retro

Cotton Reboot! is, as the name suggests, a reboot of the popular cult shoot ’em up, Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams. The original was a horizontally-scrolling shoot ’em up, developed by Japanese developers Success. This reboot however comes by way of a dev team called Beep and they’ve done quite a lot with […]

Cotton Reboot! – PS4 Review

July 19, 2021 in PS4 / Reviews tagged arcade / Classic / cotton reboot! / horizontally-scrolling / retro / shoot em up / witches by Richie

Donuts ‘n’ Justice from solo developer Fobti Interactive AKA Tibor Fobel and publisher Ratalaika Games is that rare beast from Ratalaika, in that we feel compelled to continue playing once the platinum has unlocked. It’s helped by Donuts ‘n’ Justice relatively short run time, at least if you change the […]

Donuts ‘n’ Justice – PS4 Review

June 12, 2021 in PS4 / PS5 / Reviews tagged donuts / fobti / justice / ratalaika / retro / uzi lover by Ian

Astalon: Tears of the Earth is a 2D roguelike hack and slash platformer from Canadian coders LABS Works which is run by Matt Kap, the developer of Castle in the Darkness. Set in a dying, post-apocalyptic world the game comes with its fair share of lore. Three explorers are wandering […]

Astalon: Tears of the Earth – PS4 Review

June 4, 2021 in PS4 / Reviews tagged 2d / astalon / metroidvania / retro / rogue legacy / roguelite / tears of the earth / the lost vikings by Richie

Much like Namco, Capcom have never been afraid to dip into their rich arcade history for a cheeky compilation. They’ve put out coin-op ports and collections on every console generation and now it’s the turn for the previous generation to get theirs (or current if you’re still struggling to source […]

Capcom Arcade Stadium – PS4 Review

May 28, 2021 in PS4 / Reviews tagged arcade / capcom / capcom arcade stadium / coin-op / retro by Richie

Outbuddies DX is an old-school Metroidvania-esque explorer/platformer/shooter from one-man developer Julian Laufer that tells the story of Nikolay Bernstein, a maritime archaeologist who unwittingly becomes trapped in Bahlam, an underwater fortress (not the South London town on the Northern Line) that was home to the Old Gods, but now harbours […]

Outbuddies DX – PS4 Review

April 8, 2021 in PS4 / Reviews tagged 2d / 8 bit / indie / metroidvania / outbuddies dx / platforming / retro by Richie

SturmFront is a top down, twin-stick shooter from German developers Andrade Games and while this genre is heavily represented on PSN, this game more so than many others feels like a direct homage to some of the ’80s arcade titles that popularised this style of game. You play as Siegfried […]

SturmFront: The Mutant War – PS4 Review

April 6, 2021 in PS4 / Reviews tagged alien syndrome / arcade / retro / smash tv / sturmfront / total carnage / twin-stick shooter by Richie

While Bishoujo Battle Cyber Panic can’t really be accused of being original, this single screen arcade dodge ’em up was a game that we were keen to review. Sure, it’s another cheap and cheerful title from Eastasiasoft and is heavily anime flavoured (sorry, I just don’t get it) but it […]

Bishoujo Battle Cyber Panic – PS4 Review

March 12, 2021 in PS4 / Reviews tagged anime girls / arcade / japanese / qix / retro / single screen by Richie

Blizzard (now Activision Blizzard) these days are best known for their time-stealing MMO World of Warcraft and the Diablo games but back in the 16-bit era their output was a little different. The Blizzard Arcade Collection is a compilation of three of their earliest games which players may remember from their SNES or […]

Blizzard Arcade Collection – PS4 Review

March 8, 2021 in PS4 / Reviews tagged 16-bit / blackthorne / blizzard arcade collection / megadrive / retro / rock n' roll racing / SNES / the lost vikings by Richie

The top-down run and gunner is a sub-genre that we don’t tend to see in its original form anymore. Sure, you’ll get them as twin-stick shooters or with a heap of rogue-lite elements attached but Thunderflash, the latest offering from Ratalaika, is very much in the original style. You shoot in […]

Thunderflash – PS4 Review

March 1, 2021 in PS4 / PS5 / Reviews tagged arcade / commando / ikari warriors / ratalaika / retro / run and gun / thunderflash / top down by Richie

Speed Limit is a very varied arcade-style title from Croatian coding crew Gamechunk. It’s a game that draws heavily from several sources of inspiration. So much so that it’s central theme is variety. Sure, it’s a 2D run and gunner initially but the game takes you on some incredible twists […]

Speed Limit – PS4 Review

February 26, 2021 in PS4 / Reviews tagged 2d / arcade / mixed / retro / shooter / speed limit / variety by Richie

Bullet Beat is a confident little shoot ’em up is from Ternox Games and is best described as a mix of Space Invaders Infinity Gene and Rez. It’s a cheap and cheerful addition to PSN’s ever-growing library of shoot ’em ups and is aimed at arcade fans and anyone who still remembers dubstep. […]

Bullet Beat – PS4 Review

February 25, 2021 in PS4 / Reviews tagged arcade / bullet beat / retro / shoot em up / space invaders by Richie

Void Gore is the latest in the ever-growing line of retro-inspired shoot ’em ups from the prolific stable of Eastasiasoft. Their relationship with Panda Indie Studio has produced several games so far such as Null Drifter, Red Space and two Project Starship games and this one shares plenty of DNA […]

Void Gore – PS4 Review

February 19, 2021 in PS4 / Reviews tagged eastasiasoft / easy / panda indie studio / platinum / retro / shoot em up / vertically-scrolling shoot em up / void gore by Richie