La-Mulana
La Mulana is…. an unfortunate game. It is very interesting and has a lot of potential, but it commits many gaming sins that can’t be overlooked. This is a NES era kind of game that is designed to force you to use some kind of guide when playing it (think castlevania 2). If you respond to this, don’t just say ‘the game is supposed to be hard’. Dark Souls is my favorite game; I know the difference between a game that is difficult because it’s designed well, and a game that is difficult because it is designed badly.
– Real player with 160.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Retro Difficult Games.
Do I recommend this game?
No. You can read the reviews and decide for yourself whether you think you’ll be able to stomach it, otherwise I see little value in trying to play it for simple reasons such as liking the art, or metroidvanias, or puzzles, or because a lot of people say it’s amazing.
Something I’ve noticed while playing La-Mulana is that an overwhelming majority of modern (and not-so-modern) games have quite some of the so-called “handholding” in some shape or form. This includes games being touted as having nearly no handholding such as Dark Souls (I’m sorry, I need to draw comparisons simply because other people probably draw them but for the wrong reasons, and it’s a good difficult game that is similar but also incredibly different).
– Real player with 129.7 hrs in game
Archon Classic
For those of you who grew up playing the original Archon, you will be glad to know this one exists. It has everything the old game did, and offers a lot of improvements. The major thing being secondary attacks. Those were first introduced in Archon Ultra, and these are somewhat similar. There is also the ability to play on different maps some are dependant upon the number of players. ( You can have 4! :D) There is the classic Archon map, maps that allow your guys to level up to level 3, and maps that have runes that provide benefits when you move onto them.
– Real player with 28.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best Retro Strategy Games.
Archon Classic is a game made by Archon fans for Archon fans to enjoy. I played the NES version and Archon Ultra for MS-DOS, always thinking: “This is a nice game, but imagine how cool would it be if…”. No matter how that sentence finishes, Archon Classic will bring it alongside nostalgia and a modern touch.
This is a chess-like game where pieces of Light and Dark fight each other in real-time battles. Of course, most of the game’s strategy is on the board, where the turn-based portion takes place. If you’re a regular chess player, you’ll probably start thinking about openings, forks, movement block, waste of time, zugzwang and other well-known elements of chess.
– Real player with 10.1 hrs in game
DuckTales: Remastered
Pogo everything. Leave no survivors.
I was too young to play Capcom’s Ducktales when it originally came to the NES back in 1990 (I was two years old then), but I made up for it by playing the game constantly when it was available on the NEStalgia online emulator a few years back.
What a treat, then, that Ducktales Remastered (a port/remake developed by Wayforward Technologies) is light-years ahead of the original version. I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that this is a faithful remake that does justice to the license while throwing a boatload of extra content for longtime fans.
– Real player with 41.2 hrs in game
Read More: Best Retro Casual Games.
I’m downvoting this game with extreme prejudice because it has a crash bug which has been left unaddressed for over a year: players who have Nvidia cards with up-to-date drivers will find that the game will always freeze on the final boss. It seems that some recent version of Nvidia drivers broke some graphic effects in late-game cutscenes. Unfortunately, the rights to this game are a royal cluster of bureaucracy between Disney, CAPCOM, and WayForward, and nobody seems interested in addressing the issue, or even acknowledging that this game exists anymore. Basically, if you don’t have access to a PC without an Nvidia card, do not buy this game, as you will not be able to finish it without skipping specific cutscenes and using weird workarounds.
– Real player with 11.2 hrs in game
PAC-MAN™ Championship Edition DX+
This game is absolutely bonkers, in a good way though.
PAC-MAN Championship Edition DX+ is like normal PAC-MAN, only the map is rotated 90 degrees, there are tons of ghosts instead of just 4, and it’s a race to eat as many dots, food and ghosts as possible before the timer runs out.
The game is split into several boards with different structures, dot and ghost positioning, and paths to follow. None of them really feel any harder than the others, but they’re all difficult in their own way. The DLC boards are a fun addition, but I wouldn’t recommend you buy them separately from the game, since it’s cheaper to buy the full Big Eater pack and just get all of it at once.
– Real player with 14.9 hrs in game
Hello Everyone,
It is time to munch, chomp, and manoeuvre your way through another series of mazes with Bandai Namco’s notorious pelt eating ghost munching spherical maze racer, Pacman in “PAC-MAN Championship Edition DX+”. This game is not your original Pacman but a new fast pace version that will keep you on the edge of your seat every step of the way.
Pac-Man Championship Edition DX+ is an arcade score attack game that takes its inspiration from the original Pelt Muncher that was first released in 1981. This time around though Pac-man has been turned into a speed run crushing dynamo taking on hoards of ghost that are determined to get in your way as you try to climb to the top of the leader. With that being said, lets begin talking about the gameplay.
– Real player with 12.7 hrs in game
Another World – 20th Anniversary Edition
Click here for the full review (Steam’s character limit doesn’t allow me to post the full thing here), and if you’ve played the game, please check out my Another World survey !
In 1991 I first played Another World (also known as Outer World and Out of This World in some regions), a game that would have a greater and more lasting impact on me than any other.
– Real player with 40.0 hrs in game
Jordan Mechner, Steve Meretzky, Roberta Williams…Eric Chahi.
If you don’t know who Eric Chahi is, or why I breathe his name with a palpable aura of reverence, buy this game immediately. This is an enduring piece of computer game history that remains as beautiful, stark, striking and unique today as it was when it burst onto the scene in 1991. This is a landmark computer game.
So what, you say? So was Doom, and very few of us are still playing it today. So was DONKEY.BAS, the famous early IBM game with the racecar switching lanes to avoid burros in the road. So was the Crowther and Woods Adventure. The history of computer games is littered with significant milestones, making for a very cluttered highway to the past. Right. I understand. But when you find one that’s still fresh and avant-garde exactly as it is, today? You could drop Another World into the indie game market anew, and it’d still turn heads and inspire conversations. The adjective “timeless” is overused, but this game is truly timeless.
– Real player with 24.2 hrs in game
Pharao Reloaded
I love this game. Of course it has not the pace or the graphics or sounds of modern games but the charme of the original ones which it’s a remake of. I played the original on my dad’s computer 30 years ago and never finished the forth pyramid. It was so damn hard. And this one is hard too g. I like the improvements the developer added like the hierogylphs around the playfield which are decoration only. But the spider is a tough new enemy and the two new potions fit in well.
The first two levels are rather relaxing, there are just ghosts and mummies as wandering enemies but the third level and above becomes tough really quick.
– Real player with 123.9 hrs in game
A great entertaining Maze Game.
I don’t know the original Pharao or Fred, but I started playing Pharao Reloaded since a friend recommended it to me.
At first, I was not really happy due to the “original not so smooth graphic and weird sound” but with the new graphic and sound modes, I really started to enjoy it. It’s nice if you just want to relax a bit and as soon as you start a level, you definitely want to finish it (I gave up once, where I ended up in the same dead end three times, due to my not available skill) :)
– Real player with 1.6 hrs in game
Shadowgate
Journey once more into the castle Shadowgate
Do you remember having a favorite video game that it seemed not many other people fully appreciated? One that you were completely obsessed with, spent tons of time with played over and over again, gathered every bit of information on it that you could? For some people, the games that they find themselves so devoted to end up becoming big series, with numerous sequels. For others, those games get periodic sequels and live on. And for yet others those games just sort of fade away, becoming forgotten in time.
– Real player with 141.9 hrs in game
Shadowgate is a re-imagining of the point-and-click adventure game released almost three decades ago, under the same name, on NES and Mac. Given these origins, your motivations for venturing into Castle Shadowgate are about what you would expect: you are a hero who must defeat an evil warlock. The graphics, music and the majority of puzzles have been reworked; new, voice-acted cutscenes and story elements have been peppered throughout; while the mysterious atmosphere and memorable locations of the original remain intact, along with the option to use the retro soundtrack.
– Real player with 37.5 hrs in game
Speedball 2 HD
I recommend this game with mixed feelings. If you have never played the Sega Genesis version, then you will love this game, but for those that loved the genesis version, you will most likely not care for this game.
Overall, Speedball 2 HD is fun. It’s a mix between rugby and handball, with a science fiction futuristic twist. There are powerups, warp tunnels, and action items, along with hard hitting, good passing, and goal scoring. The objective of this game is to outscore you opponent. You can score by knocking out a player, hitting stars on the sideboard, hitting 1 of 2 circle orbs in the center of the arena, or get it in the opponent’s goal. Each scoring method has its own point value, and the strategy is to score points as quickly and often as possible. The game is action packed, and very fun.
– Real player with 14.5 hrs in game
I wish there were a “depends” recommendation option for this.
For people familiar with the Amiga classic, yes I reccomend this - for nostalgia if little else. It’s billed as a HD version of the original. It’s not. It’s a copy of the original, but not a totally faithful copy. The feel is fairly different, including but not limited to:
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In the original you were limited to 8 directions for throwing the ball. Speedball 2 HD has some kind of auto-aiming which I think is worse because it is requires less skill.
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Substitutes never seem to run out (you had 2 in the original and after that you had less players)
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The AI is worse - it practically ignores the scoring multiplier and the stars (AI is a lost art form in modern gaming)
– Real player with 12.7 hrs in game
Double Dragon Trilogy
At this point in the history of the franchise, you either “get” Double Dragon, or you don’t. This is a side-scrolling beat-em-up in it’s purest and simplest form. You can punch, kick, jump, jump kick, and do a scant few other moves. The enemies you’ll face all have personality, but it’s of the behavior-based variety. The game is challenging, particularly on the Original and Expert difficulties, but can be finished in a short amount of time… even shorter if you become particularly skilled at the game and the nuances in it’s play.
– Real player with 19.6 hrs in game
In theory this collection should be a great experience. That’s what I thought when I booted it up. As soon as I tried to adjust the resolution, the game proceeded to crash, forced me to verify files and turn off my virus protection as a content lock occured.
Once I got it back up and running with controls set comfortably on my 360 pad, it worked well. Well enough for what feels like a lazy attempt to wrap three arcade roms into a stand-alone executable.
The Time and Score text overlay is really weird and doesn’t mesh well with the rest of the visuals. The options feel kind of barebones, there’s no intro videos or explanations or anything for any of the games, nothing. People coming into this without knowing about the games will have no idea that you can do super moves, like hitting punch and jump together in DD1 for the game-breaking backwards elbow. Or how DD2’s controls are odd. Or how you can flipping run in DD3 by double tapping move (the previous two games didn’t have it, so unless you did this by accident how would you know?).
– Real player with 8.1 hrs in game
Fenimore Fillmore: 3 Skulls of the Toltecs
After i’ve finished the second of Fenimore adventures, i wanted to take back the very older first one,that i abandoned many time ago in its first release, now in this new remastered version it gains new shining light and value revealing to be a really solid game.
Now that i finally was able to complete it i have to say i am amazed and speechless from how good the puzzles were, i never expected this but this first one is even better than the second, altough i was stuck for few days in some nasty puzzles, after solving them i can say that altough the average level here is set on Hard, nothing is impossible or too much illogic, all has its own sense and works like a charm.
– Real player with 28.6 hrs in game
This was one of first adventures I played at the time of release in 1996 and I have good memories of it. There were some serious problems with distribution back then and today the English only copies are very rare collector items and extremely expensive (I saw copies offered for thousands dollars). So it’s good that it is available again for affordable price as a digital copy.
The remastered version was not released in perfect state with some bugs and missing features but developers do care, already improved lots of things and listen to the players suggestions.
– Real player with 27.4 hrs in game