championship Wrestling is an interesting choice, it’s a relatively fun take on the sport which looks great but lacks a few moves. It runs at a decent speed and all the different characters are visually different. They also have a few unique moves between them. As there’s a real lack of decent wrestling games on the Switch it could gain a bit of a cult following. It’s certainly fun in small bursts.

RPG/ Hack and Slash crossover Cadash has made the cut as well. You start by picking from one of four characters and then must press on against the clock in a side on adventure. Occasionally you’ll level up and have to continually find gold. It’s not a game that has aged massively well and will likely just become a curio as players look for something a bit easier to deal with. The same can be said for Runark (otherwise known as Growl), which is a fairly average belt fighter with a few cool elements and an interesting theme.

Luckily, Thunder Fox is much more interesting. It plays like a sort of cross between an updated version of Rush ‘n’ Attack and the arcade version of Shinobi. Levels are varied and it’s responsive and good fun. It has the basic structure of walking through levels and hitting enemies but the bosses are decent and occasionally you get to drive vehicles and blast things in jets. As an arcade experience it works well.

The collection is rounded off with Dead Connection a cool action game set across a single screen where you break into gangsters’ dens and shoot everyone. Levels are set up like a club or a restaurant and you must eliminate a certain number of targets to progress. Much of the environment is destructible and interactive as well which adds to the chaos. It’s a continual good time and a much-welcomed addition.

Overall, The third Taito collection is the strongest in terms of overall selection of games yet. There’s a good mix of well recognised titles and curios and most of them are at least fun to play in small amounts. There are of course always things we would have liked to see added. In this instance we would have loved to have more of the Bubble Bobble games on here, Bubble Symphony seems to never want to come out on anything again. The price may still be too much for some but in terms of quality you can’t really argue.

Overall 8/10

Irem Collection Volume 2 Review (Switch)

Irem’s rollout of it’s older Ip is certainly taking its time. The Switch is now home to a huge array of retro games and compilations but much of it has been released on other platforms before. Irem seems to be taking a different approach, and while their collections are small, they are also games that haven’t been released as often. They are also seemingly trying to avoid an overlap with their Evercade releases so there’s a focus on more original content.

As a result, we haven’t seen collections of games such as R-Type or Midnight Resistance but more obscure arcade releases. The original collection contained Image Fight, Image Fight 2 and X Multiply, and now we have Air Duel, GunForce and GunForce II. Like before, different versions of the games have been included. The SNES and Arcade versions of Gunforce are here (along with regional variants), GunForce II has it’s Geo Storm variant and the Japanese version of Air Duel rounds out the collection.

Air Duel is a vertical scrolling shooter in the same sort of vein as Capcom’s 1940 series. You control a plane or a helicopter and take on a variety of futuristic military enemies. There’s a fairly standard power up system which increases the power of your main gun, and you also have your smart bombs. The helicopter handles slightly differently, allowing the player to pivot their fire from side to side which is a nice touch. In general, this is a great fun classic example of the genre, even if it lacks some of the innovation of modern releases.

You get both the console and arcade versions of GunForce. Unfortunately, the SNES/Famicom version of the game isn’t a patch on the arcade. It’s nice to have it here for completionist sake but it merely tries to mimic the arcade experience without adding anything new to the mix. As a result, you are much better sticking with the arcade experience. The game is a side scrolling shooter which sits somewhere between Conta and Metal Slug. It’s a tiny bit slow but the action is fun and frenetic and there’s a wide range of powerups and vehicles to play around with and huge bosses to take down.

GunForce 2 ramps up the speed and firepower considerably. It makes the game have much more of a full-on Metal Slug feel than the original. It’s also much more over the top with your character carrying two guns and a faster, more streamlined approach to the sprite work and level design. It’s an excellent game and one any fans of scrolling shooters should go out of their way to play.

As is standard now, all the games come with save states, rewind features and options to remap and change the controls. There’s also auto fire options and you can play the games in casual or classic mode which limits certain options or allows access to online leaderboards. It is a shame though that the games don’t have any real sort of archive or museum material.

Overall, Irem Collection Volume 2 has three excellent games on it that are all individually worth playing. There’s still an issue regarding the price, and of course there could and probably should be more games in each volume, especially compared to what’s out there from other companies. But what’s here is good and presented well. If that’s enough then you shouldn’t hesitate to dive in.

Overall 8/10

Voidwrought Review (Switch)

This will shock you, but Voidwrought is an indie Metroidvania game on the Switch. It’s fair to say that Nintendo’s hybrid has no shortages of games in the genre (including Metroid and Castlevania), so anything new must really do something to standout.

It’s a good thing then that Voidwrought really does try to do things a little bit differently. The first thing you’ll notice is that the game looks incredible. Everything from cutscenes to the general level design is presented in a gorgeous dark comic book style. To match this, the flow of movement is as smooth as the visuals with the games trademark being that it’s a fast-paced take on the genre. In these respects, it really does stand out in a positive way.

The general look of the design is a sort of comic book inspired mashup of Deadcells, Blasphemy and Dark Souls with a mixture of both technological and biological terrors inhabiting the environments. It definitely has a continually brooding and menacing tone to it that works well with the general bleakness of the game’s difficulty.

The steep learning curve may put some gamers off, the environment is harsh to navigate, and most enemies take a considerable amount of damage before they go down. This is all fine until you end up repeating sections multiple times. There are save points of course but they aren’t that prevalent. One concession to this is that any major object collected, or event triggered, will still have happened when you die and respawn at your last save point.

In a game which is generally difficult the bosses are, perhaps surprisingly, quite well balanced. There are certainly sticking points but once you have learned how they behave they don’t take crazy amount so damage before going down which helps to keep the game flowing.

There are a few issues though. First of all, the plot doesn’t really carry much of an impact. We would struggle to tell you what you are doing and why beyond the obvious Metroidvania exploration. We had no real idea what the overall goal was. Perhaps more concerning, the game also isn’t very good at giving you clear feedback regarding things like getting or damage.

The cartoon style is beautiful, but it does give things a lack of weight and impact, so it can be difficult to know if you are being hit or how hard you are hitting yourself. The health bar is also an issue. There is one of course but it doesn’t stand out that well and there is little other visual feedback to give an indication you are about to die. This led to a fair few deaths when healing was otherwise available.

Overall, Voidwrought succeeds in bringing something slightly different to the Metroidvania template. This is impressive enough when you consider how many games there are out there in the genre. It never fully clicked with us though in the way some of the other games have. That moment when you are just zooming around feeling like a super being never really came and, in the end, the few flaws did start to wear away at us. It’s a beautifully crafted game that runs amazingly well, but it is also perhaps one for gamers out there looking for a more hardcore experience. If you are into the genre though, this is well worth checking out as it’s somewhat unique in a crowded market.

Overall 7/10

Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel Review (Switch)

As you’ll likely know by now, we are a fan of obscure sixteen-bit games being released on the Switch. We’ve covered the first two games in the Aero the Acrobat series and now the third has arrived. Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel, focuses on one of the bosses from the previous games who is now the main character, much in the same way Knuckles broke out of the Sonic series. It’s also a crazily expensive Megadrive game, so we are more than happy to see it more readily available.

Zero, is a late life platformer and as a result is among the best looking Megadrive games. It’s bold colours and large sprites hold up remarkably well on the Switch and the levels and backgrounds are well drawn and different enough visually to keep things interesting throughout.

Along with the impressive graphics, Zero also plays like a dream. The platforming is precise and once you have got used to the inertia that every Megadrive platformer seems to have its genuinely fun to play. Zero has a fair few moves as well with him being able to throw ninja stars and swoop for short distances in the air. There are a few too many leaps of faith in the level design, but the rewind feature eliminates any major frustration in that respect.

In terms of content, the game has some nice additions. There’s the save state and rewind option that most retro games now have but you can also choose which regional version of the game to play. And if it’s all too much there’s also a host of cheats that can be activated. There’s also a selection of music options, a gallery and sprite sheets. It’s nothing amazing on its own but all together it shows that some care and attention has been put in to try and create a well-rounded package.

Overall, Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel is a bit of a forgotten gem. It was largely overlooked on release but it’s well worth playing now. It’s a fun and solid platformer and could easily have been released today and fit in with the indie crowd. You may not have heard of it but it’s well worth checking out.

Overall 8/10

Broken Sword – Shadow of the Templars: Reforged Review (Switch)

In the mid 90's Revolution released Broken Sword with little hype or press attention. By the time the game came to be converted onto the Playstation, it was being acknowledged as one of the most astounding adventures ever made and to this day it remains at the peak of the point and click genre. The last we saw of the game on consoles was the Directors Cut which added a few extra sections for Nicole, some Wiimote waggle and, criminally, removed the iconic opening. This reforged version removes the added extras and gives you the original game with the option of both the original and new look graphics.

The plot follows unsuspecting tourist George as he finds himself caught up in a murder at a small Paris cafe. After a bomb blast George raises himself from beneath a crushed umbrella, brushes himself off and unwisely decides to investigate. The story takes you all around the world as countries such as Ireland, France and Syria give up their parts of the mystery.

What makes the game so great is the care and attention to the script. Every conversation contains humour and charm, and you never feel bored while the characters speak their piece. It helps that everyone you meet is brilliantly over the top (the mad kebab seller using the toilet brush for basting springs to mind). The skill of the writers to make sure the characters are funny as well as informative is to be commended. Although, characters can fall into the cliched category perhaps once too often.

Apart from the great characters, the puzzles are among the finest to be found in the genre. Broken Sword gently eases you into the way you need to think. Most puzzles are logical but do require you to really understand the objects you have. For instance, a blood pressure gauge found in the hospital can be used to stop the flow of water in a hose. The player really must think as inventively as the programmers to get through. This new version has added a hint system in for those looking to make quicker progress though.

The Switch controls aren’t up there with a mouse of course but they are more than a match for the few time-based puzzles found within the game. There are touch controls available on the pad as well, but we didn’t find them particularly useful or needed. The new look of the game is in keeping with the original and style and we couldn’t ever quite decide which look we preferred the most. Luckily the graphics can be switched with a simple button press at any time. One thing that hasn’t been updated though is the audio, which serves as one of the few disappointments as the recording quality is really showing its age now.

Despite its age, Broken Sword is an exceptional game and remains a high point of the genre. Apart from the slight problem with the controls it's faultless. This is one of the best adventure stories you will ever encounter and is perfectly scripted and perfectly executed in just about every way. It’s the best point and click game on the Switch and still one of the best games ever made.

9/10

The Karate Kid: Street Rumble Review (Switch)

Of all the retro inspired sub-genres to have a comeback recently, we weren’t expecting 80’s nostalgia-based side scrolling beat’em ups with cartoon graphics to be one of them. We’ve had various Turtles games, Double Dragon: Gaiden and there’s the upcoming Toxic Crusaders. You can now add The Karate Kid to that mix. The Scott Pilgrim game has certainly had an influence.

The game does look great though. Locations are initially a bit dull but get better as you progress and take in the familiar locations of high school, beach, arcade and other areas around Reseda. The jump to Japan for the second film offers up some lovely sprite work and though the general designs of characters does repeat, everything individually looks pretty great.

Perhaps a little surprisingly, Street Rumble follows the plot of the first three movies instead of the more recent Cobra Kai series. You get to pick from four characters – Daniel, Ali, Mr Miyagi and Kimiko. Each character has the same basic set of attacks, but they range in speed and strength and have individual signature moves. So, there’s just enough here to make players try a few different playthroughs to find their favourite.

Combat is solid and fluid, with players able to mix light and heavy attacks together smoothly to create their own combos. You can add your signature attacks to this as well, meaning there’s good opportunities to juggle enemies or switch to new targets as required. You can also grab and throw enemies. The overall movement is limited but then that goes for about ninety percent of these types of games. One notable thing is that you can’t pick up weapons, so combat is really about keeping your combo meter going for as long as possible with the moves you have.

There’s an interesting health system in play as well with the player only taking proper health damage when their special meter is empty. This means you can take the odd hit without it causing too much trouble as long as you are on the offensive. Once you lose your three lives in a stage though you are done. Even if you are at the boss, it’s back to the beginning. This is well balanced though but can still be a touch frustrating as some of the stages are a touch long.

There’s also a low level exp grind at play where your characters can level up and gain new signature moves and other bonuses. The main way to do this is via secondary challenges within the levels. These normally come down to beating enemies a certain number of times with certain attacks or not taking health damage. It’s a pretty basic part of the game that lacks much invention, but it gives something for the box tick completionists to do.

Overall, The Karate Kid: Street Rumble is a well put together and good-looking game that plays nicely. The only real issue is that it can get repetitive quickly and some of the levels are pretty long and uninspired in terms of design. For short bursts it works really well and there are some nice systems here. It will be good enough for fans of both the films and side scrolling beat’em ups though. There’s also a lot that could be built and expanded on if they decide to move forward into other Karate Kid properties as there’s a really solid foundation in the design here.

Overall 7/10

Yars Rising Review (Switch)

Atari’s raiding and revitalising of its back catalogue continues unabated with one of its most bizarre and ambitious reboots yet. Instead of just updating the graphics and mechanics of one of its arcade games, Yars Rising takes the world of the famous Yars Revenge and attempts to expand it out into, of all things, a Metroidvania.

The original Yars does make appearances from time to time in the form of hacking mini games that need to be completed in order to open doors and disable obstacles. These play around with the conventions of the original game but basically amount to charging a meter then blasting a target with a super shot. Sometimes there are barriers, sometimes there are mines to avoid or other enemies to defeat but it all amounts to a single screen take on the original arcade style experience.

These hacking games become more and more complex as the game progresses. But if you feel you have really had enough of them it will let you skip if you fail a certain number of times. On the flip side you can also access them from the main menu if you just want to play them over and over.

The main bulk of the game has players take control of Emi Kimura who has been hired to break into the QoTech corporation. This plays out in the classic Metroidvania style with players exploring the 2D environment and picking up new skills along the way to let them through previously unpassable barriers. There are boss fights as well which normally need to be finished off with a hacking mini game or they will spring back to life.

In terms of design, the environments are a fairly generic, sterile, future sci-fi setting. It does help to keep things clear and easy to see but there’s not a huge variety between the looks of each location which can make traveling around a touch dull at times. Enemy design is very much in the realms of robots and technology which shares the same clear but not inspiration feel (with the occasional Atari reference). In a nice touch, all the characters are voiced, and Emi will chime in with her own commentary on how thing are going from time to time (this can be turned off if it gets too annoying).

Much better, is the general feel of the game. Emi controls well and it’s easy to get her to execute whichever move you are trying. This means you can get a good flow while traveling around the environments, allowing for speedy trips across the map. There’s also a well-balanced mix of action and stealth with a few areas requiring you to hide in doorways or vents to avoid invulnerable enemies. It’s not exactly Metroid: Dread but it helps to break things up and all the mechanics work well. The music is also excellent with a host of jaunty, anime inspired tunes present.

Overall, Yars Rising is a fun and inventive take on an IP that may have otherwise struggled to survive the expectations of modern audiences. The classic Wayforward vibe is in full effect and while this may not be anything revolutionary, it is certainly fun and breezy and there’s nothing bad here. If you feel you need another retro tinged Metroidvania then this makes a good choice, even among the mass of competition of the Switch.

Overall 7/10

Iron Meat Review (Switch)

Unless you’ve been under a rock for the last few decades you may have noticed there are quite a few indie games which are moulded in the ‘Metroidvania’ way. There also a fair few pixel platformers out there but, perhaps surprisingly, there are far fewer run and guns games inspired by the Contra series and other games of its ilk. Indeed, aside from Blazing Chrome it’s been remarkably quiet, that is until now.

The plot of Iron meat is as hilarious as it is basic. There have been some strange experiments going on, on the moon and now an iron hungry meat mass is mutating and destroying everything in a post-apocalyptic future. This is basically an excuse to merge iron and meat together to create horrific monsters to blast like a giant meat train boss with teeth.

Iron Meat unashamedly takes inspiration from Konami’s classic series in the best way. It is tough, but it’s not quite as brutal as Contra or Blazing Chrome, so it at least lets players get used to it before really ramping up the challenge. Levels are creative and well designed and provide a good deal of variety. In a further concession to the difficulty, any unlocked stage can be started from when you die, meaning you can practice the tough later levels without needing to blast through the others first.

As always with games of this type, the controls are key. We are pleased to say that everything here is tight. Your little dude who looks like Robocop is nimble and responsive and it’s also easy to blast in the direction you want to. That’s handy as the later levels require constant and precise movement to survive. As a nice touch your character can be quite heavily customised with unlockable skins and parts as well to mimic some famous characters.

There’s also a host of powerups available that keep blasting fun and you can carry up to two of these at a time. There is another small concession to the difficulty here in that when you die, you’ll keep whatever weapon loadout you weren’t using at the time.

The game looks beautiful as well. There are some amazing, animated cut scenes throughout and the levels themselves are detailed and full of character and touches such as sparks and flickering lights. In this respect the Switch doesn’t seem to be lagging. There’s no evidence of slowdown or poor performance either. Matching the visuals is an adrenaline pumping soundtrack and top level foley. This really is well thought out and presented excellently.

Overall, Iron Meat is a top tier run and gun game. There is an argument that it might be more fun than the recent Contra: Operation Galuga. It’s big, bold and intense but also gives you enough to feel like you can make progress and have a chance against what you are blasting. Retroware seem to have a host of retro inspired games coming and long may it continue if they carry on being at this level of quality.

Overall 8/10

Sam and Max: The Devil's Play House Review (Switch)

Written by Thomas G.J. Sharpe

I had briefly played the 2007 Sam and Max game by Telltale Games when it released, with all the appropriate eagerness of a rabid fan of Sam and Max Hit the Road and everything that creator Steve Purcell had a hand in. I bought Hit the Road in the US, in it’s full big-box, extra item-laden glory, at the height of the Lucasarts golden era. That game, with its full talkie CD-ROM treatment is a high point of the genre, to this day. The Devil’s Playhouse, as a part of the franchise that followed, has a nigh-on impossible job. This has been demonstrated for years after Monkey Island 1 and 2, where even the excellent Curse of Monkey Island, was burdened with the weight of nostalgia, historic success, and fan expectation. When I played through this post-Telltale remaster, I had to bat away much of this predictable and rather useless rose-tinted baggage. A team of ex-Telltale developers, under the moniker of Skunkape, have been breathing fresh life into this set of Sam and Max titles, that do a great job of capturing the essence of Purcell’s absurd creations. 

These are point and click adventure games of the generation spawned from Grim Fandango (the poster child of the post-2D world). While even Hit the Road had some 3D elements in it’s visuals, the whole way PnC could be played changed. Playhouse has scenes to puzzle through that operate and utilise the 3D-ness of the locations. The essential parts are there; inventory, dialogue options, and the modern squishing of action-verb tables or radials into a more succinct action prompt. There is a lovely comic-style feel to GUI and a charming little illustration of Sam when choosing some dialogue points on a radial. A key twist to this story is Max’s use of the Devil’s Toybox, which provide him with means to use all sorts of strange powers. This fits right in with Max’s frenetic weirdness, but in gameplay terms, keeps him much more engaged than previously. While Sam is still our straight-er man (dog), Max is less of a prop this way, or a means to deliver a psychopathic one-liner. Long and the short of Sam and Max as a concept, if you’ve not encountered it before, is a banjo playing, revolver wielding dog and an insane rabbit solve crimes in a bizarre bastardisation of the United States (that really just seems like the real United States a lot of the time).

After Sam and Max Save the World and then Beyond Time and Space, The Devil’s Playhouse appears to have some continuity, but not so much that I couldn’t enjoy it having not played the others. The episodic structure of the original Seasons is present, that feeds into the “case of…” detective schtick, and neatly providing some way to pace and metre out the plot points. As the scenarios are typically surreal and/or zany, they need to move fast. Most parts of this move at a decent whack, despite most of the entertainment of the thing being rooted in the classic point and click space of dialogue. There are consistent and reliable laughs in The Devil’s Playhouse, which is a relief given the IP. I didn’t expect to be amused this much. Often it was the dialogue itself, with it being quick and piercing to a great degree. This may lack the more scathing social satire of Purcell’s comics, there is enough of the absurd, the violent, and the indiscriminate about it. The sensibilities of both characters are dutifully flippant. They fight crime and cause more damage than the villains, and this is just how it should be.

There are memorable characters a plenty. My personal favourites were a set of talking radio gadgets, Sal the security cockroach, and the tin can army of Maimtron robots. The voice acting often hits the comedy mark instead of the lines themselves, and these are enthusiastically performed. Even at times, there is unexpected emotion and depth to what is inherently a very pulpy scenario. There is also a stand-out apex of the episodes here in “They Stole Max’s Brain” (“based on the similarly titled novel by Jane Austen” is one of the best lines in the game), where the drama ramps up and things get dark. Sam is always the best for me when he’s on tilt.

The graphics look great compared to the original game (from a little glance at some videos). The environments to have a slight sparse feel at times that does date it. These are remasters that will hopefully make the games up to date enough to smooth a modern audience into engaging. Subsequent Telltale games after these ones notched up the visuals, design and scene setting each time until it became the license hoover it did. I believe that these games will instantly be more accessible to modern audiences than any 2D PnC, however old feeling some of it is.

I will look to play the first two collections of episodes at some point as these feel they represent the true sequel to a beloved game of mine. You can feel the influence of the Lucasart era, and not just because of the closeness of some designers and writers, but just how well others have taken the characters and made them work in new but faithful ways. This is a great success that doesn’t have the baggage of a lot of the “cool” licenses that can get in the way of other Telltale games for me, and Skunkape have buffed it up real nice. Bravo.

Overall 9/10

Aero the Acrobat 2 Review (SNES)

We reviewed the first Aero game a little while back and found it to be a solid platformer that had enough character to stand out in a crowded market, For those that didn’t think the release of Aero the Acrobat was obscure enough though, here comes the even rarer sequel. We are pleased to say that while the general circus aesthetic of the original made it stand out in terms of setting, the sequel is generally a much better game overall.

Aero 2 is very much a looker of a game. The first game was bright and colourful, but everything here has certainly had an upgrade. Colours are brighter and pixels seems sharper and bolder. The environments may have lost their theme, but it gives much more variety to levels and allows for some fun design. In motion the game is incredibly slick as well and flows very smoothly.

The characters movement has also been tightened up. The first game was a little lose with some of the collision detection and the controls in general feeling slightly off. This isn’t the case for the sequel, and everything has been refined and tightened considerably. This makes the overall experience much more fun and coupled with the graphical face lift really helps to elevate the experience.

In terms of moves, Aero is still pretty much the same. You still have the jump and twist to hit enemies or extend your leap and you can still pick up stars to use as weapons. There are environmental changes though, such as bells to swing from and cogs that fling you around. There are also some levels which have you snowboarding or introduce other gimmicks that give the player something different to do and think about.

Overall, it’s really nice to have Aero 2 revived for a new audience. The character itself is fine and the first game is solid, but this sequel is one of the standout late releases of the SNES’ life. If you were to try and pick up an original cartridge it would set you back a small fortune, so to have it so easily available now can only be a good thing. It looks like the Aero love is continuing with the GBA game and spinoff coming soon. Long may this revival of more obscure games continue.

Overall 8/10

Shovel Knight Dig Review (Switch)

 Review by Thomas G.J. Sharpe

Shovel Knight Dig joins a small, but compelling, coterie of games that plunge down ‘tward the core like in that film where a group of scientists go to the centre of the earth to restart it with nukes, but the name escapes me.

Dig is on one hand really familiar territory. Blue Knight is back with his sort of unflappable-yet-flailing charm. The moveset is pretty much the same, as it has been, since Shovel of Hope, but there’s an emphasis on the digging (deeply unsurprising). You’re urged downward, making the most of Blue’s Duck Tails-esque pogo-shovel jump attack. Enough is changed by this 90-degree clockwise spin rotate, to give a fun, if short, addition to the series. Unlike Downwell, for instance, you are not in free fall. And unlike Raising Hell, you’re not going up. There is still a “room” quality to the progression. You go down, dig, collect loot, traverse environmental traps, shovel enemies, and that’s about it. Occasionally there are bosses to cap off sections, where you get a choice of two paths. Also, shops to change your loadout and thus alter your stats, help to give some purpose to the greed.

It is important to stress that this has rogue-lite elements to it. A persistent hub area with a host of wonderfully realised characters (by far, to me, the crowning glory of the series is the character design, animation, and writing). You collect armour sets, trade in gems for relics, and therefore have some control over your gameplay feel. This is, admittedly, quite thin, as the level traversal is the real loop here. And by loop, yeah, you go back into the hole in the ground caused by the schemes of (checks notes) Drill Knight, to pursue him and your pilfered loot, over and over until you get to the end. I haven’t gotten to the end, but all reports I have read seem to suggest a reasonably short experience of around five hours if you slightly backseated a 100% completion of collectibles, and were any good at it. I, for one, am not enhanced in my ability to play platformers whichever way the action in the game is moving toward, be it down, up, or the traditional right.

The game was responsive, looked great, and sounded superb. Another highlight of this series is the music, and this is no exception. Shovel Knight has consistently managed to find that sweet spot of nostalgia and newness, evoking something at once familiar and yet not tired, or second-hand. With a toe dipped into the one-more-round paddling pool, there is a different motivation than a traditional level-beating goal. It puts a lot of the load onto the satisfaction of competency through iteration. If you must repeat sections (however differently randomised) you get a keen sense of your change as a player. Part of my love of Hades for instance, was the creeping skill wall. The risk is, perhaps, how this sense of progression is felt by the player, and those permanent upgrades do help, but sometimes short play time can do it too. I will see where the load shifts to, or whether the pursuit of collectibles rears its strange head.

All in all, Dig is as consistent, enjoyable, and effective as ever. I consider these games to be a part of the high-water mark of the new platforming set. With the exemplary visual design, they’re not afraid to try these twists, like Pocket Dungeon, to capture a whole new way to engage with their gorgeous world and loveable characters.

Overall 8/10

Sam and Max: Beyond Time and Space Review (Switch)

We covered the first in the Telltale Sam and Max trilogy a few weeks ago and now the duo is back with their second collection of five episodes. This time our heroes are dealing with everything from Santa Claus demons and vampire rockstars to time traveling Mariachi band aliens. Much like the previous collection, the game isn’t perfect but there is still nothing quite like following around the mad-cap duo with their dry and slightly psychotic brand of humour.

Little has changed in terms of structure from before. The game is still set in a 3D world which our heroes wandering around looking for things to interact with. There’s help in the form of the shoulder buttons which will highlight interactive elements of the scenes and you can also set Max to give you hints about what to do at varying intervals which we found was a good way to keep the story moving.

The aim of each chapter is to solve the various puzzles and mysteries in classic point and click style by collecting objects and using them in weird and wonderful ways. This being a Sam and Max game though you really have to get your lateral thinking skills going, and even then we found some puzzles fell too far into surreal obscurity for most normal humans at times. At least locations are kept fairly tight so there’s always the option of just talking to everyone and trying everything everywhere.

It's fair to say that the episodes get better and more creative as you progress. The opening chapter based around a demon taking over the north pole dragged a bit and this is followed by a Bermuda Triangle based chapter which we found quite fiddly. Next though is a great chapter about zombies, featuring a vein vampire holding a European dance rave, This is then followed by the alien time travelling Mariachi band which has some of the funniest dialogue. The final chapter rounds everything off well and doing just enough to send you back to the eShop to pick up the final game in the trilogy.

Some of the complaints about the previous game are still relevant of course. Again, these were released originally as standalone episodes so there is a certain number of repetitive locations and environments. It’s something the game even references at one point. At least this time you are mostly whisked away to other locations though which does give much needed variety. There’s also some silly mini games to help keep things interesting as well. You are still going to be visiting Bosco’s Shop, Stinky’s Diner and Sybils Office a lot though.

We found the writing to be a lot sharper than the first game though. Max in particular seems to be much more on point. Seemingly a case of the writers and voice actors having got more comfortable with characters again. It means it’s well worth clicking on everything and seeking out the additional dialogue options in order to hear all the jokes and quips and the game is consistently funny throughout all the episodes.

Overall, Sam and Max: Beyond Space and Time is an enjoyable and welcome continuation for the crime fighting dog and rabbit. There’s nothing here that’s going to put you off if you have played the previous games and, in all likelihood, you’ll finish this then head straight back to get the next episode. The locations are a bit more inventive than the first game as well and writing is certainly sharper. A very welcome addition to the Switch point and click library.

Overall 7/10

Shadow of the Ninja Reborn Review (Switch)

 

I don’t think anyone had relatively obscure NES game Shadow of the Ninja on their bingo card for a revival this year. But Atari, Natsume and others are going all out to squeeze every piece of equity from gamings now lengthy back catalogue.  We have played the original game though and it’s a fun take on the platform genre that tries to distance itself from the Gaiden series as much as possible.

As an update, Shadow of the Ninja Reborn is a strange sort of game. If you think back to the days of the NES, a lot of games were ported from the arcade. This take on the franchise looks to reverse the approach. Taking what was an 8-bit game and imaging how it would work as an arcade game. Changing its level design, how the game plays and boosting its graphics to be bigger and more colourful.

The game is pretty hardcore in terms of difficulty. Players can pick from normal or hard to begin with (pick normal), and once your energy bar has depleted you die and start the stage again. There are two or three checkpoints throughout levels though and normally one before boss fights as well. You also have unlimited continues and the game will also give you more health pick ups and items if you get stuck dying on a particular section, so at least it does try and keep players going. Despite the arcade nature of the game, you don’t have to play through from the beginning each time either as it’ll autosave your progress and unlock levels as time attack stages once completed.

In terms of your ninja, you have a couple of cool weapons at your disposal. You have your basic sword which can be upgraded to sort of fire swooshy things. It can also block a lot of projectiles that are fired your way which is a nice touch. You also have a sort of grappling hook weapon which has a decent range and can be used to attack enemies from different angles. This also upgrades to add length and extra spikes. You can also find a host of other weapons and items which are limited use. We did find most of them took far too long to use though so tended to stay with the basic sword and hook set up.

There are a few issues with controls unfortunately. The standard sword swipe and jump are fine, but you can also sort of wall run and jump but it never felt natural to pull off and sticking to surfaces also seemed a bit hit and miss. In terms of using items there’s an odd selection process. Pressing the shoulder button selects whatever your closest item on your inventory is. However, logically, pressing the button multiple times should really syphon through your inventory, but to actually do that you need to hold the button down and then use arrows to shift through. It is rarely practical to do this to the point it makes the inventory almost useless for large parts of the levels.

Level design and enemies though are generally pretty cool. There’s a wide range of opponents who attack you in different ways and the sort of sci-fi cyber design works well. Bosses are varied and creative and follow attack patterns which will need to be learned to down them. They are pretty well balanced though with just the right amount of health and work as highlights rather than annoyances.

Overall, Shadow of the Ninja Reborn is a fun and creative throwback to arcade games of the 90’s. it’s not perfect but the annoyances never stop it from being fun. The difficulty is something players will have to get used to, but the game at least tried to help you out when you start to really struggle. If you like arcade action platformers then this will likely be right up your alley. A very well thought out use of an old and obscure IP.

Overall 8/10

Tomba! Special Edition Review (Switch)

There’s certainly been a run of classic games making their way on the Switch recently. The games tend to be eight or sixteen-bit games though, so to see a previous Playstation exclusive pop up is a surprise for a number of reasons. It’s certainly not an unpleasant one though as Tombi!, is fairly pricey to get hold of on the original hardware and a decent game to boot.

The first slightly confusing thing is that though the game is listed as Tombi! on the Switch home page, it actually displays the Tomba! name when you boot it up (which was the US name). It’s a little thing but slightly odd none the less. In terms of this being a ‘special edition’, this is basically the original game with the now standard, save states, rewind features and screen options we’ve come to expect from this kind of release. There’s a few other options such as galleries and a music player as well but for the most part this is the original Playstation game in the original aspect ratio for better or worse.

Tomba!, is very much an example of the side scrolling 32-bit platformer. It feels a bit clunky but it’s solid enough and has a fairly unique approach to the genre. Your character can jump on enemies and then use them as objects to hurl at other creatures. Most of these are the evil pigs that are trying to take other the area but there are a host of other animals to chuck around as well.  There are also instances where you character can run into and out of the screen to reach another area and carry on the level in the background. Along with the platforming there's some light adventure elements where you need to find objects or keys to progress or solve simple puzzles but most of the time it's about jumping on pigs.

In terms of how it looks it still holds a certain charm. There’s a sort of quirky ugliness to a lot of textures and graphics of the 32-bit era that you can’t help but warm to. If you are into your retro games then it won’t bother you, just don’t get expecting Mario Wonder. It’s also perfectly playable once you get used to it and you can begin to see why it holds such a cult following among Playstation fans.

Overall, it’s yet another instance of us being glad that a forgotten slice of gaming history has been brought back to a wider audience. There have been some reports of crashes, but we didn’t experience any during our play through. Tomba! Is a great example of a Playstation platformer that still works today (with a bit of patience). It’s also a cheap and accessible way of playing a much sought after title and long may it continue.

Overall 7/10

Aero the Acrobat Review (Switch)

There are so many Super Nintendo games out there that it’s inevitable that not everything would appear on the Online service. It’s proving to be a goldmine for retro developers, and we’ve previously looked at the Top Racer Collection from QUByte and recently enjoyed working our way through the Jurassic Park compilation brought about by Limited Run Games. Fresh from an Evercade release, Sunsofts Aero the Acrobat is the next to make its way to Switch (and will soon be followed by its sequel).

Fairly well received upon original release, Aero the Acrobat fell into the second tier of Super Nintendo platformers behind the Super Marios and Donkey Kongs. It also shifted decent enough numbers for a sequel and spinoff game. We can also age ourselves quite badly by telling you there’s an original copy of the game sitting on the shelf. Honestly though, this is the first time we’ve really put a significant amount of time into it and it’s certainly good fun.

The thing that will take players the most time to adjust to is how Aero controls. We are so used to either Sonic or Mario style implementations that anything else just feels slightly off. Aero is probably closer to the more slip, slidey Sonic approach but after a few levels it all came together. The

It’s important to note that Aero can’t defeat enemies by jumping on them as well. He needs to do a jump and spin attack or use one of the many pickups such as stars which can be thrown. Even then there are a fair few enemies that are immune to your attack and simply need avoiding. There’s lots of objects around the colourful levels to interact with such as unicycles and trampolines as well which fit with the overall circus theme.

Levels themselves are loosely mission based with criteria needing to be met before you can exit. These normally require the player to search out platforms to disperse or a certain number of hoops to jump through. Most of the time this is fine but if you miss one there’s a strict time limit so it can mean a restart if you are not careful. In all honesty, the levels would be fine without these restrictions.

In terms of additions for this re-release there isn’t much in terms of the core game. You get the rewind and save state upgrades most retro revivals now seem to have and a few screen and filter options. However, you also get a host of gallery extras including the original instruction manual and a host of design and production stills. It’s a decent collection of museum items and something that could have easily been overlooked. It shows that little bit of extra effort that has been out in and it’s much appreciated.

Overall, we are glad to see one of the better and often overlooked games from the sixteen-bit era make its way to a new audience. Aero is well worth playing and is more than a simple clone of a bigger franchise. It’s not as slick as the big boys but it remains inventive and fun throughout. Now, if someone could just get hold of Skyblazer and Shadowrun that would be great.

Overall 7/10

Sam and Max Save the World Review (Switch)

It seems like a lifetime ago that the wise cracking canine shamus in the suit and the hyper kinetic, ultra-violent rabbit first made an impact on the gaming world. Luckily for us, after the proposed sequel was cancelled, Sam and Max found another way to reach their audience. It started as episodic seasons, of which Save the World was the first. You get Six episodes in total, and while they aren’t perfect, they certainly do enough to bring a smile to the faces of fans of the dangerous duo.

Sam and Max, as we all should know by now, are Freelance police who undertake missions given out by the commissioner. Sam is the thoughtful one, often pointing out the lunacy of what is happening around him, while Max is borderline insane and always looking for things to shoot, break or eat. The duo is joined in their adventures by Jimmy the rat- a low level fence who lives in their office, Bosco the shop owner and Sybil the woman of ever changing career.

The game controls have moved from the PC (and Wii) versions and now players directy control Sam. As he wanders around, things of interest highlight and can then be interacted with. This is still very much a point and click adventure with the character models and objects now in 3D.

It's somewhat of a relief to find that the writing and voice work retains much of its excellent quality. The humour and style that the original game was well known for is upheld admirably here. Some of the lines that our two heroes come out with are absolute genius and will have you laughing away on many occasions. The six episodes all have their own theme and range from average to excellent in terms of humour and general madness. Abe Lincoln must die stands out as a brilliant piece of social satire while Reality 2.0 might strike a little too close to home for many players.

As these episodes where released as episodic content on the PC and are self-contained three hour adventures there is a certain amount of repetition in location. Most episodes require you to visit Sam and Max's room, Bosco's Inconvenience store and Sybil's office. You will then typically have one or two other locations to explore relating to the episode you are playing. This isn't ideal and certainly not on a par with the original games layout but certainly shouldn't put you off.

On the whole, the puzzles are a mix of the logical and lateral thinking variety. Quite often you will have to be in the mindset of the game world to work out how to solve a certain situation. This works fine as most gamers will soon get the drift of how they should be thinking. There is a couple of instances where solutions are quite obscure though, our advice is simply to make sure you look everywhere and try everything. Even so, it's likely that players will stumble a few times and find themselves frustrated just that little bit too often.

Overall, We are really happy to see Sam and Max make it onto the Switch as this, and the games that followed it show enough of the greatness of the original. We can only hope that when the final of the three seasons has been released on the Switch we might get some news about further adventures.

Overall 7/10

Volgarr The Viking II Review (Switch)

The original Volgarr was a bit of a cult hit on steam a few years back. In an emerging era of hardcore, retro styled, titles it managed to forge a path with its chunky, Rastan style, graphics and its heavy Conan the Barbarian influence it certainly caught the eye. Many players though struggled with the unrelenting difficulty. Don’t go expecting anything less than crushing toughness though, as the sequel forges the same unapologetically punishing path as its predecessor.

There’s little in the way of technical changes here. Volgarr has pretty much the same move set and attacks as before. You can attack with your sword, jump, roll and throw spears which can be used to stick in walls to create makeshift platforms. A sort of double jump can also be done which also swings your sword around, creating a sort of circle of death as well. Taking a single hit kills you but you can also pick up rare pieces of armour which gives you the ability to take more damage.

The game is tough, and you’ll die often, but when you die a certain amount you’ll enter dead mode which effectively makes you invincible, aside from deaths via pits. We found this to be an odd design choice. The game is very tough but effectively forcing an invincibility option onto players doesn’t gel very well. Once we had died enough to activate this, we found our interest in the game soon started to drift away and it became a real slog. We could have started the game again of course but it’s very frustrating that you don’t get this as an option that you can ignore if you so wish.

Admittedly, we didn’t make it to the end even with the invincibility option, but we found the level design and bosses to be somewhat weaker than the previous game. The first Volgarr was tough but has a certain logic to it. The sequel just seems unnecessarily frustrating and annoying in places. As a result, we found we really weren’t having fun a lot of the time and the levels soon became a slog.

With a game this difficult its vital the controls work well and in this respect Volgarr is excellent. Controls are responsive and each of the barbarians moves have a purpose and are easy to execute. It’s vital for players to get used to the distances and animation cycles of all the different moves as using the wrong one at the wrong time will almost always leave you open to attack and normally death. This is especially important on ropes as getting knocked off will almost always end in falling into a death pit.

A less drastic concession to the difficulty is that the levels now have check points. Each of the stages are sizable and it’ll take you between twenty minutes and half an hour to get through most of them. The original game made you do this in one go so at least here it’s not as severe. That said, if you lose all your lives, it’s back to the start of the stage you can expect to be seeing the start of some of these stages multiple times.

Overall, Volgarr the Viking II offers up more of the same and those who have beaten the original (there must be someone out there), will no doubt be keen to take on the challenge. For us, this sequel doesn’t quite have the magic of the first game though. It moves from ‘challenging’ into ‘frustrating’ far too often with too many niggly parts of level that you’ll end up having to go through multiple times. As a result, it’s difficult to really get a rhythm going. The almost invincible mode is also not wanted, we would at least like to see it become optional on the continue screen as it took much of the joy of progression away.

Overall 6/10

 

 

Parasol Stars Review (Switch)

We’ve seen a marked change in retro Switch release recently. It used to be that these sorts of games would be released via Arcade Archives or one of the other retro companies but more and more they are becoming larger scale releases. Taito has released a couple of retro collections, but Parasol Stars is being sent out on its own into the ever-expanding Switch market for a modest price.

For the uninitiated, Parasol Stars is the third game in the Bubble Bobble franchise, it’s also as different to Bubble Bobble as the second game in the series, Rainbow Islands. The biggest thing that sets this one apart in terms of history is that Parasol Stars was never released in the Arcade and instead went to console such as the NES and PC Engine. The Switch release is seemingly a new version (it’s certainly not the NES or Amiga version), so we assume it’s based on the PC Engine release and updated. Information is mysteriously vague on the subject.

In terms of gameplay, it’s very much in the classic single screen arcade platformer mould of the time. Players need to eliminate all enemies on a stage to progress and collect fruit and sweets to pick up points. You are armed only with your trusty umbrella which can be used to pick up enemies and then fling them at others.

It won’t be long before you’ll see rain drops falling onto the stages. These provide an unlimited source of projectiles to throw and if you collect enough can unleash a flood of water that surges along all the connecting platforms taking any enemies with it on the way. At the end of each world, you then face off against a cartoon styled boss where you’ll need to grab lightning bolts to fire out of your parasol in order to defeat them.

Generally, controlling your character is a little awkward but nothing out of the ordinary for games of the time. You can only really walk and jump but Bub and Bob are a bit sluggish and have the worst leaping power imaginable. But then it’s all about using the Parasol and setting up chains of enemies to be dispatched for high scores.

In terms of modes and options the game is limited. You can play through both the US and Japanese version of the game with unlimited continues or play the normal mode which adds in a rewind and save function but gives you limited lives and continues. There is also a challenge section where you can rank on an online leader board. There are a few cheat options that can be activated as well as various display options and borders. More in the way of museum content would certainly be welcome. Alternate console versions of the game would have been nice but sadly it was not to be.

Overall, it’s nice to see Parasol Stars taking its turn in the spotlight and it’s certainly reasonably priced. It is perhaps the weakest of the three Bubble Bobble games but then we certainly still have good memories of it, and it holds up well. If you are a fan of retro arcade games, then this is still one of the best and we are keen to see what else gets spotlighted as we move into the later days of the Switch.

Overall 7/10

SCHiM Review (Switch)

It’s not often you get an original take these days. Most indie games have settled into the Rogue lite, Metroidvania, Soulslike mould or gone down the retro nostalgia route (or both), but SCHiM is actually trying to do something a bit different. It’s an arty, isometric platformer where you play a little shadow creature, separated from your human who needs to jump from shady spot to shady spot to find your way home.

The style of the game is the first thing that really draws you to it. It’s set out in a sort of clear, minimalist way with the environments mainly panted with a single colour and strong lines used for shapes and objects. This not only gives it a sort of ‘arty’ feel but also allows the shadows cast by the objects, people and creatures to be clearly seen as there is no clutter. It’s through these shadows that your little SCHiM creature must move in order to reach the goal at the end of each level. This is normally a bus or over vehicle which then takes it off to the next scene.

Levels start small and focused but soon get much bigger. This allows for some exploration to find hidden objects but can also be a bit frustrating as it can be unclear where you are meant to go at times. You can hold a trigger which will zoom over to show your next goal, but we found ourselves needing to this a little to often. Finding hidden objects helps other SCHiM creatures find their way home as well which is a nice touch.

The concept is simple. You need to jump from shadow to shadow and landing in direct light will see you die after a few seconds and revert to the nearest checkpoint. If there are connecting lines cast (such as lamp posts), you can zoom along these and as you progress, you’ll find things like telegraph lines cause you to bounce and objects such as signs and trampolines can be used to fling you around. You can also interact with objects to do things like turn lights on, change traffic lights and fly drones. It adds a distinct puzzle element which for the most part works well, although some checkpoints are a little too far away.

The jumping works for the most part but it can be difficult to judge where you are going to land. This can be frustrating as you don’t get much flexibility if you land outside of a shadow and when you are trying to jump from thin lines to other small areas it can prove clumsy. The isometric viewpoint doesn’t really help with this, and it can also be difficult to see where you are at times. You can rotate the play field around through some set angles, but we still found a few places where there just wasn’t an optimal line of sight. Generally though, everything works out fine.

Overall, SCHiM is a charming game that has a lot to offer to those looking for something a bit different. It’s certainly not as relaxing as it looks at first glance but there is a consistent logic to the game and a well thought out obstacle course of things for you get around on each level. It’s one of those games that is bound to be referred to as ‘charming’ in the weeks to come, and it is. But there's also a whole lot more here as well.

Overall 8/10

Cobra Traingle Review (Switch/NES)

As far as we can tell there is very little in the way of plot that surrounds Cobra Triangle. For some reason there is a bloke in a boat who shoots things, but this is the NES, a more simple time when it was all about gameplay.

Developed by Rare, the game is set across a number of levels, each of which is different from the last. One level may have you simply racing to the finish, whilst another could involve removing mines, saving drowning people, jumping waterfalls, going through an assault course or even taking on a huge sea monster in a titanic life or death battle. Variety is definitely the name of the game and it's this that helps to excel the Cobra Triangle to greatness.

Graphically, this certainly isn't the prettiest of games. The boat is a triangle shape coloured in with two colours, the backgrounds fair little better, mainly consisting of blue for the water and green for the land. It's animated well with the boat tipping up at the back depending how fast you are going and boss monsters being suitably large and imposing.

Importantly though, everything moves along at a high rate and slowdown never once appears to ruin the gameplay. The biggest problem is flickering, which is apparent a little more than it should be, this is mainly because in certain areas there is so much on screen and it moves very quickly. Flickering aside, the game holds up pretty well.

The game may look a touch drab but the boat is superbly controllable and allows you to make near handbrake turns and other manoeuvres with ease. This is essential to the gameplay as the pace never lets up from start to finish. Furthermore, every level really feels like something fresh - meaning you never get bored of just doing the same thing over and over again and you look forward to seeing what the next level will bring. This element helps make it highly addictive.

Overall, Cobra Triangle is a stunning game. Graphically, it's certainly not amazing, but they do the job and it allows the gameplay to really shine. Upon release it was mostly ignored by the gaming public, mainly due to poor coverage from magazines - this is probably why it was never remade for the new consoles. In years to come it would be great to see a remake as this has all the style, and a lot more originality than most retro franchises. It stands as another example of why Rare were the hottest property around back in the gaming golden age.

9/10

Rauniot Review (Steam)

Review by Thomas G.J. Sharpe

Finnish point n’ click Rauniot had me boycott it for so long, and so early that I wanted to uninstall it. I’m glad I didn’t, because once this throwback gets into its stride, there is something wholly compelling and unusual about it.

At once familiar and a bit off, this is a mutated bit of nostalgia. The game world reflected in it’s feel. There is some fun diegesis with menus and GUI that remind me of other effective retro-futurism-immersion like Alien: Isolation. For some mad reason, the next one that came up for me was Crusader: No Remorse (it is far prettier, no shade intended). Something about the perspective and the mid-late 90’s graphical smoothness. Rauniot hits notes of shareware slideshows on PC Gamer demo discs graphically, yet it’s whispered, violent world is more akin to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. or Disco Elysium. It is, however, no way near as garrulous as those two titles.

The pitch is you play as Aino searching for a companion on horseback. The world is a stalled 1970’s after an apocalyptic event. Some decent indicators that everything has gone to Hull in a handcart is the proliferation of dog food, the bleak and oppressive lack of trust, and a haunted, reverberant world. The protagonist is barely audible and spins an atmosphere more dissociative as Finnish is not a language my ears are lucky to hear very often. Whispering asides that brood and menace are the soup of the day.

The litmus test of any point n’ clicker is the puzzles. Immediately I feel into a trap of having to pixel hunt. An almost first encountered item eluded me for far too long, which gives our first pause; there are mild outline hints on rollover for items, but do not expected things to be pointed out with neon signs. Take this how thy wilt, I suppose. I personally would like items to be in places where I can guess where they may be through inference, not through clutter. Other puzzles are marred by gating each other but with little nudging. Again, we could enter the puzzle vs intelligence vs brootal-git-gud thing, and I wish to be above the left-right paradigm, don’t we all.

Where Rauniot shines is an uncompromising story of human interaction. The characters you meet as Aino, and her herself, are on the very edge, the absolute limit of their trust in anything. This is a love letter to staring over an interpersonal cliff and wondering if the thrill of descent is worth leaving others.

This world is packed to the grimy rafters with detail, and uncanny locations, that really sing this nearly old game vibe. The minor hiccups in puzzle design throughout, I can personally overlook due to the caustic writing, unnerving performances, and this thoroughly effective evocation of a bit of a lost point n’ click style. It should be noted there are modern quality of life touches, such as quick move and a sort of back-pack-y menu thing.

For those with a penchant for sadness, whispering, dog food and being worried about neighbours. A little mucky gem.

Overall 8/10

Free Stars: The Ur-Quan Review (Steam)

 

Buckle up, as you are about to take a bold adventure through time and space to a land of OLD GAME. In this remastering (freemastering?) of Star Control 2, you can feel the anxiety of gaming in the past as a gamer of the present as you game a past-present game. Widely lauded, the Star Control titles from the start of the ’90s broke ground on many forms of games we still see crop up today. If you read about it, people mostly concoct a family tree to Mass Effect or Stellaris, but also things like Fallout. The strongest a-likeness I felt was one of the games of the century, Faster Than Light: FTL, and Highfleet. At the time of Star Control coming out, I was just too young for it. It would be over the subsequent couple of years that I’d discover point and click adventure games, that led me into the world of games proper. While I would soon enjoy being baffled by Elite 2 and played such sci-fi milestones as Pickle Wars (shareware), I never encountered Star Control. Now, this new resurfacing allows us all to experience a bit o’ history and hopefully a charming resuscitation of a classic IP.

I’ll warn you, this is a strange and uncompromising title that is, so I understand, a faithful porting. Be prepared to do a little research around its unexplained edges. I especially came to confusion over controls. Piloting a wayward research ship returning to Earth, your first encounter will most likely be with an Ur-Quan surveillance drone that approaches when you close in to the planet. Being briefly informed that humankind is now enslaved, and Earth is a sort of zoo-farm, and the space-caterpillar police were soon en-route. After connecting with a human slave to have an exposition dump, we are launched into a mission to rally allies and compatriots to the cause of galactic riddance of the insectoid overlords.

The Ur-Quan, and all the creatures and characters, are colourfully voiced in this version, with joyfully ludicrous animated portraits. These were roundly imitated by Fallout, among other games, to good effect. The voice-acting is kitsch and camp and adds a lovely Ed Wood vibe. The typefaces for each alien species remind me of when the Neil Gaiman Lucifer comics helped provide accents visually with a vivid range of evocative hand-made type. It would be worth entering this game with a wry smile rather than a po-face, especially when you experience these aliens. I remember the abject seriousness (and punishing consequences of failure) of the Star Trek games such as 25^th Anniversary and Last Rites. This is not that, which was trying hard as it could to legitimise its game tie-ins. Ur-Quan feels more like the absurd bio-racer Vangers most of the time. Racing around different space-vehicular minigames for resource gathering, combat and traversal. This is an open-world survival game that has an alpine learning curve and, what feels like, 8-axis movement.

You can visit all sorts of planets, craft new ships, and primarily form relationships with the alien cultures. It plods along well, but simple mistakes are hard to recover from. I often found myself struggling to make ground on enemies, or turning at the wrong point and losing lots of progress (almost identical to the brutally gorgeous Highfleet, but for different reasons). It becomes a little repetitive, and I eventually ran out of steam, but for the time it endured, Ur-Quan was a wonderful experience, well ported. A lot of jaunts down Dos Box lane that I’ve had over the years resulted in games simply falling apart, or being themselves simply torturous to play. Enough has been smoothed, and some accessibility options are present in this “museum” piece that it is a worthwhile experience for curious gamers. It’s free, the hu-mans are not!

Overall 6/10