Retro Revival Round-Up: 5 Games You Have To Play

In some circles ‘retro’ is a loaded word. For many, it brings up connotations of the past, nostalgia or even a bygone ‘golden age’ of video gaming. For others, it is a filthy word; often misappropriated to describe anything slightly older than the user of the term itself. We have all seen the younger members of message boards referring to the PS2 as retro, and it sure makes me feel old.

As I have said before, and Ryan noted more recently, the PC Indie scene has become synonymous with what I call the ‘Retro Revival’, with quirky pixel art and awesome chiptune featuring heavily in the new releases that grace the virtual shelves of the Steam store each and every week.

It isn’t just platformers or side-scrolling bullet-hell shooters, even titles such as Papers Please, which offer a truly unconventional gameplay experience make use of this art style. But what is it that makes this 8 and 16-bit visual style so popular? An argument could be made for its simplicity and ease of implementation. The development team of Papers Please comprised of one man, Lucas Pope. Glorious tessellation and HD bump mapping takes time, effort and money to implement. For these smaller dev teams with limited budgets it can be both easier and cheaper to adopt an old-school aesthetic. Of course, aside from this practical application in the creation of games, this aesthetic can carry a lot of weight in terms of style, attitude and theme. The art style can evoke associations with particular older games, as well as conventions and tropes associated with its genre. Functioning like a code developed over decades of game design and game play, players can immediately understand certain rules and expectations of the game world they find themselves in thanks to particular tell-tale indicators – from certain aspects of the HUD or level layout, to controls and music. After all, the quicker an audience understands your work, the easier it is to stand out in a crowded market. Furthermore, the Retro Revival simply plays upon nostalgia and pop-cultural cross reference to create humour or to pay homage.

I for one believe it works. It serves as sweet antithesis to the bloated budgets of triple-A games, and a welcome respite from the controversy over whether or not the current ‘next gen’ consoles can even push 1080p.

So here is my top five list of games from this Retro Revival trend, a roundup of the titles you just have to play. How does something get on to this list? Through use of this aesthetic approach intelligently, while also being a pretty damn good game too.

5. Scott Pilgirm Vs The World: The Game (PS3 & X360)

For Fans of: Streets of Rage, TMNT: Turtles in Time, Final Fight

Coinciding with the release of the Scott Pilgrim movie, the game release had more in common with Bryan Lee O’Malley’s titular Scott Pilgrim graphic novels. The game saw the phenomenal pixel-art of Paul Robertson (seriously, check this guy out) collide with O’Malley’s much-loved art style. The result is a positively beautiful and vibrant aesthetic that brings a whole new level of meta to Scott Pilgrim’s already meta-textual universe.

The game is an absolute pleasure to the senses. Beyond the whole-heartedly charming visuals, the game’s soundtrack was provided by none other than Anamanaguchi – the poster boys of modern Chiptune. The musical score in itself presents Anamanaguchi’s most game-like compositions to date, toning down their pop and punk influences to present us with fantastic soundscapes completely at home within this retro brawler.

Aside from the audio-visual delights, the core gameplay is fantastic. It plays as a side-scrolling beat-em-up, reminiscent of Streets of Rage, Golden Axe and Double Dragon. The action is modernised with the addition of unlockable abilities, characters and combos, as well as an RPG stats system. Playing as Scott, Ramona or any of the other members of the supporting cast, you battle your way through seven stages each with one of Ramona’s Seven Evil Ex’s as an end of level boss.

And of course, there is a local co-op multiplayer mode in which up to four players can band together to kick ass and take names. In an age where local multiplayer risks being lost to the annals of video game history, it was great to have such a quality retro-themed title bringing it back. The games only major flaw was its complete omission of online multiplayer.

Originally developed by a small team within Ubisoft Montreal, the talent behind Scott Pilgrim Vs The World: The Game are now part of a smaller independent studio called Tribute Games. Their latest offering, Mercenary Kings, is currently in early access on Steam after a successful Kickstarter campaign.

An aside, if you are interested in Anamanaguchi, check out on their latest singles here.

4. Bit.Trip Runner (Wii, PC)

For Fans of: Guitar Hero, Mario and chip-tune

Bit.Trip Runner is the title on our list that veers furthest away from the traditional retro video-game visuals. Instead, the art style takes the concept of pixelated jaggy edges and applies them to its simplified alien landscapes with a 2.5-D touch. Coming from studio Gaijin Games, Bit.Trip Runner is part of a larger series of abstract, retro-inspired indie games. The titles depict the rather odd adventures of Commander Video, with Runner being the most successful of the titles, prompting a sequel and finding itself included at one time in a Humble Bundle.

Originally released as a WiiWare exclusive, Runner combines the genres of the casual friendly rhythm-action game with the ever-popular platformer to create a uniquely simple yet compelling side-scroller. At first, you have little control over Commander Video because he is forever moving forward. But you gradually build up a selection of commands including jumps, kicks and sliding crouches that allow you to duck and dodge the various environmental hazards; the longer you progress unscathed, the further the music builds towards a full chip-tune crescendo. Accurate timing is needed to get to the ending of each of the game’s stage, allowing you to experience the fully-fledged awesome that is the game’s soundtrack. There is a certain unique exhilaration found in syncing your motions with the games rhythm, once you get into the groove the motion of the game, progression and music all come together to create a truly exciting experience. However, unlike its family-friendly rhythm-action cousins such as Guitar Hero and Rockband, it is very difficult even in its earlier stages. One mistake will send Commander Video flying back to the beginning of stage; cutting the music back to its simple beat. The double wrist slap of an immediate music and level reset only provokes a fun but frustrating mantra of “just-one-more-try”. And the infectious chip-tune soundtrack is beautiful. Runner is also the second title on our list to include tracks by Anamanaguchi.

3. VVVVVV (PC)

For Fans of: Mario, Commodore 64

The only fully fledged platformer on our list (Runner is a hybrid at best), VVVVVV goes deeper for its retro inspiration, pushing beyond the early generations of consoles to look at the British home computers of yore. It carries a look reminiscent of a Commodore 64 game, giving it a sense of almost minimalistic charm. This carries over to the gameplay and controls too; VVVVVV takes the conventional platformer, and while maintaining the simplistic and intuitive elements of the genre, turns it on its head (literally). You control the movements of Captain Viridian with the arrow keys, and instead of jumping with the space bar, you are instead able to alternate the pull of gravity – moving Captain V from floor to ceiling, and vice-versa. Although simplistic on paper, the level design stretches this concept to its limits, creating some fantastic platforming sections. Each section of the map loads one at a time, if the player moves to the far left, right, top or bottom the game screen, it quickly transitions to the next area. In order to overcome a simple spiked wall, some sections will have you falling across several screens, dodging enemies and hazards, before landing safely, only to return back the way you came in order to land on the other side of the initial hazard, allowing you to progress.

Despite minimalist retro sensibilities, VVVVVV carries a strong sense of atmosphere. Your mission is to rescue members of your ship’s crew while stranded in deep space. The deep black backgrounds, the neon colours and the bleeps and bloops of the chiptune soundtrack all come together to create a surprisingly strong ambience.

VVVVVV is strikingly unique when positioned alongside all the other Retro Revival platformers; so much so that it is worthy of your time over almost all of its competition. That’s why it is on this here list, y’see?

2. Retro City Rampage (Wii, PS3, 360, PC & 3DS)

For Fans of: old school GTA, popular culture, parody

For some, the bombardment of pop culture references found within Retro City Rampage is too much. At first, I found it quaint but sickening, enjoyable in a similar way to that of gorging myself on fudge cake and ice cream.

But that is what makes Retro City Rampage so undoubtedly fun, it is so unashamedly absurd – a literal smelting pot for video game nostalgia and popular cultural memory. What other game has a parodies and allusions to Frogger, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dr Who, Batman, Back to the Future and Metal Gear Solid in the first mission alone?

A pseudo-top down (it’s so very nearly isometric) ‘rampage-em-up’, Retro City Rampage quite literally rips the core gameplay from the earlier Grand Theft Auto games. You play ‘Player 1’ in his time travelling escapades around Theftopolis. As you can see, the references and humour are not subtle even at the best of times.

Retro City Rampage is the only title on this list to gather mixed reviews from critics, even being accused of lacking substance by some. A valid argument, perhaps, but I still find myself wanting to include it on this list. I think one of the most interesting things about Retro City Rampage is that it almost completely embodies the very concept of the Retro Revival, so much so that it wholeheartedly delves into self-referential parody. It even resorts to references and cameos to its contemporaries, playable mini-game versions and unlockable characters from Minecraft and Super Meat Boy. It indulges so fully in the idea of Retro Revival that almost serves as a microcosm of the phenomenon. But no matter how much is embodies the concept, it isn’t quite the experience of our next title in the list…

1. Hotline Miami (PC & PS3)

For Fans of: ultra violence, art, the 80s

Taking the top spot on our list is the infamous Hotline Miami. From a top down perspective reminiscent of earlier GTA games, you play a hitman of sorts, tasked with entering varying buildings and clearing each floor of any and all living inhabitants. The controls are almost too tight at times, with a slight too twitchy aim that may well lead to a fatal error. This, coupled with the fragility of the player character (single bullet – you are dead) and the unpredictable nature of some of the enemies, it makes for some incredibly tense gameplay. The ability to restart the floor you are on immediately upon death allows for a trial and error approach to each challenge, keeping up the pace and flow of the gameplay. This rhythm is punctuated by a standout soundtrack of retro-inspired electronic dance music (the only game on the list not featuring chip-tune!) that keeps the blood pumping. The level of brutality on display in Hotline is a perfect example of ultra-violence; blood, guts, smashed skulls and gorged eyes are all rendered in their pixelated and contrastingly colourful gory glory.

Much in the same way I praised VVVVVV for its atmospherics, Hotline Miami positively oozes ambience. The retro sensibilities are supported by an 80s setting; older cars, the returning of video tapes (an allusion to American Psycho for sure) and a neon colour scheme all create a sense of decadence and depravity only the 80s could provide. If Scott Pilgrim is playfully self-aware, toying with the meta-textual awareness a retro-influenced aesthetic affords it, Hotline Miami is the straight guy. It is scarily thought provoking, the game plays with surreal narratives, fallible narration and thematic juxtaposition.

The gratuitous and almost exploitative depiction of physical violence is made all the more interesting when the game turns its sights towards its audience and literally asks us “Do you like to hurt people?” Such moments of awareness are so few and far between. Honestly, if any game on this list deserves the high accolade of “This Is Art” (and VVVVVV is a strong contender), it is Hotline Miami.

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