20XX is everything you love about classic games, and everything you want from a modern release

Its really not often someone comes along and fosters your childhood nostalgia, growing it into an adult version of the game(s) you came to cherish as a child. 20XX is Megaman and a lot of platformers we grew up with, but all grown up.



Gone are the days of punishing boss fights made cakewalk-easy by a special weapon you get by defeating the stages in order. Energy tanks and extra lives are out the window. You get one life. One. While that might seem punishing, 20XX does a lot to offset the edge of permadeath by making the game actually FAIR.



Hitboxes in old platformers were excruciating and unforgiving. A projectile often need only pass near you to deal damage and knock you off course. Often it was just expected youd take incidental damage as part of making your way through a level. Not so with 20XX. Every hit you take makes you feel like it was completely your fault. Nothing feels unfair, and the enemy projectile hitboxes are extremely tight. That leaves you a lot of room employ skill, dodging deftly with superb mechanics.



Another huge change is the application of damage. Youre not going to have any super-powerful enemies chunking you for a quarter of your health. Every hit, from the most ferocious boss to the lowest one-shot enemy, takes away one health. You know exactly how much damage youre going to take charging into danger.



The powerups are much more impactful in this game, as well. Every augmentation you require makes you hit harder, jump higher. Augs let you dash in mid-air, double jump, and even rock a freaking jet pack. You can steal life from your enemies, supercharge your buster shot, or split your fire into a cross or triangle pattern. Or all three at the same time, if you can live long enough. Theres a certain feeling of ultimate power late in the game when youre leaping as high as a tall building and firing out ultra-charged super shots in a tri-pattern spread.



Every run is unique. You never know what kind of powerups youll get, or even which bosses youll face. After defeating a stage, youll be presented with three stage/boss options. Stages and bosses vary in difficulty, and increase in difficulty as you progress in the game. You may find an easy boss astonishingly difficult if you fight him later in the game versus earlier. Stage enemies and environmental hazards also ramp up the further along in your run you get.



The replay value is just insane, as a result. Every time you die, youre in a rush to get back out there and start another run to see what great powerups come your way. With so many choices and personal customization available as you craft your own personal play style through each run, things seem to never get boring.



20XX is a masterpiece, and its only in early access. You wouldnt know it playing. 20XX feels like a completed game, with no bugs or crashes in over 100 hours of gameplay. Do yourself a favor and set aside an evening, a six pack, and $12 to grab 20XX on Steam early access. The child in you wont regret it, and the adult in you will keep coming back for more.

Rating: 10

Product Release: 20XX (Early Access) (US, 11/25/14)