Space Hulk (Warhammer Classics) Review (PC)

Space Hulk started life as a table top board game where heavily armoured Terminator marines from the Warhammer 40,000 universe, pitted themselves against the multi-clawed Genestealers aboard massive drifting freighters known as ‘Hulks’. The tight corridors meant it turned into a battle of the strong and slow versus the quick and deadly. 

Space Hulk had been adapted in video game form before this in two titles that tried to merge action with semi-turn based gameplay. Now we have a new version of the game which takes a different approach and tries to replicate the board game in a much more precise and faithful way.

At this point I feel it's fair to share with you all that we are pretty well acquainted with the board game and we like it a lot. It’s important to bring this up as it’s likely to have a fairly large bearing on if you are going to like this. It’s clear the developers had a specific target audience in mind and there are few concessions to people expecting something similar to the last couple of PC games. It's also almost fifteen years old now. 

Space Hulk is turn based and relies on dice rolls to carry out actions. At the start of each turn you can move your terminators and set them to guard or go into over watch to scan for enemy movement. At the end of the turn the Genestealers then do the same. Firing weapons and close combat is carried out on the role of dice which means that there is a certain random element to it. This can be frustrating when you are one dice roll away from the success or failure but sound strategy and careful planning does tend to weigh the odds in your favour.

You are going to have to plan you moves carefully as the terminators only have four action points and even turning to face a certain direction requires the use of them. The game is also pretty tough and on the normal setting it took a number of attempts to even get through the second tutorial level. A single mistake of movement can spell disaster in a mission stretching into an hour of more in length so it is advised to save often.

As such, the game plays out more like a slow and thoughtful game of chess than an all guns blazing space shooter, but it certainly draws you in. The presentation is basic and the first thing you’ll likely do is head to the menu to turn off the shoulder cameras and death animations. Your next step will be to set movement to the fastest setting or you’ll be playing this until the rapture. 

However, once you’ve got that simple top down/isometric view, the sound of the engines and the cries of victory or defeat coming from your marines it all starts to click and draw you in. It feels claustrophobic and dangerous and the fact a wrong move is so costly certainly adds buckets of tension and atmosphere. A cry of "Bolter Jammed" has never caused such terror.

The levels are mainly based on the original games maps and as such it brings a wonderful authenticity for anyone not wanting to pay the huge sum of money required to find a decent condition version of the table top game. There are a few weapons and tricks taken from the Deathwing and Genestealer expansions but we would have liked to see a bit more of this added to give some variety as the game progressed.

Multiplayer is also here and there is a hot seat option to allow players to take turns on the same device. It’s a little unwieldy for the Genestealer player but it does work once you get the hang of it. Weirdly, you have to play through the main campaign to unlock levels in multiplayer which is something the game could really have done without. It’s not as gratifying as it should be, which is a shame as this is one of the key features that should make the game a must have title.

What we have is an authentic Space Hulk table top experience with some rough presentation brought to life digitally. Many may be disappointed, but fans of the board game will find this really draws you in. Yes, there could be more options and it could look better but it’s solid and enjoyable and a highly competent strategy title. The rule set is also solid and if you want to recreate some table top fun or take on one tough turn based strategy then this is the game for you. Those looking for fast paced action should look to something else to get their kicks.

Overall 7/10

Blue Prince Review (Switch)

It’s unusual for us to come across something unique, we’ve been around a while and played a lot of games. Blue Prince, combines a number of different elements to achieve that, mixing parts from visual novels, rogue likes, puzzle games and a good helping of a big old mystery.

The story goes that you have inherited the estate of your uncle. Or at least you will do if you can do something that no one else has – find the elusive room 46. But far from being a simple mystery you need to do this with the knowledge that at the end of every day all the rooms in the mansion will reset. There is a lot of lore in here as well about the games setting and why everything is so mysterious, but we’ll let players figure that out as it is drip fed through the various books and letters that you find along the way.

There are a lot of different elements to balance as you go about your investigation. The most pressing of these is the number of steps you have. Each room you enter knocks one step off your total of fifty. Once you run out the day ends and the rooms reset. As well as these you need to manage gems, keys and coins. Keys open locked doors and chests, gems are needed to draft certain rooms and coins can be used to purchase various things along the way. All these need to be found in the various rooms along with other items such as a magnifying glass, hammer or shovel.

Players have a blueprint which acts as a grid with which to draft their rooms. The initial sort of goal is to reach the ante chamber which is nine squares up at the top. It’s not a simple of that of course as you will soon find out. When you open a door, you are presented with three rooms which you can draw. Some may require gems to draft, and all will have different exit doors or other special features. You’ll soon learn as well that there are different colours for the rooms which denote different things.

Red rooms for instance, normally have some kind of negative effect such reducing your steps or removing your ability to see what you are drafting. Green rooms in contrast normally contain dig spot or other goodies. There are also bedrooms to help you restore some of your steps, hallways and shops of various kinds where you can get items, keys or food.

Away from these rooms there are rooms with specific puzzles or special qualities. The security room allow for the manipulation of cameras and security doors, while working out the boiler puzzle will then allow you to pump power through the house. There are also rooms like the lab and the observatory which can give you permanent upgrades. Gradually, as you progress, you’ll learn what it the most important to you and unlock a few permanent upgrades and areas along the way.

For what is effectively a game where you wander around and solve the occasional puzzles it’s remarkable how engaging the game is. The balancing of all the elements and trying not to put yourself into a dead end with you Tetris style rooms works very well. Add in the uncovering of the law and the gradual realisation of how different rooms work means you always feel like something new is happening each playthrough.

There are a few issues to think about though. The most pressing of these is the constant reliance on colour with the puzzles. If you have any form of colour blindness you are going to really struggle with this. There’s several puzzles which use six or seven colours of similar shades and sometime we had no idea what we were even looking at. We did get round it with a guide but otherwise we would have had no idea what was going on.

Also, you can get a number of runs were not that much seems to progress. The game could do with giving you a bit more in terms of keeping the progression loop going and give a bit more in terms of rewards when you solve a puzzle you’ve been working on for days. The biggest issue though is that a lot comes down to luck. You can stack the deck in your favour but sometimes you simply won’t get the room you need drafted for what you are trying to do in that run. All that said, we did keep going back again and again to it.

Overall, Blue Prince is a refreshing, interesting and original game. All the individual elements may be small, but when they are brought together it has created a high quality adventure game that will keep you curious and wanting to venture back in for one more go. It’s not perfect but its about as close to as we have seen for a fair while.

Overall 8/10

 

 

Ghost Master Resurrection Review (Switch)

There was a time when strategy games of a certain type were pretty much limited to the PC due to the mouse controls. Games like Dungeon Keeper, Evil Genius and Ghost Master all provided level based, objective driven goals which normally required some building and trap setting. The last time we played Ghost Master was around 2003 so it’s been a fair while since we tried any spook-themed strategy.

The first thing to say is don’t expect much from a visual point of view. The game is pretty much just the original with sharper images. If you can imagine the sims with ghosts, you are close to the mark. But levels are clear and you can see what’s going on so it’s not something that really effects the way the game plays.  

The structure of the game sees you picking a location (normally based on a horror film or other haunting stereotype), then picking from a team of ghosts and heading into achieve whatever the objectives are. As you progress you unlock more ghosts, each of which have different powers and skills. More can be rescued from the within the levels by achieving certain goals as well – breaking a glass jar holding a floating brain for instance.

Generally, the objective is to try and scare people out of locations, but this does get mixed up quite a lot. One level has you trying to get characters to finish the summoning of a demon, while another requires you to get the people roaming the house to uncover the various dead bodies hidden within it. This is all done by possessing various objects and areas.

This requires some forward thinking as certain ghosts can only be bound to certain things so you need to have a team capable of doing the job. There is an auto select option for those not sure though. If you are going to need to attract people to a certain area you are going to need a ghost that can make noise for instance, or if you need to knock something down, you’ll need a ghost that can control wind or create tremors.

Scaring everyone is always entertaining but it can be frustrating at times to get characters exactly where you need them. Especially, if you want them to try and complete a specific task. Some of the trapped ghosts are also obscure puzzles as well that require a real knowledge of ghost powers. Generally, though the game is forgiving enough for anything not to be too big a problem once you get used to it.

In terms of the games transition to the Switch, it has worked well. It’s not the most complex game of its type in terms of mouse controls as you are generally attaching ghosts to specific, non-moving points and the movable cursors does a good enough job at this. The camera is a bit of a pain, but then it always was and it’s easy enough to move up and down the levels of a building with the press of a button. We also found we could play the game perfectly well in handheld mode without squinting to see what was going on, something a lot of these types of games suffer from on the Switch. One thing we are little surprised by though is there are no mouse controls or touch screen on the Switch 2 version.

Overall, Ghost Master remains the game it always was. It’s fun and silly with some good core strategy backing it up. But it can also be a bit fiddly and frustrating at times. If it’s a game, you remember playing or you are a fan of this genre then it’s well worth revisiting as it does hold up. But it always had some faults, and little has been done in this remaster to address those.

Overall 7/10

The Last Ninja Collection + Bonus Games Review (Switch)

Of all the collections we thought might make their way to the Switch, we didn’t have a Last Ninja collection at the top of our likelihood list. With the prevalence of C64 releases on the Evercade that seemed like a far more likely destination. We are however delighted to see one of the most iconic franchises of the 8-bit computer era find its way to a new audience.

One-time British powerhouse, System 3 has been pretty quiet for a long time. We had a Putty Squad release a long time ago and Constructor, but this is by far their most high-profile release for decades. Even then, it took a Kickstarter campaign to finally get the franchise over the line in some form. In terms of context of why a Ninja game was out on the C64, it can help to remember that the West was absolutely obsessed with Kung Fu and Eastern culture back in the 80’s, with martial arts movies prevalent at video rental shops.

What you get included here is The Last Ninja one, two and three and the Last Ninja Remix with the C64, Amiga and ZX Spectrum versions of the relevant titles. As well this Internation Karate and IK+ are added in as bonus games along with the easily forgettable Bangkok Knights.

There’s no hiding that anyone new to these games is going have a steep learning curve to go through. The games are difficult and the controls and isometric viewpoint will take some time to adjust to. The basic layout of all three games is similar. You explore a level, pick up weapons and key objects and then progress to the next. But you can leave key items behind and then find you can’t progress later such as the glove in the first game which is needed to pick up a poisoned rose later, or the shuriken’s in the second game.

There are also traps and puzzle elements to overcome and the river and swamp jumping sections were infuriating even in the 80’s. All that said, the first two games are stone cold classics and when it clicks, they still offer a unique experience. The Last Ninja 3 isn’t as strong sadly and the emphasis on almost constant combat makes things very frustrating.

Which brings us to the added quality of life features. Or lack of them. There is no rewind function which is the biggest shame as that would have really made these games accessible, and no way to implement any kind of cheat codes. There is a save function. But each game can only have one game saved and there is also no quick save and load option, meaning you have to quit and then reload when you want to load again. Why we couldn’t just have a load option in-game I don’t know. That said, the screen transition very quickly so we didn’t find it to be a major issue and we were loading a lot. It’s strange though as the Steam version seems to have one.

The other disappointment is the extras. It seems clear the museum text is pretty much all identical for each game with a few words (such as the platform) changed. That’s a real missed opportunity as getting a real insight into some of these titles would have been great.

We are somewhat surprised that IK+ doesn’t get a bigger billing on this collection as it was arguably as iconic as the Ninja games back in the day. Here you have three combatants on a single screen trying to score points to win a round of karate. As these are 8-bit computer games, controls are based around a one button joystick configuration. In this case, you hold a button then press a direction to break out different moves. It actually works really well, and no matter which version you are playing it’s a great high score chasing games.

We found that the Last Ninja games where best played in their C64 guise. This makes sense as this was originally the main platform for games. The ZX Spectrum version of Last Ninja 2 is also remarkably playable. We found the Amiga versions, although they look a lot better, to be far less playable. And if anything, the extra graphical detail made the environments more difficult to traverse and objects more difficult to find.

Overall, we are just really happy that this collection exists at all. These are games that really should be preserved with Last Ninja 1 and 2 and IK+ being among some of the most iconic games the British games industry has ever produced. Yes, there could be more here in terms of the quality of life and museum features, but we can hope for that in an update. We just hope that this gives System 3 some latitude to get other release out the door, we would love to see a Putty or James Pond Collection in the future also.

Overall 7/10

The Rogue Prince of Persia Review (Switch 2)

We didn’t have a Dead Cells inspired Prince of Persia rogue-like game on our prediction list but now it’s here we are certainly glad it exists. The team responsible for some of the Dead Cells DLC are behind the wheel here and while it is clear what the template is, it also does enough to stand out. It released digitally a while ago, but with the physical release on the horizon we decided to take a deeper look.

The story is that the kingdom is under siege from the Hun. The Prince is knocked out during a battle on the outskirts of the city and awakens three days later to find the city besieged. He now must make his way through to the inner palace to save the day. It follows the same sort of format as Dead Cells does. You enter an area, are allotted a standard weapon, a tool and an upgrade from the unlocked roster and then search for an exit to the next realm. There is normally more than one route you can discover to add some variety, and more can be added as you discover maps and information in your adventure.

There is a stronger story element than Dead Cells though. As you discover clues and information, you’ll get little mini quests to complete to further the plot. These are normally things like finding out who has been kidnapped or locating certain items, but they add another layer to the game and the gradual unravelling of events is entertaining. There are also NPC’s to talk to and some will return to the Oasis to offer services and more plot specific points. Away from this it’s the standard structure of push forward as far as you can, unlock as many permanent upgrades as possible and rinse and repeat until you win the day.

The pace of the game is also much faster than Dead Cells. The sense of inertia and momentum we now associate with the Prince of Persia has been captured beautifully. There are a whole host of zooms, walls run, wall jumps and other moves that keep the Prince bouncing around the levels, and the combat fits perfectly into the pace as well as you dodge and flip around. It’s clear a lot of thought and feedback has gone into getting this just right and it makes each run a fluid joy. As a result, the game is also far more platform heavy than Dead Cells to the point of being Super Meat Boy like with its traps and contraptions at times.

The ‘Sands of Time’ reversal mechanic is tied into the narrative this time by the fact that when the Prince dies, he reverses back to awakening in the starting Oasis. Only, any people he has rescued or story points he discovers return with him. You can’t rewind time when you make a mistake though, a good choice as that would clash with the genre conventions.

The look of the game is closer to the long-forgotten cell shaded Prince of Persia which came after the ‘Sands’ trilogy. It gives it a story book aesthetic which works well and allows for clear definition on the screen. We are also very grateful to see a host of colour-blind options that can be set - something Dead Cells really needed when we first played it. As a result, it means frustration is kept to your own limits of your skill set rather than things you can’t see on the screen.

Overall, The Rogue Prince of Persia has been put together very well. This may seem like a strange source of a Rogue-like title but it in practice it works perfectly. There’s even an argument to be had here about it being better than the Metroidvania version of the Prince we got not so long ago. We are slightly surprised it wasn’t a piece of extended Dead Cells DLC, but it’s certainly been fleshed out into a rewarding and fun game. It’s very much worth playing if you are a fan of Dead Cells or Prince of Persia.

Overall 8/10

Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf Review (Switch)

We were a little surprised to see Planet of Lana receive a sequel. The charming first game is one of the most beautiful looking and sounding indie platformers out there, but it felt like one of those flashes in the pan moments of genius and it’s not exactly like cinematic platformers are that prevalent.

The second game, somehow, looks even more beautiful and continues the story of Lana and her weird pet Mui as they adventure across the planet of Novo. It’s set two years after the events of the first game (which is deftly recapped) and shows how the various tribes and factions have taken to the now discovered technologies scavenged in the aftermath of the first.

Lana has a host of new ways to move around, with faster movement, sliding and things like wall jumps and the ability to swim now in place. As a result, movement is much more fluid than the original, but the platforming sections or also a bit more fiendish as well. The heart of the game though is about solving puzzles. Early on, Lana will normally be given requests from settlers and then head off to find something. This acts as a good introduction to her new skills while showing off the gorgeous visuals and setting up a healthy chunk of world building.

Almost all puzzles require you to use the two characters in partnership with each other. Mui can manipulate technology and pass control on to other animals. So, most puzzles fall into a pattern of working out how to get Mui to a point they can take control of something, then working out where that goes and then getting Lana to race to the new location. An early example of this is where Lana needs to retrieve a particular piece of seaweed from underwater. It requires getting Mui into a shallow pool of fish, then getting the fish through a dangerous area using its ink special skill and then getting Lana to clear a path and then trap a predatory fish before her air runes out.

It’s quite different from the original game in terms of how it plays out. In the first game you were normally hiding or running away from technological monstrosities. And while that is still the case in places, this is much more about using the different animals and interacting with the population. The game feels much more alive as a result.

With most puzzles having a clear timing element it means players need to be precise and agile to get through as well. Controls are slick and precise though, so frustration rarely comes from a clunky input. The game is also exceptionally well checkpointed, so when you do die there are no long sections to retrace. We also found the game was far less frustrating than the original with regards to its puzzle design with it being clear most of the time what we had to do.

Planet of Lana is a beautiful game, but the sequel is off the charts. From the villages to mountain tops and the technological encampments it all looks astounding. The score that goes with everything is also exceptional, really breathing life into the locations. Progress is rewarded with visual highlight after highlight, and it really does keep players pushing through the game. The art design here is akin to something studio Ghibli would be proud off, it’s simply breathtaking.

Overall, Planet of Lana II manages to somehow be even better than the original. Every aspect has been improved, and the original was already an exceptional game. The sharpening of Lana’s movement is a delight, and the majesty of how the game looks makes it irresistible. It might just be a touch short for a few people but then its still longer than the original. It’s hard to see anyone not liking this. It comes highly recommended.

Overall 9/10

Sands of Aura Review (Switch)

While the top down and ismoteric dungeon crawling genre has been an ever present on platforms like Steam, the Switch has seen far fewer titles make it over to the platform. Of course, there is the giant of Diablo and a few games such as Moonlighter but overall it’s all Rogue-likes and Metroidvania’s that dominate the indie sales of the eshops. Sands of Aura it a solid and content filled attempt to change that.

The game is an open world adventure where most of the world is buried beneath a huge sea of sand. Players spend most of their time delving beneath the sand in dungeons, looking for ancient relics with the overall goal of restoring life to the world. The dungeons are dark and complex with well-designed layouts that wind around labyrinthine like. They are perhaps a little too dark at times though as we kept falling off the edge of things we couldn’t see.

You don’t spend the whole time in the dark though as there are numerous settlements and islands above the ground to explore as well and players can take sand ships to sail around the sand ocean looking for new areas to explore. While you do have quests, you can explore fairly freely as long as you can stay alive.

There’s a certain Dark Souls feel to the game as well. It’s certainly not as crushing as the Souls series, but the linking level designs, combat pace and the fact you drop all your money when you die certainly show the rootes winding through this. It did make us wonder what a full isometric Dark Souls game might look like.

There’s certainly a lot for players to get involved with here as well. Your inventory is detailed and upgrading is the only real way to improve weapons and armour. You don’t pick up new weapons as such, but instead different parts such as pommels or blades and then forge them together to create upgrades and imbue special qualities. This goes for armour as well and you’ll find you are always collecting things, sometimes to the point that you aren’t really sure what you hard earned junk collection is useful for.

Combat is solid as well with a good range of moves and options. You have your standard light and heavy attacks along with rolls and dodges and both a shield and parry system. Add in special attacks and spells and you’ll find there are a range of options for players to think about in how they approach the bashing of enemies.

The only real issue with the game is that it’s quite ugly to look at. Its indie routes are very much on show above ground where we had a lot of noticeable pop in and there is a real blandness to colours and textures. A lot of the time you don’t notice this as the camera stays fairly close, but when you are looking out over the sand sea or in certain positions things really show their lack of details. This isn’t a massive issue due to how engaging the game can be, but if you find yourself repeating difficult sections it can quickly become dull and doesn’t help with getting lost in the maze like levels.

Overall, Sands of Aura is an engaging and deep game that if you dig into it will keep you engaged for the hours and hours it will take you to complete it. It does take engagement from the player to get the most out of it though and you’ll need to spend a good few hours getting used to how everything works. It’s the sort of games that Souls and Diablo fans should get on well with and just accessible enough for those not so hardcore to enjoy it as well.

Overall 7/10

The Prisoning: Fletcher's Quest Review (Switch)

Here at Retro 101 we are huge fans of Elden Pixels and everything they put out. The Alwa games remain among our favourite indie games, and we have reviewed and rated the company’s entire output. We even had the good fortune to be able to review the physical NES copy of Alwa’s Awakening when it released some years ago. With that in mind we are always looking forward to a new release and The Prisoning doesn’t disappoint.

The concept of the game is that a developer is working through one of his nightmares and fighting off all those pesky inner demons. Along the way you’ll encounter a cast of very meta characters and there are lots of jokes and quips about the development and publishing process. In terms of the game design, what this amounts to is a platform adventure game with some Metroidvania elements. But one that plays more like an Amiga or old DOS platformer than what we are perhaps used to today.

Graphically, the game matches the Amiga aesthetic as well. It’s not a million miles away from something like Rick Dangerous or the original Duke Nukem platformers. It matches Elden Pixels general approach to the look of their games, although this is closer to a Void Hope than the purposely NES and SNES looking Alwa’s games.

The game plays out over one large level with multiple checkpoints throughout. These take the form of a sort of bar kiosk were every time you die you recycle through the vending machine nearby. Death is a near constant as you can only take two hits before expiring. Even that must be earned as right at the start of the game you are naked and unarmed, meaning you have a few tough sections to get through before the game opens up to you and you get your clothes and handy pistol.

The two-hit mechanic also makes boss fight pretty tough as you’ll need to pretty much perfect them to win. Even taking on a weird mechanical horse thing early on proved a tough obstacle as it was filled with attacks seemingly impossible avoid (until we learned the pattern), with and a health bar that stretched across the screen.

Collision detection is also a tiny bit lose which doesn’t help. Several times we found ourselves losing a hit when we were convinced we had avoided an attack. There’s nothing here that derails the experience, but it certainly can be frustrating at times as the game has a pretty high difficult.

Generally, though, the controls are pretty tight and responsive. Your character moves around at a crazy pace so zipping about from checkpoint to check point is quick and fun. Jumping and attacking is also precise, so everything is satisfying and enjoyable. You can warp from vending machine to vending machine as well which adds even more pace to the game. We can see this becoming a popular speedrun among indie games for sure.

Being in the Metroidvania mould you of course start to unlock new abilities as you progress such as a double jump and a slide which makes you invincible for a second or so. This in turn opens new areas to explore. Early on for instance you’ll find your new double jump allows access to a UFO which then takes flight into a short side scroller shooter phase before crashing into a new location.

Despite how many of these games we have played in the past we did find that the approach that The Prisoning took kept things fresh and pacey. It goes to show how slight changes to approach can keep things interesting and having this slightly closer to games like Switchblade in terms of style certainly helps it.

Overall, The Prisoning is another fun title from Elden Pixel that shows the studios unique humour and its ability to take tried and tested genres and add their own twist to them. This game may not have the same impact as Alwa’s Legacy on the wider market but it deserves to. For retro gamers or those who find humour in the subject matter this is an easy purchase.

Overall 8/10

Street Racer Collection Review (Switch)

I don’t think it’s a secret that we do love a QUByte collection here at Retro 101. As long time SNES collectors it’s great to see some of the more obscure titles out there being given a second life and we’ve been hoping Street Racer would get a release for quite some time. Indeed, back in the day there was a semi-sensible argument to be had that it might even be better than Mario Kart.

This collection may seem a bit strange as there was only one game in the franchise, but it becomes more coherent when you realise Street Racer was quite different depending on the system you played it on. Here we have the SNES, Mega Drive, Gameboy and DOS versions of the game with their various quirks and alterations.

We’ll start by saying that the Gameboy version is only here from a curiosity point of view and you’ll likely spend a few minutes with it as it’s not great. A bigger shame is that the package omits the PS1 and Saturn versions of the game. They are most closely aligned to the DOS version but much tighter in their controls so it seems an odd choice unless there were emulation issues, but then there’s no shortage of either consoles games on the Switch currently.  

The most well-known version of Street Racer is the original, SNES version from 1994. It was most notable for allowing four player split-screen via the multiplayer adapter. Something that’s seems crazy now when you think just how crushed the image would look and how small TVs were at the time. Still, it’s a crazy cross between street fighter (there’s even a sumo wrestler driver), and kart racing with a host of colourful characters in crazy, Wacky Races style vehicles.

Each character has a front and rear attack that can be deployed whenever you like and they can also punch to the left or right. Karts have health bars which when depleted see you really slow down. The only on track collectibles are stars, which can give bonus race points and turbo picks ups. The structure is like Mario kart in that you engage in a series of races across themed courses in different cups. You can get bonus points for punching, lapping opponents or a few other things though which means even if you finish down the pack you can stay competitive. One thing we will say though is the controls feel a tad lose compared to the Evercade version, which is odd.

The one real issue is that the tracks are really short. This is evened out by races having a higher lap count, but it can be almost impossible to get yourself to the front of the pack if you have a bad start as a race can fly by in under a minute. It will be a lot for new players to take as it’s very fast and frantic, far more so than other kart games. The SNES version at least gets to utilise its mode 7 to make tracks seem as dynamic as 16-bit consoles will allow.

As well as the standard racing there are two fun bonus modes included. There’s the rumble where all the cars are in an arena and you need to knock them off the edges, and a soccer mode where you are trying to score goals. Both games work surprisingly well and are good distractions.

The Mega Drive version by contrast doesn’t hold up as well. The lack of the Mode 7 magic means you get quite generic tracks which all seem to blend after a while as they snake away into the distance. It all feels a bit dull and samey, a real shame as the game still moves at a frenetic pace. Much like the Gameboy version it seems unlikely you’ll spend much time with this.

The DOS version at least brings something different to the collection. The game looks and plays quite a bit different with tracks designed to look more cartoon like and races taking a steadier pace. There are also a few collectibles and picks ups you can use. It reminded us of a slower Wacky Races than the chaotic SNES game, but it is something you’ll likely go back to a few times.

Overall, while we personally are happy to see one of our favourite games from the past revitalised there are a few problems here. The price of £17.99 is way over making it an impulse purchase and seems a strange price point for an obscure title. Also, missing the PS1 and Saturn versions is a real shame as if you are putting together a collection like this it now feels incomplete for the hardcore fan. That said, the SNES and DOS versions are fun, so if you can overcome the price and lack of completeness then there’s a lot to play with here.

Overall 7/10

Blood: Refreshed Supply (Switch)

We are fully aware that Retro 101 is in danger of becoming a Nightdive Studio review site. It seems there is a new revival almost every week. But then we can’t argue with either the quality (most of the time), or the fact that a studio is bringing so many classic FPS games from yesteryear to a new audience. The latest of these is the obscure Blood, which originally came out on the PC in 1997.

Blood is a gothic horror themed game that is set out stylistically across the 1920’s 30’s and 40’s. You play as Caleb who is set on taking revenge against his former master and will need to blast through a host of cultists and demons to gain his vengeance.

The weapons here are not your standard fare such as flare guns and pitch forks.  Most have secondary uses (unique for the time), and there’s even a powerup that lets you dual wield. The flare gun is a particularly satisfying weapon as once you have hit a target they will then burst into flames a few seconds later. Theya re all pretty brutal though.

One thing to say about the game is it’s incredibly difficult. We struggled to get off the first level for quite a while and that was with quick saves. There is little ammunition around for guns and even the most basic of enemies can take down your health very quickly. Enemies with projectiles are also deadly accurate, even on the default difficulty settings. This means the game can be a bit stop and go, sometimes you’ll be tearing around at super speed, while others you’ll keep getting cut down by the same annoying cult member you can’t see. There are plenty of settings to paly around with if it all gets too much.

As always with Nightdive releases this is a pretty complete package. The expansions for the original game have been included along with a new episode and even a host of unreleased levels can be found and played in the archive section. Multiplayer is also here and previously removed graphical flourishes such as weather effects have been added back in. As usual, there has been a lot of care and attention spent on this.

Blood is not a game we’ve played before, but it has a cool retro horror vibe and a unique atmosphere which sets it apart from most of the other FPS’s we can think of. It’s somewhere between Hexen and Doom but somehow much crazier than either. It could well be one of the most overlooked and underrated games of the genre as it brings a lot of innovations and fresh ideas.

Overall, this is another excellent remaster of an obscure game from Nightdive. It’s hard to see this selling massively, which is a shame. The lack of awareness or big name associated with the game may well see people skip it but it’s an entertaining spin on the genre. Anyone who has been steadily making their way through the continual FPS output should certainly check this out and for anyone out who has fond memories of it back in the 90’s, this won’t let you down. It just might be a bit tougher than you remember.

Overall 7/10

Dave the Diver Review (Switch 2)

Originality is a lost art in the realm of video games. But just when you think you’ve seen it all someone will invent a game where you must evolve fruit into a watermelon. This has little to do with Dave the Diver, but if I told you this was a procedural generated rogue-like with a gear building and management element I bet you’d think you had seen it all before. But wonderfully, you haven’t. Even with all these tried and tested components Dave the Diver is actually original…enough.

Split between two main game types our hero, Dave, searches the depths of the nearby ‘Blue Hole’ by day and tends to the needs of customers at the local rundown sushi restaurant at night. The diving section see Dave catching fish for the restaurant and taking on fetch quests for items which have manged to find themselves in the deep. As the game progresses, you’ll need to continually upgrade your gear to reach lower depths, breath for longer and fight off larger and larger aquatic creatures.

At night any fish caught can be turned into treats to serve at the sushi restaurant. After setting a menu customers will come in and Dave is required to run around serving drinks and delivering food which is continually dispensed from the chef. As time progresses, you’ll get ever more tasks to attend to such as clearing away bowls and grating wasabi with the overall goal being to get the restaurant as popular as possible. It’s kind of like if someone mixed Root Beer Tapper with Theme Park.

You also have a mobile phone which continually updates with new apps providing you with more and more to manage. You’ll need to keep up the social media promotion for the restaurant, check emails for requests, answer scientific queries, develop weapons, and gear and hire staff. Life at a small restaurant was never going to be easy after all.

It’s a good thing then that every aspect of the game works and remains fun throughout. The short but chaotic bursts of the restaurant are a perfect juxtaposition with the more tranquil and longer diving sections. While the continued upgrading of gear and unlocks move at a pace that means there is always something new to do or slightly further to explore without it seeming completely overwhelming or becoming stagnant.

It helps that the game looks joyfully lovely. The Blue Hole is a gorgeous place to explore and even though it’s procedurally generated for each dive it still conforms to a sort of logic that means it’s both memorable and mysterious at the same time. There’s a wide range of fish swimming around and various sizes of creatures to capture, kill or simply avoid with the biggest sharks acting as unofficial bosses and gear check points. The above water sections are as equally full of life in their own way with characters all having their quirky charms and the customisable restaurant fitting the setting and overall tone well.

Overall, Dave the Diver is a welcome addition to the Switch library. The fact it has had the attention spent on it to optimise it for the Switch 2 also speaks volumes about the development team. Everything it sets out to do it achieves pretty much perfectly. All the different aspects of it blend to produce a wonderfully quirky and fun adventure for players to undertake. It remains as essential on the Switch 2 as it did on the original and the steady stream of DLC means there’s a lot of life left in this one.

 Overall 9/10

System Shock Review (Switch 2)

It was only a month or so ago that we looked at the System Shock 2 Remaster on the original Switch. Where that added some quality-of-life features and some HD filters it was still pretty much the same game. This remake of System Shock is a much more fully rounded reimagining from the ground up and a very different beast.

We’ll admit to not having played the original game before, or indeed, the System Shock remake on any other systems. In that respect we can’t comment on how this looks and runs compared to a PS5, but then you would imagine it doesn’t look as pretty by the very nature of the console. We are also aware that upon initial release the game was reported to have numerous problems regarding its framerate and some graphical quirks. Even up to a few weeks ago there were plenty of videos out there showing quite considerable stutters.

However, from what we can tell, a large amount of these issues seem to have been solved. We’ve not put the game through a framerate checker, but it is fair to say nothing as dramatic as what has been circulating around has happened during play. Apart from some very brief stutters when loading, the game seems to run in a much more stable way. It is certainly playable and at no point did something happen performance wise that effected gameplay and much of the time we played it in handheld mode.

The only bug we did encounter is the widely reported textures issue. Basically, the first time you load up the game it doesn’t load in all the textures, so you are left with a mix of HD assets and pixelated mush. Details such as numbers on keypads and text for instance are just a pixelated mess. After reloading a save though the issue has never repeated itself.

Now the game appears to be in a stable and playable state it certainly makes it easier to see what the fuss is about. You are a hacker placed onto the Citadel orbital station and charged with bringing down the Ai security system that has started to take control. Failure to do so will see the stations mining lasers used to destroy all of earths capital cities as the Ai SHODAN tries to establish itself as a god. The game plays out as a mix of first person shooting and adventure and there are light RPG elements in place as well which allow you to augment your character and take different approaches to playing.

The real strength of System Shock is the setting and atmosphere. The station is a winding mass of labyrinthian tunnels and hatches. Some of which twist and turn into huge areas, meaning you aren’t simply moving from small room to room. It’s easy to get lost or wander into areas you aren’t prepared for but that’s kind of the point of the thing. You do have map to help you and there is a certain amount of logical progression from gathering keycards and activating bridges and doors. We certainly didn’t find ourselves with no clue where to go as there was always somewhere new to explore.

It's certainly not a fast paced game and you’ll find edging around slowly and quietly to be a much more successful approach to exploration. The station is filled with mutated monsters and security cameras, and you take heavy damage from combat, so it is always vital to be properly prepared for what’s around the corner. Weapons and ammunition can be hard to come by as well so there is always the tension of potentially being overwhelmed by what lies ahead. System Shock certainly hasn’t left its survival horror routes behind.

The story mostly unfolds through audio logs from the crew that you pick up while exploring. As well as giving passwords and combination codes, they also highlight the desperation of the few surviving crew as the fast decent of the station is brought to light. You can certainly see how the DNA of the game went on to heavily influence the Bioshock series. There is also a host of junk and all manner of other items to pick up as well so it pays to search every area, even it does mean spending some time organising your inventory and converting junk into the in-game currency.

Overall, the System Shock remake is an incredibly tense and effective survival horror game. The performance may not be up to the PC or PS5 versions but its certainly running in a good enough state to enjoy now on the Switch 2. It kept us captivated and engaged throughout and there was nothing performance wise that broke that immersion. If you are a fan then it seems safe to get this now, it’s an experience unlike any other.

Overall 8/10