Gaming News — retro games

More games in June for everyone to enjoy. And yes, we’ll be switching things up in the following weeks, but hey, you’ll know we can’t just pass up the chance to bring you guys some awesome action, right? I mean, after all, it’s part of our overall unofficial theme.

We all know your old-school badasses, so it’s all good. This week we’re going straight up supernatural and mythological, from castles in the sky to more familiar castles you’ve explored growing up. Best believe we’re bringing some high-octane fun that’s guaranteed to score higher on the retro action scale and, at the very least, pique your interest.

GATES TO HEAVEN

Now if you’re a proud Amstrad owner, it’s time to fasten your seat belts because we’re going up, and I mean up. We got a little something for all the fans of ESP Soft, previous titles like CPC Jewels and Red Sunset. A brand new game called Gates to Heaven isn’t exactly what you think it is, but it is what you’d expect.

The game follows humanity’s saviour Ruperto González who went on to defeat the likes of Mr Gates. No relation to anyone and the insidious of Microchoft. Also, no relation to anything. Now this time, it looks like the big bad tech made a change of heart under the new name Amsoft + with different bases located among many unique museums. As Ruperto, it’s your task to ensure that  Amsoft + stays afloat as you take down a few revolutionaries looking to seize control and bring back the old ways, all the old, big, bad ways, of Microchoft.

So if you’re into some heroism while being the standard bearer of good tech, it’s best to check out Gates to Heaven.

TINY THOR

As tiny Thor, you’ll use your hammer to beat up enemies, collect coins and jewels, solve puzzles, and explore a beautiful, detailed landscape with its mystery secrets. If you’re a fan of Epic Boss fights, lots of cool treasures, awesome special abilities, weapon upgrades, and massive levels, then you might wanna join Tiny Thor on his adventure.

AKUMAJOU DRACULA AGA

We don’t mind if you remember Castlevania Spectral Interlude by Sanchez on the ZX spectrum, you’ll be stoked to know that we have yet another Castlevania-like title called Castlevania AGA. It’s a work in progress for the AGA Amiga by Dante Retro Dev.

You can’t deny Castlevania’s legacy and the awesome games that drew inspiration from it. Some even became spiritual sequels, which is awesome. Now thanks to Dante 3D dev, players can still get ahold of the playable prototype, featuring the whole first level with these playable sections right up to the boss.

The basic framework for the game is good to go, so you can’t expect an awesome playable demo. Currently, progress is looking good with some new stages in development, so we might be getting a Dracula AGA a bit sooner than expected. Fingers crossed!

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We're back for some Weekly Gaming News! 

It's about time we wrapped up the month and a lot has happened, and we mean a lot. While the Retroverse still manages to churn out some interesting news stories from the past, it somehow managed to catch up with 2022. What do we mean by this? Well, stick around, and I'll tell you. Let's go! 

Legend of Mana: Tear Drop Crystal

First, we're taking a look at Square Enix and their epic collab with Warner Brothers Japan. This time it’s for a nostalgia trip for the ages, the release of Legend of Mana: Teardrop Crystal. A new anime based on the popular Legend of Mana action-RPG video game. Now, that definitely brings back memories. The show is slated to drop this 2022, and as part of the announcement, Square Enix and Warner Brothers dropped the key visual for the show, plus a teaser trailer. Everything looks updated, but you can't deny that old-school 90s-feel it brings. This special anime project is part of the Mana/Seiken Densetsu 30th Anniversary Celebrations. It features a young boy named Shiloh who hears a mysterious voice in his dreams that sets him out on an epic adventure.

Dandy and Randy DX

Now, for some adulting! Yes, you heard me! Brazilian indie developers Asteristic Game Studio have created an action-adventure puzzle game that's cute, fun, and somehow very realistic. Okay, it's pretty terrifying. Dandy and Randy DX is a game based on the very adult concept of bankruptcy. Now, tell me that isn't the least bit scary. Dandy, a pink duck, and his partner Randy a blue-plane-flying rabbit are a couple of go-getting archaeologists who owe a heck of a lot of money to a big bank. What follows is a single-player or co-op adventure where you solve puzzles and explore underground caverns to find valuable treasures that go straight to the Tax Man.  It ain't much, but it's honest work. 

The game features an array of equipment and items that help you on your journey. Think Legend of Zelda and Stardew Valley, but you could end up in jail if you don't farm hard enough. I think that's a pretty good way to motivate. Despite the premise, it's a gorgeous pixel art game packed with a banging chiptune soundtrack that'll bring back memories from summer days, and it gives us a dose of reality at the same time. Dandy and Randy DX is currently available on PS4, PS5, Microsoft Xbox One and Xbox Series XS Steam PC, and Nintendo Switch. So, if you're looking to go on a grand adventure that involves action, excitement, and adulting, then this game might be worth checking out. Just make sure to check your credit score.

Elden Ring Unofficial Demake

Now, on to something a bit more recent. So, we all know that Elden Ring has been around for a while now and that being the case, it's also brought along its fair share of mods from the community. Some of which are, well, let's just call them strange, for lack of a better term. However, you can't deny how wild and creative the community is when it comes to their imagination. Think of a mod; they got it. 

But what about hardware? Well, apparently, they got that covered too. Enter Twitch streamer shintendoTV, a game streamer who also happens to specialize in a bit of retro game development. If you're not a fan of Elden Ring's AAA graphics and beautiful sprawling landscapes, you're in luck because, thanks to good old Shin, we might have an actual working Game Boy remake on our hands. Or, as he likes to call it, a demake. Man, Game Boy studio is awesome. He's since streamed a series of videos showing us the project's scope, and it's looking pretty good. A lot of the actual game details are baked right into the Game Boy remake, down to the “You Died” screen. So far, it's the cutest “Game Over” ever! ShintendoTV looks to get things wrapped up by the end of May and plans to make the actual game available for download both for emulators and actual Game Boy hardware. You can check out his Twitch channel for any updates. So next time you see a few people ranting about how Elden Ring doesn't meet their expectations, remember that they'll have a Game Boy version to check out pretty soon. And maybe that's what they wanted all along. Maybe. 

We're kicking off December with another trio of games to get on your radar.

Let's talk about friendship and trust and then go the complete opposite direction. Think along the lines of Among Us or the card game Killer at a Cabin and voila we have our first game Killer in the Cabin. This game foregoes the cute and colorful look and opts for something more relatable and realistic. You play as a group of survivors from a bus crash in some mountains and the objective is to survive all the days that you'll be waiting for help and rescue to arrive. Of course this would mean having to work together sourcing water, gathering food and finding shelter. This sounds all good and in the name of friendship right, wrong. It's good for those of you who aren't trying to kill everyone else unfortunately one of you definitely is. As a survivor your goal is to live on and also try to keep as many people alive as possible until help arrives. As the killer well the objective is pretty much given but you'll have a range of different options to terminate other Players these include the ability to poison, strangle a sleeping player, or the option to not help when gathering materials so yeah good luck making friends. 

I'm super charged up to tell you more about this next game. It'll bring you back to simpler times when you used to play with action figures, a whole battalion of soldiers fighting off a completely different set of toys like dinosaurs or elves or beyblades. This one is called Hypercharge: Unboxed. Here you'll be controlling a small soldier by the name of Sergeant Max Ammo. The mission is to prevent hypercore from being destroyed if it gets wiped out you will have to say goodbye to your human friends they won't remember you and it'll be as if you never existed. You'll need to protect different stations against a swarm of evil toys aiming to take them out and looking to destroy you as well. Hypercharge is a classic style third and first person shooter inspired by Toy Story and small soldiers focusing on wave-based shooting with defense building mechanics. Features include single-player, Co-op and plastic versus plastic progression, big weapons and wave-based hybrid. Every level that you complete unlocks new items to use. Available on Windows PC and Nintendo Switch. 

Completing our trio for today is a sandbox combat called Super Punchy Face. It's a roguelite beat'em up where literally everything is a weapon. Do whatever it takes to win against equally capable opponents in levels that are different every time. Between each fight you could choose from a random selection of techniques to perfect your style so kind of like the Matrix. You'll be breaking everything you touch either by hitting someone with it or by hitting it with someone. Again everything is a weapon: bean bag chairs, ping pong paddles, mop buckets, you name it. What's so special about this sandbox combat is, there's no magic, no guns, no swords and no killing. It's about taking advantage of everyday objects around you to survive. Well, try them out and tell us what you think. 

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