As a seasoned gamer with decades of gaming under my belt, I must say that RetroRealms has truly captivated my heart and challenged my skills in equal measure. The game harks back to the golden era of platformers, but with a modern twist that leaves me in awe.
Modern video games inspired by classic horror movies are more popular than ever, even when compared to the early days of Nintendo when movie tie-ins were much more common. However, most of these contemporary adaptations of famous monsters follow a similar path, with mixed results. While many other developers are focusing on asymmetrical multiplayer horror games, RetroRealms goes against the trend by creating a game that harks back to those older horror tie-ins. Thanks to some charming references to horror history and pixel-perfect platforming, it’s an unusual and captivating tribute to the horror genre.
In an unusual way, the product RetroRealms is distributed. RetroRealms Arcade serves as a free, immersive 3D environment where you can roam around in first-person perspective, blending elements of a vintage arcade with a haunted museum atmosphere. Inside this space, you have the option to buy either or both of the two 2D, 16-bit platform games released at launch: Halloween and Ash vs. Evil Dead (AVED). For this review, I’ve played both games extensively and tested all current characters available.
In a similar fashion to Dead By Daylight, RetroRealms weaves its diverse realms into one grand multiverse by introducing a malevolent force known as The Overlord. While the intentions of this antagonist remain somewhat enigmatic, the narrative serves primarily as backdrop, with each playable character pursuing their unique objective across various campaigns within the game. This straightforward premise allows for an immersive experience where you can traverse intricate levels as characters like Michael Myers, Ash Williams, and additional ones such as Laurie Strode from Halloween and Kelly Maxwell from AVED, if you opt to purchase their respective DLCs.
Due to the partnership between Boss Team Games, known for their dedication to horror adaptations, and Wayforward, a top-tier 2D studio, RetroRealms showcases each team’s strengths brilliantly. The contribution from Boss Team is evident in the game’s explorable hub, where players can unlock 3D versions of items from various campaigns, such as Michael Myers’ blue jumpsuit and his recognizable mask. Additionally, there are developer diaries that you can unlock and watch, which I found engaging, although I often wished they were longer or more frequent. An interesting one immediately accessible discusses the process of reimagining Halloween’s iconic theme song for a retro-style video game, a piece arguably the most famous horror theme in cinema history.
Making choices that unveil the story behind things, providing players with a satisfying experience, is highly rewarding. Even though the museum artifacts only serve as decorative items, they are sought-after collectibles. Fully stocking the museum isn’t an achievement I’ve managed yet, but as a horror enthusiast, it’s a task I’m drawn to complete. I believe there’s potential for further development in these aspects, and since the Boss Team intends to make RetroRealms a dynamic platform, they plan to add at least two more horror series to the game in the future. This means there’s a chance that these features will become even more intriguing and diverse.
The 3D hub symbolizes the team’s deep respect for the genre, but it’s the platforming gameplay that truly steals the spotlight in this fresh horror multiverse. Every nook and cranny of Wayforward’s levels showcases their mastery, with colorful pixel art brimming with details both near and far, along with intricate movement and battle mechanics that kept me on my toes.
At every level, enemies lurk both above and below, each exhibiting distinct attack patterns that are tricky to dodge despite their predictability. One type of enemy hurls a propane tank into the air approximately every three seconds, forcing you to master the art of timing your advance. However, a giant eyeball up ahead spits out sludge horizontally towards you, while a platform crucial for progress or collecting an optional item rises and falls at a rapid pace, making it challenging to navigate all obstacles and land on it. It requires both patience and precision. Yet, the controls are so responsive and nuanced that you can perform these feats with skill, such as a jump ability that extends your leap length based on how long you hold down the button.
Throughout the game, the animations are educational, teaching you various moves such as dodging, ground-pounding, and especially dodge-rolling, which becomes crucial due to its invincibility frames. You’ll notice that an overhead or ducked melee attack is slightly quicker than a standing horizontal stab, making it easier to defeat groups of enemies swiftly without taking any damage yourself. You’ll also learn the range of your air dash and how long you can cling to walls before needing to jump off. Every detail in the game counts, and mastering these subtle nuances often determines whether you succeed or fail.
For gamers yearning for authentic arcade challenges with consistent mechanics, RetroRealms is a treasure trove. Admittedly, I met my demise frequently, particularly at the start, but I never felt that the game was being unjust towards me; it’s relentless, not deceptive. I am confident that I will savor both playing and observing high-level players navigating these campaigns equally.
The intricacies of gameplay are enhanced by the unique moves and skills assigned to each character. Experiencing Michael Myers, Ash Williams, or Laurie Strode doesn’t feel identical, even though the game lets you merge their worlds to explore various storylines. While Michael can easily clear large gaps with a single leap, Laurie might use a double-jump ability instead. Additionally, their skill trees offer diverse customization options. For instance, one character might be built for robust health and close combat, while another could specialize in ammunition for long-range attacks.
This game is likely to attract speedrunners once it’s released, as they’ll be intrigued to experiment with various level, character, and ability combinations in search of the best builds to top the leaderboards. The game’s structure reminds us of classic arcade games, encouraging such competition.
In my opinion, the game could’ve been less demanding when it comes to character advancement. Instead of enhancing a character, improvements are linked to campaign-specific save files, rather than the characters themselves. For instance, I significantly improved Michael Myers in one campaign, boosting his health, increasing throwable item ammo, and unlocking numerous skill moves that simplified combat. Yet, when I brought Michael into Ash’s world, none of these enhancements were carried over because it was a new campaign with a fresh character. This is an aspect where the game follows a more challenging style from the ’90s, which I believe might not be essential to the overall experience. While some may argue that this maintains the leaderboards’ integrity–as you can’t use an overpowered character right away; you need to earn a new OP character for each campaign–I prefer a different approach where a character could reach its full potential for a tough challenge, while still ensuring fair competition among players.
Just like characters have depth beyond their appearances, levels possess an extra dimension that enhances the gameplay. Players have the ability to transition instantly from the regular version of a level to its dark counterpart, which effectively doubles each level’s complexity. However, you can’t linger indefinitely in the Dark Realm; instead, there’s a timer that counts down and eventually forces a short cool-down period before returning you to the normal world. While staying in the Dark Realm forever might not be ideal due to its challenges, it’s certainly an exciting change from the base levels. The enemies in the Dark Realm are tougher, requiring multiple hits to defeat compared to their standard counterparts.
Occasionally, it’s crucial to step into the Shadow Dimension, such as when an obstacle in the regular world vanishes to reveal a squishy, unsavory pathway in the Shadow Dimension instead. On other occasions, you might merely wish to pay it a visit to search for collectibles, like tokens you can spend on items in the museum’s 3D exhibit. Jumping between worlds adds an extra layer of challenge to a game that is already brimming with skill tests. It’s details like these that underscore Wayforward’s exceptional talent. The levels are already impressive, but the team goes above and beyond to add depth, making certain mechanics feel like a triumphant lap from a team that makes it seem effortless.
In this game, one challenging aspect is its level design, which can be quite unforgiving at times. Although there are numerous checkpoints where you return if you fall off screen, dying means starting the entire level from scratch. Many contemporary games have adopted a more player-friendly approach by not resetting levels upon death and offering more lenient checkpoint systems. However, RetroRealms sticks to traditional methods, which occasionally makes me pause the game rather than encouraging repeated attempts.
Levels may not appear lengthy, but if you aim for perfection and gather every hidden item, they might extend up to 10-15 minutes each. This extensive search in a game that’s already challenging can feel overwhelming. It seems the design prioritizes leaderboard performance, but I believe a balance could be struck where players who utilize checkpoints can advance through the campaign without appearing on the leaderboards, yet still compete.
It’s fortunate that there are checkpoints before every boss battle, which can be quite difficult. However, if you find the battles too tough and decide to quit and return later, your progress from all levels will be lost when you exit the game. This isn’t much of an issue on Xbox because its Quick Resume feature allows you to pick up where you left off, but on other platforms, you may need to either keep the checkpoint or switch to another game whenever you wish to play something different.
In essence, this game is fantastic overall, with its throwback design elements serving as delightful extras. The audiovisual aspects are a stunning bonus, like a vibrant cherry atop a great cake. While none of the campaigns retell original stories, the characters are expertly designed and true to form – Ash even bears a striking resemblance to Bruce Campbell. Each character has unique and amusing idle animations. The environments are meticulously detailed, so much so that even the game’s fastest players might want to pause occasionally to appreciate the details. There’s always something happening, even in moments of peace when you’re away from potential threats. The music harks back to 1994, adding a nostalgic touch to a contemporary experience. Despite my general lack of ’90s video game nostalgia, RetroRealms manages to straddle the line between authentic retro and modern coolness.
The initial pair of games from RetroRealms make a stylish debut, offering top-notch platforming gameplay, a nostalgic ’90s ambiance, and a unique first-person 3D hub world that hints at the game’s horror-centric focus. The collaboration between Boss Team and Wayforward is intriguing, and with plans to expand the arcade with more recognizable (and occasionally masked) characters, I’m optimistic RetroRealms could follow in the footsteps of popular slasher series and spawn several sequels of its own.
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2024-10-17 22:39